Car tire on motorcycles - an opinion

[rlfaubion]

I've spent the morning reading a ton of postings about CT's on this forum. http://forums.delphiforums.com/DarkSiding/ There is a lot of good info here. I too am a long-rider, going through a couple sets of tires a season. I'm seriously thinking about the Dark Side having 8,000 miles on a rear Metz right now. I'm about done with these expensive no-wear MC tires.....

[macmac]

Valdez (lone Juan)
Sounds like a CT is in your future.. That was my main reason, to not have to drop a dime every time i ran up 8,000 measly miles.

The surprize was better handling over all... it will eat a couple MPG's..

And be damned sure to service the swing arm because you will skip a bunch of them in the future.

And of course you NEED to know the U joint is good...

[rlfaubion]

Originally Posted by macmac

Valdez (lone Juan)
Sounds like a CT is in your future.. That was my main reason, to not have to drop a dime every time i ran up 8,000 measly miles.

The surprize was better handling over all... it will eat a couple MPG's..

And be damned sure to service the swing arm because you will skip a bunch of them in the future.

And of course you NEED to know the U joint is good...

Hi Mac, I think you're right. Having only 8K on my rear, I still have some time to shop for a CT. My next step will be to determine which brand CT I will put on. I'll be watching the boards.

[macmac]

At 8,000 miles your rear is still any good? You must spend a lot of time airborn is the best I can figure...

The brick on my 06 was deado at 7,000.... and I only weigh 145 pounds in summertime....

[Netnorske]

Obviously riders who go with CT's must be doing their own installs, right? I mean given all the liability issues mentioned...I can't imagine a shop installing one for you, will they...??

I can certainly see the logic and attraction in using them. I have about 6500 miles on my stock 'Stones and I'll put another 1000-2000 on them before June. I'm sure I'll be looking for a new set before heading to Custer...if only to be on the safe side....

[fish]

I'm having cobras put on, tuesday. Question! Who has what mileage on their car tires? Does anyone have say 20,000 or even 10,000 ??? It seems to me with a little contact patch in corners that the edges would wear out quick. I could see if someone did a lot of superslab driving that would be the way to go. NO I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn express last night ::)

[pablo]

I had mine installed at American Ironhorse here in Huntsville, TX. They charged me $70 to remove bags and stuff, install and balance, and put all the bags and stuff back on ($65/hr labor & $5 charge for having Ride-On tire sealant in tire). I rode the bike in with the CT hung over the sissy bar and rode out with the MC tire hung over the sissy bar (still has good tread so I kept it). I got to watch the whole thing.

As for mileage; I have over 11,000 miles on the CT and can't see any wear yet. :-)

[lonewolf]

fish ! just look at your own pic that you have posted. i have as much if not more tire on the pavement as you have in the pic. i feel very comfortable riding straight down the road, twisties (with boards scraping) rain, gravel, and what ever my destination throws at me. the new cts are not the squared of snow tires grandpa bought!

[Yellow Jacket]

Originally Posted by fish

I'm having cobras put on, tuesday. Question! Who has what mileage on their car tires? Does anyone have say 20,000 or even 10,000 ??? It seems to me with a little contact patch in corners that the edges would wear out quick. I could see if someone did a lot of superslab driving that would be the way to go. NO I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn express last night ::)

My stock rear 'Stone was worn beyond the service limit at 7700 miles. My present car tire has 8000 miles on it. As near as I can determine I have a larger contact patch while leaned over with the boards dragging than I had with the stock M/C tire. Much larger while going straight and level. The yellow dust on the tire is good ol pollen. This time of the year around here everything changes color to yellow!

[strobe]

Originally Posted by fish

It seems to me with a little contact patch in corners that the edges would wear out quick. I could see if someone did a lot of superslab driving that would be the way to go.

I thought the same thing until I really started to look into it and read forums on the topic. I installed my CT yesterday and have 0 miles on it, but all the many hours of reading leave me very comfortable with the decision.

I have read from guys that have been doing this for years, with a 100K under their belts, and getting 20-30k on a tire, all while still being able to scrape parts in the twisties.

[macmac]

Originally Posted by Netnorske

Obviously riders who go with CT's must be doing their own installs, right? I mean given all the liability issues mentioned...I can't imagine a shop installing one for you, will they...??

I can certainly see the logic and attraction in using them. I have about 6500 miles on my stock 'Stones and I'll put another 1000-2000 on them before June. I'm sure I'll be looking for a new set before heading to Custer...if only to be on the safe side....

If you think that rear is going to get 8,500 on it, you better have a Pilots Lic...

Now it might hold air ok with 8,500, but you ain't gonna have any kind of legal tread.
Due to the timing I ended up with that figure on my brick, and rode out short rides local in Fall around here, waiting for Spring for the newest new rubber i could get my greasey mitts on.

About now I am getting the signs Spring is near too... Why thar's dirt showing in the garden as of today!

[Netnorske]

Originally Posted by macmac

If you think that rear is going to get 8,500 on it, you better have a Pilots Lic...

Now it might hold air ok with 8,500, but you ain't gonna have any kind of legal tread.
Due to the timing I ended up with that figure on my brick, and rode out short rides local in Fall around here, waiting for Spring for the newest new rubber i could get my greasey mitts on.

About now I am getting the signs Spring is near too... Why thar's dirt showing in the garden as of today!

Thanks Macmac....I'll be keeping a close eye on'em.....

[lonewolf]

thought i was gonna get pretty good mileage out of my "stoner" also, but it went from ok to crap real fast. thought i was good to go last year when i went to sturgis, when i got out there, riding buddy asked if i had looked at my tire lately. when i did, i was shocked that i didnt have as much left as i thought. btw, if you want to try getting a tire put on during bike week, good luck. i made it back home, but worried about it the whole way. granted i didnt have any cords showing and it was a pretty uniform wear, but i was still nervous. 5800 miles and my tire was shot. i do pull a trailer alot and know that it takes a toll on tires also. but those who have gotten 8-10 thousand on a stock tire, you must have some awfully kind roads you drive on.

[strobe]

I think I got around 7000 miles out of my stock "stoner". Still remember I was nervous every time out until I had my new tire put on, no chords, but not much tread, and like lonewolf went from really quite good to quite bad in a hurry.

[billz410]

Here is a link to a guy that claims to have picked up a nail in his motorcycle tire, which caused a leak of some unknown proportion, with the end result being, shall we say, a serious blowout.

He claims he doesn't think this would have happened with a car tire. I don't necasarily agree with that- car tires can blow/explode, etc., too. Nonetheless, I would imagine it was an interesting experience.

http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z...urrent=tr1.jpg