Riding the Dark Side

[tang6206]

thanks for showing iam puting one on my i got friends with car tires on there bikes likes alots

[55Dudester]

Thanks for the video. I'm a new Dark Sider, and I really am enjoying it. What psi do you have in your rear and front tire ?

Thanks

[redneck500]

Hi can I use a darkside tire on my 98 Kaw Vulcan 1500 classic?? I have been reading lots of good things

[55Dudester]

@redneck500 Yes you can go Darkside with a Vulcan Classic 1500. It's what I ride, and I have a 195/60/16 Hankook Optimo H426 car tire on the back. I'll never go back to a bike tire for the rear. I keep the psi in the rear between 32 and 34 psi, and in my front Metzler ME 880, I keep between 38-40 psi.

With the car tire, you will never feel a tar snake again, nor will you feel a steel grated bridge again. Much more secure in the rain than a bike tire. The ride is much smoother now too. Try it.

[redneck500]

@55Dudester Ya I actually mounted a 195-60-16 dunlop sp5000 on my vulcan and its ok, but the only problem is when im going around 75+ I start to get a wobble, but my PSI is at 40lbs, do you think if I lowered it down, that would fix that problem?

[55Dudester]

@redneck500 I had the high speed wobble to when I first installed my car tire, especially on windy days. Lowering my rear psi from 40psi to 32psi and running my front with 36 psi did help, but didn't resolve the problem totally. In my case, removing my rear cargo trunk on the luggage rack, solved the problem for good. Turbulence at high speed was hitting my rear trunk, causing my front to wobble. Now I don't have ANY wobble whatsoever, even at 100 mph.

[erwinrm]

Yamaha VStar 1100 on the darkside.

[automaticreply]

I think I'd rather run a car tire with 10000 miles on it that a motorbike tire with 10000 miles on it but I may rather have a new m/c tire vs a new car tire however I'm having trouble with my goldwing in mud, etc. and would like to get a tire with some traction because you can't get one with traction for a gl1800! I may get seduced into the "DARKSIDE!" :p

[bigimagephotos]

I run a GoodYear Triple Tread 205-60-16 on a 2006 Honda VTX 1800N. I will never go back to a MC tire. CT lasts 4 times as long as the MC does...

Don't knock it till you try it...

Google Riding on the Darkside if you want to learn more...

[redneckrob1974]

1951abcd sounds like an insurance geek not to mention a pus#$%

[1951abcd]

And finally!!!

This is a modification that would never be authorized by any knowledgeable/reputable source. The significance of this is your insurance company may deny your claim because you modified your motorcycle in such a way that it is deemed unsafe. So check with them. (Ask me how I know this if interested)

P.S. I would have liked to run a car tire if at all possible.

[1951abcd]

Third; The back of the bike 'lifts' when leaned over.

The rear tire must! follow the front (no exceptions here). The tire has no taper (meaning no slope form the center to the sides) so the centering of the bike must shift up toward the high side because even though they deflect it is not enough to prevent this. Making S turns you can feel the back shifting up first in one direction then the other. This is a very weird sensation!! I

[1951abcd]

Suffice to say it does not handle like a normal M/C.

I ran a car tire on my honda Valkyrie for quite some time and I did not really like it. The tire deflects when you lean contrary to the belief that it rolls up on the edge. This deflection it always trying to correct itself and right the bike, so it takes more steering input to hold the bike in the leaned over position. (no big deal right?)

[premier1975]

if its wearing in the middle you probably got the pressure up a bit high

[Ridgid]

Cool Video.. i was curios what's the air-pressure in that tire..?

[runarak]

that was sweet!

[Datrebor]

great video but I would like to see a video that shows the same road with a MC tire and see how much contact it makes compared to the CT.

[LowRiderGhost]

Heh-heh, okay - I'm NOT convinced BUT this is still pretty dang cool! ;-) Thanks for posting this!

[dogglewart]

Been riding darkside on my IS Valk for years....205/55/16 Hankook...won't go back...rides solid in the twisties, and wears like iron. Believe or disbelieve....I don't give a f*ck. krusty

[ArchiteuthisDux]

If you dragged the floorboards making that video, then your V-star must not have any cornering clearance at all. I routinely crank my Intruder 1400 over twice as far as that.

[SludgeSlinger]

Thanks for posting the video. I was at one time completely opposed to the idea of a car tire on a bike. However, I did it to my supercharged Valkyrie as a good tire for the drag strip. To my surprise, it worked great elsewhere. To those nay sayers, dont be so quick to judge. Ive ridden it hard in the mountains and its done really well. No bad manners to report. I dont think its for everyone, and i dont think you should use just any tire, but it shouldnt be dismissed out of hand.

[seedym]

Bike tires have a round profile for a specific reason. That $20 won't seem like such a bargain when the laws of physics win out.

[cerooth]

lol, only $20 difference in the price? ROFLMAO, for the cost of one MT I can get at least 2 maybe 3 CT's that'll last around 20,000 miles each when a MT would last somewhere between 7,00-13,000. According to the law of physics, a bumble bee can't fly, but it does.

[tattv]

Great work! I've thought about it, but didn't think it could be done. Where can I get more info on this?

[bsknight37]

working on a website now.

[toasted3111979]

great vid..thanks for representing the Darkside well.

What camera did you use under the bike?

[bsknight37]

You may not believe this, but a samsung 5 mpixel digital camera with a 1gb sd card.

[Work0rDie]

I see, you are a man who thinks outside the box. This, very well, may catch on for cruiser commuters.