Car tires?

If it's a S/C rig you'll get better mileage and harder steering.

L.

Hell, I love mine. I just put it on and only have about 300 miles on it, but I really like it. It's a 205/55ZR17 General, $88 bucks on line. I only got 5500 miles out of the oringinal and 4500 out of the replacement tire. I expect to get 30,000 miles at least out of this tire. Some difference since the MC tires are $200+,each.
Coyote

I'm ordering next week, I'll let you know. There's a websight dedicated to this, it's called "mcdarksiders" . I've been going there everyday fora week to get info.
Peace !

My 02 Goldwing did not have a sidecar but I used a car tire on it, 195x55x16 and loved it. When I got my current Goldwing/Escort rig one of the first things I did was switch the rear tire to a car tire, same size. Only difference on my 02 I used a run-flat tire, but with my sidecar rig I got a regular car tire, Bridgestone Potenza G019 195/55/16. It's not a runflat, but is wearing really good. It also has good traction in the dirt and even had it in the snow once (I had to ride up into Mt Rainier park to find any snow).
Here is a link to a couple of photos of it.

The reason I posed this question is I have ordered aHannigan LT for my 03 BMW LT and over the years I have seen several rigs with car tires all the way around. I Intend mine to be a permenant install for as I am now 64, picking up my 800lb beast is no longer an option. I had a California Car on a 750 Yamaha in 73 which I traded in on my first Beemer but this will be my first touring setup and I am curious about the overall riding experence.

Hackercraft - 8/1/2010 7:21 AM

The reason I posed this question is I have ordered aHannigan LT for my 03 BMW LT and over the years I have seen several rigs with car tires all the way around. I Intend mine to be a permenant install for as I am now 64, picking up my 800lb beast is no longer an option. I had a California Car on a 750 Yamaha in 73 which I traded in on my first Beemer but this will be my first touring setup and I am curious about the overall riding experence.

We hav edone many rear car wheel conversions on LTs and various BMWs. Tire Milage seems to run around 20k with the 165r15 tires.
The GL1800s, mentioned earlier, are a similar conversion due to the 195 tires mounting right on the Goldwing wheel. I have seen over 30k using these tires.
Front tire? I really do not feel it is worth the effort to convert to a car tire on the front of these types of outfits.

My Valkyrie had 6,000 miles on it when I bought it. I put a Potenza on it before I mounted the sidecar. I think it had around 30,000 when I sold it and I put a new tire on just before the sale, though the old one would have lasted longer. I knew the new owner would be riding it 1800 miles home the day after we got an 11 " snowfall up here, so I put a new one on.

I no longer have a sidecar, but I have a car tire ordered for my 1500 Goldwing.

claude #3563 - 8/1/2010 10:31 AM

Front tire? I really do not feel it is worth the effort to convert to a car tire on the front of these types of outfits.

We have a 14" car tires on all corners of our K100/EML touring rig. The front car tire is mounted to a purpose designed leading link assembly and works well with great traction. But it seems the wider and flatter the front tire, the more it tracks/follows grooves/irregularities in the payment. My limited experience leads me to the same conclusion as Claude. Car tires are the better choice on the rear (Jena's rig has one), but car tires on the front are necessary only on "high-performance" type rigs.

I have a ural sidecar attached to 1981 Honda CX500 with 4.60 x 16 rear tire what size car tire would I need?
Thanks Ken 😉

You can look on that Discount Tire link....and they have a place where you can see all the tires by rim size..... (16").....then once you see a tire that you think might fit,, you can look at that tire's specs and it will tell you the overall diameter...the tread width and the suggested rim width...will get you real close...

Joel

Can you post that link? I've never found such a page on the Discount Tire site and it would sure be handy for those of us researching car tires.

