Going to the Dark Side

[doctorJ]

Just ride it. I've gone 10k or more on a plugged CT on a car.

Ditto, sittin on 17K on pickup, forgot which one it is after rotating 3 times now.

OK, I just checked again and still same air pressure so will not order a new one yet. Cheapest Michelin Pilot Exalto I can find is $175 delivered. On my ST1300 I have a Hankook Ventus Evo 1100 which was about the only and first one tried on the ST. It handles just as good as the Exalto also and same size. It is harder to mount on the bike though since have to deflate it to mount and air it up after clearing the ABS sensor stuff.

doctorj

 

[Bustanut joker]

Just ride it. I've gone 10k or more on a plugged CT on a car.

Ditto, sittin on 17K on pickup, forgot which one it is after rotating 3 times now.

OK, I just checked again and still same air pressure so will not order a new one yet. Cheapest Michelin Pilot Exalto I can find is $175 delivered. On my ST1300 I have a Hankook Ventus Evo 1100 which was about the only and first one tried on the ST. It handles just as good as the Exalto also and same size. It is harder to mount on the bike though since have to deflate it to mount and air it up after clearing the ABS sensor stuff.

doctorj

Mount this

:finger:

 

[SkooterG]

Just ride it. I've gone 10k or more on a plugged CT on a car.

Ditto, sittin on 17K on pickup, forgot which one it is after rotating 3 times now.

OK, I just checked again and still same air pressure so will not order a new one yet. Cheapest Michelin Pilot Exalto I can find is $175 delivered. On my ST1300 I have a Hankook Ventus Evo 1100 which was about the only and first one tried on the ST. It handles just as good as the Exalto also and same size. It is harder to mount on the bike though since have to deflate it to mount and air it up after clearing the ABS sensor stuff.

doctorj

You have an FJR AND an ST1300? Ok, so what's the story?

 

[wfooshee]

And both are darksided? Damn, he is a pervert!!!!

 

[garyahouse]

I found a roofing nail in my Michelin Pilot Exalto a few days ago. It has between 14000-15000 miles on it and still has about 1 1/2 mm. on the little whiskers before the wear bars so should have 5-6000 more miles out of it. I plugged it with a sticky plug with some tire glue/cement or whatever it is. So far it is holding air and riding fine. I've ridden a plugged tire up to 4000 miles once when on a trip and it did fine. Is the consensus of youse guys that just ride it and monitor the air pressure or should I pull it and have an internal patch put on like one might on a regular car tire on a car? The more I ride it and air stays same, I get more comfortable with just riding it and replacing it in a few thousand miles.

doctorj

Hey Doc,

I picked up a nail in my Exalto about 11,000 miles ago. I put a cheap (made by "slime") plug in it just to get me home as I was 1100 miles away when it happened. But I never needed to do anything else with it: I haven't had a moment's problem since. For what it's worth, the hole was right in the center.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[juniorfjr]

Just ride it. I've gone 10k or more on a plugged CT on a car.

Ditto, sittin on 17K on pickup, forgot which one it is after rotating 3 times now.

OK, I just checked again and still same air pressure so will not order a new one yet. Cheapest Michelin Pilot Exalto I can find is $175 delivered. On my ST1300 I have a Hankook Ventus Evo 1100 which was about the only and first one tried on the ST. It handles just as good as the Exalto also and same size. It is harder to mount on the bike though since have to deflate it to mount and air it up after clearing the ABS sensor stuff.

doctorj

You have an FJR AND an ST1300? Ok, so what's the story?

He's a Doctor, he can. Probably just double billed medicare or sompin. :huh:

 

[Spook]

I'd like to issue a challenge of my own. I say that placing a CT on the back of an FJR is just as safe if not safer than a motorcycle tire.

I have no quibbles with the safety aspect of car tires. I'm sure they go round and round like an mcy tire.

My issues is why you would put something that handles worse in the twisties than a mcy tire? Sure, you can ride it in the twisties and some crazy nutter on a car tire can race another on an mcy tire and they can go fast. But besides some sort of longevity advantage, would you put a worse handling tire on your bike?

Car tires - make the bike handle like dog poop for a long time?

Head to head...same rider, a mcy tire will perform better and have a better feel in the twisties.

After hearing from two people that I have ridden with and respect take off a car tire because it took out that the fun times in the twisties, that convinced me. It's that last 10% of a well handling creamy smoothness on a sweeper or twisty that gives the wow factor for riding for some of us.

For others, its longevity of tires (yawn).

I have no problem saying that in the right hands, a CT is safe (yawn)...but don't tell me that a CT will give you that same warm and fuzzy feeling in the curves...cuz I have two former darksiders that have told me that they had to take that POS off.

wow two people I am soooo impressed. I am sure for those two people it was not right. I will run with most with my car tire and I am old and fat.

 

[Shane]

Just have to share this...

Probably not saving any money with this setup though.

