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Darkside

8K views 34 replies 14 participants last post by  Stuntman 
#1 ·
Been doing a bit of reading lately about going darkside. I think when I replace my rear tire this year I might try out a car tire. Just curious if there's any darkside riders on here?


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#2 ·
There are several of us here who embrace the darkside, and many who don't, and the discussions get a bit heated. Some say will surely die if you go darkside, while others have put tens thousands of miles their car tire with incredible results. Darkside tires don't work for everyone in every situation, but for some of us like me, it is the best option.

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#7 ·
The DS is not for everyone and every bike but the liners avg 6-9K on the rear so that was three rears a year, running Avons.
That was $800.00 a year, after the first year I went to a General 215-60-17 and would never do that again, loved it 75% of the time, tolareted it 15% and hated it 10%, after it wore down I put a 205 on and and am quite happy with it.
Remember this is on a Roadliner and I ride 20-over30K a year so it's out of necessity, I wore out one new tire in one month, I also run a Pilot Activ rear tire on the front for mileage.
Unless you ride a whole lot of miles a year there is no reason to go DS, especally on an 1100.
Jim
 
#8 · (Edited)
Unless you ride a whole lot of miles a year there is no reason to go DS, especally on an 1100.
Jim
Why not? Where I live (Hoosier state), it makes great sense. The OP is from Iowa, and I think his riding would be similar to mine?? We have some challenging roads, with gooves, pot holes, sand, rain, tar snakes, grass and various other obstacles, and the car tire handles them with ease, much more so than the mt (in my opinion). Have you ever hit your front brake on a road with a surprise patch of sand on it? Not fun, so we sometimes rely on the back brake a little more in that situation, and the car tire is MUCH more stable in the event of a slide. Then, for those brave enough to weather the cold, there is sometimes the chance of a surprise freezing mist or flurry on occasion. If I get caught in one of those, I will be glad to have the ct under me. It won't help the front much, but it will help in acceleration, braking, and stability. For mountainous regions, I would not recommend it; choose another option. But even though someone does not ride a million miles a year, it can still be benificial.
 
#9 ·
I'm definitely not putting 30k a year on my bike, as I'm really only able to ride 8 months out of the year. But I do like saving money as much as anyone, and the added stability would be a definite bonus.

Roads around here get messed up within one season of them paving due to our winters. Going down the highway bikes love to follow those tar snakes, and from what I've been told a CT is significantly less prone to act that way.
 
#17 ·
I've seen where there is a BF Goodwrench tire in the 195/65 16 that works. With the side wall flexing it's just a different ride that you adjust to after a few hundred miles. Of course that's true of putting any new tire on a bike.
 
#19 ·
#22 ·
I got less than 5500 on my rear tire on my stratoliner. Likely quite a bit less due to the inaccuracy of the speedo which is all too common. So today I put on a General Altimax HP car tire and after the first ride on hwy 74 in Oregon. I'm never looking back. In fact if I didn't install the thing myself I wouldn't have known as far as the handling is concerned. I'm 6'5" and 295. I make the big cruiser look small but it sure hauls my ass around nicely. It's a 215/60/17 running 42 lbs. and what do ya know.... The speedo is finally correct with GPS.

I did shave down the excess 1/4 inch of fender bolts that stick through on the inside. Not sure if I really needed to but I wasn't in the mood to take it all back out again if in fact I did. The rest of the fender was fine. The closest rub point is the inner plastic shield surrounding the belt but it too misses.

The next step was to see if it would rub with the suspension compressed so who better to ask then my dad who is 6'4" and 285. So the most comical part of the whole affair was the two of us bouncing up and down in unison as we rolled it around the shop floor. With no issues there it was road test time. Taking it easy at first but eventually rubbing floorboards in the corners. I'm sold.


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#25 ·
My 1300 isn't a sports bike so no problem.
It seems a little slower to lean but for me it's like fine tuning.
I like it.
It don't fall in to a turn, it easys in and I feel like I have more control.:rolleyes:

After a day or so you don't even notice it except on large bumps where it eats them up.:p
That's my $.02.
 
#26 ·
I'm not trying to sway anyone's decision to go ds or not so I will give one pro and one con I've noticed with mine. Pro: I've noticed that the bike feels much more stable on grooved pavement. No loose feeling in the rear. Con: I feel slightly more vibration when accelerating out of a corner but only at low rpms. Like 2200 or under. Above that there is no noticeable differences that when I had the ct. As far as cornering itself and grip through the turn I personally can't tell any difference.

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#28 ·
I'm running a General Altima 195-65x15 on my 04 1100 classic and love it. Took a little bit to get used to at first but i don't think I'll ever go back. Cornering and or acceleration. or braking no problems. In fact all seems more stable to me. And after getting caught in probably the worst rain storm I have ever driven in, car or bike, I was even more impressed with handling on wet roads. In fact we ran through a puddle at least 10" deep that blew my feet off floor boards and I couldn't put them back down till we got through it. The bike never quivered, slid or shook at all. Ran straight through it for about 30 or 40 feet. Didn't even see it. I was very glad to have had it on back there. And I live in mountain area and hit twisties all the time and never a problem. Handles them with ease. Also never heard of catastrophic failure on ct on bike. Happens to motorcycle tires occasionally though. So good luck to those who try and keep the shiny side up.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Got to chime in.....not trying to convince you or anyone one way or the other. Lots of guys at work go Dark is how I found out. I am now on the second Car Tire. First one got me almost 30,000 before looking worn. Went to 34,000 and I saw the tire changing colors in the middle (too far). It was a Pirelli P6 215/55R/17 for a Stratoliner '09. This tire still looks brand new at 5000 miles (my second Car Tire). It is a Good Year Assurance. The only thing at all that I noticed when I first changed to the Dark Side, is that when an uneven crack is driven over, it waits until the last part of the tire comes off of it before it drops to the lower part of concrete. Was different at first, not scary, now it seems normal and would not go back to M/T for anything. I especially like spraying those cars like they do me in the rain, C/Ts push the water away so much better. I have not found this to be true, but I would imagine since you have more rubber on the road, and the same weight across more rubber, that it would be less traction......I have not found that to be the case, still mesmerizes me :) Maybe because the Stratoliner is 1000 lbs with my fat butt on it. Going with a Michelin Pilot Active rear motorcycle tire spinning backwards on the front wheel (another story....I am a renegade). Actually it gives me the lift from scrapping floor boards (yes I ride hard on that C/T) and more mileage as well.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Last Friday got into a punching match with a Sonata, and the next day I saw this (very last part of the video of front tire). I do not know if it was the wreck or cupping (you can tell the tire is badly worn from cupping). I ran this one the manufacturer instructed direction, and wanted to try the backward approach as I was told when I bought this one, just couldn't bring myself to do it back then ;) I actually got a few more miles than I was getting with first two front tires, so I am sticking with the same rear tire on the front again this go round, just trying it backwards rotation. I haven't done it yet.....was that guy pulling our leg back then? I got a few days to research, since I don't have a spare and want to run that one again (handled well, and lots of mileage, plus lifted me up a bit to compensate for added tallness of rear C/T). My boards don't scrape unless two up.

Larry.....
Only the front tire is going to run backwards. It is a Michelin Pilot Active (a rear motorcycle tire that will fit on the front wheel of my bike).
 
#34 ·
If I may defer the topic slightly...on the subject of running a tire backwards. When you look at the thread design and pattern of the swipes of a MT, everyone on the front is backwards compared to any other tire on any other type of vehicle. Including the rears on the same bike. Why is that? Just something I have always noticed and wondered.
 
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