latchkey Posted March 1, 2009 #1 Posted March 1, 2009 put the federal c/t on my bike today. job of getting old one off wasnt as bad as i thought it would be. just took off both saddlebags and right slip on muffler. tire is almost same as m/t tire as far as high and width goes. rode it a mile felt no big difference but a longer ride will help. snowing and windy here. some pics on my post
latchkey Posted March 1, 2009 Author #3 Posted March 1, 2009 took 95 and a couple pops with rubber hammer
pegscraper Posted March 1, 2009 #4 Posted March 1, 2009 And just think, it'll be at least 30,000 miles bare minimum before you have to do it again.
latchkey Posted March 1, 2009 Author #5 Posted March 1, 2009 yes, sometimes you got to move to the darkside to see the light!
gunboat Posted March 1, 2009 #6 Posted March 1, 2009 hi michael welcome to the darkside. i installed the bf goodrich c/t last april. i had cycle gear remove the tire but i installed it. never balanced it, have not noticed any shake or vibrations by not doing so. i now have almost 20,000 mile on it. lowell- wildhair i belive has the most miles on his c/t than anyone who has done this mod. flb78 i belive has about worn out his c/t ( not sure of his milage ) but he has said he's hard on the tire. this mod is not for everyone, but it works for me. one member here did try it and didn't like it. he went back to a m/c tire and thats ok. be safe and give it a couple hundres miles to skuff in. keep us informed, hope to see ya at the '09 int.rally at the hub. i belive i paid $45.00 for my c/t from nt&b here in houston. feel free to contact me if you have any questions. best reguards don c.
latchkey Posted March 1, 2009 Author #7 Posted March 1, 2009 thanks for info, i know there will be handling adjustment that will take a bit to get use to, but read all post about it and rode friends wings that have them. this i wanted to do and sure i`ll enjoy it like you all. and the benfits of it.
tim44 Posted March 2, 2009 #8 Posted March 2, 2009 Well there is one more c/t on a bike. Mine. I put the federal tire on today. I went for a ride after getting it all back together and so far I am happy with the tire. I had to use darn near a 120 psi to get the tire to finally pop in place. Talk about pucker facter. The tire cost me $50 with shipping. I took the tire to discount tire and had it siped before I put it on. Has any one else done this to there c/t?
BigBoyinMS Posted March 2, 2009 #9 Posted March 2, 2009 put the federal c/t on my bike today. job of getting old one off wasnt as bad as i thought it would be. just took off both saddlebags and right slip on muffler. tire is almost same as m/t tire as far as high and width goes. rode it a mile felt no big difference but a longer ride will help. snowing and windy here. some pics on my post If you have the same experience as me then you won't ever feel any difference in handling. The only time it handled any differently to me was when I dropped the pressure to 35lbs because that was the suggestion on the Darksiders forum after 1000 miles. I've had it at 40-42 lbs from the beginning and I'm leaving it there as long as it handles like it has been. FYI, I'm running a Kumho Power Star 758. Good Luck!
Grey Ghost Posted March 2, 2009 #10 Posted March 2, 2009 Bigboy, I've been running the Federal for several months now and I also run 40-42 lbs psi. It never made sense to me to "break in" a tire and reduce the psi. I've never broken in a tire on a car or motorcycle. These just handle better with the higher pressure in my opinion. Good luck. Jeff
gunboat Posted March 2, 2009 #12 Posted March 2, 2009 hi ray there are some of us rsv rider who have changed the rear tire (m/c) on our bikes to a (c/t) car tire. their are honda goldwings and vtx riders who have gone to the DARKSIDE as it is called. there is a section on this site that freebird put on for us & anybody to read about this mod, to discuess it. if you have any questions feel free to contact me. best reguards don c.
Grey Ghost Posted March 2, 2009 #14 Posted March 2, 2009 Hey wait, Ray I see that your are in Destin. Never mind contacting gunboat about this, I'll just ride done and explain it to you in person. We had snow here this morning. Destin is a lot better place to discuss this. Jeff
1joeranger Posted March 2, 2009 #15 Posted March 2, 2009 Woke up to 41 and wind, berrr!!! Trying to rebuild my trailer and hate working in the cold! Actually I know I got it good! Been riding the bike at every opportunity!! So someone please point me in the direction to the dark side. Seems just the right place for me
stardbog Posted March 2, 2009 #16 Posted March 2, 2009 Woke up to 41 and wind, berrr!!! Trying to rebuild my trailer and hate working in the cold! Actually I know I got it good! Been riding the bike at every opportunity!! So someone please point me in the direction to the dark side. Seems just the right place for me Here is forum for Darksiders, Guys who are install car tire on their Ventures http://www.venturerider.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=106
BigBoyinMS Posted March 2, 2009 #17 Posted March 2, 2009 And here is the Darksiders forum on Delphi... you'll need to register for free. http://login.prospero.com/dir-login/index.asp?webtag=DarkSiding&lgnDST=http://forums.delphiforums.com/DarkSiding/start
1joeranger Posted March 2, 2009 #18 Posted March 2, 2009 Thanks! Got a lot of reading to do but before I do can someone summarize the pro's and con's of doing this?
