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 guitstik |
Waiting for the "crash and burn" |
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HSATF Tail Gunner
Posts: 244 08/20/08 6:33 PM |
Ok, lets see how this goes...
Fender clearance. Notice the wide lip on the bead 
Fender and swing arm clearance (right side) Drive shaft tube clearance 
Leading edge fender clearance. That is a deep offset on the bead. 
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Fredrider |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 6142 08/20/08 8:22 PM
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Looks scary GS, how does it ride?
Fred
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mike2000t |
#2 | |||
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HSATF Road Captain
Posts: 345 08/21/08 9:59 AM Second Officer |
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guitstik |
#3 | |||
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HSATF Tail Gunner
Posts: 244 08/21/08 2:03 PM |
Nope, handles fine. In fact I think it handles better than an M/C tire. Corners are a breeze, I have more contact foot print than a bike tire would give me.
Check this vid out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQtlt-HFFoo or this one http://www.youtube.com/wa...HlbSzwjsg&feature=related
There are more out there and the truth of the matter is that the majority of bike tires available are using technology that is twenty years old or better but they are charging prices that should be for a car tire using todays technology. Joel
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GaleRich |
#4 | |||
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HSATF 2nd Officer
Posts: 462 08/21/08 3:44 PM Road Captain |
Am I missing something?? Those videos of the car tire look like there is barely any tire touching the road during the tighter turns???
- Rich |
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dukey33 |
#5 | |||
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HSATF 1st Officer
Posts: 733 08/21/08 10:37 PM |
That's awesome. How was the tire height compared to the regular tire?
duke
loud horns save lives |
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guitstik |
#6 | |||
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HSATF Tail Gunner
Posts: 244 08/22/08 7:52 AM |
I went with a 205/55-16 but I should have gotten a 205/60-16 instead. The difference is minimal but the c/t height is the same as the m/c tire.
Joel
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rod rounds |
#7 | |||
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HSATF Tail Gunner
Posts: 170 08/22/08 1:38 PM |
I think I'll try an 195/60
Tire Size Comparison Specification Sidewall Radius Diameter Circumference Revs/Mile Difference 195/60-16 4.6in 12.6in 25.2in 79.2in 800 0.0% 170/70-16 4.7in 12.7in 25.4in 79.7in 795 0.0% Very close to the stock tire in height. http://www.bridgestonetir...BS_EN.aspx?productID=2007 And it has UNI-"T" so it has to be good for our bikes. ROD
Last Edited By: rod rounds 08/22/08 1:44 PM.
Edited 1 time.
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tonythecarguy |
#8 | |||
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HSATF 1st Officer
Posts: 607 08/22/08 2:52 PM |
rod rounds wrote: 
Tony |
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alan |
#9 | |||
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HSATF Tail Gunner
Posts: 187 08/23/08 11:42 AM |
I'm convinced and would try a CT on my T. Makes some sense considering my T has a top speed of somewhere near a 100MPH, I rarely ride over 70, no radical
acceleration or braking (sigh) forces, and relatively mild lean angles. Compared to my Kawi ZZR1200 that is. I made fun of "wasting" years of cycle
tire R&D by using CT's but I think maybe that R&D has never been done on tires for cruisers. I think the T, overall, is one of the best executions
of older bike technology. Other than a rev limiter I haven't found anything "gee whiz" on my bike. When the tire needs replacing I'm gonna
try it......... I stand enlightened.
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alepel |
#10 | |||
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Posts: 8085 08/25/08 8:09 AM
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alan wrote:alan....I can't tell if you're serious or pulling our leg. 
alepel
"Ride with the Spirit always, and in all ways"....hombldr |
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alan |
#11 | |||
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HSATF Tail Gunner
Posts: 187 08/25/08 11:52 AM |
I'm serious. When I pull your leg it will not be a mild tug. I went into a local dealership a few years ago for some spark plug boots for my
KAWASKI........... it was made in Poland. Poor counter kid.......... When he corrected me and said it was a Kawas-A-ki, Japanese, well! I was mortified I had
inadvertently bought THAT. I knew it was made in Poland....... it has square wooden wheels and when I ride down the street it goes PO-lock, PO-lock, PO-lock!
To this day he walks with a limp.
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paul50 |
#12 | |||
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HSATF Member
Posts: 29 08/26/08 10:20 AM |
The whole "darkside" thing is intriguing! I have a friend who put a CT on his Valk about 30,000kms ago and the tire still looks great. He has riden
it from here(central Ont Canada) to Texas and back with no problems. He has even less clearance than you do, by the looks of your pictures.He said he will
never go back and is telling me I should "come over" when I need a new rear tire! Got to admit it is tempting!
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rod rounds |
#13 | |||
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HSATF Tail Gunner
Posts: 170 08/26/08 4:19 PM |
paul50,
If you do go to the "DARKSIDE" don't forget to let us know what size tire you put on her. I am looking at the 195/60-16 size tire for the rear of my T, but I have about 5000 miles left on my E3. http://www.bridgestonetir...ighres/BlizzakWS60_60.tif ROD
Last Edited By: rod rounds 08/26/08 4:29 PM.
