I have some people suggesting that I should be in the mid to upper 20's
I would be very careful with that. Someone is either off pavement or a cruiser guy that doesn't really understand the dynamics in play.
Only a couple of people here have ever run in the upper 20's and that was for off pavement, IIRC. I have no knowledge of what the Wing guys are up to,
but they run Run-Flat tires with very stiff sidewalls. That is a different dynamic.
yet I am seeing here mid to upper 30's. I realize that every rider, tire, bike, etc is different but that is a significant difference.Since I do not know how the tire/bike should handle or how it may feel when the tire is at its limit I am still a bit skeered.
Certainly don't want my ignorance and inexperience to allow me to cross the line.
Ride like you normally ride. The CT has more grip than any moto tire you've ever ridden. It has some differences, but is not going to step out in the
corners unless you run really low pressures. It's much more resistant to slipping on sand or loose stones, tar snakes, etc.
The Raptor has a max pressure of 51 psi. What is the max pressure of the tires that y'all are running in the mid to upper 30's? Maybe that is the difference.
No, all the tires in this range have a max pressure of 50-51 psi or so.
I know how it feels when a mc tire reaches its limit and tells you it can't handle much more. Is there such a thing that is describable with a CT?
A tire is a tire. When it starts talking and wiggling in the back, it's close to the limit. CT is no different in that regard on the bike.
You really have to be pushing hard to get that when this much contact patch.
Regarding my prior chicken strip comment, the Raptors tread extends and rolls down the sidewall about an inch before the actual 'sidewall' begins.That is where the tire has the 3/8th inch untouched portion. I am assuming this is normal. ???
Yes, and you should never see any more edge wear under normal conditions. Too low of pressure or really, really hard riding will put more wear at the edges.
We have a couple of riders that push the envelope pretty hard. Nearly everyone else has pretty consistent wear across the tire. My two tires at 32 psi wore
very evenly across the tire for the entire life of the tire.
Your bike is about the same weight as the FJR, has the same torque & top speed is essentially the same with just a bit more Hp. Our experiences should be on par with what you will experience. Be careful of advice from people running narrower or wider rims and lighter bikes, or run flat tires. A bit different that your bike.
While individual taste varies, as do the reasons we go to the Darkside, you have to be the final judge of what works for your needs. I wanted maximum tire life and even tread wear for sport-touring with a lot of highway miles interrupted by sections of twisty roads, off pavement excursions that varied from dirt, mud, sand, river run rocks in dry river beds, water crossings, etc. I'm not a racer, but I'm not a slow rider either. The FJR lost none of it's ability to romp thru the twisties when running a CT. In the beginning, a full day of fun riding in the twisties would leave me with some soreness in my shoulders from the extra work. As tires improved and my muscles got used to the CT's differences I didn't notice that much any more. It's never going to have that effortless thought controlled steering that new bike tires have, but the feel remains consistent across the tire's life. Unlike moto tires that get progressively more work to steer as they wear. It's a slow process, so we really don't notice much until we change to a new set of tires.
