Going to the Dark Side

[yessirrom]

I did some pretty brisk riding this afternoon and am still alive, ha ha. Feels a little different but a lot like a well worn moto tire with a flat surface. Not bad at all. I am running at 30psi and getting head wobble at a buck twenty. Suggestions?

 

[bgross]

I am in. I have no idea why this is sideways...sigh
[img=[URL="https://oi42.tinypic.com/scqtlt.jpg%5D"]https://oi42.tinypic.com/scqtlt.jpg][/URL]

Hey, that plastic sheet over the living room carpet is a great idea!

Think I'll pass it along to my formerly-married Harley-riding friends.

 

[alchemy]

I did some pretty brisk riding this afternoon and am still alive, ha ha. Feels a little different but a lot like a well worn moto tire with a flat surface. Not bad at all. I am running at 30psi and getting head wobble at a buck twenty. Suggestions?

120 -125 is the beginning of a slight wobble, 130-135 gets a bit more. Seems all the CT's do it at the upper speeds

 

[yessirrom]

I am in. I have no idea why this is sideways...sigh

[img=[URL="https://oi42.tinypic.com/scqtlt.jpg%5D"]https://oi42.tinypic.com/scqtlt.jpg][/URL]

Hey, that plastic sheet over the living room carpet is a great idea!Think I'll pass it along to my formerly-married Harley-riding friends.

Funny but no. That is a tarp in the car port. Helps when washing the bike etc. Gravel underneath.

 

[user 213]

@yessirrom - Welcome to the Darkside. You have been added to the FAQ as Darksider #70. Enjoy the benefits of long tread life and improved traction in marginal conditions, w/o it slowing you down or causing other problems. Be warned that strangers will approach you and attempt to tell you that "you're gonna die!", but after a while, it's real fun to point out that you have more miles on that tire than they have on their bikes.

In regards to the high speed wobble feeling, a few psi more pressure helps a little, but the CT is really not as stable at speeds over 120. Part of this may be the extra mass of the tire, part may be the larger width of rubber on the road. As most know, when a moto tire loses pressure and has a wider contact patch, you get a rear weave effect. This may be similar to what we feel with the CT at high speeds. Thankfully, it's a non-issue for most as there are few places we can do sustained speeds over 120 w/o being stupid or getting to hear "Press hard, four copies".

@bgross - Go for it. I like what the Yokohama Avid Envigor looks like on paper and it should be a good performer for our use. Please PM me when you have it on and have a few hundred miles on it. I'd like both a pic for the FAQ and a review from your perspective. The edge profile looks as good as the Exalto and while each tire manufacturer is allowed to do their own testing and come up with their own numbers, the tread wear rating is promising. Yokohama makes quality tires.

 

[rbentnail]

I did some pretty brisk riding this afternoon and am still alive, ha ha. Feels a little different but a lot like a well worn moto tire with a flat surface. Not bad at all. I am running at 30psi and getting head wobble at a buck twenty. Suggestions?

I found I prefer a little more pressure, 32-34 psi. Really made no difference on the wobble tho, mine also shows up at around 120.

 

[yessirrom]

Thanks for the welcome and the information. I just got back from a two up ride of about 200 miles. Very bouncy. The extra mass of the tire must be affecting it a lot. I just had my front suspension redone with stock springs and specs. I added a Penske rear triple adjustable shock on the rear. I figured out my sag etc. with the PR3. What adjustments would you recommend to tame the rear with the CT?

 

[user 213]

Thanks for the welcome and the information. I just got back from a two up ride of about 200 miles. Very bouncy. The extra mass of the tire must be affecting it a lot. I just had my front suspension redone with stock springs and specs. I added a Penske rear triple adjustable shock on the rear. I figured out my sag etc. with the PR3. What adjustments would you recommend to tame the rear with the CT?

It's been too long since I did that, but the extra mass of the CT will likely need a bit more rebound dialed in and possibly some compression changes. Sag should not be different enough to concern yourself with. Try a couple more clicks of rebound, (stiffer), both high speed and low and see how that does. If it's jarring, it's not rebounding fast enough, if it's bouncy, it might be too much compression and it's not compressing fast enough, but honestly, I'm a novice at suspension adjustment and we all describe things differently!

 

[bgross]

Thanks for the nudge, Eric. I ordered a Yokohama tonight.

It'll probably sit in the garage until after the first of the year while I wear out the PR2. Then I'll mount & photograph it and send my impressions.

My bride/CFO will be thrilled at the price.

 

[garyahouse]

Hey Bret

Congrats on your dark side decision. That will save you a bunch on tires. I just crossed 32k on my Exalto. As you know, my FJR rarely ever sees 90 let alone anything above that, so absolutely no issues with wobble for me. Looking forward to your comments on the Yoko Ono...

Say hi to the CFO for me. I'm sure she must be worn out from hearing all the details as you were making your way through this decision !!

Gary

darksider #44

 

[rbentnail]

Thanks for the welcome and the information. I just got back from a two up ride of about 200 miles. Very bouncy. The extra mass of the tire must be affecting it a lot. I just had my front suspension redone with stock springs and specs. I added a Penske rear triple adjustable shock on the rear. I figured out my sag etc. with the PR3. What adjustments would you recommend to tame the rear with the CT?

