New Darkside member

Ok,I have officially gone to the dark side! Installed a General Altimax hp 186/65-15 on my 1986 vt700c today.

I got the old tire off using the 2X4 under the truck hitch method to break the bead (worked pretty slick) and got the new tire mounted. The beads were problematic to get to seat, one popped on at 60 lbs, the other took re-inflating the tire about 5 times, popped on at around 100 psi. One thing I noted was part of the remaining bead seemed to go on easier than the other, so I moved the tire around a bit while inflating, till the "hard to get on side" went on first, this seemed to make the tire happier, and the remaining bead popped on then...used copious amounts of dawn dish soap, each time I let air back out to try again, I would squirt more on...

Fit on the bike was JUST barely, as matter of fact rubbed just a tad when installed, I tried the smack the swing arm using a wood block and hammer trick...didn't think it even made a difference till I put tire back on, and like magic, no rubbing! clearance is at about .010, this is absolutely the fattest tire you can put on this bike. No issues with the fender rubbing (thankfully).
Looks AWESOME from the back, will post pictures tomorrow.

Handling on a dirt road is like heaven! (big selling point for me) WAY better traction and absorbs the bumps like a giant marshmallow. I did notice a slight tendency to push me towards the center of ruts, but the MC tire did that as well, might be a result of the better traction, dunno. Not a big deal at all though. On the asphalt, massive traction for straight line, a bit different in the corners, (we got lots of twisties here in Arkansas) although I was running it at 26 lbs, so will raise to 36, and see how that feels. Even at a low pressure, it felt different, but not bad, just different. Reminded me of dirt biking, when you go into a corner with loose gravel, and feel the back slide around the corner. But it wasn't sliding, just had sorta that feel, might be the transition from flat to corner. The difference is that it is a consistent feeling, and even at low pressures, I am sure I could adjust, again I expect that to change a bit with different pressures. The ride is smooth as glass though, my MC tire had a strange wobble at about 85-90mph, not so with the CT, no straight away to find just how deep the rabbit hole goes on this one, but am VERY pleased with first impressions. I suspect putting a wider MC tire on would have much of the same issues. Stopping is FAR improved, I did not lock up the rear end, but stopped fast enough to pile myself up on the tank, had to fight to stay in position... I want to measure actual distance, it was WAY shorter than any bike I have ever ridden.
So far, I LOVE this new tire! If my opinion changes later on, I will post reasons why.