Darkside Tire Q & A

First topic message reminder :

With more than 3k on my 03 Silver Wing's Sumitomo HTRT4 radial tire Including a 2238 mi 16-day trip in October), I am able to answer some of the many questions I had before purchasing/installing my "darkside" tire:
1) Does it ride/drive differently? Yes! The ONE MAIN DIFFERENCE you will have to get used to is the FLEXIBLE SIDEWALL REAR TIRE. It is very smooth, grips wonderfully and handles well. HOWEVER, you have to be more "upright" about your riding due to the flexible sidewalls.
2) How does it handle in the rain? Excellent! It has a MUCH bigger footprint and disperses water well, thus maintaining an overall BIGGER contact patch.
3) How much air pressure should I run? If it's just you aboard, try 28 - 30. If touring with a load, 30-32. Any more than that and (in my opinion) the tire gets "squirrely".
4) The tire fits the existing rim OK? Well, yes and no. My mechanic got the tire onto the rim OK, but couldn't get it to seat. So, he put a tube inside, ran it up to about 50 pounds, deflated it, took the tube out and VOILA! the tire finally did seat on the Honda rim. HOWEVER - it seeped air about a pound a day. So, I put 40 lbs in it and ran a 16-mile interstate trip (and back) at 80+ mph, heating the tire up and letting centrifugal force do its thing. Tire seated wonderfully and holds air now.
5) Can you scrape the pegs on the mountain twisties? NO!! Remember, your tire tread is "squared off" at the edges. You risk running on the "crown" of the tread edge - a dangerous proposition in anyone's book - little or no grip or handling. [b]YOUR RIDING MUST BE MORE CONSERVATIVE AND MORE "UPRIGHT" TO RIDE SAFELY!
6) Main benefits: Wider contact patch (better braking), flexible sidewall (much smoother ride), tire longevity (40k+).
7) Main drawbacks: Harder to install, flexible sidewalls mean more conservative/upright riding.
If you have more questions, plz email me at: RMLSOTMHG@CHARTER.NET

Thank you moderator for cleaning up this thread.

I will post again on this thread when I have my new tire mounted on my Swing to offer other forum members my experience on this particular tire.

I apologize to anyone who took offense to my defending myself here. I am relatively new to this forum, but not to motorcycle forums.

Larry and Bigbird both need to calm down.

Larry, you took this waaay to personally, got indignant, and stooped to name calling. We are friendly around here, and we joke. You need to have a thicker skin than to let one smartass remark set you off like that. Not cool. For the record, we have lots of know-it-alls here, in different subjects, including me, and I'm a MODERATOR. The reason we get that way is from learning it all, and we are a great resource, as is the rest of the family on this board. The know-it-all you burn a bridge with today could be the one you need to solve your problem tomorrow. You could have politely said, "I've read this thread and understand your position and reasoning and I choose to try darksideing anyway. Please respect my choice and don't interfere with my learning more about ways to do it." In other words you could have stated your position without an attack. Learn this for the future and we mods will be happy.


BigBird, you made your point back in January/February.
When this thread was restarted it is reasonable to assume that Larry reread the entire thread, including your opinions. His first post in it was reasonable and to the point.
You made a dig. Nothing wrong with that.... Once.
(You only did it once. I acknowledge that.)
But you are a senior member here, and know better than to let someone set you off to the point you ended up. You're better than that.
Just an off day for you I guess.
We mods try to stay out of most of this because it tends to sort itself out, but if you have a problem like that, report the post and let us handle it. Don't sink the level of a newbie. They need a little time and experience to settle in to our family.

I answered him in kind. Forgive me for sticking up for myself. Let it be said that he won't make my Christmas list.

I reopened an old thread that has plenty of controversy in it. The title of the thread speaks for its self. It was hijacked on several occasions by the naysayers. I asked for very specific information and asked that the debate of car tires not be regurgitated.

You are right. It is pretty easy to sit behind a computer screen and pop off snide remarks. Big Bird is a big boy. He dishes it, he can take it, or can he?

I didn't start a fight but I don't walk around with a mattress tied to my back. I am a motorcyclist and I have seen this type of garbage in the past on other forums and particularly in the first 50% of this thread.

I am not sure what the culture is here. I am still trying to decide if I want to participate here or not. This was not a good welcome, and as far as I am concerned, didn't end up all that well.

I will take some time off from posting here again. I am leaving Dec. 6th on a 6500+ mile round trip on my Goldwing (with a car tire on the back) from Seattle, to LA, Phoenix, El Paso, San Antonio, New Orleans and then back to Dallas and on my way home through LA again. I won't be back here until the first of the year, if at all.

I got the information I wanted and a few lessons on how this forum works. As far as I can tell, the first cheap shot should be expected.

[Moderator removed line]

larryinseattle wrote:

I am leaving Dec. 6th on a 6500+ mile round trip on my Goldwing (with a car tire on the back) from Seattle, to LA, Phoenix, El Paso, San Antonio, New Orleans and then back to Dallas and on my way home through LA again. I won't be back here until the first of the year, if at all.

Please open another thread ... I would have some questions and would be interested in your travel reports.