Going to the Dark Side

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Hey Mission,

Seems like you've worn that tire a good ways up the sidewalls. {{OOPS edit needed... side walls obviously untouched... my mistake}} Looks like you don't fool around when it's time to carve through the corners. Just wondering, based on our latest conversations, did you notice any extra slipping or tire spin coming out of corners with the Exalto... compared to your old MT ? Did you notice any change as the tire broke in? Also, is that a plug I think I see in that tire? Does that mean that I'm not the only one running a plug in my tire? Finally, since I didn't see any wear bars in your picture, your Exalto looks like it might have a few more miles on it: so I was wondering, are you switching it out right away?

Gary

darksier #44

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Done!! Mounted a new Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S today.

First impressions with only 50 miles or so:

I noticed much the same as others have reported. Follows road imperfections more - especially at low speed. Ride was "busier" and took concious effort to keep from wandering within my lane at slower (i.e.40 mph) speeds. More effort to initiate a turn and more work to keep it leaned over in the turn. Smoother ride than the MC tire. Quite nice on the highway @ 70 mph.

Overall I would say, based on VERY limited experience, that this will be a worthwhile experiment for me. The cost saving, while important, is secondary to being able to plan a long trip without having to change tires on the road or having to change a partly used tire before a moderate length trip. I'm pretty sure that I will run this tire for 20-30,000 miles and change back to a MC tire for a final comparison. It is definitely less fun than a new MC tire but probably compares to one that is almost finished after too much slab riding.

Currently running about 33 psi. May have to play with that a bit.

Of course, the obligatory photo...

P1000719.jpg
Too much air pressure!....... drop the pressure ride it a couple hundred miles... then start pushing it in the twisties...... :)

 
Hey Mission,

Seems like you've warn that tire a good way up the sidewalls. Looks like you don't fool when it's time to carve through the corners. Just wondering, based on our latest conversations, did you notice any extra slipping or tire spin coming out of corners with the Exalto... compared to your old MT ? Did you notice any change as the tire broke in? Also, is that a plug I think I see in that tire? Does that mean that I'm not the only one running a plug in my tire? Finally, since I didn't see any wear bars in your picture, your Exalto looks like it might have a few more miles on it: so I was wondering, are you switching it out right away?

Gary

darksier #44
Gary

I commuted all year and twisties on the way home and weekends.. 30 to 31 pounds people!! 7500 RPMS out of the corners... that is a plug, ran over a big *** screw... about the

width of bustanuts ****...1/4 ". ran it another 9K miles.... if you ride easy and in a straight line slabbing it, you could get alot more miles out of it.

B

 
Hey Mission,

Seems like you've warn that tire a good way up the sidewalls. Looks like you don't fool when it's time to carve through the corners. Just wondering, based on our latest conversations, did you notice any extra slipping or tire spin coming out of corners with the Exalto... compared to your old MT ? Did you notice any change as the tire broke in? Also, is that a plug I think I see in that tire? Does that mean that I'm not the only one running a plug in my tire? Finally, since I didn't see any wear bars in your picture, your Exalto looks like it might have a few more miles on it: so I was wondering, are you switching it out right away?

Gary

darksier #44
????

There's no sidewall wear at all! He's got significant wear on the outer surface of the tread, but it doesn't continue over the edge into the sidewall, as you can see from those very thin grooves that occur usually twice but sometimes just once between the larger water grooves. You see those groove worn significantly on the end towards the center, missing completely toward the edge of the tread surface, then reappearing on the sidewall. you'll also see a very sharply defined edge has appeared where the tread meets the sidewall. The edge wouldn't be there if the sidewall was ever on the ground.

Maybe you didn't actually mean sidewall literally. It's obvious that he rides it hard and is quite comfortable riding it leaned well over, so maybe "riding the sidewall" was just a figure of speech, I don't know. I'm just trying to clarify, for those that come across this uninformed, that the sidewalls don't get to the pavement.