Grey Ghost Posted March 2, 2009 #19 Posted March 2, 2009 The pros are this: A car tire will last many times longer than a motorcycle tire. The original Bridgestone tire that came on my RSTD was worn out at less than 4 thousand miles. My Federal car tire now has twice that milage on it and shows no visible sign of wear other than the rubber strings on the tread has worn off. The cons are this: You have to figure out where to spend the money you will save not buying motorcycle tires. And you have to put up with the consternation of the people who have never tried the car tire but are absolutely sure that it will not work going around curves. (Something about leaning too far over and you will crash and burn. But I think that was just a rumor started by the same guy who was sure Columbus was going to sail over the edge of the world.) There was so much agony and gnashing of teeth with some members every time a post concerning car tires was made that we have been banished to the dark side. But that's OK, it's nice and quite over here. If you decide to cross over, welcome. Jeff
wild hair 39 Posted March 2, 2009 #20 Posted March 2, 2009 just pulled the c/t,32,000 mls,still has a little tread left,but wore down to were,i could feel a little more slipping on wet pavement,boy,is it flat,no round tread left,got a tire @wheel off e-bay,mitchlan,will wear it out, then put the federial on will take pictures ,if the cam:thumbsup2: is working the real big diferance be tween is low speed uneven road surface,wants to dart a little,the mitch,dont give a warning just before it locks up[c t starts to squeal,then realy sounds lowd when locked up] c t will be on by the first of may,realy long rides will start then
1joeranger Posted March 2, 2009 #21 Posted March 2, 2009 Im going to the dark side after my Avons wear out (3 months old)! Thanks guys, Come visit in Sunny Destin! Beaches will begin filling up with Spring Breakers just as the snowbirds start leaving! Thanks!!
Marvin81 Posted March 2, 2009 #22 Posted March 2, 2009 I have been reading as much as I can on going to the dark side and I think I will do it when my current tire wears out. I was wondering if I could get some direction as to preferred brands of tire. I also would like to know about size. I see that most all post on this thread are from 2nd gens and I own a 1st gen, an 88 VR to be precise, and haven't seen a lot of reference to our species. I actually only found 1 size referenced and I wrote it down but now I can't find the paper I wrote it on. Do most owners mount their own tires and if so what do you do about balancing them? I doubt very seriously that my stealer would be very agreeable to doing this for me. Tim44 i'm not very versed in things as far as maintenance goes so could you explain what "siped" refers to? I also saw in previous threads that some people are using Ride On in their tires. Is this common practice and do others recomment it as well? I appreciate al the help that everyone gives on here and I sure am glad I found this group.
gunboat Posted March 2, 2009 #23 Posted March 2, 2009 hi marvin as far as i know, there isn't a c/t that will fit on a 1'st gen. but i could be wrong on this. i have not added "ride on" to my tires yet, but i feel it's a good idea. that is a nice looking traielr you have behind your scoot. best reguards don c.
Marvin81 Posted March 2, 2009 #24 Posted March 2, 2009 Thanks for your reply Don. I know I saw one post for a 1st gen with a c/t and I will go diggin to see if I can't find it. I built that trailer over the winter months and hope to do some trips with it this summer. I've bought a full set of R1 brakes for my bike off ebay (next project) so I can stop better with it behind me. I do okay with the stock brakes but they seem a bit soft at times and I'm sure pulling the additional weight will definately need a bit better braking power. Thanks for the compliment.
BigBoyinMS Posted March 2, 2009 #25 Posted March 2, 2009 Thanks! Got a lot of reading to do but before I do can someone summarize the pro's and con's of doing this? Here is one more pro... The reinforced Avon Venoms have a load rating of 80H which I believe is in the low 900 lbs. My Kumho is rated at 1202 lbs. Being a big guy, I like that extra capacity!
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