Darkside suggestions for the R3T

On the VTX 1800s, which have the same size rim as the R3T, the most popular tires were the Goodyear TripleTread, B'stone Potenza, Michelin HydroEdge, a Falkien tire and a Yokohama.

If you register on this site you will get pretty much all the info about CTs that's available:

Riding on the Darkside
 

Thanks Phil! Appreciate it!
 
R3T on a C/T... I love it...
No problems.
Better tractioion... better acceleration and better breaking.
It may not be for everone, but I like it.

I have the Goodyear Tripple Tread Assurance... or is it the Goodyear Assurance Tripple Tread??? 205/60/16

Anyway, I like it, it's a good tire for me.

PunkinDave had the same tire and did not like it... so, you may want to talk to him...
 
I'm at about 850 miles the CT for my R3 standard, and love it, after 2 Metzlers lasting about 3000 miles each.
From what I've noticed on various boards, generally, R3T riders are a little easier on the throttle, see a little less need for a CT. Many exceptions!
I have greater confidence in the stability of the bike in nearly all situations, and when I think about riding those MCT the last 1000 miles of life they had in them, I seldom had confidence, especially on wet roads, and some dry roads were greasy on the leans.
Not for everyone, just like motorcycles are not for everyone. Those who choose, very sledom regret their decisions.
If you go the Darkside, and don't like it, you will be what we might call a 1%er.
 

I'm going with the Bridgestone Potenza 205/60/16. It will be installed on Monday or Tuesday. I'm hoping the snow will be cleared enough to ride it home rather than trailering it. The Kawasaki dealer up the road is doing the install. They weren't very enthusiastic about it, but they have done it for several others. When I dropped the tires off, the salesguy was talking about a guy who they had installed last year and how badly he thought it rode. I told him I had ridden the R3T Classic with the 240 rear tire. He said, oh yeah, I rode one of those and that sucked too! He wasn't a very good point of reference!
 
BigWillie said:
Of course. It will probably be a couple of months. Just checked the tire today and the Metzler still has good tread. At least another couple thousand miles. Or a couple of good burnouts.
Click to expand...

Did you ever pull the trigger on this?
 
I'm running a (on rear) Bluestreak 225/55R16 Stiletto and now have 20,000 k's on it and about half worn. Brilliant for long distance and handles great and only let go once when dead cold and a huge handful of gas. Lets go a lot less than the original Metzlers and Avons that I ran. Was getting between 7 and 11 thousand K's out of those. Love the dark side.
 
That's good info, Barney, however the OP was looking for info on car tires that will fit on the touring model's 180 rim.

Bluestreak tires are not available here in the States. I wonder who manufactures them?

Also, would I be correct in inferring that you are a relatively conservative rider, i.e. one who doesn't push very hard or very often in the twisties and who virtually never spins his rear wheel on purpose? I would guess that is the case by virtue of your getting the kind of mileage you stated out of the Metzeler's.


I think that CTs work well on these machines provided that you will not be pushing them onto their sidewalls very much. Even then, they may be acceptable to some, however there is a significantly higher risk for sidewall failure since there is nothing considerable reinforcing the sidewall on the CTs. Although nobody has experienced or reported such a failure, I'd hate to be the first to go down that road (literally! lol).
 
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