The conversion to the Darkside is complete. (Empire music in the background please)

Bought the Riken at a local tire dealer for $94 including taxes. My wonderful wife took the wheel in to them this morning for mounting and no less than 7 of the staff all came out and said "That's a motorcycle rim. You can't mount a car tire on a motorcycle!" After 20 minutes of trying to convince them that it is, in fact, OK to mount, they said that they wouldn't do it.

So I started calling around and found a small car tire shop about 20 miles outside of Fredericksburg that said that they would mount it. My wife took it out there and they did a great job. I highly recommend King George Tire in King George, VA for any of you local guys needing a change. They only charged me $10, yeah, $10!!

Here's a few pics of the tire:

Tag on the tire -


Next to the Roc ready for mounting -

Supervisor in the background

Mounted and ready to rock (pun intended) -

License Plate took a beating during the mount.

I took it out for the initial "Oh my God, what have I done" test ride and was very pleased with the feel. Yeah, it has a different feel but not by a whole bunch. I'm 300lbs so I don't notice the increased counter-steer that some report. I just lean into the turn and it goes. Score one for gravity. I'm running 30 lbs in it for now and will play with the pressure over the next week. Going to West Virginia next week and need to settle on a good fit.

Is this what type of helmet you have to wear when riding the darkside?

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There is no replacement for displacement.

perfect!! Where do I get one?

good looking tire, you'll have many happy miles from your now fatter bottom girl

KG tire does all of my mounting and balancing. Those two guys bust their asses more than anyone I've ever seen. I'm still not keen on the car tire on a motorcycle. I rode behind a fellow with one on his valk and watched his bike do some things I considered pretty odd while entering turns. I'm not terribly excited about spending money on a rear tire every 3000miles but I have enough crap to worry about while riding without adding a tire to my list. I know others have done it and say it's great. What they do or don't do doesn't put me in a ditch.

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Hero blobs: bolts in the ends off the footrests designed to be the first part of a bike to scrape the road as a warning at extreme cornering angles.

I did learn one thing by ridding behind GoodFellow (has darkside tire) and that is I don't like being behind a darkside tire they throw rocks more that a motorcyvle tire.

Yeah, Hero, the two guys at KG Tire were a real hoot. They said getting the Metz off was a real tough job just like everyone says it is. But they always had a smile on their face. They certainly earned my continued car and motorcycle business.

As far as throwing rocks, it's only going to get worse after the license plate relocate. I have a mount to put it above the taillight but under the luggage rack but I don't have a solution yet for the turn signals. Since I run bags most of the time, I need something that is going to have to mount low and close to the rear.

Paul,
sorry 'bout throwing stuff. but if it's any consolation, I've put a narrower darkside on. bad thing is,it throws a wicked rooster tail in the rain . rocks aren't near as bad.

greg

Had a guy on the other site question the "obsession with looking for tire longevity" of Darksiders. Here was my response:

Real Simple -

Assume Annual Mileage : 10,000 miles
Metzler life : 5,000 miles
Riken life : 30,000 miles

Metzler 240/50-16 : $220 x 2/year = $440 annually.
Mounting : $45 x 2/year = $90 annually.
My Time removing and installing wheel : 1.5 hrs x $100/hr x 2/year = $300 annually.

vs.

Riken Raptor 225/55-16 : $88 x .333/year = $29.33 annually
Mounting: $10 x .333/year = $3.33 annually
My Time removing and installing wheel : 1.5 hrs x $100/hr x .333/year = $50 annually.


Annual Totals:

Metzler - $830
Riken - $82.66

It costs 10x as much to run the Metz as opposed to the Riken.

Very well thought out analysis...
One argument that I've heard was the size of the contact patch for both...

I haven't seen anyone post about any 'darkside' accidents caused by pushing the 'dark side' too far in a turn... or getting squirrelly on a gravel/dirt road... or anything else for that matter.... Anyone?... Anyone?

Personally, I think that I'll stay with the Metz because I don't put near the mileage on mine so that annual cost isn't that much. But, I can certainly see the attraction.