anyone gone to the DarkSide &using car tires

[MODNROD]

Originally Posted by Barnone

One Rocket III had a supercharger and another had a turbo charger as if a stock 2300cc wasn't enough power and here I was on my 125cc Chinese CT70 wannabe harley.

Don't be frightened man! Just ask for a 10sec head start, then tell 'em to put their money on the tank!

[Bronco638]

Disclaimer: I have no experience with car tires on a motorcycle/scooter.

That said, has anyone considered the weight difference? A car tire is going to weigh more, due to its construction, than a motorcycle/scooter tire. That's more un-sprung weight which means your forks/shocks are going to work harder (or be worked above their intended threshold).

I'm inclined to stay with less un-sprung weight and something that's constructed with the bike/scoot in mind. Just my $0.02.

[spotch]

Originally Posted by Bronco638

Disclaimer: I have no experience with car tires on a motorcycle/scooter.

That said, has anyone considered the weight difference? A car tire is going to weigh more, due to its construction, than a motorcycle/scooter tire. That's more un-sprung weight which means your forks/shocks are going to work harder (or be worked above their intended threshold).

I'm inclined to stay with less un-sprung weight and something that's constructed with the bike/scoot in mind. Just my $0.02.

Yeah, me too. I dunno, at $50~ a tire I can't justify swapping to a car tire for longevity reasons.

[honda_silver]

Originally Posted by Bronco638

A car tire is going to weigh more, due to its construction, than a motorcycle/scooter tire. That's more un-sprung weight which means your forks/shocks are going to work harder (or be worked above their intended threshold).

The darkside tire is a radial tire ... not bias ply, therefore the darkside radial tire ends up absorbing the shock versus transmitting through the bias ply tire. Even the passengers have noticed the improvement!

The lower the PSI on the darkside tire, the more shock is absorbed.

[MODNROD]

Originally Posted by spotch

Yeah, me too. I dunno, at $50~ a tire I can't justify swapping to a car tire for longevity reasons.

Yep, I can see that. But for the maxiscoots that weigh lots, rear tyre wear is pretty fast, so I rekn this is one way around the problem.

I'm going to put one on the Vmax, the bias ply tyres make things "interesting" , and as much as that's fun mostly, it would be nice to not slip around everywhere around corners.

On ModernVespa 1 bloke has used one on the back of a 250GTS, coz he's doing 900miles a month commuting , so I rekn that's a good reason.

[Bronco638]

Originally Posted by honda_silver

...The lower the PSI on the darkside tire, the more shock is absorbed.

OK

But, aren't you now putting more heat into the tire due to the lower PSI (to absorb shock)? And, aren't you forgoing some efficiency (i.e. mpg) with the lower pressure?

There's another "dark side" thread with an "under scoot" video. The person that posted the video states the (car) tire is at 40 PSI (so it has some 'crown'). That's 11 PSI more than my rear tire's suggested operating pressure and I would think that would transfer more shock to the scoot, not less.

Maybe I'm not getting it?

[1stscoot]

Local MC writer talked about this recently and made an interesting point: if using a car tire for the rear is so great, why don't they recommend using it in the FRONT also?

[The PacRat]

Originally Posted by 1stscoot

Local MC writer talked about this recently and made an interesting point: if using a car tire for the rear is so great, why don't they recommend using it in the FRONT also?

Funny you should mention that.

Darksiders are also fans of running rear tires on the front (mounted backwards - as far as rotational direction) because they work well, and last longer.

Car tire on the front? Well... that's just stupid.

[cbolling]

[cbolling]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olGqUIqevnQ&feature=fvst

[njd]

Originally Posted by miboso

My thought is, those who wish to, give it a try, then report back on the results

Yeah, let us know from your hospital beds.

[SgtDuster]

[MODNROD]

Originally Posted by njd

Yeah, let us know from your hospital beds.

Now there you go bein' all negative again man.....

[Avocet]

So, if I understand correctly, the main reason people do this is because car tires last longer. In other words, they are willing to increase the risk of riding a motorcycle, which is already risky enough, to save a few bucks.

Of course I'm assuming that car tires don't work as well on a motorcycle as tires specifically designed for motorcycles would work, and by that I mean that they don't handle as well in all conditions as motorcycle tires would, such as when you might have to stop quickly on a wet road while going around a turn.

It seems to me as if the decision to use car tires is alot like making the decision to ride non-ATGATT. It saves money, and as long as you can convince yourself that everything always goes according to plan, and you'll never wish you had a bit of added safety net, you will be happy, right up to the moment you crash. And the fact that you haven't crashed yet doesn't mean you haven't reduced your safety.

I would love to see a magazine or the like pick up on this idea and do some objective comparisons of motorcycle tires and car tires on motorcycles.

[MODNROD]

Originally Posted by Avocet

I would love to see a magazine or the like pick up on this idea and do some objective comparisons of motorcycle tires and car tires on motorcycles.

Yep, me too.

Even better would be a pic of the tyre over on a 25deg angle riding over a clear panel, with the camera under it, so I could SEE that the contact patch is LARGER than a normal MC tyre, rather than just figuring it out via pictures of the tyre from different angles and working out sqr area.......

Still going to try it out though, because the alternative for ME in MY situation with how I RIDE, is paying twice as much for tyres that last 1/10 the time, and only give crap handling while they're at it.