UK Darkside Experience

Hello,

Just wanted to encourage everybody riding Silverwings to give a go and “join the Darkside”

I want to dismiss all arguments around this subject – it was said enough already!

When it is time to change your rear tire again ( and it happens every 8 months for me! ) call your local motorcycle service and ask will they put car tire on the scooter rim. Call your local tire dealers and ask about how many tires size 155/70-13 they have in stock. Pop in, choose the tire you like or the tire with rounder edges ( I got Admiral 102 155/70-R13 ) , avoid “flat run tires” . Pay around £25 for the tire, ride to the motorcycle service, remove scooter tire ( around 10-15 minutes! ), let surprised mechanic ( “ Are you joking!!!” remove old scooter tire and EASY put car tire on, pay £10 for tire swap, later expect mechanic and a few guy from shop visit you when you are putting rear tire back to have a look “how does it look” … ride it back home VERY CAREFULLY (because you know you have got CAR TIRE on the back! and forget about it next day !!! Lol

Ride it for a week and I can guarantee you will NOT regret nor REMEMBER you have car tire!
If you find you FEEL insecure riding a scooter with car tire after a week … WELL … gave up riding at all :D or buy scooter tire for £50-60, remove the tire and put scooter tire back on.

You will only loose £35 and an hour of your day off BUT … you will have VERY STRONG argument against ALL darksiders!!!

But till then all your arguments, Gentlemen, against darksiding is just f***ing bull***t – you have not tried it and you have not got a clue what are you talking about!

It handles great on wet or dry! Just stop arguing about it and give it a got!

God bless you brothers … and sisters!

x

Apart from being illegal to fit in the UK!

Methinks I will remain ignorant of venturing to the darkside.

No Darkside for me either. Saftey comes first, and there isn't a motorcycle or tire manufacturer that condones this practice. Not willing to bet my life on saving a few bucks (or Pounds).

GaryL wrote:

No Darkside for me either. Saftey comes first, and there isn't a motorcycle or tire manufacturer that condones this practice. Not willing to bet my life on saving a few bucks (or Pounds).

+1

Most of us Darksiders here in the US are using a 165/70 r13 on the back, I personally have ridden over 24,000 miles on mine and will probably get close to 32,000 before I need to change tires.

If I changed my underpants every 8 months instead, would that be Darksiding too ?

x

Meldrew wrote:

If I changed my underpants every 8 months instead, would that be Darksiding too ?

Being in the UK, I think it's better to be called "Cadbury Boosting" or perahps "riding the Cadbury Egg." LOL

metallic_lt wrote:

Just wanted to encourage everybody riding Silverwings to give a go and “join the Darkside”

Have you had it MOT inspected??

honda_silver wrote:

metallic_lt wrote:

Just wanted to encourage everybody riding Silverwings to give a go and “join the Darkside”

Have you had it MOT inspected??

Doubtful as a car tyre on a motorcycle/Scooter is a FAIL!

Just another example - and there are no shortage of such examples everywhere you might care to look - of people digging in their heels about being right or being wrong. What nonsense, here, as wherever else it occurs.
And the universally applicable rule in all such examples is that no amount of information or experience or facts will be likely to change anyone's mind.
After all, everyone's sure they're right. Ridiculous.

Instead of all this "I've gone over to the Darkside" crap, just say "I've fitted a car tyre".

Here is a John Grinsel comment on car tires on bike/scooter=really stupid idea. beads and rims car to bike are different.

Accidents ain't cheap----SilverWing is for sure safer with stock tire setup. Think accident avoidance! I believe Motorcyclist Magazine has comments to back me up.

Meldrew wrote:

Instead of all this "I've gone over to the Darkside" crap, just say "I've fitted a car tyre".

Where's the drama in that? At least this evokes a grand cinematic reference.

Meldrew wrote:

Instead of all this "I've gone over to the Darkside" crap, just say "I've fitted a car tyre".

The Darkside title existed long before the SilverWing. So the Darkside forums ( for example http://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com ) and information ( for example http://lifeisaroad.com/stories/2004/10/27/theDarkSide.html ).