All the best,

Shane

 

[wheatonFJR]

I guess that guy likes big rear ends.

 

[Spook]

I'm gonna slightly disagree with you on the used one as there's a whole lotta miles to be ridden before you even think about replacing it..... to spend an extra 100+ bones for 30-40% more life.... hmmmmmmmm. Save it for next time in a coupla years....

The corners look a bit more rounded than the center, so I am assuming the best measurement is in the center. I'll probably wear the corners off a car tire before the center tread. Add in the $20 it costs me to mount a car tire (as I won't try it myself) and the hassle, and that $100 for a brand new tire is well worth it to me. Of course I still would like to find a new one for closer to $150 as I did my first, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen.

Tempted to try RH's tire, but I liked the Exalto so much I hate to mess with success.

I like my toyo so far and have over 20k on it but do not know for sure how long it will last. Cost me 130 total with shipping, mounting and balancing. That also included road hazard. Do not know if it is a good as what you are on now but I know I can run harder with it than a MT..

 

[wheatonFJR]

So how much money per year are you guys saving over PR2s?

 

[Spook]

So how much money per year are you guys saving over PR2s?

Before I put the Toyo on I was spending about 900 dollars a year on tires. I spent 130 mounted on the Toyo and this will be the third year on it, I will probably get another season out of it.

 

[wheatonFJR]

So how much money per year are you guys saving over PR2s?

Before I put the Toyo on I was spending about 900 dollars a year on tires. I spent 130 mounted on the Toyo and this will be the third year on it, I will probably get another season out of it.

That's a pretty good return for you! :clapping:

 

[garyahouse]

I don't know who is keeping track but I just went Darkside. I installed a General GMax AS03 I chose this one because it is a "Extreme Permormance tread" which means rubber is a little softer and they grip better and have great wet tractin. I wasn't looking for a 50,000 mile tire just not a 4000 mile one.

Yo, Lester

How's that new tire doing? I wonder if it could be said that trying an untested CT is riding the darkside of the darkside?? Curious how it's working out for ya. By the way, I drive through Hudson every day on my way down to Gulf Middle School where I teach. Didn't know I had an FJR neighbor.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[garyahouse]

I just replied to a PM about how I liked running a CT on the FJR, and thought you might enjoy taking a peek. Here it is copied below:

I've put a bunch of posts on the forum about that tire. I've learned that all tires are not created equal. As a matter of fact, it seems that MT's are more similar to each other than CT's are. CT's (when run on an FJR) have quite a difference due to sidewall stiffness, it seems. The Michelin Pilot Exalto has become the forum favorite, and I can understand why. What it does: it changes the feel of initiating a turn. The bike does everything it did before, but it has a different feel. To some, it takes more "effort" to turn. To me, it feels more stable, not as twitchy. I don't like twitchy. I don't like a bike that steers quick. It feels unstable. Part of why I like bigger, higher power bikes like the FJR and your BKing as opposed to smaller, lighter weight crotch rockets: I don't like twitchy; I like stable, planted, predictable. I honestly never think about the tire when I'm riding. I don't care about carving canyons and grinding footpegs. I like twisting the throttle and light to medium cornering. Cornering? It sticks like glue. It even increases my cornering clearance slightly. I have no fear of cranking the bike over and accelerating out of a corner. I don't run over 100, so I could care less about high speed arguments. However, the tire handled fine during my trip to the Tail of the Dragon and Gatlinburg. It tracked fine coming home through Tropical Storm Debbie. It's carried a plug due to a nail for 12k miles thus far, doesn't leak a bit. My take: I don't have the money to waste on a new tire every 5-6k miles. Huge waste of time and energy for what? The FJR, like the BKing, makes some big torque. Either bike will shred the center of a tire in short order. It used to frustrate me when I'd walk around the back of the bike and see that center strip grow wider every week. It made me feel guilty every time I twisted the throttle. I could feel my money draining out of my wallet. I know, go easy on the throttle, the rear tire lasts longer. But twisting the throttle of the FJR is like owning your own roller coaster. We ride em to enjoy em, no? So I decided to take the plunge. I am so happy that I did. Love that tire. I'll never go back to a BT, and I'll probably attempt to darkside any bike that I may own in the future. For my type of riding, it's the perfect tire. I can crank the throttle any time or all the time and don't have to worry about wearing out the little one inch wide strip of rubber that contacts the ground.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[SkooterG]

Blasphemer!!!

:lol:

 

[beemerdons]

Blasphemer!!!

:lol:

 

[lnewlf]

Florida....huh :huh:

 

[beemerdons]

Florida....huh :huh:

Hey now lnewlf picking on the Floridians is like bullying those kids that ride on the short bus, it's not right and it isn't fair! lnewlf, here is a prime example of what I am talking about. So very damn sad, isn't it!

 

[majicmaker]

Florida....huh :huh:

North Florida!! Up by Georgia! :lol: