Motorcycle Fanatics, show your ride(s)

[whoaru99]

The Darkside mounted up on the Vulcan 2K, and ready for the first ride ride out on the highway.

 

[Punx Clever]

Sure seems like that tire would be terrible for any kind of turning...

 

[whoaru99]

Does require more countersteer effort to turn, no doubt about it, but not terrible by any means.

I probably have only ~50 miles on the tire so far, but so far I don't see any reason this tire can't meet all my driving needs on that scooter and last 20-30,000mi instead of 4-5,000mi.

Was a big doubter myself and still very new to the Darkside, but it's not as detrimental to handling as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, it is different, but so far easily adjusted to.

 

[1fast636]

So is that a car tire or a bike tire in car tire form? Never saw a tire like that before I'm also a sport bike guy so don't look threw tires for cruisers but never noticed a tire like that in the mags I order from, very interesting tire and hell wish they came out with a tire like that for my sport bike I would save a ton of money lol

 

[whoaru99]

It is a car tire installed on a motorcycle. A very good car tire at that. Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 205/55ZR16 with a "Y" speed rating (186mph) and a AA traction rating.

I have no plans to put such a tire on my crotch rocket, but after today's drive I think it would do better than many think possible. Not better than a true sport tire, but still fairly capable.

 

[user 574]

still thinking that any aggressive turns may be problematic. Dunno though, never did much R&D in this realm. Historically I just keep thinking of well rounded, soft MC tires are what we need.

 

[whoaru99]

Yup. Many drivers are convinced that rounded is the only thing that can possibly work.

I finally got tired of debating it from a point of no direct experience and decided to try it. So far so good. Most that try it seem to stay with it. A small percentage don't like it and go back to MC tires.

 

[CoryM616]

Thumpers rule, you'll love the bike. Two strokes have their place and that was a clean YZ you sold but the CFR will make power EVERYWHERE.

Yeah thanks. It took me a summer of riding them back to back to finally decide. The 4 stroke is definitely easier to ride. But that YZ is so fun. I love the 2 stroke power when it pulls through the gears. But the 4T hooks up way better and handles like a dream. I wish they would do more development on the 2T's. They are way behind on suspension and handling.

 

[Jayhem]

I've seen some video's on the car tire on the cruiser (dark side) deal.

Surprisingly enough since cruisers don't lean over hard like sport bikes, the car tire actually deforms enough to deal with 99% of the lean angle required for any cruiser needs. Check out this video:

 

[glenn514]

I've been on a weblist for Gold Wings for a few years, and some of the Wing'ers do, indeed, put an automobile tire on the rear of a Wing...with little to no ill effects! The riders that have done that claim similar handling, similar ride quality, and MUCH greater tire life. Seems like a good trade-off to me.

glenn514

 

[MidTNJasonF]

I have seen it work well enough for some riders. I think it is not detrimental enough to handling for a majority of the riders of cruiser or highway luxobarges. Any rider that pushes pretty hard or rides a sport/sport touring bike will probably not find it sufficient for their needs. I can get as much as 10k miles out of a set of tires but when I ride a bit harder or do some slab riding for any length of time I kill a rear in about 6k miles. When I mount up something like Pilot Powers that drops even lower, into the 4k mile range.

 

[1fast636]

Yea that's what I'm getting out of the pilot powers on my Kawi 636. 4 k I can still ride 4.5 k and I'm in need of new. Any sport bike tire you recommend with great grip and feel but with nice life span?

 

[MidTNJasonF]

I am running the Pirelli Angel ST's right now and so far I like them. I am already over 3k miles on them and they are not showing much wear yet. I am thinking I will get some pretty good life out of them. Wet weather grip has been better than I have experienced on a few other tires. I have not been riding hard or heavily loaded lately though and I have moved a little away from sport to sport touring.

They also have the Angel GT's available as well. I have not run Pilots in a long while but I always really liked them. I may have to try their more touring oriented Pilot (whatever replaced the old Road's) the next go round. Honestly the only tires I have been disapointed in greatly were Bridgestones (greasy as crap in the last 1/4 of their life) and Dunlops (really poor wear characteristics and a dead feel through the last 1/2 of their life).

 

[whoaru99]

For me, it doesn't seem to matter much what tires I put on my bikes. I get 5k, give or take, usually take, regardless of brand. I've tried Dunlop, Metzeler, Continental, Michelin, and Bridgestone.

Unless you considerably change tire style or driving style, it's my opinion you're not going to get appreciably different tread life just by changing brand.

