Car tire on my Burgman 650

Ya turn like anybody else that runs a bike tire down til it squares off a bit. You can handle that... right? Sure it's not the same as a fresh new bike tire, but you get used to it... Nothing difficult or mysterious about it.

Just a guy.............. with his scooter.......... and a car tire
http://www.advrider.com/forums//showthread.php?t=1005377

I continually notice that those who choose to "darkside" take little notice that a motor vehicle tyre is 'sandwiched' between TWO interfaces - not just dealing with ONE interface.

Certainly, a passenger tyre makes contact with a Road Surface and a motorcycle tyre (also) is in contact with a Road Surface. That's our FIRST interface.

Unfortunately there remains a SECOND interface. I'm referring to the Rim that the tyre is to be jammed onto.

Tyre designers choose different profile, radius, seat and flange measurements when Passenger Rims and Motorcycle Rims came off their respective drawing boards! Even the seat diameter, in each case, have a slight difference in circumference. That last incompatibility is why excessive air-pressure is commonly used when trying to force the passenger tyre beads over the seating area on the slightly larger motorcycle rim!

Now if one is choosing to "greyside" (defined here as fitting a passenger rim onto the motorcycle's hub & axle) -- that is different! The passenger tyre is then able to be mounted onto a rim designed for it.

800 x 911 pixel picture for illustration

Or visit this post on ADV Forum

Would you use a Pozidrive Tip to drive a Philips Head screw?

You know you're gonna die for sure running a car tire on your scooter.

I read that on the internet

Thanks Bandito2 for some useful information.

Not really the vehicle, but (as I stated earlier) the tyre should be mounted on a compatible rim.

16 cars on two wheels (YouTube)

Note how these Renault automobiles are driven, using passenger tyres, but they are using passenger rims so the tyres are properly mounted.

Interesting video, but largely irrelevant. When motorcycles use passenger vehicle tires, the load on the tires is not applied in the same way. Mostly motorcycles load the tires on a line from where the tread touches the road on up to the axle, not at the near 45 degree angle as shown in the videos. There is barely any lateral (sideways) loading going on with motorcycles. Except in steep turns maybe, but certainly nowhere near to the degree that a car imposes on its tires.

It is understood that the rims are different.... but that does not automatically mean that the motorcycle rim will not support the passenger vehicle tire well enough. In practice, apparently they work well enough. Millions of collective miles of car tire use on bikes and I've not seen nor heard of any car tire bead failures on bikes. And if it has happened before then I would venture that it has not happened any more often than it has for bike tires on bike rims.

Get over it.... Sure they are different, but they still work... and safely enough. There has been virtually no hard verifiable evidence, nothing to indicate the contrary. And as similarly stated before: Millions of collective miles of car tire use on bikes without incident has shown that it can be done. And done at least as safely as standard bike tires.

In jolly old England, maybe even most of Europe it seems they ban/outlaw the practice of a car tyre use on motorbikes... Is it the same for those in the land down under as well? Too bad for you if it is banned.

Keep in mind the weight of those passenger vehicles vs the weight of a motorcycles..

Forces required to unseat the tire bead from an inflated car tire from a motorcycle rim are not likely to be generated by a motorcycle, under normal (99.9%) operating parameters.

Burgman USA Forum has a lot of information.

I went dark side on my Burgie 650---Federal Formoza FD1 165/60 R14 75H that I got from E-Bay for $60 total including shipping. It took 2 inflation/deflation cycles to set the bead. I had to go to 80 PSI to set the bead. I am running the tire at 36PSI. No complaints on the tire--the ride is smoother. No other difference as I am not a very aggressive rider on the twistes. The rear car tire should last over 22K Miles and the odometer is also more accurate now (3-4% vs. GPS). I have not noticed any improvement in MPGs (took a hit when I went to a GIVI taller WS--my fuel milage decreased from 48 to 45).

Simba

Wow, no one had even mentioned the inverted traction!

Not sure I understand your comment about 'inverted traction'.
My reply was to the poster who was looking for dark side tire recommendation for his father's trike---I did my research on the BUSA Forum and came up with this tire for myself. Obviously, I am not here to argue the merits of a MC vs. CT. I got no time for that.

Simba

Lighten up Francis...
He means you posted the picture upside down.

I figure it was a legit question, since I don't get it either.

I suspect he was talking about the tread pattern. If so, then he was mistaken since the tread will appear exactly the same even with the tire mounted the other way around on the rim. This pattern is semi-symmetrical; that is to say that the tread is arranged differently on the opposite side from the center. In other words; one half is NOT a mirror image of the other but is rather a 180 degree rotation of the pattern in that other half. So even if the tire gets swapped around, the tread pattern will still appear the same.

