Going to the Dark Side

[HotRodZilla]

Hey look at that...it looks like a tire. I can't say I'm amazed though. There's no reason it should not work, and the number of people putting CTs on their bikes and not being killed on a daily basis say a lot about whether or not it is safe. Is it for everyone...Obviously no, but OC has said that many times already. Maybe someday I'll do it, but I just don't know.

 

[user 213]

A tire progression. Dates on the pics. Mileage if I can figure it out from the thread's earlier posts.

Just scrubbed in:

Now

 

[RadioHowie]

...started with 10/32", now it's a bit over 4/32"...

10/32" down to 4/32" in 19,000 miles! That's a 60% decrease in tire life! That's unacceptable! :assassin:

That calculates out to about 32,000 miles for a rear tire!

:blink: :blink:

That's REAL close to a 1:6 CT to MC tire wear ratio at the "usual" rate.

ME LIKEY!

 

[lnewlf]

Anyone ever drag pegs with a CT? [not a facetious question]

 

[user 213]

Anyone ever drag pegs with a CT? [not a facetious question]

Yes, I have. 55 through the 20s is not really a good idea, but it can be done with the CT. There is no traction loss over a moto tire. The bike will still do everything it did with a moto tire with a CT. The difference is only how if feels.

If my normal riding style was to drag pegs, I wouldn't choose the CT. In my normal riding style, dragging pegs means I'm doing a poor job of weight shifting, or I'm simply going too f'ing fast for the street. That's merely my assessment for me and my riding style.

 

[RadioHowie]

.....dragging pegs means I'm doing a poor job of weight shifting, or I'm simply going too f'ing fast for the street.

Always wondered when and where somebody decided that peg dragging was some kind of benchmark for quick, quality driving. <_<

 

[lnewlf]

Dragging pegs is hardly a benchmark for quality riding-anyone who does it all the time on the street is going to take a ride in the green lane sooner or later. However, peg feelers are a "benchmark" for the maximun lean angle of the bike which sooner or later everyone will have to use. If I have a CT out back I want to know that it's still there when I need it..

 

[tbwrench]

after riding the CT for about the last 4 days, My self and my riding friend (who also put on on his FJR), we pushed the bikes pretty hard trying to find a reason to not like them and we couldn't. They work well in every application they were put through. Cornering was a little heavier but not enough to bother me at all and it feels like I am more confident in the curves with the CT. Entry speeds in corners with the CT were the same or faster than with the previously used mc tire. You can only lean the bike so far and the pegs drag. My pegs are lowered for comfort. I have not yet run out of traction or felt at all uneasy cornering with the CT. And drag??? I pulled 43mpg this weekend on average. I am sold. P.s. my dad had a 98 Boss Hoss that had/came with a CT on it and I rode that a lot too. Never a problem on the Hoss, many trips to sturgis and There were a few times he lit up the throttle and I saw the taillight quickly disappear. Sadly I rode only custom choppers then and couldnt keep up.

 

[dangerdog]

OCfjr i admire your patience in this thread. Your a godsend to a broke young man like myself. BTW if nobody else will say it, i will. Thanks for answering everyones questions, though many of them are often repeated. I think really the only thing stopping some of us from doing this was information, which you have provided a ton of.

I live in North Florida, and no matter how fast i ride, or how much i drag the pegs (joke), my tires are always going to be bald in the middle come time to change them. Also i am planning an epic trip (key west to Prudhoe Bay) in May, and this will save me considerable coin and time in Yamaha dealerships.

My hats off to you.

and lol at the guy saying he would give someone a hundred bucks to race him. That was unintentionally the funniest post in the thread.

edit btw i read this ENTIRE THREAD TODAY lol. It was a mighty chore i assure you.

 

[RadioHowie]

edit btw i read this ENTIRE THREAD TODAY lol. It was a mighty chore i assure you.

Then we haven't been working hard enough. LOL :rofl:

Best of luck on your cross-continental. I envy you. :thumbsup:

 

[user 213]

OCfjr i admire your patience in this thread. <snip>

edit btw i read this ENTIRE THREAD TODAY lol. It was a mighty chore i assure you.

