Thanks for tire recommendations and a darkside follow-up question

For a softer ride,I usually ran 28psi with my StreetGlide Liberty rig with195/55/16 Bridgestone or Hankook rear tire. Upped that to 32psi with rig loaded for touring with a monkey.

I wet down the rear tire then rolled over the concrete deck of the shop, adjusting tire pressure till I had the total tread footprint all the way across.
Different pressures depending upon whether the rig was fully loaded or not.

Lonnie

Thank you, Lonnie -- very cool tip regarding the footprint. I like it.

Any commentary on the sidewall flex I'm noticing? Just "the way it is"?

Thanks!

phlaug - 12/13/2015 9:46 AM

Thank you, Lonnie -- very cool tip regarding the footprint. I like it.

Any commentary on the sidewall flex I'm noticing? Just "the way it is"?

Thanks!

I would definitely experiment with the tire pressures if the tire feels squirmy. Some of the new generation of eco/ low noise tires can be stiffened up by adding pressure and the tread will still lie flat on the road. Some of the tires will take much more air than you would imagine and the tread will not wear uneven. The only side effect is a stiffer sidewall and less shimmy.

You might try adding more air to stiffen up the tire then check the footprint to be sure that it will not lead to premature wear. Adjust accordingly depending on what the footprint looks like. Then keep an eye on the tread wear to be sure it really isn't wearing in the center more than the rest of the tire. Could help. I ran some low noise eco tires on a car with an extra 10# of air once without getting premature wear on the center of the tire. The tires could not be returned and shimmied terribly at normal pressure. I over inflated them figuring I could at least drive them till I could get some different ones. To my surprise the over inflation had no affect on the wear of the tire. It may even have made them last longer. The only affect was getting rid of the shimmy and a firmer ride. Bonus was that they were much quieter than the Michelin's they had replaced which was what I had hoped for when I ordered them.
You might get lucky..

Your new rear tire smaller then OEM. Make sure alignment of your rig is checked. Most likely it need to be adjusted.

Interesting point, Vlad.

It probably was out of adjustment before -- it runs straighter/truer now (used to pull a bit more to the right)! LOL

And I feel like it can handle highway speed more easily.

I think all the differences have been to the positive, but for the little bit of squirrely-ness, but that's only on fast turns -- so only 80% of the time!!!! Hahahahahahaahah

I am running the exact same set up as you are right now, the Fuel max is a non run flat so the sidewalls are a softer. I found for me for that just right feel I run 40 PSI in the front and rear
at first I wasn't sure I was going to like the fuel max until I bumped the pressure up
on my bike anything under 40 on the Battlax and it pulls harder during on/off throttle

Thanks for the input Ace, I'll try 40 psi. I am so pumped with the setup -- falling in love with my rig all over again! 🙂

I seem to be missing something here and I hope you'ze guys can straighten me out on running a car tire. Phil, I have a rear wheel from a '94 GL1500 and it is a 16" X 3.5" wide rim. That's why your case interests me so much! I know your rear wheel has a 3.5" wide rim. Almost all car tires I find ask for at least a 5" wide rim. A couple of smaller ones have recommended a 4.5" wide rim. What am I missing here? Are you guys all mounting the car tires on these 3.5" wide rims? I would expect such a combination to feel squirrelly. I might feel comfortable mounting to a 4.5" wide rim, but going 1-1/2" narrower than recommended just seems to be too much. Especially with a sidecar where there is a LOT more lateral loading on the tire than on a solo bike.

I read about going to the darkside all the time, but nobody talks about their rim widths. If you guys are mounting these car tires with 5" rim width recommendations to a 3.5" wide rim and having good results, then I will accept that.

My bike is a 1984 Kawasaki Voyager 1300 and has a 16" X 3.5" wheel. I pull a Vetter Terraplane sidecar, so I wanted a car tire to get a flatter tread pattern and for better wear and higher load rating.

