Going to the Dark Side

[Warchild]

So uh... What makes this NEPRT? While I've not been around here forever, I've been around a while and I don't ever recall this topic previously.
and it IS FJR specific in this case.

WTF?

It may be 'pointless' in some eyes, but I'm interested in the results, I might won't ever do it, but shit.

It's not never ending, or recurring, IMHO.

Hmmmm.... while this thread itself might seem never-ending , upon further review, Renegade seems to have a reasonable argument here.

Right then. Moving thread to the FJR-specific forum....

 

[Shifter125]

 

[El Toro]

Wow.... one of the dumbest tire threads we've ever had, and it comes back from the dead. So there is hope. NEPRT may be like Pergatory. Enough positive energy exerted by the living on behalf of the thread, and it can be saved. Sigh....

I wonder how the car tires would do in an IBA rally? Probably be able to get through a whole event without any concern for tread depth, tire rotation, or allignment. :drag:

 

[bandit]

I know a few people that put car tires on the rear of thier bikes that are still here to talk about it. One rides a wong (and he rides the heck out of it in the twisties) Has had no ill effects to report with the car tire on the rear. I am intierested to see how many miles you get out of this and have it handles for you. I used to live in Oregon (coos bay/North bend) and you can rteally find some twisty roads anywhere in Oregon to test them out.

This whole thread remoinds me of a poster that was on the wall of my senior english classroom

"this country demends experimentation, Its the common sense to take a methosd and try it.

If it fails admit it frankly nd try another, but above all,,,Try something.

I applaud your effort and look forward to reading more about this.

 

[LgFJR]

Way to go Eric, don't listen to the unwashed who have never tried the darkside. I am one of those Valkyrie riders that ran a Kumho V rated 205 for about 18 months or so....I enjoyed the unique experience of it. I was the only Valk I saw in SoCal with one, although there were several hundred guys on the forum who had been running them for a year or so before I got mine on. I also got tired of $$400 or more for a set of tires on that big machine. The Eagle and the Yokohama's were good for the bikes, I wouldn't recommend the Kumho as being exceptional. I eventually went back to a MC tire because my son was weirded out by the tire more than I was, and eventually sold the Valk because of the no range tank, always looking for gas especially if I was really having fun.

The problem I had was finding anybody to mount the thing. Finally found a trike shop in Santa Ana that would do it if I signed about a full page release of liability form!.....essentially said that I was nuts putting a car tire on a bike. I rode out of the shop and was used to it in about 20 miles. You do have to hold pressure on in long sweepers. The only real weird part is choppy uneven pavement........will squirm around on you a little. There was a guy on the forum that rode all over th USA and Alaska and Canada writing about the experience, a Daniel Meyer I believe who ended up using ONLY car tires on the Valk. He had done at least 60,000 glorious miles when I left the forum a couple years ago..........ride on and be happy..........

Larry L

 

[spalkin]

How does it act on straight road making minor direction adjustment? It's gotta feel blocky, maybe requiring a bit more input.

 

[user 213]

How does it act on straight road making minor direction adjustment? It's gotta feel blocky, maybe requiring a bit more input.

Actually, it was very responsive on strait road. I did some pothole avoidance type swerves and some parking lot drill type figure 8s and such and it wasn't a big deal. You notice the pressure on the bars in slow speed where it wants to continue to tighten the turn once you initiate it. On the straits it didn't do that at higher speeds, (30 or so), but just went when I pressed on the bars like normal. I'm thinking it will require more pressure for holding a turn at speed, but didn't get the chance to test that with the test tire I had.

 

[Warchild]

Go BIG, Eric! Screw that pussified 205 tire.... go with a manly 240 Phat Tire that the Busa posuers use!!!!!!

 

[BobbyBlue]

Right On WC !!! Eric, that sprocket looking thingy goes 'round your neck with the included green neck chain....BLING BLING for no xtra charge !!! And noone will mind if ya call ours a Fooojer...Dawg !

Damn...I'm hungry...pumpkin pie.....mmmmm....( seriously...pleeeeze dont do it...buy a BOOSA man ) !

Bobby

 

[user 213]

Wow.... one of the dumbest tire threads we've ever had, and it comes back from the dead. So there is hope. NEPRT may be like Pergatory. Enough positive energy exerted by the living on behalf of the thread, and it can be saved. Sigh....
I wonder how the car tires would do in an IBA rally? Probably be able to get through a whole event without any concern for tread depth, tire rotation, or allignment. :drag:

Hey, like I said in the first post, I tried to start it there. Sometimes even I can see the writing on the wall.

I think you mean the Iron Butt Rally, (IBR), which is 11 days long. Most riders cover between 9k and 15k miles. At least one IBR rider I know has said he considered it but didn't want to swap right before the rally w/o some time to get used to it. He was riding a GL 1800 that year. Most of the IBR riders do a tire or wheel swap during the rally. Not having to might simplify one of the checkpoints, but I suppose it depends on your resources. If you have a spare wheel lined up, it's not such a big deal to swap at one of the checkpoints. If you have to get your wheel off and to a shop during the checkpoint, then it's a much bigger hassle. I don't know for sure, but it's possible someone has already used a car tire during the IBR. I do know there are some IBA guys running car tires already.

