Yep, Another CT Question

[Chuck A.]

Was at a dealership today and the owner has his GW for sale. He had bought a Michelin Primacy 195/55/r16 that he has not mount on it. How does that tire compare to other CT's being put on a 1500 'Mad and is the side wall size a little small. Sidewall was stiff, mighty stiff.

The reason to be looking at the CT is I'm a large feller and I added a trunk and wompus last year. Throw in clothes/raingear/etc. while traveling and she's over suggest rated weight. Put the wife (130#) on there too and even a new MCT makes me nervous.

[MAS Tequila]

The sidewall height is .5" shorter which makes the diameter 1" shorter.

The circumference is 3.15" less which means that if your speedo reads 65 you're actually going 62mph.

This doesn't allow for the built in 10% speedo error which will put you at about 58mph or so.

You will be dropping your actual final gearing by about 5%.

Your bike will accelerate better but your mileage will suffer a bit and you will be a bit buzzier at highway speeds.

That tire is designed to carry up to a 1200 lb load, so you will be fine as far as weight.

But if this is a run flat like I think it is, that is dangerous.

A run flat can lose it's air and you may not know it until it starts to shred.

Not a big deal on a car, but a bike doesn't have 3 other wheels to keep it upright.

Personally, I wouldn't have a run flat tire on a bike.

I want to know when that tire starts to get soft, and a car tire HAS to be run at a lower pressure on a bike to get it to deform when cornering.

Both car tires I ran worked best between 24-28 lbs of air pressure.

A lot of wingers run them, so make up your own mind.

Good luck either way.


MT

[Chuck A.]

Thanks for the reply! What tire are you running on the rear of yours and what size also? Everything I could find under search last night showed for a 1600 and not a 1500.

[MAS Tequila]

I went back to a bike tire.

I had a trip planned and damaged my tire on a pothole and needed a tire right now.

I'm going to stay with the bike tire.

My experience is that the CT is ok, but riding the same bike within an hour with a bike tire back on it, I was convinced that the CT wasn't for me.

I logged over 24000 miles on 2 CTs.

So I did give it a fair chance.

MT

[alangoff]

this is the tire i have on my 2002 nomad 1500. only 15,000 on it so far, previous car tire was a dunlop and got 24,000 miles out of it. run pressures in the low 30's. this tire is a little wider then the same size dunlop and had to use a rat tail file on the arm for a little more room on the left side.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...e&rd=16&cs=195

[Chuck A.]

Thanks for the reply. I believe though I will keep it narrower so I don't have the worry about clearance. I was originally asking about the Michelin Primacy cause a found one at a great price. Just the sidewall height may be alittle shorter than I want.

[Rasta]

Originally Posted by alangoff

this is the tire i have on my 2002 nomad 1500. only 15,000 on it so far, previous car tire was a dunlop and got 24,000 miles out of it. run pressures in the low 30's. this tire is a little wider then the same size dunlop and had to use a rat tail file on the arm for a little more room on the left side.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...e&rd=16&cs=195

I have that same size on my 2000 but I think it is Hankook Optima. I did not have to file on the swingarm to make it fit with this tire. Another thing you have to watch out for when going to a CT is, if you have play in your swingarm, the CT is going to amplify the it a lot more and you are going to feel it going down the road. I put shims in both of my bikes to get rid of the play and that took care of it.

[Chuck A.]

If I do go with the CT I will run a narrow tire with a tall sidewall. I had a narrow CT on a Mach III 500 as a teenager and it did a good job. Wider the tire the more the bike has to roll to get the tire from center to sidewall. Bike should turn better with a narrow flat surface tire. I just looking for load barring.

[VulcanE]

I've been running CTs for a few years, all have been 205s (which won't fit on a 1500). The first was a old style Goodyear TripleTread, and got 38,000 miles out of it, then tried a Yokohama Avid Envigor for about 2,000 miles and the sidewall was so soft, it wallowed badly in the curves. I have had a Bridgestone pole position Potenza on for about the last 13,000 miles and like it a lot, but when this one wears out, I'm thinking of going with this one next. It is a 195/60-16 with a stiff sidewall, and I prefer the stiff sidewalls. The Goodyear tire liked ~28 psi, and the Bridgestone likes ~32 psi.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

[Chuck A.]

I remember reading here where some folks like the Potenza. Thanks for the reply. I'm looking for now. Commander II still has some miles in it but when it's done, about mid Summer, I'm trying a CT. I ride so many curvy backroads the outer threads wear before the center does.

[denny 606]

Originally Posted by Chuck A.

If I do go with the CT I will run a narrow tire with a tall sidewall. I had a narrow CT on a Mach III 500 as a teenager and it did a good job. Wider the tire the more the bike has to roll to get the tire from center to sidewall. Bike should turn better with a narrow flat surface tire. I just looking for load barring.

Eat more chicken fingers

[Chuck A.]

Secrets in the souce

[Rasta]

Originally Posted by VulcanE

I've been running CTs for a few years, all have been 205s (which won't fit on a 1500). The first was a old style Goodyear TripleTread, and got 38,000 miles out of it, then tried a Yokohama Avid Envigor for about 2,000 miles and the sidewall was so soft, it wallowed badly in the curves. I have had a Bridgestone pole position Potenza on for about the last 13,000 miles and like it a lot, but when this one wears out, I'm thinking of going with this one next. It is a 195/60-16 with a stiff sidewall, and I prefer the stiff sidewalls. The Goodyear tire liked ~28 psi, and the Bridgestone likes ~32 psi.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

Thanks Cliff. Even though I like the tire I got on the 2000 Nomad I will look into this one since I do like a stiffer side wall. The first two tires were 185/75/16 with stiffer walls but can't buy them any more.... well at least in the USA. That is why I had to go to the 195s on last two tires.

Look at Denny, he is coming to Kentucky for that chicken

[roadhawg]

I used to run the Bridgestone turanza CT on my 1600, I got around 28 k miles out of it. However, I now run the Michelin commander 11 and am getting around 23 k miles.
As I see it, the problem with some CTs is the sidewalls are not stiff/strong enough, so should you have a blow out you have no support, you are riding on the rim.
I am very happy with the mich commander 11.

[denny 606]

Originally Posted by Rasta

Thanks Cliff. Even though I like the tire I got on the 2000 Nomad I will look into this one since I do like a stiffer side wall. The first two tires were 185/75/16 with stiffer walls but can't buy them any more.... well at least in the USA. That is why I had to go to the 195s on last two tires.

Look at Denny, he is coming to Kentucky for that chicken

There's a story behind the chicken fingers thing. We were on 28 somewhere in NC and stopped at a convenience store /gas station/ deli. Chuck was in front of me and was ordering something to eat and asked for " Chicken Fingers" that girl was serious as she could be when she told him "chickens don't have fingers" you should have seen the look he gave her. I almost fell over. It's been a running joke ever since. He took that picture a few weeks ago and swears he's going to go back and show it to them at that deli.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.