RiderForums.com - Kawasaki Motorcycle Forum banner

Dark side tire

3K views 28 replies 8 participants last post by  Suzukirider1250 
#1 ·
Has any body put a car tire on a 1250 bandit?
 
#3 ·
To each their own.
 
#7 ·
Its a bad choice Dude. You cannot traverse the world only going straight. There are turns, yes? Even pulling into the parking lot of your favorite massage parlor and turning can put the tire on the edge possibly causing it to slip. And on the straight highway there is lots of gravel and debri.

Were you able to follow the video until the end?

But I get it. Go forth and do it. Its still stupid
 
#8 ·
turning can put the tire on the edge possibly causing it to slip.
That has been proven wrong if you can believe a few YouTube videos on the subject. But everyone is entitled to their opinion. I once thought it a concern as well but most find car tires that have some roundness on the edges that must make the difference.
 
#10 ·
I don't know anyone in real life that has put a car tire on their bike, but the posts I've read over the years from those that have gone dark are pretty mixed - some think it handles fine and others hate it.

I have replaced several rear tires on my street bikes over the years and every time I have noticed a big improvement in the handling of the bike. They just seem to lean and turn much more effortlessly (look there - go there) when I replace an old flatter-centered rear tire with a new rounded-profile tire. Changing the front and rear at the same time is almost like having a new bike! Anyhow, I personally don't want to imagine a world where the center of my rear tire is always flat and I never get to experience that new bike handling by simply replacing the tires. Just my 2¢.

Whichever side you ride, keep the shiny one up!
Cheers!
 
#11 ·
I've consider a car tire simply because I'm forced to ride a lot of gravel roads where I live. I could never convince myself that it would be better in the long run. The other big draw for me was I could get a run-flat tire by going with a car tire. And I've had 2 tank slappers due to sudden and complete air loss on the rear tire. But even with that incentive I just never did it until I was forced to go to a trike or no longer ride due to physical disabilities. Now I have 2 car tires but that's completely different that what's being discussed here. My best suggestion is, if you have the funds, to try it and if you don't like it switch back. Finding someone that will mount a car tire might prove problematic though. I had someone that would but I just couldn't pull the trigger. It's a personnel choice in the end.
 
#15 ·
Judge for yourself but I've watched these two vids many times and it appears to me that a car tire gives you a wider contact patch in curves than does a motorcycle tire. But you be the judge...

Car tire ( you might want to turn the volume off )



Motorcycle tire

 
#16 ·
Judge for yourself but I've watched these two vids many times and it appears to me that a car tire gives you a wider contact patch in curves than does a motorcycle tire.
Well, I guess that begs the question as to why all motorcycle racers at the top end of the sport aren't using car tyres.

Is it a conspiracy by the tyre manufacturers just to rip off the masses of motorcycle riders? :unsure::unsure:
 
#17 ·
Looks like the tire pressure in the car tire video is lower than the mc tire video. I've read that many dark siders run about 25 psi in their tires, and that gives them a bigger contact patch when leaning through a turn. I'm sure if I lower my mc tire pressure to 25 psi that I would have a larger contact patch - but I'm pretty sure that I'd be actively looking for an air pump to restore the handling that I had before at 10-15 psi higher. Maybe if I was low-siding a lot (and I just hated to ride slower), then I'd be more interested in finding new ways to increase the size of my contact patch while leaning.
Again, everyone is different and what I like other people may well think is absolutely crazy. If you like your bike with a car tire on it, then good deal. I'm just thinking that I would miss the handling that I know a nice round mc tire gives me. Again, just my 2¢.
Whatever you ride, ride it and enjoy it!
Cheers!
 
#19 ·
No-one can accuse me of being one-eyed. Here's a vid of a Goldwing with a car tyre. Impressive stuff.



However I did read a comment that the guy eventually totalled the bike, and he hasn't posted videos for a long time now.

