Going to the Dark Side

[Patriot]

It's 3:23 am here in N.Y. and I just got back from a short test ride " 80 OR SO MILES " I rode the bike last night in the rain like 3 miles because I am a stubborn fool and couldn't resist! Then I put another 10 miles on it this afternoon without to much ajusting to my riding style. I was easy on it testing the limits of what I felt comfortable with. My conclusions are a bit mixed. At first I really hated the way the new tire handled at parking lot speed but now I am quickly growing to like the sharp response I get to my control inputs. As far as tracking on surface streets yup its a wee bit wander prone but nuthing I didnt expect and the same as any bike with a wide tire 200 series or better. Highways are where I saw the greatest improvement with one noted positive side effect. If I released my bars during decel, my front end would develop a shimmy. Not a horrible Oh My God Im gonna die shimmy just enough to make it real difficult to dig thru my tank bag and fish out my smokes. But as soon as u placed the slightest pressure on the bars it would dissapear. today while rifling thru my bag to retrieve my ipod I noticed the shimmy has dissapeared. The twisties I encountered today where not the most thrilling but they did offer me a chance to build confidence in my new rubber. It took a bit more pressure to get her down and into the turn but she handled perfectly as always. In conclusion I am all for the darkside I am not about to take her on a track and pull turns at triple digits but after almost 100 miles on the new tire I can barely tell the difference any more, and can barely wait to start putting some real miles on the new tire. Going to Maryland somtime this week and most likely it will be a wet trip.

great report gang, thanx

ah, did ya stop and retrieve ya balls ???

 

[Catfish]

I didn't bother going back for my balls.

I had mine "shut off" a few years ago so I don't really need 'em anyway.

Another thing I forgot to mention was that we're testing these tires at the 50psi pressure limit.

Once I get my shock rebuilt I'll be testing all different pressures and note how things change.

I also mic'ed the treads and it has 8mm of tread in the center and 7mm of tread off center.

I plan to recheck that every so often and take notes.

 

[user 213]

@Catfish & Carmine - Notes are good. Thanks for sharing your riding impressions.

50 psi eh? Interesting. My concept on pressure was that it would be relative to load. With the bike's weight rather less than 1/4 of a car, I think you can get by with pressures down into the 20's w/o problems. For my tire and my preferences, 30 seems to be working well for me so far, giving good feedback with even wear.

That said, each tire is different as is each rider. Figure out what feels best for you and your tire and keep us posted.

 

[Catfish]

I saw that you were having success with 30 so I wanted to try the maximum and see if the profile would round a little bit more.

I figured I would go down 5psi at a time and make notes as to what I felt the differences were.

What was the highest pressure you've tried?

 

[user 213]

I saw that you were having success with 30 so I wanted to try the maximum and see if the profile would round a little bit more.I figured I would go down 5psi at a time and make notes as to what I felt the differences were.

What was the highest pressure you've tried?

I started at 35 psi and worked down. At 28 in NV, during 'testing', it felt less stable at FJR nominal, but fine at normal speeds. I was loaded up fairly well at the time.

I believe that the tire needs to flex to work best in the moto application, instead of rolling over like a bike tire would, at least for best feel. I know it seems counter intuitive, but because of the different type of sidewall construction, lower pressure allows for better feel, (to me), than higher pressure.

 

[coastalcop]

OK I think that I have some video uploaded to youtube. look under fjr darkside or under coastalcop there should be four when I am done uploading two looking at the tire, and two from the rider perspective. Let me know if it works for you!

BTW psi is right at 30 cold

 

[Fred W]

OK I think that I have some video uploaded to youtube. look under fjr darkside or under coastalcop there should be four when I am done uploading two looking at the tire, and two from the rider perspective. Let me know if it works for you!

The videos are there. The 2nd one is better than the first. You can seethe sidewall flexion. But you still cannot see "where the rubber hits the road" so to speak. Ideally you want to be able to see the full width of the tread on the road, somehow.

Like this one

FWIW, that one looks like he has the tire pumped up way too high.