 
Too much air pressure!....... drop the pressure ride it a couple hundred miles... then start pushing it in the twisties...... :)
Got it. Dropping pressure to 29 and giving that a try for awhile. Have about 250 miles on it so far and either its breaking in a bit or I'm just getting used to it (maybe both). Higher speeds on good highways and moderately curvy roads (not twisty) are a breeze. Lower speeds, however, do not inspire confidence at this stage; especially on an uneven road surface. Hopefully the combination of lower pressure, personal experience and the tire breaking in will have a positive effect.

Thanks

 
Too much air pressure!....... drop the pressure ride it a couple hundred miles... then start pushing it in the twisties...... :)
Got it. Dropping pressure to 29 and giving that a try for awhile. Have about 250 miles on it so far and either its breaking in a bit or I'm just getting used to it (maybe both). Higher speeds on good highways and moderately curvy roads (not twisty) are a breeze. Lower speeds, however, do not inspire confidence at this stage; especially on an uneven road surface. Hopefully the combination of lower pressure, personal experience and the tire breaking in will have a positive effect.

Thanks
Careful!!......... 28 pounds got real sloppy and a bit loose in the twisties.

I let it drop to 29lbs and pump it up to 31lbs. 30lbs is the sweet spot...... ;)

 
Hey Mission,

Seems like you've warn that tire a good way up the sidewalls. Looks like you don't fool when it's time to carve through the corners.

Gary

darksier #44
There's no sidewall wear at all!

Maybe you didn't actually mean sidewall literally. It's obvious that he rides it hard and is quite comfortable riding it leaned well over, so maybe "riding the sidewall" was just a figure of speech, I don't know.
OOPS. My bad. You are right. I didn't mean side wall literally. But it's obvious comparing that tire to mine, my Exalto has a boring life. Thanks for the input. Amazing thing? No matter how many times I edit what I post, seems like some days I just can't get it right. Oh well. So much for my supposed teacher's skills.

Gary

darksider #44

 
Did you feel that the tire was sliding outside in the corners? Or spinning on the pavement? Could you elaborate more on that aspect please?

I owe the community a more thorough explanation on my experiences. My prior post was made between two group ride days this weekend and I didn't really have enough time to collect and post all of my thoughts. I do that here.

I apologize in advance for the extreme length of the post, longer even than my normal forum regurgitation, but I want to get it all out there and then move along and be done with it (and then I can unsubscribe from this never ending thread :p ) I have a feeling that only people with a direct interest in Darksiding will be motivated to read through this diatribe. And I have a feeling that I will be unlikely to dissuade anyone that has already made up their mind on the issue. So be it.

To the others. Please feel free to skip over this long post, or give it a negative for excessive verbosity, or whatever you like...

The sliding / slipping sensation that I got was when acceleration briskly from a stop while also cornering somewhat hard. As an example, trying to accelerate away from a stop sign when entering a main road from a 90 degree side road intersection before the oncoming traffic arrives.

Disclaimer: Because of the extreme amount of steering input required at any higher pressure, I did have the tire aired down to just 28 lbs when this occurred. That was probably too low, and may have been the cause for the sliding/slipping. Even so, even if there was no slipping I just can't justify the compromises in the way the bike feels to me.

It also isn't about arm strength. I was not getting tired from the amount of steering effort, at least not consciously so. The worst part of the experience for me was the "bump steer" like effect on the front end of having to maintain such a firm, steady pressure and cornering over uneven road surfaces that we invariably have here. I have no doubt that I could have continued along with the CT, eventually become more used to it and gone ahead and worn it down to the nubbins.

I don't want to give the impression that the experience was all bad for me. But in weighing the Pros and the Cons I just could not justify keeping it on there for a second longer (I'll explain why at the end).

Pros:

Improved straight line traction in all conditions. Easy to understand that.

Much improved ride comfort (softness). It really smooths out the sharp bumps, like concrete highway expansion joints.

Higher load rating: This could be especially important with a pillion and full bags on long trips. If one was ever considering pulling a trailer, I'd want to consider mounting a CT on the tow bike. FWIW - I would never consider towing a trailer myself. If I needed to take that much stuff, personally I'd just drive a car. Maybe a convertible... ;)

Easier to "track stand" the bike at stop lights/signs. Putting a foot down becomes somewhat optional. (not really, but it feels a little like that)

And the biggies: Economy and Longevity, This have been expounded on to no end.