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greyaero |
#14 | |||
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HSATF Tail Gunner
Posts: 110 08/26/08 11:50 PM |
I'm not trying to diss car tires on a bike but I have seen videos of both on a bike and the contact area of bike tires seems to be greater.
It may not make much difference if you don't ride the twisty roads much . I would need much more in the way of comparisons before I went to the darkside. It's great to see the pioneering effort of the darkside enthusiasts. This may be just the push that tire manufacturers need to make improvements in bike tires |
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rod rounds |
#15 | |||
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HSATF Tail Gunner
Posts: 170 08/27/08 12:48 PM |
I know it looks that way, but the car tire puts more rubber down on the road in the turns to.
Tim who has an Valkyrie Tourer with an 215/?-16 car tire and my ACE Tourer with an 180/70-16 m/c tire did an experiment. What we did was to wet a section of cement and road our bikes through the water and measured the width of the wet footprint that the tire left on the dry cement. His tire had almost twice the footprint in an turn than my Dunlop 180 E3, and that was in a sharp turn. With a less sharp of an turn his c/t put an even bigger footprint down and having 5+" on the road in most turns makes for a rear end that won't step out on you. Tim runs 30 to 34 psi in his rear tire so it gives a little to keep most of the tire on the ground even in the turns. I'm sure if you put 44 psi in the car tire it would put less rubber on the ground, but I think it would still put more rubber on the road than the m/t even in an turn. ROD
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guitstik |
#16 | |||
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HSATF Tail Gunner
Posts: 244 08/29/08 10:25 AM |
Most car tires run about 35psi on a car. On a bike you can run 35 or less and still get good handling and traction. Admitted, the c/t takes a little more input
for steering and it gives a more feed back than a m/t but I like that 'cause I like to be as involved in the decision making process as I can be. With the
added feedback and input on my part I feel more in control. Riding has become more a form of art than just lean-n-turn. I see a lot of riders that
"turn" the bike rather than counter steer, this is not for them. If you are afraid of loosing control on a m/t then that is what you need to stay on
until you can develop the necessary skills needed to handle a c/t (NOTE: the use of the word "you" is not intended to indicate any singular individual but rather in the collective sense, speaks to
that reader that may feel the subject is indicative of his/her own situation). That being said, it will take some getting used to as the c/t has a few
quirks that need to be addressed. The most intriguing of these is the tendency to self-center. Have you ever rolled a c/t across the floor? How about a m/c
tire? If both tires are rolled on a level surface straight and true, the m/c tire will eventually fall over. But, the c/t, due to it's shape will stay
upright. Rolling down the road, the c/t will want to try and maintain an upright position. This is not overly problematic in and of itself, but must be
considered when going into a turn or ridding on a road surface that has a high crown. Any other concerns with a c/t on a bike relate mostly to the choice of
tire one decides to go with. Some have different handling characteristics than others. I personally chose a tire that was directional and had the same speed
rating or better than the m/c tire that I took off.
Joel
Last Edited By: guitstik 08/29/08 10:28 AM.
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Fredrider |
#17 | |||
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Posts: 6142 08/29/08 11:08 AM
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Joel,
It sounds like using a car tire on a motorcycle has some of the characteristics of using too wide a motorcycle tire. For instance, if you were to test the stock Triumph Rocket III vs. the Rocket III Tourer, the former has a 250mm wide motorcycle tire and the latter has a 180mm wide motorcycle tire. The wide-tired one has to be "steered" all the way around the turn lest it follow its natural tendency to go straight and ride into the next lane and off the road. The narrower tired Triumph is like our stock T's, you can push the handlebar to start the lean and then not worry about it through the rest of the turn. The thing I have against too-wide tires on a motorcycle is it is a lot of work to keep pushing that handlebar hard from the start of the turn to the end of the turn.
Fred
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guitstik |
#18 | |||
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HSATF Tail Gunner
Posts: 244 08/29/08 6:21 PM |
Fred, I don't know where the major difference is in the T vs. the ACE but I had to counter steer all the way through a turn even with the m/c tire on the
rear. I have no problem "steering" through a turn, as I stated, I like the fact that I have proactive in the turns and on the straights as well.
Joel
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Fredrider |
#19 | |||
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Posts: 6142 08/29/08 8:16 PM
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Joel,
None of the 70+ bikes I have ever ridden with the exception of the Rocket III and the Boss Hoss have I ever felt I had to do more than set the bike on its course in a turn and go through it. By setting the bike on its course I mean there is a noticable effort to get the bike to lean and start turning and such a miniscule effort after that I do not even notice whether I am countersteering or using body English or what. However with bikes with wide tires I do notice that I have to put a lot of effort into not only starting the turn and getting the bike leaning, but if I do not put that same level of effort into keeping the bike leaned over and turning all the way through the turn otherwise it will straighten up on me and run off the road. How about other cruiser riders, do you feel you have to exert a substantial effort to get your bikes to lean and then to keep them leaning throughout the whole curve, or do you just exert some moderate effort to get the bike leaning/turning and almost no effort to keep it turning?
Fred
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rod rounds |
#20 | |||
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HSATF Tail Gunner
Posts: 170 08/29/08 8:41 PM |
I have to counter steer all the way through a turn with my T, but I do ride the twisties hard and often. I have yet to wear out the center of my front tire and
I have 43,000 miles on my T. hahahaha
ROD
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