Maybe you could ask all the internet members to rename everything for you.

That's a good idea so I'll start with you, please correct your signature from 'Dark-Side Sumimoto Tire' to what it actually is, a 'Sumimoto Car Tire'.

My DARK SIDE tire was a mitchlin, what do i call it??????

DARKSIDE FORUM is its name.

This is from the BRIDGESTONE CAR TIRE FORUM :::::

2006 Suzuki Burgman 650
Burg_rider on Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:32 am


.Hey everyone, I just found this site today. I've put on a Bridgestone Potenza RE92 165/65/R14 on my bike and only have about about 5000 km so far, but i gotta say, I love it. There's quite a few Darksiders on the Burgman Forum (http://www.burgmanusa.com/) with some spirited discussion both ways. Here's some issues though that I have, check the pics and it'll be apparent. I've since repaired the problem, and it won't detract me from using a CT on my ride.

Meldrew wrote:

That's a good idea so I'll start with you, please correct your signature from 'Dark-Side Sumimoto Tire' to what it actually is, a 'Sumimoto Car Tire'.

Right after you get the whole world to agree ....

So what's the legal situation in the UK for a Silver Wing rider who has a car tyre fitted to his rear wheel ? Does he inform his insurance company of his intentions beforehand, after getting a suitable tyre fitted, or does he say nothing ? Will his insurance company still provide or refuse him cover after being informed of the new rear car tyre.

Does using this tyre invalidate the Honda Warranty, leave the rider open to Police prosecution if noticed at a roadside check or if he's involved in an accident regardless of whether it's his fault or not ? You have to inform your insurance company if you're involved in accident, or being your charged with a motoring offence.

If you haven't informed your insurance company of your tyre choice, and this fact is presented to them by accident statements, or the Police, the insurance company will quite correctly declare your cover invalid because you fitted a non standard tyre and didn't tell them.

What about the mechanic who does your annual MOT ? will he only see what looks like a car tyre on your rear wheel, it may have plenty of tread, be undamaged, and the wheel balanced, but it's not a bike tyre and he'll probably fail it.

My heart sank when I saw the title of the thread; is it beyond the power of homo sapiens to find one of the many threads on the same subject and add to it rather than starting yet another, one that was bound to start another argument?
Time to start another thread on full-face v. open-face helmets, perhaps.

Edited for spelling

I agree , Darksiding divides opinions like the constant full face v open face helmet debate, but let's find out how we stand legally in the UK. The legal side never gets much of a mention from anyone who's fitted a car tyre to the rear wheel.

Any UK riders care to enlighten us ?

Well, having just checked the MoT testers manual on the Gov.uk VOSA website they have just added car tyres can be used. - On sidecars and tricycle combinations.

Otherwise - no for car tyres fitted to motorcycles including scooters.

Waspie wrote:

Well, having just checked the MoT testers manual on the Gov.uk VOSA website they have just added car tyres can be used. - On sidecars and tricycle combinations.

Otherwise - no for car tyres fitted to motorcycles including scooters.

Pretty definitive, I suggest

The damn knuckle dragging trogladites! Don't they understand how much safer "darksiding" is?

I mean it has a cool name and even though there is no real objective empirical evidence... It has a cool name.

The cool name works for me!!!

I agree that Darksiding is a rather cool name, it's also used in the UK by trad scooter riders that have gone over to the Dark Side by riding a modern auto scooter. So those guys think they're Darkside dudes too.

I bet you none of our American friends are into Dwile Flonking !

Waspie wrote:

Well, having just checked the MoT testers manual on the Gov.uk VOSA website they have just added car tyres can be used. - On sidecars and tricycle combinations

Great news!!!

Sidecars can be attached and detached

Plus there are various trike combinations ( http://trikealternatives.com http://www.landingear.com/ )

honda_silver wrote:

Great news!!! Sidecars can be attached and detached

I'm not sure what you mean by your quote.