Thanks. I have my bad days too when I jump down someone's throat for posting what, to me, is just beyond stupid stuff. Early on in this thread there are a lot of "you're gonna die" type posts, some really good humor ones by the gang here to poke and enjoy, (which is fair game!), but there's also some really good Q&A posts all through the thread.

There are over 10 darkside FJRs now. Some not even forum members, just searched, read and went out and did it. To the best of my knowledge, only Coastal Cop is going back to a moto tire, but that's due to his unfortunate need to sell the bike, and understandable in that situation.

I keep expecting someone to try it, then come back and say they hated it and couldn't wait to pull the tire off. It is a matter of personal taste and feel, after all. But so far it seems as though my cautions have worked and those that really desire maximum feel and response from their FJRs have not had the desire to try the darkside.

Mileage aside, I personally feel like I'm really getting my money's worth out of the CT. Like a lot of riders, I can get over on the edge, I just don't get the opportunity to do that enough to wear the motorcycle tire out evenly and end up with a worn out center and useable tread on the sides. That just killed me. Pulling off a tire with wear I didn't get out of it. When the CT goes, it will all be done.

 

[tbwrench]

QUOTE: "OCfjr i admire your patience in this thread. Your a godsend to a broke young man like myself. BTW if nobody else will say it, i will. Thanks for answering everyones questions, though many of them are often repeated. I think really the only thing stopping some of us from doing this was information, which you have provided a ton of

My hats off to you."

Yeah! Me too. Thanks OCfjr for all of your help and suggestions. Without information I would have been a naysayer instead of a miles slayer!

Thanks my friend!!! TBWRENCH

 

[Larry33319]

after riding the CT for about the last 4 days, My self and my riding friend (who also put on on his FJR), we pushed the bikes pretty hard trying to find a reason to not like them and we couldn't. They work well in every application they were put through. Cornering was a little heavier but not enough to bother me at all and it feels like I am more confident in the curves with the CT. Entry speeds in corners with the CT were the same or faster than with the previously used mc tire.

I have had pretty much the same experiance. I mounted my CT last Tuesday evening and now have ridden the FJR w/ CT for 525 miles on every different type of road I know of in South Florida. The first 100 miles or so, it felt different. Not bad , just different. You can feel pavement changes much easier. After about 150 miles my confidance was building considerably. I started taking exit ramps and entrance ramps at speeds that I used to with a 2CT. The tire stuck very well. I went out by Lake Okeechobee and hit some onf the sugar cane roads where you have 90 degree turns rated at 35-40 mph. I went into those doing 75 and 80 mph. No problem, I just leaned over and all was well. The heavyness I experianced when starting out with the CT has all but disappeared. Muscle memory has kicked in and I do not even notice it any longer. The Yokohama tire was indeed a good idea and I do not feel like I have given up anything except the requirement of buying a new tire 2-3 times a year at $240 a pop. Life is good.

 

[FJR Flyer]

Almost 700 posts on this thread? Seriously? Isn't this horse dead yet?

 

[RadioHowie]

Almost 700 posts on this thread? Seriously? Isn't this horse dead yet?

692 posts say "no".

The last two don't count.

 

[user 213]

Almost 700 posts on this thread? Seriously? Isn't this horse dead yet?

We're still learning new stuff! Whatcha got? Questions? Answers?

We still want to know how many licks does it take to get to the center? Maybe the thread will die when we start wearing out CTs and get done comparing our results.

Or maybe we'll just get tossed to our own corner of the Forum. :dribble: I certainly appreciate the willingness of the Admin and Moderators here to allow the topic to continue, even if it's not something they would choose to try themselves. Other forums have closed darkside threads and tossed out the darksiders for blasphemy.

We even manage to stay on topic most of the time.

 

[SkooterG]

Almost 700 posts on this thread? Seriously? Isn't this horse dead yet?

Unfortunately, this horse will NEVER die!

And all you darksiders be Moto-SINNERS!!!! With a special place in Moto-HELL reserved just for you blasphemers!

Oh, and.....

:****:

 

[Kevin Daly]

Almost 700 posts on this thread? Seriously? Isn't this horse dead yet?

my thoughts exactly. No offense guys but...

 

[Catfish]

Isn't it considered dead when people stop reading it?

 

[Mcgyver74]

I'm in the process of trying to add a bicycle rack.Is that bad?

Not as long as you leave room for the Gun Rack