I have the stock wheel on the GL1500. I'll take your word for the width, I didn't mount the tire myself, a mechanic did it. The squirrerly-ness is noticeable, but not unrideable in the least, cf.:

I trusted the threads I'd read before and went with it and am very happy I did.

Good luck!

Thanks for the quick reply, Phil! And for the YouTube link! I loved it, especially the flying part! If you can fly with confidence on that tire, you've convinced me! I'm not a canyon carver, so all out cornering isn't terribly important. Just a wide, flat tread for stopping power and better wear.

OK, just like you, I am going to close my eyes and jump into the dark pool! Looking at the Dunlop Graspic DS-3. $61.30 plus about $15 shipping (Tire Rack). I really like it's flatter tread than most.

Would still like to hear from others with rims is wider than 3.5".

trikebldr - 12/30/2015 7:35 PM

Thanks for the quick reply, Phil! And for the YouTube link! I loved it, especially the flying part! If you can fly with confidence on that tire, you've convinced me! I'm not a canyon carver, so all out cornering isn't terribly important. Just a wide, flat tread for stopping power and better wear.

OK, just like you, I am going to close my eyes and jump into the dark pool! Looking at the Dunlop Graspic DS-3. $61.30 plus about $15 shipping (Tire Rack). I really like it's flatter tread than most.

Would still like to hear from others with rims is wider than 3.5".

I am running that tire right now. It is my first darkside tire and I bought it because it seemed like a good way to check out running a car tire on the hack.
It is an amazing tire in the rain, I even got to use it some on ice and in a little snow, it was rock solid on everything. Very cool. Being a snow tire it has been wearing down quite quickly unfortunately. At 3000 miles this tire is over half gone. Part of the wear is that we did not have the tow in dialed in for the first 1500 miles. Part is that we have been doing a lot of extended 75 mph driving. I think a lot of is the fact that studless snow tires like the Graspic are very soft tires. They also do not have a wear rating on them so there is no way to compare one to another.
My next tire is going to be a Yokohama I found in a slightly smaller diameter that has an 800 wear rating. I don't want to have to change tires any more often than absolutely necessary on this GL1500 as it isn't any fun at all. I'd suggest a different tire personally. The Graspic just wears too fast.

Thanks for the input, Joe! I went ahead and ordered two of them since they are pretty cheap. Actually, I like the softer compound tires for better braking. Couldn't possibly wear faster than just about any ole cycle tire, and far cheaper! I could buy three of them for what one Elite 3 tire would cost me! I really like what you said about the traction in the rain! I'm not much for riding in snow or ice, but sometimes get caught in the rain in the spring to fall seasons. It's also good to hear that you have it on a GL1500 since it has the 16" X 3.5" wheel just like on my Voyager 1300. Did you notice if that narrower rim made the tread bow outward more in the center or did it stay pretty flat across?
I'm just hoping one will last me long enough until they come back next year for the winter sales. A lot of the studless snow tires are being taken out of inventories because the winter sales season is practically over.

Joe, FWIW, one article I read about the the Graspic tire said that the outer part of the tread was a soft compound, but after about 1/3 is worn away, the compound gets harder for slower wear. It even has wear indicators that tell you when the snow rating is worn away and it becomes like a normal all-season tire. Maybe we're pioneering new ground here into the darkside!?

One last thought here. Nobody ever speaks of what kinds of riding they do mostly, like short runs or all highway use. Nor do we hear about what materials their state/county uses to pave their roads. Some states put a lot of recycled glass in their pavements to make it last longer, and that takes it's toll on tires. Hawaii uses a lot of coral. I couldn't get 2000 miles out of rear tire over there on my little Yamaha RD-350!
Missouri uses straight up sand-and-gravel asphalt and concrete mostly, so we don't have any extra-wear issues here. Any idea what they use in your area, Joe?
Did you use balance beads, or wheel weights?