Do you really think a UK Silver Wing rider who wants to play Darksider would purchase a sidecar and all the necessary fittings, have the tupperware cut to allow the sidecar to be attatched, and get the sidecar set up to allow for the camber of our roads. Then learn the riding techniques of a sidecar oufit which are completely different to solo riding, and hopefully ride it home without crashing it. Then remove the sidecar at home and ride normally.

Would anyone really go to all that expense and bother just to run a car tyre that's a bit cheaper and gives better mileage than a OE Bridgestone. Then when the annual MOT is due, attatch the sidecar again, and wobble off to get the car tyre through the MOT inspection ?

Meldrew.. Dwile Flonking hasn't caught on here yet but there is a movement to invite the Britannia Coco-Nutters Bacup group here for our summer festival.

No wonder yall don't carry guns... Where would you strap the holster? .

I have got to add a visit to the UK to my bucket list.

Meldrew wrote:

I bet you none of our American friends are into Dwile Flonking !

I would certainly hope not, after all this is the 21st Century you know!

Opalsboy wrote:

I have got to add a visit to the UK to my bucket list.

If you make it over, you'll need a bigger map in your sig!

Meldrew wrote:

I agree that Darksiding is a rather cool name, it's also used in the UK by trad scooter riders that have gone over to the Dark Side by riding a modern auto scooter. So those guys think they're Darkside dudes too.

snip...

It's also used by the Star Wars group (I've never seen any of the movies either).

I actually don't think it's such a cool name. I do think it is a rather "Walter Mitty-ish" name.

Just because something is called by a different noun doesn't make it right. Do I actually disagree with using a car tire on a motorcycle because of semantics and grammar? No, but it does bother me enough to pen this screed as I sit here with my new kicks.

john grinsel wrote:

Here is a John Grinsel comment on car tires on bike/scooter=really stupid idea. beads and rims car to bike are different.

I was wondering this after starting to read the thread. I cannot recall the depth of the rims on the scoot wheels, but they are different to a car rim.

I guess the fit is adequate enough for the guys running car tyres on the scoots, I am sure they would soon notice pressure loss or feel any flex?

My take, based on absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of using a car tyre, (lack of knowledge has never stopped me in the past!!) is that US and UK usage may well vary because of the road type.

I know that if I crank a bike, any bike, over hard, I want to be certain it'll keep on gripping in a smooth and flowing form, and to me, a rounded profile will always achieve this better.

Some of us here will be old enough to remember TT100's, a truly horrible tyre that was totally outclassed in the mid-70's as the new style of sports road tyres came about. the worst thing about it was the weird profile, almost a wedge. Ugh!!

steveR wrote:

Some of us here will be old enough to remember TT100's, a truly horrible tyre that was totally outclassed in the mid-70's as the new style of sports road tyres came about. the worst thing about it was the weird profile, almost a wedge. Ugh!!

I remember Dunlop TT100's back in the 70's, along with Avon Roadrunners they were usually the tyres of choice when replacing the OE Bridgestone tyres fitted to all Japanese motorcycles back then. The Bridgestones weren't particularly grippy especially in the wet, and most of us riding round on L plates on 250cc two-strokes weren't very skilled riders either, we just thought we were. So a set of TT100's gave you a bit of street cred with your mates, and they were usually bought mail-order from Smart Tyres in Liverpool via an ad in MCN.

Fitting them involved a lot of swearing, sweating, straining and grazed knuckles as the tyre levers were wielded to get the old tyre off, and then hoping the inner tube wasn't pinched as you installed the new tyre on the now rather battered rim. I can't remember anything more than a cursory attempt to balance the wheels either.

I was thinking about 1970's tyres last Friday as I looked at a pristine 70's Suzuki GT 750 "Kettle", and 7equally tidy 70's Kawasaki Z900 on display in the windows of a trendy clothes shop in the Queen's Arcade in Leeds city centre. A close inspectioon revealed neither bike had TT100's or Road Runners fitted, they had the correct period Bridgestone tyres.

By the way... How would I know if I had ever had my "dwile flonked"; or if I had ever been in on a "dwile flonking"

Dwile Flonking or Dwile Flunking is a traditional English thing, just like Morris Dancing, Conkers, Gurning, and Shin Kicking.

im glad u tried the darkside metallic it....i have had my D.S. for a while now and simply love it.

