Last year I bought a 1987 Harley FLHS with a 1993 Harley sidecar. I put a new tire on the back of the bike last spring and 1500 miles later it was worn out. I know the rig is in need of some adjustments but I also need a high mileage tire. I have heard that some people use car tires on their bikes. Does anybody know of a tire that would fit my bike? The size is MT90B16 or 16" x 5.00/5.10. Thank-you.
Using auto tires on the rear of the bigger bikes is not an uncommon practice. The major problem is that the bead on auto tires is shaped differently than that of a motorcycle tire and is not exactly the same size so auto tires won't always seat the bead properly. People who do this are often referred to as darksiders (Come to the Dark Side, Luke).
You can search Darkside (darksiders, Dark side, Auto tire/tires on rear) on the Harley forums and probably find some suggestions.
The front tire is often left stock (bike tire).
15 inch rims are the ones that have a small problem seating but by useing 80 lbs or less air pressure they will seat and there is no problems with the tire, 16 inch rims have no problems seating, the problem is from a difference in rim dia and tire dia, MC rims are in MM where as auto tires are in inches.
Going to the darkside website:
http://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com/forum.htm
will get you all the info you need about what tires work best and what sizes fit your bike,,,all you have to do is ask.
Mounting a CT on the front is a common practice but it is reversed, it has something to do with the way it's made and the forces on it when mounted on the front, you'll get a much better answer on the dark side web site.
Mounting 15" car tires on motorcycle rims by using a lot of air pressure IS dangerous. Some have been hurt in doing this. Much discussion on mounting 15" car tires on cycle rims has taken place on this board. Look for olders threads.
Yes, some will probably come on and say " I did it with no problem"..WELL GOOD FOR YOU. I woudl be wrong in encouraging anyone to mount a 15" car tire on a 15" motorcycle rim even being as it has been done as I have seen the bad side of it..so do it at your own risk. Other diameter sizes are nto a bad fit. The 15" cycle rims are really too large for th e15" car tires. Search it out. 16" etc is no problem.
Some will put a rear motorcycle tire on the front and mount it backwards. The idea is that braking is better with the trad reversed.
Some do actual car rim conversions also.
See atatched pics of 15" car tire failures.
is it possible claude that this would apply to older,spoked rims only?,..I ask because the 15" BFG slipped on my 15" alum rim with very little trouble, and the tire profile is almost a dead match to the bike rubber I removed,..is there that much difference between a 15" bike tire bead and a 15" car rubber bead?, obvioiusly anything forced is incorrect and dangerous, as is modifying a factory tested set-up, but?.thanks for educating the less informed, we appreciate the " wisdom of the ages" with respect, crawf.
There has been a lot of discussion here and at other places on the net regarding the 15" wheel deal. I can only go from what I have learned and ,yes, possibly the sizing has changed on the wheels. None of what I sai dappl;ied just to older spoked wheels. Alloy wheels are th esame.
Some here may rememebr a guy who used to come to rallies and turn down the 15" alloy motorcyle wheels on site to fit car tires. ???
I can only go from what I have learned in the past and woudl feel bad if that was not brought up.
Face it..We as sidecarists live outside the box anyhow. How far out of the box we want to try and get shoudl be a personal decision.
To get technical very little we do as far as mounting sidecar is within the box so to speak. Only a handfull of manufacturers say mounting a sidecar is acceptable but we all do it or have it done with good results.
Your call but the warning about 15" rims will not go away in the near future me thinks.
thanks for the heads up, my limited experience with the tire swap had me scratching my head, and I was not aware ther was a rim ridge difference, I will watch for this in the future,..2" of snow here this morning, doing donut in it was a hoot!, Happy New Year!, cheers, crawf..
Hello
Apart from the difference in bead shape there is about an 1/8th inch difference in the diameters, so you may be lucky and it will go on OK or the beads may partially part company and then completely go when on the road.
I have heard that steel beads are worse than kevlar for doing this.
Barry
good info to know fellas, thanx, I'll watch my set-up a little closer for signs of distress,..cheers, crawf.
I've had a auto tire on my 05' goldwing w/hanningan gtl for 2 years. about 15K on it and barely any sign of wear. Do you homework, with GW it's easy just look up "darksiders", the Valkarye guys really pushed the information out about how to do it. I did have to use 2 different tires (bought the wrong size first time), but I feel it handles better and brakes better. More "suspension" too. I won't go back. I would not do it on 2 wheels, but for 3 if you had a problem it would be no worse than any other blow out. Funny thing I've found is I've read many opinoins on why it's dangerous and all the things that could happen, but have never read one post from someone who's had a problem (maybe that's bad now that I think about it). So good luck!
Dundertaker
Any thoughts on using a Coker automotive tire for a spoke type wheel? They hae a 17" tube type tire that they say will fit my Honda CB750A rim. I've about worn out the Dunlop I put on 12K ago and thought I might try something else.
So, If I have a 16" wheel theres no problem with the bead or size?
Also,is there a 16 inch car tire that will fit my 83 goldwing without rubbing?I know its tight for space.
go to this site, there's a lot of wingers useing a CT on the rear, look around or ask questions to get the answer you want:
http://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com/forum.htm
Originally written by Ckretintimidator on 2/7/2009 9:38 AM
Any thoughts on using a Coker automotive tire for a spoke type wheel? They hae a 17" tube type tire that they say will fit my Honda CB750A rim. I've about worn out the Dunlop I put on 12K ago and thought I might try something else.
I ran them quite a bit on our old '78 goldwing rig. Thye are tall which is not th ebest for gearing. They also may or may not wear wel..inconsitant. They also can hydroplane due to the tread design.
Give em a try 🙂
to run a car tire on a harley with a stock frame you need to get a car 15" rim made and then run a 145r15 tire on it.
works perfect but lowers the rear end about 1.5"
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