Car tire on motorcycles - an opinion

[blowndodge]

OK! I just know of no one that has gone to the darkside without hearing the pros and cons of it. Most of us know that the "cons" are almost exclusively from riders that have never tried it. All that have a car tire have heard the quoted material posted in the beginning thread. Nothing new we haven't heard before from the naysayers.... Too much positive information out there from darksiders with substantial mileage experience to dismiss.

[lonewolf]

+1

[Kawhead]

I have to say thanks again CJ for "Dropping the Baby Ruth in the punch bowl" Because it causes folks to think about what they're doing, which is a big part of riding motorcycles and why I love riding so much.

Me on the Darkside personally, I got use to the different feel within the first eight or so miles. I am comfortable and very secure and wished I had done it a long time ago. I researched and talked it over with people and formed my own conclusions. That's they way I put the idea out there, 'cause your on a two wheeled 800 lb bike and may have your wife or somebody you care about on the back of it.

As for the "experts", I'm glad they say don't do it. It adds to the feeling of me pushing the envelope. And that bunch of idiot "Fair Weather Riders" that I go to work with every day, thanks so much for you whiny arse opinion(s) to! That's the reason I went right the h*ck out there and done this so quickly. I've been in chicken house before and it just didn't compare to the clucking and screaming that these guys were carrying on once I showed them my CT on the Nomad.

The experts are really Paublo, macmac, and a few others who have ridden these things for a long time. Blowndodge is an expert to, I don't want to leave him out and make him angry 'cause he can at times be quite scathing. :-/

[blowndodge]

To answer the question on why sportbikes don't use them.

GROUND CLEARANCE.... the ground clearance of the Nomad doesn't allow the bike to lean over very far before the floor boards hit.

Sport bikes like Ducati's 1098 are very narrow and have almost limitless ground clearance so their turning ability to lean over is almost twice the Nomads.

Bottom Point: If your pegs touch or floorboards hit substantially before you've reached the outer edge of your car tire then you don't have to worry about "going over the edge"

[Kawhead]

Originally Posted by Blowndodge "Darksider"

To answer the question on why sportbikes don't use them.

GROUND CLEARANCE.... the ground clearance of the Nomad doesn't allow the bike to lean over very far before the floor boards hit.

Sport bikes like Ducati's 1098 are very narrow and have almost limitless ground clearance so their turning ability to lean over is almost twice the Nomads.

Bottom Point: If your pegs touch or floorboards hit substantially before you've reached the outer edge of your car tire then you don't have to worry about "going over the edge"

Yeah, that's another point, if you find yourself leaning the Nomad over so far that you run off the CT treads, you are having more problems than just running out of tread.

[strobe]

The most important thing is if you are thinking of trying it out, do the research. Like BD said there is a lot of guys with a lot of miles out there, and they can't be dismissed like some people do, but it may not be for everyone, read the many thread here and on other boards as well before you jump in IMHO.

[dogdoc]

i recently viewed a video on you tube of a CT on a cruiser. the guy mounted a video camera under the bike and aimed it rearward at the CT. then he drove the bike straightways and curves. When that bikes goes into curves and Im not talking about Dan type of curves, just reg curves(turns) that CT cocks up on that edge and you've only got a strip of rubber about 1 inch wide touching the ground. It appeared very unstable too. only when going straight do you get the full width down. thats enough to make up my decision.

of course all opinions will and do vary. ;-)

[dkdixie]

What do you think Doc?

An inch of contact surface?

[cactusjack]

Mr. rear tire cam may have had 60 PSI in that car tire, too.

[dogdoc]

Yep.

[strobe]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

Mr. rear tire cam may have had 60 PSI in that car tire, too.

First thing I thought too.... unless it is disclosed what all the settings are it is hard to determine the truth of that test.

[blowndodge]

There's a website where I guy had something on his tires to leave an impression marked on the ground and during a turn, the car tire still had twice the contact patch of the motorcycle tire. He even wrote he woudn't have believed it until he saw it!

[strobe]

I like this picture on the BTK site:

http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/fo...r-bikes-8.html

Scroll down to the post by kin52 and click on the attached thumbnail, and look at the contact of that tire even in the curve.

[macmac]

I can drag my boards and feel real stable at the same time. and to me more stable than I ever did on a brick or metz..

While I have no idea what psi is in the photo, I sure didn't like 40 psi making the rear over active, so I highly doubt that rider has more than 42 psi, and I have my doubts it is that much.

As to feel it is more like you are magneticly glued to the corner.

NH has sick twisted roads every bit as twisted in that pic and as twisted as ther Dragon, just not 311 curves in 8 miles or what ever the miles is.

NH has vertical curves too! No chit I mean it....

There are roads here I have no idea how to take a picture of, because you can't see that just around the bend is another and another, and another.... How I do dat?

I have to ride almost an hour just to get to a interstate. Going east/west here is nearly impossible too. We have Rt 101 boring, Rt 112 Very scenic with some pretty tight turns and a hair pin, Rt 2 also very scenic but pretty straight.

Then there is a hell of a lot of other back roads all twisted and just sick.

That CT does them all, and IMO better than a mc tire ever will....

[macmac]

LOL I forgot last eary fall on a pretty nice day, headed east on the Kanc, Rt112 after going to Vt for a ice cream with my bride...

I passed a bunch of rider in a T storm that had developed. I know the kanc very well, and passed on dotted line with no on coming traffic, and had signaled I was going to do so to the group.

Up at the height of land i decided to pull up for a smoke in one of the road side view shelters made by the forest service.

Well we rolled a couple (real bacca) and were smoking when that group came in too...


First guys says Ugg rainin huh? ::) 2nd guys says your dry!

I say yeah I ride fast in the rain, and if ya don't ride in rain around here you don't ride. I don't like bein wet either, and had no rain gear on.

Desert dawgs and a CT make rain a non-issue...