Of those I listed, I liked the handling of the Continential Road Attacks the best. The Michelin Pilot Road 2s are on my RF900 now and they seem like a good tire but, again, I liked the Conti RA handing a bit better. They turned in really nice.

 

[Jayhem]

Yea that's what I'm getting out of the pilot powers on my Kawi 636. 4 k I can still ride 4.5 k and I'm in need of new. Any sport bike tire you recommend with great grip and feel but with nice life span?

I ride a 2007 Yamaha FZ6 sport bike and I am running Michelin Pilot Power 2CT dual compound tires and I have 4,000 miles on them now and they are not even half worn, only a small flat spot on the rear.

I have heard nothing but good things about Michelin Road 2 & 3 Tires as well. They are a sport touring tire that gets 8,000-10,000 miles easily if you ride like a sane rider but they still have enough grip for hitting the twisties reasonably hard. The only way they might disappoint you is if you are a track junkie.

 

[shutupjojo]

My first bike. Brand new F700GS. Now off to buy all the goodies.

 

[Bob_T]

A little public service announcement -- Always wear your gear kids!

Before--Thursday afternoon in Soldiers Grove, WI


After--Sunday after I got her home


What happened Friday around noon...

 

[Jayhem]

A little public service announcement -- Always wear your gear kids!

Ouch! Sorry to hear, spills are never fun. Were you 2-up when it happened?

Looks like you could not have picked a better spot to go off the road!

With my luck there would be a fence or a bunch of trees.

 

[techbrewie]

here is a couple pics of mine

 

[Bob_T]

Ouch! Sorry to hear, spills are never fun. Were you 2-up when it happened?

Looks like you could not have picked a better spot to go off the road!

With my luck there would be a fence or a bunch of trees.

Yes, that is my wife in the picture. She ended up with a broken left ankle and sprained right.
I ended up with a broken left thumb. We are both covered in bruises...the ditch was full of large rocks...

First crash in over 20 years. But...like you say, it could have been much worse.

Now we see what Allstate says...but knowing BMW parts prices...I am expecting it to be totaled.

 

[Orthobrewsky]

1996 Honda Shadow ACE 1100

I had a nice ride this morning.

 

[Jayhem]

Yes, that is my wife in the picture. She ended up with a broken left ankle and sprained right.
I ended up with a broken left thumb. We are both covered in bruises...the ditch was full of large rocks...

First crash in over 20 years. But...like you say, it could have been much worse.

Now we see what Allstate says...but knowing BMW parts prices...I am expecting it to be totaled.

Not sure if you are comfortable sharing your story but I was curious as to what happened. Was it just a case of target fixation mid-corner or did some obstacle cause the run off?

My biggest fear of having a bad spill is that my wife will be on the back when it happens. It is significantly harder to control the bike with a passenger even if they know how to ride pillion.

 

[MidTNJasonF]

Looks like you must have been reasonably close to straight and making it through the corner if you kept it up until the point indicated. I assume you were just trying scrub off speed without using any hard braking and trying to ease it back up onto the pavement when either slick grass or the slope of the ditch got you.

I had my low side in a similar corner but I fell closer to corner entry. I got a little wide and outside at corner entry. It put me in some washout gravel that was more like sand. The moment I leaned in fairly hard the front end shot out like a rocket. I was on the ground and sliding before I even realized I was having a wreck. I shot off the pavement and into the ditch on the outside of the turn.

Yes that is sand, gravel, and rocks packed into my engine case.

Why gear is important.

Helmet = no head injury

Boots = no foot injury

Perforated leather, mesh and armored jacket = not torso limb injury despite the holes in the leather.

Gloves = no hand injury despite wearing a hole through the left palm as I slid.

No riding pants or armored pants = Knee injury, abrasion, small hole punched in bottom of knee cap area by a rock.

I will not post pictures in case folks do not like blood.

I was on a short ride only a few miles from home and it was a familiar road. I did the old it is too hot to bother with the over pants for such a short ride routine.

 

[Bob_T]

Not sure if you are comfortable sharing your story but I was curious as to what happened. Was it just a case of target fixation mid-corner or did some obstacle cause the run off?

We studied the spot closely and went over every thing my wife and I could remember.
Here is what I wrote on the motorcycle forum I frequent:

Well it finally happened...first time in over 20 years. I crashed the K-bike.
Second day of a four day Wisconsin trip with our Midwest GSR friends.
Riding two up with the wife on board, I turned in too early, didn't give it enough input to correct and went wide. Definitely pilot error.

Once we caught the gravel on the shoulder, it was too late. Rode the ditch for about 100ft, then fell and slid for about 50ft.
Wife has a minor fracture of the left ankle, badly sprained right ankle. I have a minor fracture of my left thumb. We both are covered in bruises, as the ditch was full of large rocks.

