1st gen Darkside

[Guest bodasefus]

I have a 91 VR and was wondering any other 1st gen gone darkside and what tire are you using???

Thanks

Russ:bluesbrother:

[icebrrg3rd]

I've been trying to look into this, but no one wants to talk about it. Looking for a specific tire size that I can order, brand, and maybe even a best price. And who would mount it (doubtful a regular dealer would mount it).

 

-Andrew

[campfire12]

This has been talked about quit a bit on this site. As far as i can recall there are no darkside(car) tires that will fit any 1st gen. If im wrong (and that happened once) someone will chime in.. Good luck.

[ricksbike]

Car tires aren`t designed for use on motorcycles,the sidewalls won`t handle the lean angles,I would think it would be like riding a bike with a flat tire,just my opinion,but I have read alot of horror stories about this.

[MiCarl]

This has been talked about quit a bit on this site. As far as i can recall there are no darkside(car) tires that will fit any 1st gen. If im wrong (and that happened once) someone will chime in.. Good luck.

 

What you need is a very narrow car tire. In other words, a small car. Small cars (at least modern ones) don't have 16" wheels.

[Marcarl]

Don't think you'd have enough room to put a CT in there,,, hard enough to get a real tire to accommodate.

[muffinman]

Car tires aren`t designed for use on motorcycles,the sidewalls won`t handle the lean angles,I would think it would be like riding a bike with a flat tire,just my opinion,but I have read alot of horror stories about this.

 

When someone makes a post on a thread that has no knowledge of the subject I think they should just shut up and mind there own business.

I have researched the car tire for the first gen and the only tire I found is not available on this side of the world.

Michelin makes one but its only available in Ausie land and they wont ship one over not to mention the tire is twice the cost of a bike tire anyway.

I have over 80K on car tires with the wings and have been really happy with the all weather performance of them If I could get a CT for the blonde I would but its not gonna happen at this point in time.

Jeff

Edited February 25, 2014 by muffinman

[Yammer Dan]

When someone makes a post on a thread that has no knowledge of the subject I think they should just shut up and mind there own business.

 

 

I have researched the car tire for the first gen and the only tire I found is not available on this side of the world.

 

Michelin makes one but its only available in Ausie land and they wont ship one over not to mention the tire is twice the cost of a bike tire anyway.

 

I have over 80K on car tires with the wings and have been really happy with the all weather performance of them If I could get a CT for the blonde I would but its not gonna happen at this point in time.

 

 

 

 

Jeff

 

 

I think I'll go CT on the 2nd Gen because I'm so hard on back tires. And would on the 1st Gen if there were one.

[syscrusher]

I have a car tire on my Vulcan 2000, a General Altimax HP that performs really well in the wet and lasts long. It had been awhile since running a MC tire on a larger bike when I bought the VR but I was impressed with the handling on the VR. A lot of VN2K owners have criticized it's handling capabilities anyway so I don't really know what I'm trying to say here.

 

When I first put the CT on the VN2K I was aware of differences, it seemed to corner with no sign of sliding but it had to be wrestled through slow turns, etc. It's an apples and oranges comparison but I like the way the VR handles and it has an MC tire.

 

I see a Altimax HP on Tirerack.com with:

 

Size Service Description Load Range	UTQG	Max Load	Max. Inflation Press.	Tread Depth	Tire Weight	Rim Width Range	Meas. Rim Width	Sect. Width	Tread Width	Overall Diam.	Revs Per Mile
195/55R16 87H SL	440 A A	1201 lbs.	51 psi	10/32"	18 lbs.	5.5-7"	6"	7.9"		24.4"	851

 

Is that too big?

[Venturous Randy]

If the section width is 7.9 inches wide, that seems a little wide to me. Go measure the rear tire on your bike and if it is much less than this, the CT will probably rub on the driveshaft tube.

RandyA

[Pegasus1300]

I looked into putting a car tire on the rear of my 1st gen, but could never find a 16 car tire with that narrow a width. I did not check with any of the vintage tire makers however and you may have some luck there. Try Cooper Tires, and Coker Tires. There is also Universal, Lucas and Diamond Back.

 

I was getting 19000 to 22000 out of my back tires so I really didnt worry too much about it. Now I am triked so it is moot.

[syscrusher]

If the section width is 7.9 inches wide, that seems a little wide to me. Go measure the rear tire on your bike and if it is much less than this, the CT will probably rub on the driveshaft tube.

RandyA

 

Yeah the 55% sidewall number makes for a pretty wide tire. Forgot about the shaft. Maybe something that the Valkyrie darksiders run?

[ricksbike]

Well Muffinman,you just assume that someone making a comment has no idea what they`re talking about,if car tires were ok then I would assume that motorcycle dealers would install them with no problem,also if you google this you can find all kinds of comments,both good and bad,just because people do it doesn`t make it right or safe,here in the Northwest we have a lot of curves in our roads and I like to have a good contact patch,sorry if I offended you.

[k9cottage]

http://darkside.nwff.info/?p=tires#rear

 

muffinman what size is the one in Ausieland [Michelin makes one but its only available in Ausie land] i want to go ct on the front of my 99 ????

[syscrusher]

This one has a 7" section:

 

Size Service Description Load Range	UTQG	Max Load	Max. Inflation Press.	Tread Depth	Tire Weight	Rim Width Range	Meas. Rim Width	Sect. Width	Tread Width	Overall Diam.	Revs Per Mile	Country of Origin*
175/60R16 82H SL LRR: Fuel Max	580 A A	1047 lbs.	51 psi	10/32"	17 lbs.	5-6"	5"	7"	5.7"	24.3"	860	JP , US

[syscrusher]

Has a 7" section width.

Ice & Snow Tire, has lots of sipes for wet too.

 

Size Service Description Load Range	UTQG	Max Load	Max. Inflation Press.	Tread Depth	Tire Weight	Rim Width Range	Meas. Rim Width	Sect. Width	Tread Width	Overall Diam.	Revs Per Mile	Country of Origin*
175/60R16 82Q SL	None	1047 lbs.	44 psi	11/32"	17 lbs.	5-6"	5"	7"	5.7"	24.3"		JP

[Guest bodasefus]

Thanks for all the input...

It would be interesting to know what tire is being sold in Oz...

 

I have put 140/90-16 into ebay search and come up with a lot of MC tires... I probably will change by rear tire in May before by 2 week camping trip in the smokies... better safe than sorry...

 

I will keep looking and will post if I fine something...

 

Thanks

Russ

 

[MasterGuns]

I just wonder why this issue is referred to as the "darkside". Could if be that we have riders dying because of a CT on a bike that specific incident it is too taboo to talk about? Perhaps that is why this thing is referred to as "darkside". Personally anyone can do whatever they are inclined to do; that is the way things are. And just because someone may have been running CTs; forever perhaps, just doesn't mean it is a safe practice. Some are just more lucky than others. My 2 cents.

[syscrusher]

I just wonder why this issue is referred to as the "darkside". Could if be that we have riders dying because of a CT on a bike that specific incident it is too taboo to talk about? Perhaps that is why this thing is referred to as "darkside". Personally anyone can do whatever they are inclined to do; that is the way things are. And just because someone may have been running CTs; forever perhaps, just doesn't mean it is a safe practice. Some are just more lucky than others. My 2 cents.

 

We're all lucky, Darksiders and the rest. We're all riding motorcycles and that is accepted to be unsafe. Those of us who are not dead are very lucky indeed.