Found this - some posts by the man himself (if you read some of the comments - he's not everyone's hero....lol):

 
  • Like
Reactions: B46
#20 ·
No-one can accuse me of being one-eyed. Here's a vid of a Goldwing with a car tyre. Impressive stuff.
Wow! I wish I had the skills to ride a Goldwing on the Dragon like that! Of course I'd also need the nerve to do it too!
Haven't been there in several years but there were always some crazy-good riders at Deals Gap! Scary-crazy-good!
 
#21 ·
I wish I could remember the exact cause of my crash. I accept full responsibility as I know I was pushing my limits as well as the tires limits in the rain I was riding in. But I'd sure like to know what I did or the tires did. I highly suspect I chopped the throttle because the last thing I saw was a blur of a yellow warning sign. But 70mph in frog choking rain the the twisties isn't brilliant to start with so that's on me. But I'd been riding like that for over 30 minutes. However, I had not hit a blind "S" turn in that 30 minutes either. Cresting a hill and suddenly realizing I was already in the first part of the turn I'd bet money I chopped the throttle. But I darn near made it looking at the scene latter. 5 feet more of road instead of a 15 foot deep ditch might have worked but I'll never know. Could yellow goldwing guy have done the same? I was knocked out for at least 45 minutes. That's why I have no memory of the actual crash I'm sure. My first 3 days in the hospital was in intensive care due to the concussion. But I was at fault no matter what. I could have said sand had washed into the road like goldwing guy. That would help no one.
 
#23 ·
Im sorry he got hurt, and it's cool that he decided to talk about it. I'll do the same.

B46, the Goldwing rider wishes he had the skills to ride like that, too. Turns out, he didnt.

Notice how the car tire was excellent for him, until that day he hit the sand. Sand,in a turn, isnt a death sentence. Dirt Bike riders handle this, no problem, so what went wrong? If his bike had a normal rear tire, could he have made it through?

This is why you dont use car tires. When you get into an emergency situation, you need the bike to perform at 100%. It needs to perform way above your ability to have a fighting chance. He chose to give up his edge, on several levels. Too fast for conditions. Tires not well suited to conditions, and I dont know what else.

Try the car tire, if you want, but if you do, ride as if you have a car tire. Dont try to sell us on how awesome this is.
 
#24 ·
Over here on the opposite coast, we have a crazy little 6 mile road (HWY 229 to Crestin CA) that is affectionally called Rossi's Driveway (for if Rossi designed his driveway, this is what it should look like). I was going up north by myself to meet up with other riders and I rode Rossi's going north. Two weird things happened: 1. A big buck deer with huge antlers leapt from a hill above the road over my head and landed 20 ft on the other side. It was one of the most athletic things I have ever seen. #2 was a lone cowboy boot in the middle of Rossi's which I thought was weird.

The group ride took us back over to Rossi's and this time we are going south. I was one bike behind a very skilled and accomplished older rider on a black Gold Wing. About halfway thru, I look up and there was a big cloud of dust. It was the gold wing crashing. The rider was "ok but kinda shook up."

His top case exploded sending his stuff all over the road and we gathered up everything we could see. Left in the middle of the road? The cowboy boot. I still wonder today if that caused him to loose concentration or if there were other factors.

The point is that it is easy to get caught up in a moment and exceed your skills or your bikes limits. Stay safe..
 
#25 ·
I still wonder today if that caused him to loose concentration or if there were other factors.
He probably chopped the throttle when he suddenly saw the boot. Might have hit the rear brake as icing on the cake to insure to crash. It's things like that on the road that is hard tp practice for. Emergency moves. Real time real life emergencies bring out the worst in us. I highly suspect I did absolutely everything wrong in my crash or maybe that should be everything right to assure I'd crash. I really don't know of a good way to practice for real emergency moves but would bet EVERYONE'S first instinct would be to chop the throttle and that seldom goes well.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top