Cons:

Increased steering effort required. Regardless of the tire used, you will never reach the happy place where you turn into a turn and the bike goes around the corner on the line with no (or little) steering input. This was not all that bad on smooth turns. I felt pretty confident to lean hard so long as I could see all the way through a turn and knew there were no bumps or rips in the pavement on my line. But when the front end hit any irregularities, the weighting and un-weighting of the suspension caused the steering feedback to vary, which made the handlebars want to wobble under the varying pressure. It felt like bump steer, even though the mechanics are different.

Tendency to follow irregularities. Longitudinal cracks, rain grooves, expanded metal bridges. All tires do this to some extent. Having the big meat on the back end makes it more so. You just need to always be on your toes.

Tendency to "self steer" down hill. Similar to above, but more troublesome. The back roads in New England tend to have very heavy crowning. Probably helps them drain the winter snow melt. This means that to go straight down a road the left side of the CT will have more pressure on the road than the right. That wants to tilt the bike to the right, and if you let go of the bars it would steer off the right side of the road. You have to constantly steer toward the crown of the road just to go straight. Also, unlike in many southern states, they don't always cant the road to the turns. They often maintain the crown through the turns which means that you end up with much higher steering effort required to make left handers. Now thow in a few bumps from #1 above.

Considerably Heavier - Has an effect on the bike's suspension. Some folks say you need to beef up the rear suspension to handle a car tire. At 58 k miles, I still have the stock rear shock and it works just fine (so far, knock on wood). In fact ionbeam, who knows a thing or two about suspensions, and happens to find himself behind me pretty often, has remarked about how well my stock suspension is working when watching me over some typical New England roads (which is to say rough ones).

Worse fuel mileage - Yup. Although I have a very limited data-set to go on, I suggest that by running a big wide car tire at lowish pressures required for use on a bike will produce more rolling resistance, and will result in worse fuel mileage. At 28 psi it was quite appreciable on my bike. I got more than 10% worse mileage than my normal, which historically doesn't vary by more than 2 mpg (except when I'm following Dave in Kentucky! ;) ).

More difficult to mount. Either doing it yourself or finding someone that will do it. I think I have the hang of it now, so could do it again more easily. So maybe not such a big negative.

Liability concerns - Whether well founded or not, there is a possibility, albeit remote, that by using a car tire not approved or intended for use on a motorcycle, that one could have legal issues in the event of "something bad" happening.

How all of the above weighs with me personally:

Longevity and Economy are the two biggest pros. Everything else is fluff, IMO.

I do not commute on my bike. I have a company car and, if I even had a commute, the company would not allow me to ride my bike. Some non-sense about increased liability during work hours. But I don't have commute, I work out of my home, so it's pretty much moot. All of my motorcycle riding is strictly for pleasure. If I remove any of the pleasure of the ride, it's a bad deal for me.

I am a Candy Butt Rider (and proud of it). I do not make LD rides, or rallies. I see no pleasure in riding slab for endless hours to cover a given large amount of distance. I often spend all day in the saddle, only stopping for gas and to pee, and at the end of 10-12 hours I might have only covered 400-500 miles and have never touched an interstate. That is the kind of riding that I find pleasurable. I do not understand the people that think LD rides are "fun", but I can appreciate that everybody has different likes and dislikes and they are certainly all equally valid. I'm amazed by some of these LD feats people talk of, not because I couldn't do it. I'm sure that I could, if I were motivated to. I'm amazed because I ask myself, why? :huh:

Economy

I buy my PR2's (might change to something else next time) online for ~$150 each on sale with free shipping. They are so easy to mount and balance it is trivial (when I am at home) and free. I am getting around 9k miles per rear, not as high as many other folks, because I wear out the sides of them.

A Michelin Exalto is $155 plus $20 shipping (I'd never encourage anyone to run the $120 Yokohama that I tried). It would probably last me the equivalent of three PR2's because I'd also wear out the sides of a CT first. I just don't ride in a straight line very often. It's back to that pleasure thing...

