Going to the Dark Side

No, I am sure someone is going to have a flaming crash and die any second solely because they are running a car tire. Or at the very least they will crack the rim. Maybe the front rim will crack just to show unity with the rear rim.

RadioHowie said:

BTW.....do you have a larger picture of the Chunky Monkey in your avatar? If so, how about posting it and helping a bunch of brothers out!

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Don't remember where I found that pic, but trying to find her I ran across these hotties. :dribble:
And if your car's dirty, be sure and check out the wash video. :yahoo:

Tires are fun to talk about, but they can get boring. Let's face it: Round and black, blah, blah, blah...

******* on the other hand...Round and smooth, lots of different shapes and colors, and many times, attached to a pretty face. NOTHING boring about that!

I had yet another great evening with a fellow forumite. I met Low and Silent at the GBU this past summer. We both had a great time. I have since ridden with him out on the Olympic peninsula. He was finishing up his Dam Tour and stopped for a rest and meal. We had a great evening and I was able to capture a Darksider on camera. It is a rare sighting.



Adam getting ready to roll after breakfast.



Low and Silent says; "Look! 13000 miles and no wear"!



Low and Silent ready for takeoff. Going to collect some more Dams.

Had a great time with him. Wish I could have finished up his tour with him. Squeal.

Wow! is right!! 13,000 miles on a stock seat! that is amazing, I would be brain dead if I had to suffer the UN Sanctioned Torture of a stock seat....

FWFE

Mateship is universal!

Mateship is an Australian cultural idiom that embodies equality, loyalty and friendship. There are two types of mateship, the inclusive and the exclusive; the inclusive is in relation to a shared situation (e.g., employment, sports, or hardship), whereas the exclusive type is toward a third party (e.g., a person that you have just met). Russel Ward, in The Australian Legend (1958), saw the concept as a central one to the Australian people. Mateship derives from mate, meaning friend, commonly used in Australia as an amicable form of address. Mateship can also be expressed in such qualities as loyalty to one's mates in preference to the law.

Best regards

Surly

h34r: h34r:

Yeah but, but, but, he didn't crash, or explode, and his rear wheel isn't split. How is that even remotely possible?!?

On another note, I LOVE the color of the AE from that year. Wish they would make that color in the standard version.

Jeeze, I'm gone for a few days and you guys get more out of hand than usual. Off topic I expect now and then, but lets tone down the political rants and religious slams please. It IS against the forum rules, and when all the admins get home, there may be some ***** slapping going on. Hell, i've personally gotten three friggin PM's in the last two days bitching about this thread so far, just for page 123!

As to the poll, I still want to hear from Myke and I PM'd him.

'Zilla brings up a good point, (even if he is a city cop!). Just because someone's not listed on this site as a darksider, doesn't mean squat. It doesn't mean squat if they ARE listed here. This is for fun, remember? :glare: I know of a couple of dozen guys riding CTs on their FJRs that simply don't give a damn about the forum, don't want a number and don't have a desire to contribute to the banter. They did PM me and ask questions, or just thank me for the info posted here. I'm cool with that, an so should you all.

Lighten up and stop posting crap that is better suited to **** threads and the poli/religious stuff. For that matter, would you talk to your grandma like you post here?

The poll seeks info about FJR Darksiders. There is a Darksider forum that deals with all types of bikes HERE.

TriggerT said:

Or at the very least they will crack the rim. Maybe the front rim will crack just to show unity with the rear rim.

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I call data point!

Damn.. This did go south.. I would hope the powers that be would give a wee bit of leeway here regarding the transgressions. Some of the ******** is totally uncalled for.

That being said I'll stand in line for the bailiff to "whack my pee pee" as I did post up a picture unrelated. :lol:

Personally I think there is room for that. Political ********, and the like should be deleted.

OCfjr said:

Jeeze, I'm gone for a few days and you guys get more out of hand than usual. Off topic I expect now and then, but lets tone down the political rants and religious slams please. It IS against the forum rules, and when all the admins get home, there may be some ***** slapping going on. Hell, i've personally gotten three friggin PM's in the last two days bitching about this thread so far, just for page 123!

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Sorry dad!!

Ya gotta admit though...Them girls were purty!

HotRodZilla said:

Sorry dad!!

Ya gotta admit though...Them girls were purty!

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If I have to stop this car, somebody's getting a whipping!

:lol: :lol:

I agree there is a lot of leeway here on the forum. And that's not such a bad thing. It's just gotten a bit carried away recently. I'd appreciate a little decorum.

Just in case that's a new word for some of you:

noun

1.

dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.

OK

I read the last half dozen pages and the first half dozen pages; including the FAQ. While the summary information is useful, it is out of date and I can't bear to read through 2500 posts of mostly crap interspersed with some solid information and real experience to see what would work the best for me. (Would be nice to have an updated FAQ that distills out some of the serious information in this epic post!)

