It ain't so dark over here

Went to the Darkside– kind of underwhelming really – some tips

First why the darkside? Well I have almost 90K on the clock and have used 2 types of Dunlops, a set of Metzger’s, Bridgestones (loved the front tire), a Shinko rear, and the last set was Avon Cobras. All of them were great when first installed, then the rear started cupping and the front end wobble returned, the cupping would start between 6K and about 9K and by 10-12K the wobble was bad enough for me to replace the tires, even though in all cases there was plenty of tread left on the tires.

Put the Michelin Alpin PA3 205/55R16 on 30PSI, the first 10 mile ride noticed that when coming out of a turn the Wing seemed to want to get upright a bit sooner. Went 180 miles on twisty mountain roads. Of course given that the Goldwing is almost bulletproof the change was only slightly noticable. I’m running 30psi to start because I expect the sidewalls to be pretty stiff to start. I do also notice a little more counter steering pressure, but certainly not enough to fatigue me over the course of a day and I expect it will be unnoticeable after a few rides. On my last ride I decided about half way through the ride to stop exerting the extra counter steering pressure, to my surprise the Wing slightly corrected and continued through the turn. Without the added pressure on the handlebars the Wing doesn’t lean over quite as far, but still goes where I wanted. I think I was forcing the bike to ride to my expectations instead of adjusting my expectations to what is now my new normal.

$128 Michelin Alpin PA3 195/55R16 from the TireRack (looked today and they are out)
$16 Shipping
$10 Tire mounting Reused 3 oz Dyna beads from car tires
$154 Total on the bike

I laid the Wing on her side and removed the wheel TIP #1, Run the bike as close to empty as possible BEFORE you lay her over or you might leak gas out of the charcoal canister in the front..
The old tire came out no problem.

TIP #2 deflate the new tire before installing.
TIP #3 put the bike in neutral before reinstalling wheel.

Like I said removing the old tire was no problem, BUT getting the new tire in place was a pain in the ass, the reason for placing the bike in neutral is that you can work the wheel up to get one wheel stud into the wheel, then by tilting the wheel (on the stud) and lifting / spinning and positioning I found the wheel relatively easily rotated into the correct position to line all the studs. Put the bike back in gear and tighten (torque) the lug nuts to 80 ft-lbs.

Only time will tell if the CT is better on the Wing – but all things being equal I’ll stay with the CT as the handling and ride are at least as good and the cost is substantially lower with the CT. Add the run flat capabilities AND when touring in Montana, Wyoming, and Canada if I have a tire failure I don’t need to locate a Honda dealer THAT CARRIES GOLDWING PARTS AND TIRES. Any old automotive tire shop should be able to help me.

Enjoy.

I've got almost 11,000 miles on my Alpin. You will really like that tire.

I got 1,200 miles on mine and love it. 30 psi is the sweet spot for me.

Just replaced my rear tire with CT 3 weeks ago and I should have listened to a freind and everyone here cause I really enjoy riding it. Last Sunday was doing cats and dogs here in Atlanta and purposely went out to see if it's going to hold and just as adverticed, it did. So I'm sold on CT. I'm going to place it on my my Harley Eletra Glide next.

I have totally enjoyed the GYTT for over a year and will probably try the Alpin next (if this tire ever wears out). Lots of good reviews on the Alpin.

The CT shows no appreciable wear, and no front end wobble.

The handling is fine, better than fine. A friend who just got a new Harley and I were running up a river frontage road when he decided to open it up and see what it could do. I was riding right behind him, but couldn’t keep up in the turns, I did make it up coming out of the turns and on the straightaways, I don’t really attribute the cornering shortcoming to the CT but rather to a substantially smaller set of cojones than the Harley rider has ;->

The only complaint so far is when riding on rutted highways, I find the Wing sort of hunting for its track (it doesn’t want to run down the middle of a rut), as I usually ride sweep I just run the center of the lane – problem solved. But I would find it tedious to ride very far that way
in a staggered formation.

Easier to but up on the center stand, and sometimes harder to get off the center stand (not as much rocking action).
I found it surprising that my gas mileage has improved with the CT.

No longer able to lock up rear brakes.

That’s it so far, I’ll stay on the darkside