I do endurance rides and rallies. That's one of the reasons I sometimes burn through a tire set quickly. An upcoming ride will be 1100+ miles from home to the event, at least 1k during the event, then another 1100+ miles home. Even if I get a rare good weather window, it's still going to be a 3k trip for 3-5 days, depending on route. All of the rallies I've done were over 1k from home. And then there was NAFO and other FJR rides. It's not uncommon for me to do a 500-800 mile day ride just dinking around in OR/WA. Not trying to impress anyone, just offering a view of why the cost of tires is an issue for me. I'd rather use that money for gas. When it was $4/gal, I was missing events simply because I couldn't afford to go. And that sucks as a reason to not be riding.

 

[user 213]

Go BIG, Eric! Screw that pussified 205 tire.... go with a manly 240 Phat Tire that the Busa posuers use!!!!!!

That is soooo gay. Chrome won't get you home. And haven't the real Busa posuers gone to 300s by now?

I wasn't going to poke at ya WC, but for a guy that rode around at, shall we say, 'elevated' speeds, with 21 gallons of gas on board, that old saying about stones and glass houses comes to mind.

And I'm surprised FredW hasn't given you hell for abusing that poor Busa in ways it wasn't designed for.

 

[Kirrilian]

Hmmmmm

I bet you dont even have to put the kickstand down with that tire on...

Interesting idea, it pisses me off to have to put tires on 2-3 times a year as well but I'm not sure I'd go this far!

 

[user 213]

Hmmmmm
I bet you dont even have to put the kickstand down with that tire on...

Interesting idea, it pisses me off to have to put tires on 2-3 times a year as well but I'm not sure I'd go this far!

I tried that for grins, but it doesn't work. Then again, I did have crap in one bag and the other was empty. Nah, it's really not as stable as it looks just sitting there in the driveway.

 

[Warchild]

I wasn't going to poke at ya WC, but for a guy that rode around at, shall we say, 'elevated' speeds, with 21 gallons of gas on board, that old saying about stones and glass houses comes to mind.

Well... this is true enough, I suppose. Point taken.

And rear tires don't last too long under the, ah, "conditions" of that particular little jaunt in 2007:

 

[user 213]

I'll pass the dark side info on to BR in case you do something like that again. Think of the work it would have saved him with the tire changer! :lol:

 

[Fred W]

I do endurance rides and rallies. That's one of the reasons I sometimes burn through a tire set quickly. An upcoming ride will be 1100+ miles from home to the event, at least 1k during the event, then another 1100+ miles home. Even if I get a rare good weather window, it's still going to be a 3k trip for 3-5 days, depending on route. All of the rallies I've done were over 1k from home. And then there was NAFO and other FJR rides. It's not uncommon for me to do a 500-800 mile day ride just dinking around in OR/WA. Not trying to impress anyone, just offering a view of why the cost of tires is an issue for me. I'd rather use that money for gas. When it was $4/gal, I was missing events simply because I couldn't afford to go. And that sucks as a reason to not be riding.

Well damn, there is a goal behind your tire experimentation. Why didn't you say so before? I thought you were just trying to be a tightwad. Seriously, getting through a rally without having to change tires (potentially multiple times) would seem to be a worthy goal IMO. I suppose that you've already tried all the regular hard compound motorcycle specific tires. If so, you could compare the feel of the car tire to those.

And I'm surprised FredW hasn't given you hell for abusing that poor Busa in ways it wasn't designed for.

Nah. Everyone knows whatever Warchild does is beyond reason :blink:

 

[Warchild]

I'll pass the dark side info on to BR in case you do something like that again. Think of the work it would have saved him with the tire changer! :lol:

Shyeah, I am reasonably sure I won't be doing that one again.

Too, this tasking would be exceptionally hard on BR... he changed those three smoked Storms in that photo by hand...... a wooden box, C-clamps and tire irons only. Gnarley! :blink:

 

[glory racing]

This is not a new idea...just new to fjrforum. It is has been proven to be completely safe on many other bikes. Went through the same subject and responses years ago. Unless there is something totally different about the physics of the FJR compared to other motorcycles, it should work just fine. Kudos to you for having the courage to research this and post about it for us.

This fall I went on a 3 day trip to Arkansas with 7 other riders, 5 of which were on cruisers. 3 of the 5 cruisers had car tires mounted. In forest areas, we were running at a pace that would be close to the limit as far as safety would be concerned. (and probably over the limit as far as some would be concerned) Corner entrance speeds would be double the posted limit. All 3 of the riders could ride through the twistes just fine. Yes, cruisers can do that but most guys buy cruisers to...well...cruise. The limit for them was pegs/boards scraping, not the tires holding.

Their only comments about handling were that the intial lean in was different and took a little more effort. Similar to a wide motorcycle rear tire(250-300). Also that the tire would ride indentions in the road differently. (Like where 18 wheelers would leave tracks in soft ashphalt) After a couple hundred miles of acclimation, it felt normal.

Based on experience, might I suggest that a car tire on an fjr would work just fine for about 90% of the fjr riders out there. Unless you are a SPORT touring rider and really push the bike, I would suspect there should not be any real concerns.

Remember, a mans mind once stretched by a new idea...never regains its original shape.

Get that new tire and let us know how it goes.

 

[Phugedaboudet]

this will be great when someone builds a FJR-worthy sidecar.

 

[terrysig]

after reading all this I still cannot imagine that it would handle????? Can't imagine it would be any better on a Gold Wing or Valkeyrie???