Need to upgrade suspension? Where is the economy of having to buy an aftermarket shock at ~$750-1000, which will from most accounts need to be rebuilt every 30-40 k miles when with motorcycle tires I can happily run the stock shock or somebody else's stock take-off when mine wears out. Again, this is me. I've heard lots of denigration of the stock FJR suspension, but apparently I am not a good enough rider to tell any better. I'm OK with that.

Front tires wearing faster. I can't prove this, but I have no doubt that with all of the required pushing around of the front end that the front tire life has to be reduced. How much? Not sure... but it has to eat into the economy equation somewhat.

The one thing that I really wish I could economically avoid is in having to take off a tire with a more than a thousand miles left on it, which represents 10% or more of the Fred W life of that tire, because we may be leaving on a 3-4 k miles road trip. I think a better slution for this Candy Butt rider is to get myself a second set of wheels.

In retrospect, I was really never a very good candidate for a car tire to begin with. I even voiced such thoughts early on in this very thread, but I didn't want to be one of those "nay-sayers" that shot down the practice out of hand without any first hand experience. I waited for someone up here in the NE to go darkside, to hopefully steal a ride. No such luck. But I also wanted to see just how tough it is to do it yourself.

So, now I've spilled all of my guts. There you have it all. You should be able to see how I can say so definitively that dark-siding is not for me.

And also how I can't say that it is not a bad idea for some others. Other people have other needs and other tolerances. So... ride on you darksiders. Be happy and enjoy your machines. Hopefully we'll share a ride somewhere down the road.

(PS - I have found a new home for the Yokohama tire, where it will be kept company by three of its siblings on a vehicle for which it was intended (on a car). ;) I'm very happy about that. I wouldn't feel very good having someone else try using that model tire on a bike, even though it has been done successfully before me. However, I do still have the darksider required brake strut bar available to anyone that wants it for the cost of shipping. PM me.

edited to say that the brake strut bar has been claimed.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Freddie Bear, I just gave you a +1 because I know you are not long for this world once the Car Tire Mongrels get their hands on your sorry hide!

I understand El Commandante Eric, also known as Che, has already assembled a hit squad! RaYzerman19 will be the Black Ops Platoon Leader!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Was perusing the latest issue of Air & Space magazine and came across this little tidbit:

darksider1.jpg


Glenn Curtiss was the original Darksider in 1907. :crazy:

I'm heading to Miami tomorrow, but next week I'm going to walk over to the museum and have a look at the original abomination in person. :eek:mg2:

 
I know it may be differences of opinion and riding style and all, but I ride the ENVigor hard and haven't really experienced any of the issues you addressed Fred. No slippage under hard acceleration in tight turns from a stop...besides the times I tried that over the thick white stop line...then ANY tire will slip. Now, the cons you mentioned...tracking, fuel mileage, etc...yes, I have experienced most of those. I have just gotten used to most all of them, and nothing in the suspension has kept me from taking turns as quickly as I want to. Maybe I am just inexperienced in the nuances of how the bike handles over irregularities...or I just don't care...but I haven't given a second thought to hitting bumps, or nothing any ill effects.

Haven't noticed an issue with increased front tire wear. My last PR2 front went 13k miles, which is about what I got before with a moto tire on the back, so no real change there.

I guess I'll have to find a local with an Exalto so I can give it a spin, to see if there is a difference between it and the ENVigor.

Anyway, sorry to hear the CT experience didn't work out for you. If it didn't feel right, it didn't, and we can't blame you. Goodluck with the new PR2 on back. That's the one moto tire that I trust.

 
a big *** screw... about the

width of bustanuts ****...1/4 ".

B
*** screw? That just sounds wrong puddin' head. :blink:

Oh, and thanks for overstating the girth of me sausage :lol:
Word at the Owosso taverns is that your little "sausage" is good enough for your carnie girlfriend here....and her chicken too!

carnies_with_chicken.jpg


 
FredW - Thanks for taking the considerable time to post a well thought out dissertation on your CT experience. Hopefully it will help others in their decision to try darksiding or not. That, after all, is the purpose of this thread. In fact, I'm going to copy the post completely and put it under the FAQ so that it can be read there w/o future readers having to wade though the entire main thread. (hey, I gave you a +1 too) I may add a comment or two, but in an obvious manner so as to not confuse readers there they are opposing views.