Did you up the air pressure or ride 2-up at 30 psi. It will definitely will make a difference.

 

[yessirrom]

Thanks for the welcome and the information. I just got back from a two up ride of about 200 miles. Very bouncy. The extra mass of the tire must be affecting it a lot. I just had my front suspension redone with stock springs and specs. I added a Penske rear triple adjustable shock on the rear. I figured out my sag etc. with the PR3. What adjustments would you recommend to tame the rear with the CT?

Did you up the air pressure or ride 2-up at 30 psi. It will definitely will make a difference.

I did not change the pressure.

 

[bgross]

It arrived at noon today:





I'm not going to waste *all* of that tread on the PR2, so it'll be a while until it's mounted.

Time to burn some fuel and wear out some rubber...

 

[garyahouse]

So lemme guess, you laid on your back and balanced that rascal on your toes to take this picture?

Gary

darksider #44

 

[RaYzerman19]

Here we are at 37,000 miles after coming home from the EOM trip. Not much left of the right side, still got some left side. Center is down to the wear bars as you can see. Funny, the right side of my front tire has a similar wear pattern. Obviously, I have to stay out of WV and NC, too many right hand turns..............

 

[rbentnail]

Here we are at 37,000 miles.......

How many rear m/c tires do you reckon you didn't buy in that time

? I went with a General tire rather than the Michelin and I'll be delighted if I get that kind of mileage from it. Trouble is I've been flogging it pretty hard lately with the right hand twisty handle bar thing....

 

[RaYzerman19]

This is the equivalent of 4 m/c tires for me.........

 

[garyahouse]

Here we are at 37,000 miles after coming home from the EOM trip. Not much left of the right side, still got some left side. Center is down to the wear bars as you can see. Funny, the right side of my front tire has a similar wear pattern. Obviously, I have to stay out of WV and NC, too many right hand turns.............. dsf

RaYzerman, you got me thinking.

I've got 31k on mine and it's looking a good deal better than yours. Time will tell how it'll look when I reach 37k. I was thinking about hydroplaning. We routinely run MC tires with very little tread in the middle, and don't seem to worry much about wet weather problems. However, a CT is a different animal. The contact patch (when traveling straight) is rather square. The MC tire contact patch, however is much more oval, almost football shape.

I understand the importance of rain grooves, and how they provide a channel to dissipate water. But in limited tread situations, I'm guessing that hydroplaning is much more likely with a CT than a MT. I'm thinking that the shape of MT contact patch, all by itself, tends to dissipate water... like the perfectly thrown sprial (football)l plunging through the air. Even without considering rain grooves, I'm thinking the shape of the MT contact patch serves to get rid of enough water to render it reasonably safe in the rain. The CT, however, as I said, is a different animal all together.

What do ya think?

Gary

darksider #44

 

[RaYzerman19]

Here we are at 37,000 miles after coming home from the EOM trip. Not much left of the right side, still got some left side. Center is down to the wear bars as you can see. Funny, the right side of my front tire has a similar wear pattern. Obviously, I have to stay out of WV and NC, too many right hand turns.............. dsf

RaYzerman, you got me thinking.

I've got 31k on mine and it's looking a good deal better than yours. Time will tell how it'll look when I reach 37k. I was thinking about hydroplaning. We routinely run MC tires with very little tread in the middle, and don't seem to worry much about wet weather problems. However, a CT is a different animal. The contact patch (when traveling straight) is rather square. The MC tire contact patch, however is much more oval, almost football shape.

I understand the importance of rain grooves, and how they provide a channel to dissipate water. But in limited tread situations, I'm guessing that hydroplaning is much more likely with a CT than a MT. I'm thinking that the shape of MT contact patch, all by itself, tends to dissipate water... like the perfectly thrown sprial (football)l plunging through the air. Even without considering rain grooves, I'm thinking the shape of the MT contact patch serves to get rid of enough water to render it reasonably safe in the rain. The CT, however, as I said, is a different animal all together.

What do ya think?

Gary

darksider #44

Gary,

That is a worthy concern. When the CT is newer, I think the water dispersion is quite good and I never experienced any problems. The only place I had an issue is a couple of weeks ago when the water was a half inch deep and had accumulated in what I call a truck groove/depression in the pavement for 20-30 feet or so. One would normally avoid this in any case, and if not, the front tire would tend to splash away significant water accumulation. Having said that, I never felt I was out of control, but that would depend on one's situation and how much water, etc. I never had any issues while leaning a bit, as the side tread dissipates water very well (likely won't in its current state of wear), and would say I would rather lean the CT in the rain over a moto tire which doesn't usually have as many sipes as a CT. In that regard, I am more confident leaning the CT than the moto. All I can say is, one should certainly pay attention to water accumulation regardless of tire, especially as they wear.

 

[BikerGeek99]

I'm in.

Thanks to yamafitter, RaYzerman, Bust, huron52 and TripperMike for the assist in slapping on this Exalto at Tech Day on Saturday.


And thanks again to TripperMike for swapping brake arm thingamabobs.

And where the hell are my damn cookies??