Its all about profit.
With our economy suffering as bad or worse than the 1929 collapse and gas prices leading the way, it is only logical to wonder why motorcycle sales have not sky-rocketed instead of falling through the floor. How does one manufacture justify charging $1200 for a set of plastic suitcases that probably cost under $100 to produce, especially when its made in Japan, a place that American companies migrated to because they told us manufacturing cost were the reason they moved jobs there in the first place. Why does a motorcycle that retails for say an over priced $10k end up costing $12k by the time you roll it out the door. Why does it cost you $200-$500 for "Doc Fees" when all some guy does is fill out a form or two? Why does it cost $500 for "set-up & delivery" when the guy making minimum wage opens a crate that holds a fully assembled motorcycle that even includes oil in the crank case that only has to be washed and a little gas put in the gas tank. Isn't the dealers profit already included in the over inflated MSRP? Come on, how can it cost $25-$35k for a big Honda or Harley, when you can still get a really nice car that includes room for multiply passengers, a heated and air conditioned, an additional 2-4 thousand additional pounds of material and much, much more money spent on R&D to conform with ever increasing stringent safety regulations (i.e. Air Bags, seat belts, collapsing steering columns, steel reinforcing in the roof & doors) that do not apply to motorcycles.
Not meaning for this to turn into a venting, although its not political, nor is it religious and hopefully does not classify me as some form of Fucktard. This is why I installed a car tire on my FJR. And the fact I ride a more conservative ride and rarely, if ever drag anything during my turns. I simply refuse to be screwed over by an industry designed to do just that. When a Darksider make statements like “my cornering ability is not really affected”, why is it so hard to believe it just might be true? When a CT that is designed to support 4-10 times the weight of a motorcycle leans into a turn, why would is slip out any faster than a motorcycle tire? Is it because its not round? In my history of riding, my motorcycle tires always end up being flat just like a car tire after about 2-3k miles. When a motorcycle leans, the contact patch is measured in millimeters. If a CT contact patch and a motorcycle contact patch were actually measured, there would probably not be much difference. If there were, the CT contact patch would end up being greater. Almost weekly on this Forum members write in saying they crashed in one form or another. But to date, I have not seen any Darksider posting they crashed yet. So those that have had their bike slide out on them (not counting those that may have crashed due to a car or truck being the cause), would that slide-out have been eliminated had they been running a CT? Or perhaps it was the fault of the road conditions or possibly (bite my tongue) the rider was riding beyond their ability or expertise. Back when I crashed I was definitely riding beyond my ability, meaning I was not as good as I thought I was, which could have been my technique or my ability to read road or weather conditions or gave my bike at the time more credit than it actually deserved. Either way, the end result was the same, it hurt.
Would you watch a television special that pitted excellent racers, riding excellent bikes, racing against one another switching between car tires and motorcycle tires? I sure would. I would love to see that comparison. But lets face it, there is no way in hell it would ever happen. It could possibly kill the motorcycle tire industry forever. Can you imagine implications if Bayliss beat Spies while he was running a 60,000 mile BFG CT while Spies was running a traditional race tire? You say it couldn't happen! How do you know that? What if?
If I chose to utilize a CT that actually fits, it is my decision. If someone makes the decision that running a car tire is not for them, that is their personal choice. Either decision does not effect me one way or the other. I believe that a tire is a tire, as long as each tire is designed to withstand the heat generated at speed without bursting. That could explain why most darksiders choose a high-performance tire designed in a higher W-Z speed rating. Lets face it, the whole idea of running a CT on a motorcycle at the very least is intriguing, otherwise the posting would not have over 55,000 views and over 1200 replies.
Go Darksiders!! :yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo: :clapping:
