Dark Siding a '03CC

Hello all. Dropped the wheels at the tire shop tonight to mount the Austone 175 R16 car tire. I was a little dissappointed that it appears to be more than 2 inches larger in diameter. Anyone else having any experiences with this tire?
thanks,
Mike S

There have been reports of a wobble with the Austone tire. I know of four that had problems with the Austone tire. One even has a video of the bike on its center stand and you can see the tire is not round, it moves about 1/2" up and down.
This tire is a little shorter 175/75-16 is only 26.3" tall
http://millersburgtireservice.com/MyProducts/tire_line/375/Tire/View:list/Size:175x75Rx16C/filter:1

http://cdn.maxxiscentral.com/tyreimages/tyre-image-UE-168_l.png

ROD

I pick up my newly mounted Austone tire from the shop after work today. I'll check it closely for runnout. I wish I had known there was a tire that was a little shorter before buying this one. The old tires were just over 25 inches in diameter & the Austone is slighter over 27 inches. I'll have to see what that does for speedo error.

A friend picked up the tires this morning for me. Put them in the truck just now. The installed height of the Austone is 26.5 inches which is a little better than I expected (the dunlop MT tire was just over 25 inches). It only has as small amount of weights on it for balance. More to report later.....
Mike S

If I were you, I'd be looking VERY closely at the swing arm on that Cross Country. A tire in there at that diameter might be very close to hitting the front of the swing arm. Especially when you're hitting curves hard, the tire could flex and start rubbing on the swing arm.

Just something to look for.

All of the tires I've run on my Cross Country have been 24.4". But I'm running the 195/55-16.

Got the tire mounted tonight.  Yes, it is very very close to the front of the big brace on the swing arm that the shock mounts to.  The tire currently has 40psi in it.  I took it around the block (55 for a very short distance was all I wanted to do as we live in the country & there are lots of deer wandering about at night).  No rubs that I could detect.  I'm concerned that the wind might blow the rubber shield into to face of the tire.  There is plenty of clearance to the belt guards.

I'll ride it to work tomorrow to get a better feel on how things go.  The short 4 mile ride tonight didn't reveal any differences that I could tell, other than the slightly higher saddle height.  I'd like to see if a little less air pressue will be ok.

BTW, this is a classic cruiser, not a cross country. Turquois & white w/ silver frame.
Mike S

Oh..ok...that explains the CC.  You knew exactly what you were saying.  Most of us call the Cross Country the XC...but some call it the CC, so I assumed.  My bad.

So, as far as clearance on the swing arm, I have no idea what that would look like on the cruiser. I don't even remember what the front side of that swing arm looks like. Maybe you're just fine?

I used to have an 01.  I went to a dealer looking for a new helmet and left with an XC instead.  I miss that bike.

Obviously, with the bigger tire diameter, you might need pay close attention to the shock adjustment to keep the fender from hitting the tire. AND...I hear you with saddle height. I always thought the center of gravity on the cruiser was a little too high. Being even higher might be an issue for you in the long run. Hope it all works out for you.

Yup.  It makes me mad every time I see it...  

The 16 mile ride to work (mostly country blacktop) went without incident. It's mostly straight so no chance to lean it over much. No sign of touching on the rubber flap between the tire & shock mount. Made a trip to the hardware store a few minutes ago (town traffic with a few turns) & again, so far the CT is invisible to me as far as noticing anything. The one area it might be better is setting still, some of that tippy-ness seems to have gone away (yes, I also think the center of gravity is too hi on these bikes). speeds of 55, 60, 65, & 70 were held in segments to see if anything could be detected & no differnce could be felt.

I'm going to take a different path home tonight that does have some curves to see how that goes.
Mike S

OK, 1,200 mile update. With solo rider & nothing in the bags, this tire is great at speeds below 62 MPH. Beyond that it doesn't take much to instigate a wobble (probably made worse since I have a full windshield). It's felt thru the shake of the handlebars.

With my wife on board, it is much more stable but I've not gone over 65 with a passenger.

I really like the way this tire handles the half gravel roads I have to negotiate on my way to work everyday, but I think if I had been doing any long distance on the hiway riding this summer (it's rained nearly every day, so we've not gone anywhere of any distance), I'd be complaining about the wobble even more.

Bottom line is I think I'm sold on dark siding, but not with the Austone tire. Next tire will be of the run flat variety....we'll see.
Mike S

I had a wobble on my bike that a new front tire fixed. The old front tire looked good and I tried everything I could think of to get rid of the wobble, then I buddy told me to up the air in my front tire(I run 40 psi) so I put 50 psi in the front tire and the wobble was almost gone. 50 psi is 9 psi over the tires max air pressure so I bought a new Battlax BT45 "rear" tire that I put on the front of my bike. Now my bike rides so smooth I can set the cruise and ride no hands for miles.

ROD

Ok, 5,000 miles down the road & the tire seems to have settled a little & is not quite as wobbly at speed as it used to be. Trying to overtake a semi truck on the freeway is always a anxious few moments as the buffeting seems to really agravate the wobble.

Again, with the wife on board, the Austone performs very well. The little tits have finall worn off, indicating about a millimeter worth of wear I think.

I'm in St.louis this week on business. One of the owners rode his '02 Shadow to work today & we swapped bikes & took a little ride during lunch. He was just complaining about how quick his tires wear out when I asked him if he realized he had just taken a ride on a car tire. He was impressed.
Mike Sal

For those who still visit sites other than face book, here's the 11,000 mile report. Everything still going great. I can see that the very center of the tread is getting a little shallow (probably from when I was running a lot of pressure in the tire....I've since back off to 36psi). The tread on both sides of the center are still very deep. My guess is this tire will take me all the way to next spring. I sure would not have gotten this kind of mileage from a MC tire!
Mike Sal

Ok, 17,000 miles and am well into the wear bars in the middle groove of the tire. I'm convinced I accelerated the wear in the middle due to over inflation early in the tire's life. I'll keep riding on it until nearly bald down the middle of the tire. The Harley WW tire I put on the front at the same time is doing really well too & have many miles left on it also.
Mike Sal