True non-symmetrical tires have definite and distinct differences between the left and right sides of the tire tread and are intended to be used in a particular orientation for each side of the vehicle. (car usually)

A symmetrical tire on the other hand is a mirror image from the center out and will appear inverted if swapped around.
When I had a Roadstone Classe Premier 165/65R13 put on my Silverwing rear rim, I handed it right back to them to have it remounted with the proper orientation. The "V" shape of the tread pattern needed to be pointed into the direction of rotation and they had not done that correctly the first time.

Just put a car tire on my Reflex! OMG! It works great.

This is interesting, and honestly the first time I've heard of this idea.

My initial reaction is that a lot of really intelligent engineers design certain characteristics into m/c tires that are probably different from the characteristics they design into passenger car tires. A lot of companies probably spend insane amounts of money and resources developing tires to preform optimally for their intended application.

Those folks, most likely, didn't get drunk one day and decide to make cycle tires differently just to piss people off. Probably some very solid reasons why cycles use what they do, and cars use what they do. BUT, this being said, I'm not a tire engineer. It's possible that it's all a big conspiracy to sell expensive and short-lived cycle tires on the part of tire manufacturers.

This has piqued my interest, and it seems some folks have found that it works good enough for them. Fair enough.

I'd love to get some input from someone who knows what they are talking about, professionally, regarding tire design, i.e engineering background, etc.

Glad I saw this thread. I'll attempt to educate myself on the topic by digging around a little on the web. Fascinating.

I've read about side wall pressure before. Some argue the side wall on a car tire is not designed for angles and stress a motorcycle will place on them. With that, I've noticed a trend lately that may help to either prove or disprove this theory. The "ricer" cars are running tires wider that the wheel well will allow. To get around the size difference, without modifying the fender, they pitch or toe the tire at an angle which allows the wider tire to be used. It looks kind of weird, like the axle is bent or something, the bottoms are further away and the tops are closer to the inner well wall. But...that means they run extreme pressure on the side walls every time they drive. I'd be curious to know if they are experiencing any issues. I hope the car tire works out for you as the upside of tread life and longevity is so promising.

Oh it's been going on for decades. :)

And talking about it on a forum is never a good idea unless the forum is
about that particular subject, because most agree with the part that I
bolded in your post above.

Car tires being used on motorcycles (and scooters too) has been around for quite some time. With the proliferation of motorbikes in general and
the improvement in quality of both motorcycle and car tires, the practice has become much more common. Different design characteristics are
acknowledged and understood by many that use car tires on their bikes. The design differences have not stopped people from using car tires on
bikes as they have found them safe and beneficial for that use in spite of the differences. Millions of collective miles of car tire use on bikes has
shown this truth.
Different does not necessarily equate with unsafe.

That seems to be a cynical and short sighted point of view. I know your are just being facetious, but there are those that really think that
many that use a car tire on their bike think that way. There very well may be some that do, but not many. Not the ones that have a more
rounded knowledge of car tire use anyway. I certainly don't believe that was or is their intent and do not believe that to be true.

Car tire designers strive to make the best tires for cars and motorcycle tire designers want to make good tires for bikes as well. Car tires last
longer (in spite of their softer rubber compounds) because of their design and how they are used. Likewise bike tires are shorter lived because
of the way they are designed and how they are used. In a nutshell; Wide tread of car tires spreads load and wear across the full width of the
tire whereas bike tire tread is in an arc and only about 1/4 to 1/3 of of its tread can be used at any one time. Bikes spend most of their time
upright and so wear is naturally going to be along the center line of the tire.

Fine, you could get pointed to a couple places for that kind of info. BUT!, the trouble with that is that you will mostly only get a lot of purely
technical information on design and/or design differences with a bit of theory added here and there. There has been no actual physical,
methodical, scientific testing done by any identified professionals of car tire use on bikes .... anywhere. None, Zip, Zilch, Zero, Nada. Liability
issues are their claim for not testing. (As you are likely to find during your search for information from the "professionals")

The only real physical testing that has been done are the experimenters (who are also intelligent) that use the car tires on their bikes.
(And we DO have lots of actual experience and know what we are talking about as well.)

Indeed, do look information up, but don't discount the knowledge and experience of those that use car tires on their bikes. Then, being as informed
as you can be regarding both sides of the issue, draw your own informed conclusions, as that seems to be your aim.

here's a start for you

http://www.goldwingfacts.com/forums...ferences-between-car-motorcycle-rim-tire.html

I'm going to start a reverse dark side by mounting 4 m/c tires on my car.

If you consider the weights and forces generated by moto vs auto, it is pretty obvious which tires are safer to use on which type of vehicle.

But you are free to experiment with whatever you like, report back with you results.

4 moto tires mounted on auto is not going to be cheaper than regular auto tires though, and will not last as many miles as regular auto tires.

Seems to me that's just waste of money and looking to fail.