Who is riding with a Darkside tire and what brand

I am on my third Sumitomo Darkside tire ~52,000 miles total

1) The first Sumitomo with ~3,00 miles while taking my daughter to school in the middle right hand turn something put a 3/4" wide gash in the tire and cut the steel cords.

I heard the sound asked my daughter if any of jewelery just made any sound and she said no. I then entered the interstate and traveled at full speed for about 4 miles, then I pulled over.

The Sumitomo tread is deeper than the OEM motorcycle tires. I do not believe the same results with an OEM motorcycle tire, I would have been on the side of the tire and may have had instant air loss while turning.

2) The second Sumitomo lasted about 40,000 miles

3) I am on my third Sumitomo.

That is alot of miles for a tire. I wish my Diablo's got 40,000 miles, but I guess at 10,000 miles I'm kind of lucky since some don't get quite that much. How does the "feel" of a car tire compare to a m/c tire Bill? I wonder why they couldn't make a m/c tire like a car tire in terms of getting more miles on one before having to change them.

JeffR_ wrote:

How does the "feel" of a car tire compare to a m/c tire

You should be very careful with any new tire for for the first 200-300 miles till both the center and side scrubs off the mold compound especially when wet

I found there are two differences for a car tire
1) In a tire, if you stop (or let up on the counter-steering) the car tire will try to straighten up ( does not happen on OEM tires ). If you keep counter-steering pressure, the Silverwing will maintain it's angle. If you want to lean more, push/pull counter-steering will cause it lean even more.

It took me about 20 minutes to get use to the difference ... then I could not not any difference.

With higher tire pressure, I find the counter-steering will even respond quicker. So if I am going on a mountainous winding ride, I will raise the tire pressure. Otherwise most of the time I ride with lower tire pressure, which allows the tire be more shock absorbent.

2) On a worn road, where the road either compressed or raised causing an undesigned crown that may shift or move in the lane position. If you let the Silverwing with the car tire to just drive over it with no handlebar input, the car tire will try to straighten itself up. If you are not prepared, the straightening effect could surprise you.

On a worn road, I counter-steer to the right then counter-steer to the left like a long slow swerving until I past the worn road. The Silverwing with the car tire will crisscross over the crown without any problem and the car tire will not try to straighten up. The Silverwing will handle exactly as you expect through the counter steering.

I will do this maneuver even when the crown is short length, to ensure no surprises or effect.

That is the only difference I have found ... the benefits I will leave to another thread.

JeffR_ wrote:

I wonder why they couldn't make a m/c tire like a car tire in terms of getting more miles on one before having to change them.

As I recall the original tread depth of a new OEM was 3/16". The starting tread depth of a new Sumitomo tire was 9/16". If they tripled the tread depth (same identical rubber just more rubber) ... then you would get about 30,00 miles on the Diablo's.

If the tire companies tripled the tread depth allowing you to replace your tires only 1/3 of the time ... the tire company would 2/3 of their motorcycle tire business. So there is zero incentive to change.

When someone says a motorcycle can't turn with a car tire on the rear.... refer them to this video of my friend from another forum who is on the race track with a car tire on the back of his Goldwing. Both bikes in the video are running a ct.

Goldwing on the track

With moderator's hat on:

For heaven's sake, Larry!

You are perpetuating the unwinnable (for either side) argument.
Confine yourself to one thread on the subject for the sake of peace and harmony.

I am not trying to win anything. I am sharing my experience. I would rather try to change a democrat to a republican.

If they don't want to read my posts.... then fine, tell them to skip em. My subject matter pertains to the OP.

Sorry, but that is what this post is about. Nothing offensive in my post.

IF THEY DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT IT, THEN DON,T. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS WHO DO.

PERIOD.

Indeed, but do you have to keep banging on about it?
As I said, anyone can trawl through the multitude of threads on the same subject to see your opinions.
You may not see what you're doing as offensive but others do and it's about time you took the hint and desisted and considered the feelings of others.

I find it hard to understand how a darksider posting in a darkside thread is offensive, but a naysayer can post in a darkside post and not think it offensive to the post at hand.
I don't run a car tire on my scooter so perhaps I am out of place to even make a post hear. I hope my post is not offensive to anyone.

This may be off-topic.

I briefly glanced at a m/c magazine article about "dark siding" on a motorcycle. The had, I believe, 5 different groups chiming in on this. I think they were safety groups, riding professionals etc. and none of them seemed to think it was safe to do this. I don't care one way or the other, since I'm content with my scooter tire, but they said the tire is part of the suspension and all. I will try to find where I just came across this link. It was probably on another forum.

So I guess this confirms that John Grinsel and Bigbird are 100% correct. (I sure hope this doesn't start a fight now).

The offence is not in the subject but in the utter disregard for the feelings of others; as I said earlier, banging on constantly about a subject which has obviously caused dissent and upset is offensive and, it seems to me, now merely done so to prolong conflict.

In other circumstances it would be called 'spamming' and on other forums, deleted without notice or explanation.

There - I've spelt it out!

I banged nothing nor did I make anyone do anything.

I brought information to a thread that pertains to the original poster. You have it wrong. The people who want this information should not have to "hide in a private thread" in order to share information.

I brought a very interesting video to the thread. People who say that a motorcycle can't turn should view it.

I am an instigator? Then why is it that people who can't even run one due to their lawmakers have the right to attack the folks who are interested in sharing this information.

Note: This using a car tire on a motorcycle has been going on for 50 years. It is not going away. So why not let the people who are doing it share information without being harassed.

The same negative posters shoot wise cracks at many things on this forum. Posting should be about experience or helpful information... not wise cracks. Cute, funny but the least bit helpful to anyone.

Since the darksiders react to them... they get chastised for "arguing."

I don't wonder why people don't hang around this forum..... except for the known wise crackers who encourage each other.

MikeO wrote:

The offence is not in the subject but in the utter disregard for the feelings of others; as I said earlier, banging on constantly about a subject which has obviously caused dissent and upset is offensive and, it seems to me, now merely done so to prolong conflict.

In other circumstances it would be called 'spamming' and on other forums, deleted without notice or explanation.

There - I've spelt it out!

Feelings? are you kidding me? Read backwards before you make that statement. These same folks have been attacking me ever since I logged on this forum and mentioned that I am a darksider.

WHAT ABOUT MY FEELINGS. i AM IN A THREAD THAT PERTAINS TO THE SUBJECT MATTER.

One is reminded of the child who, even though warned of the dangers, went on poking the hornets' nest with a stick and was upset when they came out and stung him.

Sorry your feelings have been hurt - it's what happens. Life can be a bitch.

You mentioned feelings. As a site administrator, you might want to curb your zeal on jumping on fellow members backs because the think differently.

tinman

Hercules Raptis TR1 155 70 13

I now have over 1K riding my 155 70 13 DS tire . I saw no difference in the way my MC tire handles.Tracks the same,same counter steering , did 40 klph posted multipal S curves at 90 klph, just like I did with my MC tire. I believe that my choice of a 155 70 13 is about as close to 150 70 13 that was on before. The pics on my album shows the similarity to a MC tire.

I am still interested in Darksider comments and really interested in the exact model everyone has.

I have noticed that some car tires seem more rounded at the edges and others more square. Any comparisons on handling?

Also, is anyone using a snow tire or tire with deeper tread? I sometimes hit grass which is too slippery for my (now bald) Diablo... but most of the time I spend on the highway or 45 mph curvy road.