 

[coastalcop]

There isnt room to get the full tire, listed speed ont he second video was wrong as I uploaded the wrong one, 2nd is intown speeds. Tried several mounting points, to get the right angle I either have to build a gantry to mount the camera off the back end or I have to mount it to the header, neither is a viable option right now. But I will work on it

 

[user 213]

The second vid does a nice job of showing sidewall flex, as FredW mentions. I don't think you can get a camera into the best position to get a full tread view unless you use a lipstick cam attachment.

 

[jwhite518]

This is getting out of hand. 6 darksiders! We're going to have to revoke your FJR Pilots licenses.

[SIZE=8pt]I wonder if it's too soon before the IBR to take the plunge.[/SIZE]

 

[Carmine]

Just a quick note on pressure im running at about 50 psi and although I plan on meddling with it, after tonights ride I have about 150 miles on it @50 and I am pretty pleased with the new handling characteristics... BTW I am fully UN loaded and I myself weigh 138 lbs soaking wet with combat boots and a loaded diaper lol

 

[Bobcattoo]

Just a quick note on pressure im running at about 50 psi and although I plan on meddling with it, after tonights ride I have about 150 miles on it @50 and I am pretty pleased with the new handling characteristics... BTW I am fully UN loaded and I myself weigh 138 lbs soaking wet with combat boots and a loaded diaper lol

Hilarious! And BTW, I run 50psi on occasion with a M/C tire on the back of my Wing, but I'm running 36-38psi on the CT mounted on the Wing. Still running a PR2 on the "R".

 

[doug5551]

Do you have a membership card, logo, and a secret handshake?
That'd be cool.

Ed

I got this from some Goldwing Darksiders:

 

[user 213]

Minor update. The other week I went for a day ride to the coast before work with some other FJRs. I led for a while just prior to the lunch break, running fun twisties, including Hwy 53 in OR for the locals. I was just riding my normal pace, enjoying the 35s, 30s, 25, and then we came up on the 20s. Mostly in threes, L/R/L and on the second set I was scraping pegs hard.

I've not done this since I moved to the CT. I err, don't usually ride that way... I did something dumb and did a gauge check, and promptly blew the corner as I realized I was shooting the 20s at 55.

So now I can answer someone's question about how the CT does when you're scraping pegs - Just fine. No limit to the traction, it never slowed me down. I slowed me down, once I realized the pace I was running. This was not brake in, hammer out riding, but smooth, steady speed, just not slowing down more than needed. Still, a little hot for the FJR, regardless of tire.

Chicken strips? What chicken strips?

 

[Joe2Lmaker]

This is getting out of hand. 6 darksiders! We're going to have to revoke your FJR Pilots licenses.
[SIZE=8pt]I wonder if it's too soon before the IBR to take the plunge.[/SIZE]

I was convinced at CFR to try it. I'll be making a replacement tension bar (P/N 5JW-25371-00-00) for the rear brake soon.

 

[Duezzer]

Dark Siders

Could you tell me Make and Size of car tire you are running

( I know if I just read all 29 pages I will find it )

Well I don't feel like reading 29 pages

 

[wheatonFJR]

You bunch of Darth Vader acolytes! God will get you for this....

 

[user 213]

Dark Siders
Could you tell me Make and Size of car tire you are running

( I know if I just read all 29 pages I will find it )

Well I don't feel like reading 29 pages

There are some different tire makes being used. All are running a 205/50-17 size. This is the only size rated for a 5.5" wide rim, and also a common tire size. I am running a Bridgestone Potenza 019 Grid all season tire at 30 psi. Currently with about 18k on it and wearing evenly.

If you look at the first page, there are some recommended posts to skip to and read. Or you can read backwards and see the later converts tire info, which is fairly recent.

 

[Catfish]

I'm also running a 205/50-17 but mine is a Aurora H107.

 

[LDRydr]

Ok, since me and OCfjr happened to be discussing this a few days ago, is there any Darksiders out there running a tire on a Gen II bike WITH a Samson tail-dragger fuel cell? Inquiring minds want to know!