Going to the Dark Side

[RFlagg42]

Alright, I'm in. I wanted a guarantee that I could get through the next IBR on one tire, so I thought I would give it a try.

Gave it a 400 mile test ride on Saturday, which included some mountain passes in Colorado, and somehow the bike didn't spontaneously combust. I was expecting tight parking lot speed maneuvers to be challenging, but there were no issues at all. At the advice of others, I went with the Yokohama Avid Evignor. The whole experience felt solid.

About my only issue came while installing Carmine's brake bar. There is a big warning in the FAQ about how important it is for the holes of your replacement bar to line up with the original as ABS failure and who knows what else could result if it doesn't. Carmine appears to have at one point purposely changed the design of his brake bar to be a little over 1/4" longer than stock. I exchanged some e-mails with Catfish to ensure this is a proven design with many of them on the road, and then conducted some serious parking lot braking tests prior to my trip. All appears well.

 

[Twigg]

Erik Lipps just changed his Envigor ... It was at the wear bars at 20 000 miles, so you should be good on that one.

Alright, I'm in. I wanted a guarantee that I could get through the next IBR on one tire, so I thought I would give it a try.

 

[user 213]

Re: The Envigor wearing out at 20k. Not horrible, but not as good as some of the other tires by a wide margin. Different riders though.

Welcome to the Darkside RFlagg42! You have been entered into the FAQ as Darksider #78. You will be contacted when the next initiation ceremony is held. The Nevada House of Hoes is still struggling with changes to their training structure.

I have added a note to the FAQ concerning the Avid Envigor reaching the wear bars at 20k. When ever a Darksider wears a tire out, that mileage info would be appreciated so it can be added to the FAQ.

 

[FJRay]

Kind of off topic but there are guys on GL1800 Honda's going trough car tires at way less than 10k. I got 16k out of my last one but I bought it used just to get the wheel and don't know what was on it when I bought it..Just mounted a Michelin Alpin on the wing.

The dark side tire for the FJR is in the house but probably won't mount it till spring cause we will have snow soon.

 

[TravelinLite]

Kind of off topic but there are guys on GL1800 Honda's going trough car tires at way less than 10k. I got 16k out of my last one but I bought it used just to get the wheel and don't know what was on it when I bought it..Just mounted a Michelin Alpin on the wing.The dark side tire for the FJR is in the house but probably won't mount it till spring cause we will have snow soon.

Unfortunately this is so true. Less than 5k miles is common if the big girl is pushed. With the heavy wing, burning off 2/32ths of tread every 325-350 miles has been observed.

 

[Brodie]

Just for general information, the last two Exaltos I ran on my Advanced Edition FJR, hit the wear bars around 36,000 miles. I replaced them both before a trip. The first one I was glad I did, my buddy Russ and I hit flash flooding out in mid Nevada. I was sure glad for those deep sipes back there when plowing through that flooded sectional at around 40 mph, after I got off the brakes at rivers edge.

Ain't this fun ??!?

Brodie

;-)

 

[RossKean]

If people are getting less than 10,000 miles out of a CT on a 'Wing, why would they even bother? While CTs are surprisingly good, I don't think I have heard any claims that they are better than MC tires in terms of handling. The fun-flat tires favored by the GW crowd aren't cheap.

 

[FJRay]

If people are getting less than 10,000 miles out of a CT on a 'Wing, why would they even bother? While CTs are surprisingly good, I don't think I have heard any claims that they are better than MC tires in terms of handling. The fun-flat tires favored by the GW crowd aren't cheap.

Those getting less than 10 k out of a car tire are killing M/C tires in a couple thousand miles. For me the CT works as well as the MC tire. Once the hard parts are dragging I guess it doesn't matter what the tire is. My last Michelin cost 150.00 and a 20 dollar bill got me a road hazard warranty that replaces the tire free as long as there is usable tread. The way I ride I should get 15-20k .That is cheaper than the E3 Dunlop with no warranty

 

[user 213]

If people are getting less than 10,000 miles out of a CT on a 'Wing, why would they even bother? While CTs are surprisingly good, I don't think I have heard any claims that they are better than MC tires in terms of handling. The fun-flat tires favored by the GW crowd aren't cheap.

The GL1800 can quickly be over loaded when riding two up and moto tires get HOT. That is one reason some switch, rather than for tread life. Just to have a safety margin in terms of load and so the tire doesn't over heat at highway speeds when two up and loaded. The RF simply gives them some additional margin of safety if they are not in a position to get off the road, or have to ride to where service and a new tire can be found.

FWIW, the FJR is not heavy enough to make use of a RF w/o negative handling consequences.

 

[garyahouse]

Just for general information, the last two Exaltos I ran on my Advanced Edition FJR, hit the wear bars around 36,000 miles. I replaced them both before a trip. The first one I was glad I did, my buddy Russ and I hit flash flooding out in mid Nevada. I was sure glad for those deep sipes back there when plowing through that flooded sectional at around 40 mph, after I got off the brakes at rivers edge.
Ain't this fun ??!?

Brodie

;-)

My Exalto has officially hit the wear bars. It has slightly more wear in the center than the sides. It is indeed, solidly into the wear bars. I have 37k on the tire. Ha... just put my second plug in it after pulling out a screw this morning. The first plug has lasted 26k miles thus far. Interesting that you and I have gotten the same exact mileage out of the Exalto. FWIW, I've got a brand new one sitting in the back room ready to go on the bike. We're in the dry season here in Florida right now, so I'm not worried about the depth of the tread. The tire's fine at the moment. Ehhh... we'll change it out soon enough.

