A GREAT Darkside Tyre vid......

[Diesel]

This footage illustrates fairly well, the contact patch you get from a car tyre on a bike...

Riding on the Darkside - car tire on a motorcycle - contact patch

And here is another popular vid....

Darkside tire on the highway

And guess what?..... You can get one to fit the ST too.         


$189.00 for a 40,000+km tyre Vs $300.00 for a 15,000km tyre......  hmmmm     


Anyone (or your mates) tried this?

Tell us about it.

Cheers, Diesel

[terrydj]

Ummmmmm, Ahhhhhhhhhh, to me the contact patch is bugger all compared to a bike, and the contact patch actually has a tread pattern designed for a bike of 500kg's or under not a 2 ton car that basically corners flat??????
Hmmm that's maybe 500kg's + on a tyre that's designed for it . and at an angle not a tyre that's designed for a couple of tons of weight and basically to sit flat.

I don't give a S???? what people put on their bikes cause I'm not riding em but I do know this. Their third party is shot and their insurance is shot because the tyres are not specifically identified as motorcycle tyres????????
Just like what would happen if you put a bike tyre on a car.

[Biggles]

Strewth!  I'd be wetting myself the first time I leaned off the vertical.  When you look at a bike tyre, its cross-section is rounded so you have exactly the same contact patch all the way over until you scrape something.
If you have to ride on car tyres you can't afford to ride and should go buy a Getz or Chery or better yet, a Gocard.

[keith3po]

Been done to death on other forums this one i read them just for amusement, i ride a motorcycle with motorcycle tyres on it. 

[West Aussie Glen]

When the time comes for me to replace my rear tyre I will certainly be looking at the CT option.

[Streak]

Been done to death on other forums this one i read them just for amusement, i ride a motorcycle with motorcycle tyres on it. 

Simple for me, if I have a bike I have a bike tyre, if i have a car, I have a car tyre, neither should cross paths in my mind.

If I have to risk my insurance to save a few dollars, not worth it....

[Malcolm6112]

Food for thought.

 

[Gavo]

                     http://mcdarksiders.forumotion.com/               

[terrydj]

The really funny thing is that most people that own?????? I said own a bike not ride a bike, don't even own it long enough to buy a new rear tyre. Just have a look at Bike Sales to see how many Ahhhhh Cruisers and Harleys that are for sale with bugger all Kays on em

[Shiney]

When I used to ride cruisers I looked into going darkside and did a lot of research into it
It’s a very good idea and has a lot of benefits (longer tyre life, greater contact patch with the road and better grip as CT’s can have a softer compound)

It all sounds great BUT after speaking to a few cops and insurance people it was pointed out to me the BIG downside, (as Streak said) when you run a CT on a bike it will void your insurance (both normal and 3rd party) and that is why Police will take exception to people doing this…

Although I have heard rumours of people having it listed as a modification with their insurance and getting to legally run a CT on their bike but I’m not sure if this is true or not…

It’s a shame but that seams to be the way it is
Run a CT on a car and a bike tyre on a bike, or do what you want and take the risk

Cheers
Shiney

[West Aussie Glen]

It’s a shame but that seams to be the way it is
Run a CT on a car and a bike tyre on a bike, or do what you want and take the risk

Cheers
Shiney

We all take risks by riding a bike, let alone by speeding, riding country roads at night (eg STRay), riding fatigued, walking across a busy road and all of these are life threatening not just financially risky. I would also suggest that hit a Rolls Royce  or similar and do $100,000 plus worth of damage while speeding riding fatigued or similar and your insurance company will be looking for a way out of paying up.  I know I have a favourite highway on ramp which runs slightly up hill, is about 700m long and I regularly give the ST some stick at the start then once reaching 160kph back off to 100 and change into 4th then 5th before merging with the main highway lanes and in WA this would mean probably immediate lose of license, the bike being impounded for a month and a substantial fine.  I once road from Sydney to Hobart in tee shirt, shorts and thongs now I always at least wear long pants, solid footwear and my bike jacket. The thing about risk is that it is always a personnell decision on how much you take. On regular night drives from Newman to Perth even in a car with four Super Oscar driving lights I would limit myself to about 80 to 90kph.
Gavo you had better stock up on  ,  :)

[ruSTyEB]

For me I couldnt trust the tyre, even though people have been on the darkside and survived.  The load put into the side-wall must be extreem and not what the tyres are engineered for.  Imagine a very hot day, lots of twistys and a side wall failure....ouch.  When I see cars running with a 30 degree camber I might reconsider. For now, I trust my tyres.

