Going to the Dark Side

[RadioHowie]

Just got back from a week in AR. Tire performed well as usual. Here's a px from Push Mountain Pixs. I'm not dragging parts but that's becausw I'm a geezer-not the tire's fault.
https://pushmountainpics.dotphoto.com/CPVie...476&Page=1#

It's a Yokohama wth 14,000 miles on it. It has 3/32 (started with 10/32) left all the way across. The wear bars in the center groove are close. Anyone else running Yokohamas with a mileage report? I'll need a new CT soon and am wondering which one to get this time. TIA Ian, Iowa

One of the nice things about a CT is when you hit the wear bar, the tread is as deep as a brand new MT.

Bet you can break 20K easy.

I just turned over 6,000 on my CT and the little mold danglies haven't worn off yet.

 

[Larry33319]

I am running the Yokohama Advan S-4. I currently have just over 15,000 miles and 5/32" of tread left. The tire has done everything I have asked from it. Be it in the mountains of Georgia and Tenn, BRP and Skyline Drive or the flat roads of Sount Florida. Definitely a satisfied customer.

I had a recent opportunity to let a friends son-in-law use my FJR for a week while he was on leave visiting here. He is the Sgt Major in charge of the USMC bases on the West Coast and owns a Goldwing. He was quite surprised at how the CT handled and then informed me that the Chief Instructor at Camp Pendleton has a CT on his Goldwing !!! BTW, the GL1800 forum is now up to 626 Darksiders. That has to be a major increase in cookie sales. LOL

 

[wfooshee]

the little mold danglies haven't worn off yet.

Mold on your tires? That humidity's a bitch, huh? A little bleach will handle that for ya.

Quasi-seriously, my Dunlop didn't have any of those baby rubber spikes all over it. So I can't brag about 'em like you can.

 

[RadioHowie]

the little mold danglies haven't worn off yet.

Mold on your tires? That humidity's a bitch, huh? A little bleach will handle that for ya.

BWAH!!

Quasi-seriously, my Dunlop didn't have any of those baby rubber spikes all over it. So I can't brag about 'em like you can.

Quasi-modoly, my hump is killin' me. :rofl:

 

[BPFowler]

There goes Howie trying to get the last word in again :clapping:

In the never ending thread :lol:

 

[FJRONAMISSION]

........ GAME ON ...................... :dirol:

The Darkside is strong with this one...........

===

Well I rode it around my neighborhood just to make sure all was well......... :blink: In the morning it will get the .... Commute Test........ B)

B....

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I thought i would add one more pic of the family snuggled in for the night.......

 

[user 213]

Welcome to the Darkside. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to follow the new path and learn it's ways. Feel the force, it will guide you.

You are Darksider #23 on the official list.

 

[beemerdons]

Welcome to the Darkside. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to follow the new path and learn it's ways. Feel the force, it will guide you.
You are Darksider #23 on the official list.

Dios mio, when Eric talks like that it's really creepy, but simultaneously highly exciting! I'm really interested to see how many Darksiders will be at WFO and SW-FOG this year. Satanists, El Diablo Amor!

 

[doug5551]

I am in for WFO...

 

[RadioHowie]

really creepy, but simultaneously highly exciting!

Kinda like how you feel around 12 year old girls???

:devil:

:blum:

 

[Wee Willy]

Awright all you sons (any daughters) of perdition. A simple question. Take your time.

So how do these mods handle the peg-scraping twisties? Looks great for slabbing it but life's a highway that isn't always interstate...right?

Curious,

W2

 

[mferriter]

Awright all you sons (any daughters) of perdition. A simple question. Take your time.
So how do these mods handle the peg-scraping twisties? Looks great for slabbing it but life's a highway that isn't always interstate...right?

Curious,

W2

Hard to believe that it would be anything but bad. Car tires are not designed to run on the edges. I specifically got dual compoiund (Pilot Power 2CT) tires that are softer on the shoulders of the tread for enhanced grip in corners. The COG of the bike is also going to be a couple inches higher than normal when leaning into a corner over due to the square cross section - even worse. A wider tread will make the bike even higher during the lean.

Also keep in ming that car tires are designed to carry a lot more weight than a motorcycle - probably no flex at all which will make the contact patch with the road very small. I would also imagine that if you hit a puddle you going to hydroplane like crazy.