Unrelated thought: seems like it was not that long ago that we posted up page 100 on this thread. I never dreamed that we'd reach 200 pages. It's like the cat with nine lives and the song that never ends -- all rolled into one. We're getting pretty close to page 200.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[Twigg]

My Exalto has officially hit the wear bars. It has slightly more wear in the center than the sides. It is indeed, solidly into the wear bars. I have 37k on the tire. Ha... just put my second plug in it after pulling out a screw this morning. The first plug has lasted 26k miles thus far. Interesting that you and I have gotten the same exact mileage out of the Exalto. FWIW, I've got a brand new one sitting in the back room ready to go on the bike. We're in the dry season here in Florida right now, so I'm not worried about the depth of the tread. The tire's fine at the moment. Ehhh... we'll change it out soon enough.

Unrelated thought: seems like it was not that long ago that we posted up page 100 on this thread. I never dreamed that we'd reach 200 pages. It's like the cat with nine lives and the song that never ends all rolled into one.

Gary

darksider #44

Got your money's worth, huh?

What pressure did you run it at?

 

[Brodie]

For both my Exaltos, my Bridgestone Grid, and my current G-Max, I am happy running around 31 psi (cold-ambient temperature) as my target. Of course it rises quickly as it warms up. My TPMS indicates 2 psi rear, 3 psi front rise within a couple of (s)miles.

Brodie

 

[Twigg]

31 to 33 psi seems to be the pressure most are running at. I was wondering because of Gary's remarks about the wear on the center-tread.

 

[garyahouse]

My Exalto has officially hit the wear bars. It has slightly more wear in the center than the sides. It is indeed, solidly into the wear bars. I have 37k on the tire. Ha... just put my second plug in it after pulling out a screw this morning. The first plug has lasted 26k miles thus far. Interesting that you and I have gotten the same exact mileage out of the Exalto. FWIW, I've got a brand new one sitting in the back room ready to go on the bike. We're in the dry season here in Florida right now, so I'm not worried about the depth of the tread. The tire's fine at the moment. Ehhh... we'll change it out soon enough.

Unrelated thought: seems like it was not that long ago that we posted up page 100 on this thread. I never dreamed that we'd reach 200 pages. It's like the cat with nine lives and the song that never ends all rolled into one.

Gary

darksider #44

Got your money's worth, huh?

What pressure did you run it at?

31 psi (cold) since new. Wear slightly more at center, nothing to be concerned about. Difference perhaps a hair more than 1/32, but certainly not 1/16. One nice thing about the CT, absolutely no cupping or scalping or deforming of the tread blocks near the outer edges. Handling did not deteriorate with age as all MTs do. As a matter of fact, after it got "broken in" for a few thousand miles, it seemed to have LESS of an effect on the bike at very slow (walking) speeds when rolling over larger irregularities. It began acting even more like a MT. I reported on this years ago on this forum. Hard to believe it's been on there nearly four years now; it has served me well. Glad I bought a second Exalto before they became unavailable: it's waiting patiently

Gary

darksider #44

 

[RadioHowie]

Thought I'd update now that I've hit 55k miles on my Michelin Pilot Plus...yep -- 55,000 miles. Eat your hearts out, you 20k Envigor *******s!! :lol2:

Just stepped outside for a smoke and the late afternoon sun was highlighting the wear on my tire perfectly. The tire is actually touching a few of the "wear indicators", but the majority still have a few microns of rubber left before the main tread and the wear bars are actually "level". Look at the yellow arrow highlights and you can see a smidge of shadow, indicating the "few microns."

The red arrow highlight shows one of the bars with NO shadow, indicating the wear surface on the tread is level with the wear bar.

I figure this tire is good for at least another 15,000 miles. Envigors? MEH!!! Exaltos? Bah!

I TOLD you guys many moons ago the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus was THE tire to Darkside with.

 

[garyahouse]

My Exalto is looking a little worse than your tire, and I'm only at 37k. You know that you're making the rest of us look bad, Radio. Don't you have something better to do... maybe like put in some more time at work?

Ha - one thing's for sure: after looking at those weather-check cracks in between the treads on that tire, your Michelin's starting to look almost as old as you do.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[Pterodactyl]

I've done a bit of searching and think I know what goes into mounting the tire and the size and brand tire I want, but I do not recall seeing anything that talks about riding on a car tire for the first time. Is it a near seemless transition or are there new factors that I should be aware of should I make the leap?

Nevermind, I found the FAQ site.

 

[RadioHowie]

My Exalto is looking a little worse than your tire, and I'm only at 37k. You know that you're making the rest of us look bad, Radio. Don't you have something better to do... maybe like put in some more time at work?Ha - one thing's for sure: after looking at those weather-check cracks in between the treads on that tire, your Michelin's starting to look almost as old as you do.

Gary

darksider #44

: :finger:

 

[user 213]

Howie - Congrats on finding the end of the rainbow! I have added the info to the FAQ, as well as your picture, complete with red and yellow arrows. You now hold the record on tire longevity of a car tire on an FJR. (also mentioned in the FAQ)

I'm pleased that the info I shared when I started this experiment and my experiences since then have spread to so many people and enabled riders to have a more informed choice, more options, and generated such a wealth of information among our community of Darksiders. Thank you all for your contributions and for having an open mind to try something out of the ordinary and see if it works for you or not.

 

[RadioHowie]

Eric, thank YOU for starting this fire.

The way I see it, at 55K, I'm anywhere from $1300 to $2900* ahead in savings, with zero issues from the Darkside.

*depending on tire brand and application