[Whizz]

Motorcycle tyres on Motorcycles; Car tyres on Cars; bicycle tyres on bicycles; trailer tyres on trailers. That's why they are called "Motorcycle" tyres, not just "Tyres"

[West Aussie Glen]

While I have read a lot about the "Darkside" on other forums I certainly haven't read it all. Just wondering if anybody has read anything bad about the actual performance of CTs on bikes? 

[West Aussie Glen]

Motorcycle tyres on Motorcycles; Car tyres on Cars; bicycle tyres on bicycles; trailer tyres on trailers. That's why they are called "Motorcycle" tyres, not just "Tyres"

Whizz,
What is a trailer tyre?

[Malcolm6112]

Motorcycle tyres on Motorcycles; Car tyres on Cars; bicycle tyres on bicycles; trailer tyres on trailers. That's why they are called "Motorcycle" tyres, not just "Tyres"

Whizz,
What is a trailer tyre?

Gee Glen, i would have thought you would have known this one. A trailer tyre is a tyre too knacked to be used on a car, not to be confused with the spare tyre, which we get as we get older. Thank goodness I'm still only a pup.

 

[Diesel]

Here is a great, authoritative article on the science behind the way a MC tyre works (with its reducing concentric ring diameter - conducive to 'turning') and a CT designed NOT to steer by leaning etc etc....

http://www.ridermagazine.com/browse-by-type/tires/tales-from-the-dark-side-putting-car-tires-on-motorcycles.htm

Here is an extract of part of the article...

The profile of a motorcycle tire clearly has one large-diameter ring in the middle that tapers to smaller rings at each side (creating the U-shape). As the bike leans, this makes rounding curves much easier than if the tires were square like those of a car. Here’s a quick demonstration. Grab an empty soup can from the recycling bin and a tapered coffee cup (that empty caramel macchiato cup will do nicely). Lay each on its side and roll them across the table. The can, shaped like a car tire, will track straight. But the tapered coffee cup, because it has larger and smaller diameters much like one side of a motorcycle tire, will want to turn. As you lean your bike from the large ring in the center toward the smaller ring on either edge, you are also in effect reducing the gearing of your bike, thereby slowing it in a curve. That makes it easier to add throttle through the bend as prescribed by most riding proficiency experts, which in turn stabilizes the bike’s chassis for smooth cornering. The square car tire does not provide that advantage when leaned.
Beyond tire profile, sidewall stiffness plays an important role in motorcycle tires. The sidewall acts as a suspension component and must also provide enough rigidity to not only stand up to the unique forces placed upon it during cornering, but to also take advantage of those forces for precise handling. According to Dunlop, “When the bike is vertical, the bike’s suspension system does much of the work in keeping the tire in contact with the ground and controlling the ride. When the bike is leaned, there is less mechanical suspension and more tire suspension characteristics at play. The bike tires are designed and constructed specifically for this use.”

Motorcycle tires are uniquely designed to maximize the contact patch for greater grip at all lean angles.
Most modern motorcycle tires use multiple rubber compounds; harder compounds in the center to maximize tread life for highway riding and softer compounds toward the edges to maximize grip when the bike is leaned. Car tires have just one compound since they are not designed to be leaned over or to contend with camber forces.


Cheers, Diesel

[Gavo]

It’s a shame but that seams to be the way it is
Run a CT on a car and a bike tyre on a bike, or do what you want and take the risk

Cheers
Shiney

We all take risks by riding a bike, let alone by speeding, riding country roads at night (eg STRay), riding fatigued, walking across a busy road and all of these are life threatening not just financially risky. I would also suggest that hit a Rolls Royce  or similar and do $100,000 plus worth of damage while speeding riding fatigued or similar and your insurance company will be looking for a way out of paying up.  I know I have a favourite highway on ramp which runs slightly up hill, is about 700m long and I regularly give the ST some stick at the start then once reaching 160kph back off to 100 and change into 4th then 5th before merging with the main highway lanes and in WA this would mean probably immediate lose of license, the bike being impounded for a month and a substantial fine.  I once road from Sydney to Hobart in tee shirt, shorts and thongs now I always at least wear long pants, solid footwear and my bike jacket. The thing about risk is that it is always a personnell decision on how much you take. On regular night drives from Newman to Perth even in a car with four Super Oscar driving lights I would limit myself to about 80 to 90kph.
Gavo you had better stock up on  ,  :)

No coment

[Tipsy]

  py

Having spent a couple of years or so working within the tyre industry you WILL make a serious mistake in using a CT on a motorbike, it all depends on how much you value your own life.
Believe in yourself and ride safe.

Tipsy