 
Fred, Thank you for such an eloquent and concise write up of your experiences, absolutely heartfelt good writing dude. I, myself have no ******* idea what y'all are talking about, but its fascinating anyway !

Blessings,

Bobby

 
I understand El Commandante Eric, also known as Che, has already assembled a hit squad! RaYzerman19 will be the Black Ops Platoon Leader!
We tried this once. RaYzerman19 was sent out with a crack team from The House of Chrome Removal, only to come back hours later, very tired, with lipstick in places normally not seen. The rest of the team was later found at a local spa, claiming to be very relaxed and... errr.... "satiated" When asked about the hit, a blank stare and the following response occured: "what hit, hit what?? Oh, he hit it all right... Oh! you mean the hit... Opps, we forgot."

Needless to say, we never tried that again. :rolleyes:

 
I have maybe 450 miles on the Exalto at this time. Still not sure whether this will be a permanent switch for me - won't know for at least another 15,000-20,000 miles or so. I am going to run the CT for a trip to Florida via the Blueridge etc a week and a half from now. Will park the bike in sunny Florida for the winter and hopefully be able to make a pilgrammage to visit it during the winter. Riding it back to New Brunswick early April and will leave the CT on for the trip to NAFO - the long way. I figure that trip alone will be 14,000 miles and four weeks. The next tire, when I return, will be a motorcycle tire and I will see if its more fun. Ideally, I think I would like to find a spare rear rim for my 2007 and leave a CT mounted on it and a MC tire on the other. Saves the trouble of swapping for any specific trip.

I have a few observations:

1) Dropping the pressure to 30 psi was a big improvement. My PR2 front is at least half done and I suspect I would see further improvement with a new front tire.

2) Either I am compensating a LOT better or the tire is getting easier to turn as it gets broken in. I am not noticing the tire following pavement irregularities nearly as much as I did.

3) "Maybe" slightly poorer mileage but the difference may be partly due to the fact that the odometer/speedometer read a little differently. The speedo correction is quite a bit less than it was with a MC tire - probably only 1-2% different or so. The odometer is VERY slightly off compared to my GPS. (Less than one mile difference in a 200 mile ride today.

4) I measured the tire surface temperature after a solid one hour ride (mostly highway) using an IR temperature gun. Air temperature was 70 °F, sunny. The front PR2 was 95 °F and the CT was 86 °F. By comparison, my riding partner's Goldwing tire temperatures were about 8 °F higher for both front and rear. Based upon the ride we were doing the relatively low front tire temperature would suggest that there is unlikely to be excessive wear. Not a lot of curves on this road but this comparison was with a bike I was riding with. (I realize that the GW is very different!) I will do the same experiment with the FJR on a somewhat curvier road.

5) Did not really notice any slip with the MC tire. I am not a particularly agressive rider and the roads I have travelled have not been challenging. Fred is a more agressive (skilled) rider than I am so what I might find to be acceptable might be just plain awful for someone who can push the envelope further than I can. I will have a much better take on this after I run the Blueridge, Dragon and Cherohala later this month.

This is all that occurrs to me at this time. Will update as I gain a little more experience with this setup.

Ross

Edit: Must be CRS setting in. Can't remember whether the front or rear tire was warmer. Neither was hot and both were cooler than the GW I was riding with.

Edit 2: Front was warmer...

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Good observations Ross. Thanks for reminding me about the odo/speedo issue. Most CTs are larger in diameter, making the odo/speedo read much closer to dead on instead of the 3-5% higher than reality of a moto tire.

My '04 was typically reading 65 and I was really going 60 with moto tires. With the first CT, Bridgestone 019G, it was dead perfect, compared multiple times to GPS, including rallies where they do a 20+ mile odo check and work up a correction factor. When the CT is new, I usually have a correction factor of zero or + a little. Right now, with 34,600 miles on the CT, my correction factor is - .01 which is to say that the odo reads 1% higher than actual distance. So for a 1000 mile ride, I need to cover 1010 miles on the bike's odo.

 
Top