1500 owners looking to go Darkside

[dkdixie]

Copied from Darkside forum.
I do not know this gentlemen and I'm passing this on just for information.


Quote:

After 7 years and umpteen thousand miles, I finally decided to go to the Darkside with my 2003 Nomad 1500. I bought the Vredestein Comtrac 175/75-16 for the rear ($135 from www.tiresbyweb.com) and the Dunlop Elite 3 bias 160/80-16 Rear, reversed for the front.




I have been mounting and balancing my tires for years with standard hand tools. The only problem I had was getting the bead to set on the rim; this required 120 psi and took 5 tries. The tire did not make a loud pop; instead it just sort of squished on the rim because I was using lots of soap, water and go-jo. The Dunlop popped on the rim at 42 psi.


After mounting the rear tire, I noticed very little space between the front edge of the swingarm and the tire, so I took the tire back off and filed down the swingarm on the 2 front edges (filed about 1/8 inch off each side). There is plenty of space on the sides of the tire & the swingarm.





For pics go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/Quinton..../NomadDSTires#

I used the 175/75-16 because I wanted the tire to be as close in size to the original m/c tire as possible. Actually this tire raises the rear of the bike about .4 inches and the Dunlop raises the front about .3 inches. Maybe now I won’t scrape my pipes as bad as I used to; we’ll see. Another added bonus with this tire is: it makes the speedometer read closer to the actual speed of the bike. Before, when I was indicating 65mph, I was only going about 60, now I’m doing about 63 mph with this tire.




Now for my first ride on the Darkside. I ran both tires at 40 psi and rode about 125 miles on various types of roads. The first thing I noticed was how stable the bike was at slow parking lot speeds and in short radius turns, I was impressed! Next, I tried some twisties at moderate speeds, 45 to 60mph with no problems. Yes, it took a little more countersteering effort, so what? That’s what makes a bike turn. I need to state here that I own 3 bikes and each one rides differently. I have a Nomad, a Venture and a V-Strom. I have learned to ride each one within their limits. I sure can’t throw the big Venture around like I can the V-Strom.




Some darksiders on this forum have complained about their C/T’s wanting to ride in the valleys or on the ridges of the road. I did not have this problem, it could be because this tire is narrower than most and will go where pointed. The tire tracked a steady line in the curves and did not wander, I liked that!




Next, I tried the interstate hwy at 70-80mph. The bike seemed to wander or float a little and follow the grooves in the concrete. This was not as noticeable on the asphalt section of the interstate.




My overall impression was one of confidence with that much rubber tread under me. The bumps were definitely smoother as was the overall ride. My question is, why did it take me so long to go to the DS?




Quinton (Q-Dog) Grubbs

2003 Nomad 1500-DS

[macmac]

I think he bought a tire for one idea and came on another. Had he run a aspect 60 it would have fit, and still been larger than stock size.

This guy has his head on his shoulders no9 doubt about it and was ready to mod the swingarm.

My point is with a different aspect ratio he would not have had to mod the supports at all.

With what he did he stabalized the bike and got some lower high way roms and increased his MPG's.. Not bad, not bad at all..

I hope BD reads this and says what his rear size is because i just fergit stuff like that, and am lucky to know BD has a taller tire at all.