Car tires, anyone?

 

Anyone here riding on a car tire? I've been reading a lot about this
and find it quite interesting. They call it the "darkside".

--
"What, me worry?" - Alfred E. Neuman

 

Venture Rider wrote:

Sure.  Every time I take my car, I am riding on car tires.  When I
ride my bike, it's bike tires every time.  The only time a car
tire belongs on a motorcycle is if there's a sidecar attached.
There's a bunch of really good reasons why they make bike tires
differently than car tires, and I am smart enough to realize that
engineers who design bike tires for a living are way better at it
than I am.  But hey, maybe all these car-tire-onna-bike guys
found out something that was supposed to be kept hidden from us!
Well done, and let us know how your experiments go.

--
'07 FJR13AW  '99 EX250-F13
OMF #7

 


Especially the leaning it over in the corner part.

 



What? Didn't you know that bikes no longer have to bother with that
confusing countersteering stuff if you put car tires on 'em?

Thereafter, they turn just like cars; no leaning required.

 

On Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:00:51 -0700 (PDT), Twibil said:


I'm not saying I'm going to try this but I do think it's interesting
nonetheless. I'm curious to know if anyone here has done it.


From http://lifeisaroad.com/stories/2004/10/27/theDarkSide.html

This guy has been running a car tire on his Valkyrie for quite some
time and here is what he says about that:

----------------------
How does it handle?
I am happy with it. It is very smooth and stable at high speeds, and
for me at least, at very low speeds (full deflection turns for
instance) it is an improvement over the motorcycle tire. Basically,
I've found it to be superior in all conditions.

There are two areas of difference in feel:
It requires active counter-steering to put the bike in a corner. The
Valkyrie has always required a firm hand, and this is not
significantly different. The difference is that on the motorcycle
tire, once the bike was stable in a corner, driver input on the
handlebars is not really needed. The bike will stay in the turn unless
power is applied or removed, or the terrain/surface of the road
changes. With the car tire, the counter-steering input is required the
entire time the bike is in the corner. If it is released, the bike
will straighten up on its own. Those of you that push the twisties and
know how to drag pegs (really know how to turn) will understand it
right away.

The other difference is in what I'll call "bump steer" Varying
terrain, such as a ridge on the road, a track in a dirt road, or an
angle or crown to the road will give much more feedback than they do
on a motorcycle tire. The bike will have the tendency to turn
downhill. At highway speeds this is not an issue (not felt), at lower
speeds, again, it requires a firm hand on the handlebars and the bike
remains well behaved. It is just telling you what it feels on the
road. You feel the steering inputs, you do not have to accept them. I
prefer the feel, as it puts me much more in touch with what's going on
with the road conditions.

The bike turns as aggressively as it ever did. This has not impacted
my speeds or angles of lean in turns. I can still drag pegs when I
want to, and it has not slowed me down a bit. I am much more confident
in wet conditions and with hard braking.
----------------------

--
"What, me worry?" - Alfred E. Neuman