What is the current Favorite? Michelin Exalto 205 50R17? or something else?

Recommended running pressure?

Expected life?

There is a poll on miles ridden and problems but no concensus on the questions I posed above - at least nowhere I could find it.

The Exalto seems to be the "current" favorite. I run mine at 32 psi. Have 12,000 miles and showing no signs of wear to speak of. I fully expect to get 30,000 or so out of it. My previous CT was a Yokohama Advan +4 and lasted 26,000 miles. It was just starting to show the wear bars and I probably could have gone a couple thousand more but really wanted to go to the Exalto. The biggest problem I see with finding a good tire is that Automotive tire technology changes fairly quickly and I suspect the Exalto will be discontinued by the time mine wears out. Not that it will be a bad thing because there will be something better at that time, I am sure.

Well... After my split tread earlier this week on the PR2, the darkside deed has now been done:



My son has been home for a couple of days and helped me muscle it on this morning. I also made some modifications to my home made tire mounting "stand" (old steel car rim) that made it easier to flex the tire on. This is a Yokohama Avid Envigor.

My reports on perceived handling differences to come...

FarWestFastEddie said:

Wow! is right!! 13,000 miles on a stock seat! that is amazing, I would be brain dead if I had to suffer the UN Sanctioned Torture of a stock seat....

FWFE

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Actually, the CT has closer to 18k on it now, after the trip this weekend.

RossKean said:

What is the current Favorite? Michelin Exalto 205 50R17? or something else?

Recommended running pressure?

Expected life?

Click to expand...

The current "Flavor-of-the-Day" seems to be the Exalto...but which one?

There are two Exalto models according to Tirerack.com...

The Exalto PE2, which has a "W" speed rating. 168mph. Kinda silly for an FJR. It also has a tread wear rating of 240. $159 closeout priced.

The "other" Exalto, The Exalto A/S, has a "V" speed rating. 149mph. Just right for the FJR. And the tread wear rating of 400 is nearly twice that of the Exalto PE2. $160.

Between the two, the Exalto A/S is the smarter choice for the FJR.

However, I have the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus on my 2004 FJR. It has a "Y" speed rating. 186mph. (I've only seen that speed a couple of times ) But the tread wear rating is 500! $187. ($159 when I mounted it November '09)

I fully expect 40,000+ miles out of this tire. Currently, going on 18,000 miles, it literally is showing NO wear on it at all.

From a price-point and features, the Exalto A/S is probably the tire of choice, but I really like my Pilot Sport A/S Plus.

Initial impressions after a half hour test ride around town and short sprint down the interstate.

This is with the Avid EnVigor inflated to 32 psi.

People have said in the past that it requires a little extra steering effort. Kind of like when your rear MC tire squares off. This is a huge understatement, IMO. At least with this tire it requires a LOT of extra steering effort, for any kind of a turn, even small ones, and the input must be maintained all the way through the turn. I can definitely relate to what Bungie noted about the feel that he was pushing the front end around with the square tire in the back. With that much leverage being applied through the tires I wonder how much of the total available front tire traction is being used up just holding the bike on line? I also wonder how much added stiction there will be in the suspension with that kind of torque being applied to the forks. The high steering effort during cornering does not instill confidence, at least not for me at this point.

I did not feel the left to right (or vice versa) transitions suffer very much at all. Others have commented negatively about that.

Having the big meat on the back inflated to such a relatively lower pressure gives the rear end a softer, cushioned feeling when hitting sharp transition bumps, like bridge expansion joints, etc. You still feel the normal "whack" to the front wheel but then the rear is softer.

The bike wants to follow the road surface a lot more. A crowned road will require constant bar pressure to maintain a straight line and not run off the low side. Likewise, turning on a crowned road will require more steering input to the left and less to the right. It also is affected more by road irregularities and grooves

I tested to see how much harder I could stomp the rear brake before the onset of ABS on a dry road. Interestingly I could actually hear the rear tire slipping in between ABS pulses. Doing the same thing on a MC tire only produced pulses in the pedal and no tire slipping noises. I would guess that the MC tire is also slipping, but with no audible feedback.

I plan on giving the tire a fair shake and not form an overall opinion for several thousand miles, but wanted to capture my initial impressions before I get so used to the thing that I forget what they were.

Fred W said:

Initial impressions after a half hour test ride...and not form an overall opinion for several thousand miles, but wanted to capture my initial impressions...

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So, how does it handle on dirt roads? :lol:

ionbeam said:

Fred W said:

Initial impressions after a half hour test ride...and not form an overall opinion for several thousand miles, but wanted to capture my initial impressions...

Click to expand...

So, how does it handle on dirt roads? :lol:

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That is yet to be seen. And you know me well enough to know that could make or break this whole dealio!!