This looks like an accident waiting to happen.

 

[Wee Willy]

Awright all you sons (any daughters) of perdition. A simple question. Take your time.
So how do these mods handle the peg-scraping twisties? Looks great for slabbing it but life's a highway that isn't always interstate...right?

Curious,

W2

Hard to believe that it would be anything but bad. Car tires are not designed to run on the edges. I specifically got dual compoiund (Pilot Power 2CT) tires that are softer on the shoulders of the tread for enhanced grip in corners. The COG of the bike is also going to be a couple inches higher than normal when leaning into a corner over due to the square cross section - even worse. A wider tread will make the bike even higher during the lean.

Also keep in ming that car tires are designed to carry a lot more weight than a motorcycle - probably no flex at all which will make the contact patch with the road very small. I would also imagine that if you hit a puddle you going to hydroplane like crazy.

This looks like an accident waiting to happen.

These thoughts were on my mind too.

 

[RadioHowie]

Awright all you sons (any daughters) of perdition. A simple question. Take your time.
So how do these mods handle the peg-scraping twisties? Looks great for slabbing it but life's a highway that isn't always interstate...right?

Curious,

W2

Hard to believe that it would be anything but bad. Car tires are not designed to run on the edges. I specifically got dual compoiund (Pilot Power 2CT) tires that are softer on the shoulders of the tread for enhanced grip in corners. The COG of the bike is also going to be a couple inches higher than normal when leaning into a corner over due to the square cross section - even worse. A wider tread will make the bike even higher during the lean.

Also keep in ming that car tires are designed to carry a lot more weight than a motorcycle - probably no flex at all which will make the contact patch with the road very small. I would also imagine that if you hit a puddle you going to hydroplane like crazy.

This looks like an accident waiting to happen.

All good points.....probably explains why my car tire killed me six thousand miles (and thousands of hard corners and dozens of rainstorms) ago.

You have to quit with the "Hard to believe" and "I would also imagine" until you try it for yourself. Thinking it won't work is why Orville and Wilbur failed so miserably at staying on the ground.

 

[Wee Willy]

All good points.....probably explains why my car tire killed me six thousand miles (and thousands of hard corners and dozens of rainstorms) ago.
You have to quit with the "Hard to believe" and "I would also imagine" until you try it for yourself. Thinking it won't work is why Orville and Wilbur failed so miserably at staying on the ground.

Actually, I'm just curious...not at all a disbeliever. But I am also not yet ready to drink the koolaid. The original question was a simple one and it still stands unanswered. Again, take your collective time but please be precise.

What, if any, are the handling details one must give up (recall that nothing comes for free) to gain the benefits of this mod? There has to be something that you folks notice...

Curious,

W2

 

[user 213]

Awright all you sons (any daughters) of perdition. A simple question. Take your time.
So how do these mods handle the peg-scraping twisties? Looks great for slabbing it but life's a highway that isn't always interstate...right?

Curious,

W2

First, read the FAQ That question is addressed, and more.

Yes the car tire has a different feel than a moto tire. It takes some time to get used to it and accept that you really can lean over and hammer it just like you did before. No one has yet to mount the CT and have to dramatically modify their riding style to use it. That was part of the original point/testing, if I couldn't just ride like I always did, I'd have labeled it a fail and gone back to a moto tire.

As has always been said, you lose the quick, effortless turn in that a new set of moto tires has. However, once you have the new muscle memory for the CT's handling, you don't perceive turn in to be any slower and can easily initiate quick turn in and ride just like you did before. There is no loss of grip and the CT has more adhesion in many questionable conditions like tar snakes, sand, wet, etc. And yes, you can scrape pegs if that's your style, it does it just fine. I surprised myself one day just riding at an elevated pace and whacked both pegs in some 25 mph twisties. I thought, that's really fooking odd! Then looked down and realized I was going over 50... and promptly blew the next corner in a DOH! moment since I wasn't looking at the road like I should have been. :blink:

Wee Willy, since you're a Cali guy, read post #333 about my riding down around Leggit on Hwy 1. I realize this thread is 57 pages long, but if you go to the first page there are some readers digest pointers for what posts to read to see different info and observations. Not a lot of new questions get asked at this point in time.