Been a darksider on my Goldwing for 13000 miles and will replace that car tire with another, but I have to wait another 17,000 miles before I do because I just can't wear it out, damn it.

I will be going darkside on the Silverwing as soon as I wear the rear tire out on mine. Folks, the insurance company doesn't care if it is a car tire or not........ because tires are not designated that way. They are rated for speed and weight, period. If it fits, it works.

All you naysayers, I like you regardless. Would you please go start another oil thread so you have something to contribute that you have experience with. That is, if your motorcycle uses oil.

The Insurance companies in the UK, the 6th most densely-populated country in the world, do care if it's a car tyre or not, as does the Law.

It's not a question of 'naysayers' - it's illegal!

MikeO wrote:

The Insurance companies in the UK, the 6th most densely-populated country in the world, do care if it's a car tyre or not, as does the Law.

It's not a question of 'naysayers' - it's illegal!

Well I am ignorant of the UK law. It would be helpful to post some links to the court decisions or articles where someone lost a case involving a car tire mounted on a motorcycle. It doesn't exist here in the USA.

Indeed but I was trying to remind members that there is life outside the USA and since the title of this thread is 'UK Darkside Experience', what you do or what is legal in the States is rather off-topic.

As for UK/European Laws, a visit to Google will undoubtedly answer your desire to find out the Rules and Regulations.

x

bigbird wrote:

Mike, this pissing contest will go nowhere.
You have the tunnel between England and France.
Larry just has Seattle tunnel........vision.

Excellent point, sir.

The forum removes time and distance between the members, thereby everyone is "just next door." It improves our ability to communicate with like minded subjects, but in fact, as humans we are used to talking to our neighbors.

I like Seattle. I don't think I will take my darksided motorcycle to the UK ever. So, I am going to release this thread from any more of my postings and ranting.

I will just ride my darksided motorcycle and enjoy all of the benefits of being here in Seattle.

Ride safe, ya all.

larryinseattle wrote:

MikeO wrote:

The Insurance companies in the UK, the 6th most densely-populated country in the world, do care if it's a car tyre or not, as does the Law.

It's not a question of 'naysayers' - it's illegal!

Well I am ignorant of the UK law. It would be helpful topost some links to the court decisions or articles where someone lost a case involving a car tire mounted on a motorcycle. It doesn't exist here in the USA.

My Bold.

Why - it's illegal in the UK what is so difficult to understand. The Thread title actually states UK.

Yes, bigbird, but larry seems to be unable to grasp that first, the whole world is not subject to the laws of the USA which, incidentally, vary from state to state and second, that any mention in this thread of experiences outside the UK of using car tyres on bikes is a complete waste of time - there are other threads which discuss the merits or not of doing so.

MikeO wrote:

Yes, bigbird, but larry seems to be unable to grasp that first, the whole world is not subject to the laws of the USA which, incidentally, vary from state to state and second, that any mention in this thread of experiences outside the UK of using car tyres on bikes is a complete waste of time - there are other threads which discuss the merits or not of doing so.

Oh, I understand forum language. I already acknowledged that I posted and was not in UK. I understand the whole deal. My apologies. Keep it friendly as honey collects more bees.

to Larry......i just hate it when my darkside just wont wear out....i know how u feel.....as far as insurance companies go.....we have a mutual understanding....they dont ask and i dont tell.....to OUR BROTHERs IN THE U.K......ive been to about half the euro countries and i think europe has the states beat in almost every way except insurance companies.....Oh....except for Lloyds of London.

In europe beer is just another possible breakfast food group(germans are right).....in the usa, beer for breakfast means your an alchoholic.....I just GET TIRED of having breakfast IN THE CLOSET :-)....whats more....I luv paying money to use a public toilet when im in europe.....
SERIOUSLY, If i could hop a trein from england to amsterdam(under the sea)....get baked and laid and still be home in time for TEA.....well....THATS IT....IM MOVING...you guys get a flat ready for me.......