Rossi won't ride on the street. Says it's "too dangerous".
@FastFar - I've ridden Ebbetts Pass/SR-4 on the CT. Beats me if I can keep up with you, since I have no idea how you ride, and faster/safer is quantitative. I'm not interested in watching you auger in out there trying to stay ahead of me either!
@Howie - Can we use your bike? Oh wait, never mind.... Getting up to the comfort level on the Darkside isn't something most people could do on the first ride. Most tend to swing a tad wide on the first few turns and be somewhat hesitant until they experience for themselves how much grip is available.
You can ride the CT hard. I normally don't spend a lot of time riding that way, or even shooting the 20 mph twisties, but this is not to say I can't.
I have always said that for tight twisties, the moto tire is better. Not necessarily any better for traction, but for
feel. You transition smoother and with less input on a moto tire.
I'm more comfortable with the CT and what it will do now than I was the last time I posted about tight stuff. And understand, I wasn't trying to ride fast this last bit, I just kept in my zone until I surprised myself by scraping pegs.
The CT is better in loose and marginal stuff. No sliding on tar snakes, etc. More stable in gravel, dirt, hardpack, loose stuff of any kind.
The downsides are more bar pressure needed to initiate turns, (you get used to it quickly and forget about it), and it wants to track in deep grooves more than a moto tire. Not a big deal. It's much less different than you expect.
@Ian - Pretty much everyone needs to change the brake tension arm for a single sided version out of steel or stainless steel. Easy to make and swap in. There may be a tire that fits with the stock piece, (the Cooper test tire did fit), but you'd probably want to do it anyway, since it's going to be close. I'm looking forward to trying a Yokohama Advan S4 all season tire to see how it does and if it fits with the stock bar, but I'll run my custom bar after checking the stock piece for clearance.