More info for the C/T guys

[BigBoyinMS]

First, I have to say that the car tire discussions on here lately have been some of the most civil I have ever been involved in on any forum. Good job, guys!

 

Anyway, I haven't noticed any discussion on another aspect of the Darkside. Rear M/C tires on the front.

One of the reasons we run c/t's is for the long wear life. To compliment the rear c/t, some have taken rear m/c tires and mounted them in reverse on the front wheel because rear tires are built heavier since the majority of the weight and acceleration forces are on the rear. But why in reverse? This is from the Metzler website:

"Rear tires can be mounted at front wheels?

When producing tires, the top cap is heated with an angle bump on the carcass. To prevent the detachment of the assembled edges the tire has to be mounted (concerning the main stress: acceleration force at the rear wheel or brake force at the front wheel) corresponding to the respective declaration.

Therefore the declaration of the driving direction at the tires� sidewall is a very important safety regard and has to be noticed absolute. It is not allowed to mount front tires at rear wheels.

In case you intend to mount a rear tire on a front wheel it has to be assembled contrary to the driving direction declaration (direction of the arrow at the tires� sidewall). Please observe the standards in your country. In any doubts we kindly ask you to consult your dealer." Just look at a normal bike. The tread direction is opposite on the front from the rear. One tire is oriented for acceleration and one for braking.

Just some more info for those considering the Darkside.

[gunboat]

hi dave

read about this the other day when there was a post about the darkside web site. and i'am still reading about this mod. i'll keep an open mind, the more info the better.

i'll agree with you about everyone being civil now about using a c/t on the rear. there are more of us on this site now who have switched. 99.9% of us who have switch will stay on the darkside. i wish everyone to be safe. i will tell you if it's working or not. for me it is working. i have almost 20,000 miles on my c/t now. i do so at my own risk.

now if i can find a c/t for the front?

best reguards

don c.

[GeorgeS]

Has anybody who has made the CT modification, actually had any particular problem, or failure , thats been reported on this web site ???

[pegscraper]

Once it's on the rim and on the bike, no one has had a problem. Seems like one guy picked up a nail last year. That's more likely to happen when there's more contact patch on the road, ya know. But that could happen with any tire.

 

A couple of Federal tires have let go trying to get the bead to seat. One of them in particular I blame on the installer, who put the air hose on it and walked away from the thing. Gee, whaddaya think is going to happen? That would happen with any tire. I almost wonder if the installer did that on purpose to keep the guy from using the tire and scare him away from getting another one.

[BigBoyinMS]

Since I installed my tire there have been a couple of questions on the tire specs that I couldn't verify or comment on because I needed to go back and look at the sidewall info.

I'm running the Kumho Power Star 758. Load/speed rating is 87T/1201lbs.

I had mentioned that I'm running at 42lbs pressure and the max on the tire was 44lbs. Someone had argued that it's max pressure is 35lbs. But I checked and printed on the tire... 44lbs. Just had to clear that up.

Also, someone mentioned they would go with the narrower BFG tire because of the 2 ply sidewall since it should be stiffer. What I found from looking at the new tires we keep on hand here is that it depends on the tire. First, it's the more expensive brands have 2 ply sides. But comparing 2 different brands, both with 2-ply sides, one felt much more flexible than the other. It seems that it depends on the tire brand. The BFG 2-ply may be just as flexible as the Kumho 1-ply; maybe not The only way to know is to have one of each on hand to compare. Either way, it doesn't seem to negatively affect the handling on my Venture. My buddy on his GoldWing was having trouble staying with me on a couple of on ramps Saturday. He has the Elite 3's, btw.

With all that said, I would still try a 2-ply side if I could find one in a blackwall and the wider tread. The only 2 tires that might fit that description would be the MickeyThompson 26X6.00R15LT or the Vredestein 165SR15 but neither give that info on their website. I just emailed MickeyThompson so maybe I'll hear back. And both of those tires will cost as much as a good bike tire.

 

Just more info for anyone thinking of a C/T. Don't do anything just because someone else thinks it's a good idea. Make your own decision.