 

[lnewlf]

I was a crappy rider until I learned to trust my tires..This didn't happen until I finally got up on modern radials [ Remember crappy Dunlop 391 Sport Elites which stuck like a cat on a rug and then unpredictably just let go ? even Pirelli Phantoms let go all of a sudden ]. When people blow a corner and run off into the bushes it usually wouldn't happen if they trusted their tires. Meebee I'm still a crappy rider 'cause once in a while I get into a situation where I need all the tire I can get [more and more a cager's fault], and I doubt if I could trust the edge of a CT. My hide is worth more than the few bucks I'd save. [ At this point really don't care if my balls fall off-hmmm, perhaps if they did I wouldn't get into hairy situations...]

 

[Wee Willy]

Wee Willy, since you're a Cali guy, read post #333 about my riding down around Leggit on Hwy 1. I realize this thread is 57 pages long, but if you go to the first page there are some readers digest pointers for what posts to read to see different info and observations. Not a lot of new questions get asked at this point in time.

Wilco...on my way.

 

[RadioHowie]

Actually, I'm just curious...not at all a disbeliever. But I am also not yet ready to drink the koolaid. The original question was a simple one and it still stands unanswered. Again, take your collective time but please be precise.
What, if any, are the handling details one must give up (recall that nothing comes for free) to gain the benefits of this mod? There has to be something that you folks notice...

Curious,

W2

To answer your question honestly and seriously, I'd have to describe what kind of rider I am first.

Living in Florida, the switchbacks, high-speed sweepers and mountain passes are few and far between

I use my FJR 90% as a "daily driver" and 10% as a "Mobile Decompression Device" so I'd have to say that scraping bar-ends and mirrors aren't part of my riding routine, so I can't honestly say what I've "lost" in handling characteristics, at least as far as it goes for apex strafing. I CAN say that for the VERY few twisty parts I encounter in my rides, I actually have a larger confidence envelope with the CT than I did with a MT.

And when it comes to any hydroplaning issue, I haven't seen it. And trust me, Central Florida gets a LOT of rain, which only keeps my off the Feej if it's raining when my day starts. I don't ride if it's already raining, but my Frog Togs are a constant companion because it can rain, and usually does, just about every afternoon between April and November. I've found the CT gives me MORE traction in the wet than a MT does, hence the confidence boost.

Remember, we're putting SPORT CTs on our Feejers, not rock-hard, 80,000 mile econobox tires.

What we need is to get HaulinAshe to do a Darkside run through the mountains and report back. It seems no one believes those of us already on the Darkside, so perhaps someone whose tire reviews are respected and trusted can dial-in a car tire-equipped FJR and give a review.

But then, who'd believe THAT over what's already locked in someone's head who's never tried it?

So, to answer your original question, "What, if any, are the handling details one must give up (recall that nothing comes for free) to gain the benefits of this mod? " I'd have to say, for my driving, I've given up absolutely nothing. But I HAVE gained a tire that will last me more than 6,000 miles (or 10,000 if I'm extremely lucky) AND has boosted my personal handling envelope to the point that when I AM pushing it, I worry more about my front washing out than I do about losing traction "out back."

Jes' Sayin'

 

[mferriter]

Awright all you sons (any daughters) of perdition. A simple question. Take your time.
So how do these mods handle the peg-scraping twisties? Looks great for slabbing it but life's a highway that isn't always interstate...right?

Curious,

W2

Hard to believe that it would be anything but bad. Car tires are not designed to run on the edges. I specifically got dual compoiund (Pilot Power 2CT) tires that are softer on the shoulders of the tread for enhanced grip in corners. The COG of the bike is also going to be a couple inches higher than normal when leaning into a corner over due to the square cross section - even worse. A wider tread will make the bike even higher during the lean.

Also keep in ming that car tires are designed to carry a lot more weight than a motorcycle - probably no flex at all which will make the contact patch with the road very small. I would also imagine that if you hit a puddle you going to hydroplane like crazy.

This looks like an accident waiting to happen.

All good points.....probably explains why my car tire killed me six thousand miles (and thousands of hard corners and dozens of rainstorms) ago.

You have to quit with the "Hard to believe" and "I would also imagine" until you try it for yourself. Thinking it won't work is why Orville and Wilbur failed so miserably at staying on the ground.

Sorry to hear about your untimely death. Glad to see you're still posting, though.

I'm thinking about installing a steering wheel in place of the bars.