We consider ourselves lucky and were very glad we wear full gear.
With the help of our friends, some tape and zip ties, we manged to make the bike ridable enough to get to our motel and then home.

The bike was perfectly capable of that turn and the speed we were going. The day before I came over a hill and was surprised by a 90º left. I just slammed the inside bar hard and she went over and around.

My biggest fear of having a bad spill is that my wife will be on the back when it happens. It is significantly harder to control the bike with a passenger even if they know how to ride pillion.

I completely understand your fears...she was the first thing I checked and I was so relieved that she seemed intact. And, according to her, she can't wait till we can go out again.

My wife is an experienced and excellent passenger. I actually find the big BMW more planted and stable with her on board. I can also use the rear brake more.

 

[Bob_T]

Looks like you must have been reasonably close to straight and making it through the corner if you kept it up until the point indicated. I assume you were just trying scrub off speed without using any hard braking and trying to ease it back up onto the pavement when either slick grass or the slope of the ditch got you.

You got it exactly correct...

I had my low side in a similar corner but I fell closer to corner entry. I got a little wide and outside at corner entry. It put me in some washout gravel that was more like sand. The moment I leaned in fairly hard the front end shot out like a rocket. I was on the ground and sliding before I even realized I was having a wreck. I shot off the pavement and into the ditch on the outside of the turn.

Yes that is sand, gravel, and rocks packed into my engine case.

Why gear is important.

Helmet = no head injury

Boots = no foot injury

Perforated leather, mesh and armored jacket = not torso limb injury despite the holes in the leather.

Gloves = no hand injury despite wearing a hole through the left palm as I slid.

No riding pants or armored pants = Knee injury, abrasion, small hole punched in bottom of knee cap area by a rock.

I will not post pictures in case folks do not like blood.

I was on a short ride only a few miles from home and it was a familiar road. I did the old it is too hot to bother with the over pants for such a short ride routine.

Ouch....that sucks...

 

[cody6173]

My baby. 2002 Honda VTX1800S. Unfortunately don't get to ride as much as I'd like with a 7 month old and another on the way.

 

[tshinefield]

Vtx 1800f with xtream fairing plus.

 

[Dawai]

My Roadking, old Georgia State patrol bike. Painted here, I am still learning true fire flames
AFTER I painted the bike, I/some others bought some pedal cars to flame for kids for Christmas to practice some more, all the pedal cars turned out better than my bike. A buddy in New Mexico sent me some more paint. (house of kolor, candies, clears) Flames are done over a black surface, use templates cut from light cardboard with scissors (I see you smiling thinking of a 300lb tattooed biker using scissors)

I think I am fixing to do my NEW keezer.. just put the faucets into the new stainless lid. There is a build on the DIY chapter here.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

That Mercury mockery pedal car is BADASS! Hopefully you got some spun full moon hubcaps for the front wheels.

 

[Dawai]

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Comet-Pedal-Car-Assembly-Kit-Plain-Grey,66168.html

Friend, that was a $149 Speedway Unpainted kit pedalcar.. they had free shipping.. I was looking for something to practice on, there they were.. I bought one, A beautiful lady in Alabama bought one, and a Pharmacist buddy in New mexico bought another one.. I did three, the third one I had the flu something awful, was wobbly, but kicking the time to Christmas delivery for a kid.

It still turned out better than the bike.

I love motorcycles.. fast ones, slow ones, two wheel drive ones.. I had a 1958 Panhead for 18 years.. I had about all the demons chased out of it so I could ride it across country.

There was once going into Memphis, the points closed up, the battery (generators were POC) went dead nearly, headlight was a brown spot.. I hunted around on the side of the road and found a beer pull top.. NOW.. they had not made them in 10 years.. I adjusted the points with that using headlights of cars passing by.. It cranked, spitting and sputtering the more it ran, the better the battery was.. Got me home..

That same old bike, I built the engine on (Lake Shore HD) , I had a Crazy girl on the back, she had just put me up against a dozen 1%ers in a bar.. She was nuts.. I talked my way out of that.. cause I know people who have a "eye" that looks over "there" from being hit in the head.. but anyways.. the first two cars I split lanes on at 100.. she peed up my back. She didn't stay around too long after that.. I learned to split lanes in California..

I am not a old prude.. thou I am round.. I'd love to have a Hayabusa.. I told the wife I was going to get one while I was taking a bath.. the water got cold before that conversation was over.. we've been together 12 years.. she is trying to keep me alive.

I guess she don't want to wipe my rear, and the drool off my chin for 20 years??