I have a 155/80 R15 on the back of my K-bike rig, using an adapter from C. Stanley Motorsports, and don't find that the car tire in the rear makes steering appreciably different. Mostly, I just notice that my tire is lasting far longer than the 4400 miles I got out of the $170 MC tire that was on the rig. I'm considering making some changes to the front end on this rig--moving from SteerLite to a leading-link setup-- and would consider a car tire up front IF I could find an appropriate size in a 145 or 155 width. Wider than that seems to result in reports of bump steer and heavy steering from what I've read. But then, I'm pretty new to all this so have to depend a lot on research and what I read here and in a couple other S/C forums.

Thanks!

GTRider

GTRider - 8/1/2010 1:57 PM <SNIP>. I'm considering making some changes to the front end on this rig--moving from SteerLite to a leading-link setup-- and would consider a car tire up front IF I could find an appropriate size in a 145 or 155 width. Wider than that seems to result in reports of bump steer and heavy steering from what I've read. But then, I'm pretty new to all this so have to depend a lot on research and what I read here and in a couple other S/C forums. Thanks! GTRider

It's interesting, everybody I've met who has a leading link that didn't come with their bike, switched from a modifed tree. I decided long ago that I will never buy a Steerite or similar. The price difference isn't terrible, so why spend it on one if you will eventually buy the other anyway?

SidecarMike - 8/1/2010 2:05 PM

[QUOTEIt's interesting, everybody I've met who has a leading link that didn't come with their bike, switched from a modifed tree.  I decided long ago that I will never buy a Steerite or similar.  The price difference isn't terrible, so why spend it on one if you will eventually buy the other anyway? 

Well, that may be a bit harsh.... You could probably say the same about center hub steering vs leading link. The Steerite/Steerlite conversions handle the trail problem well enough for a lot of SC pilots, are reasonably priced, and pretty much preserve the original look of the front end. LL units are costlier, may allow more trail adjustment, and are undeniably somewhat.....agricultural.... in appearance. Probably the cleanest example is the BMW Earles fork--with it's nicely covered shocks and clean tubing lines it's about as clean a look as I've seen in a LL front end, but even at that there are those who deride it's looks. All this is, of course, my opinion on and based upon what little I've learned in researching the topic.

In my case, and on my machine, there are a couple of specific factors I'm focused on. First, the Steer-Lite on my BMW K1200GT helps tremendously with lightening up the steering. However, it's still pretty heavy in sharp cornering like a twisty mountain road. I suspect there is still some steering improvement to be had by further reducing trail and simplifying the suspension action. Secondly, because of the design of the BMW front end the axle does not move straight up and down along the fork tubes but has a slightly arcing path. Kick the axle too far forward and the front fender can hit the edge of the fairing below the headlight, and I'm getting a slight bit of contact now on a hard bump. I know, you're going to respond with "crank up the suspension preload to a proper setting for the load you're carrying". Problem is, the stock shocks are toast by 20k on these machines and many of the aftermarket units put the preload adjuster at the top of the front strut so adjusting preload means stripping off all the bodywork and pulling the fuel tank. Yech... Simpler to have a LL front end with the shocks out where they can be easily adjusted as needed.

So, I'm more of the "form follows function" persuasion than vice-versa. I want to put the "Gran Turismo" back in the GT of this machine, and that fits with the Hannigan AstroSport that makes up the rig. Don't want to go all the way to an HPS rig--it would be fun but very spendy and not to my wife's liking for touring. So what I have in mind is replacing the front shock with a solid struc and having a LL front end build up using the stock upper clamp and lower fork bridge. At the BMWMOA rally in Redmone, OR I talked to Jay from DMC about this while at his booth and he seemed to think it would be a very workable idea.--I need to get back in touch with him when rally/show season is over. There may be others who have already fabricated this modification as well.

So there you have it. Just didn't want everyone to think I'm unhappy with the Steer-Lite because I'm not--I'm just an inveterate tinker looking to tweak what is for me an important feature or function. My wife and I just got home Sunday from several days of touring the Colorado Rockies and we absolutely enjoyed the rig and our trip. But, a few more sporty rides down those long downhill twisty sections coming off the passes and I'll be giving Charles Atlas a run for his money... 🙂

Best,

GTRider