Darkside update

Darkside FAQ

The common thread is that there is a handling penalty on straight and level. i agree, I have a 225/55 fitted to my R3 and the dealer here in Aus asked me why?... Why? The Metz costs $450AUD (Our Peso) plus fitting, about $50. My Toyo cost me $159 plus $10 bucks for a real tyre pro to take the old Metz off, yes he did it with a lot of soap on his spinning wheel and he fitted the Toyo on with the same machine then he balanced it, all for $10.

Personally, I dont like it on a road with a camber as you have to feed in a lot of input to the bars. I havn't ridden it anymore than 200Km so I need to do more. BUT I won't change back to the crap Metz as it is just not a suitable tyre for this machine. I am not a hard rider but my son is and between us we shredded the 1st Metz in 5,200Km. bout 3k miles.

At 6300Km, the gearbox **** itself. Yep jumps outa 1st and jumps outa 2nd just at the wrong time. Took it back to the doctors/dealers who said, "Oh yeh, we got a kit for that". 3 weeks later I get the R3 back and its all good again.

I think the stats are that 1 in 3 are having this problem. The output shaft bearing lets go and takes out the main shaft and some gears. They don't say much but luckily I did find a guy there that was able to fess up at this problem. Its a biggie guys, don't let them pull the wool over your eyes, mines an 08 model, they said "oh yeh its the older ones" like crap it is.

Aussie John

You guys are pretty rough on old yoko now, Oh you mean the tire. Lets see I have about 6000 on my 205 60 16 Riken Raptor. I keep it at around 39 which is a bit harsh but good for 2 up. Interestingly the front tire shows more wear on the sides. Time for the Avon soon. Now what is this about the front and car tires? I gotta see this. Anyway I sometimes lay a 10ft or so patch from the lights. And corners are a pure dream especially 2up at speed. the narrower 205 doesn't shift as bad as the fat ones but at lower speed on uneven pavement be cautious at the ready if close to vehicles. I'll never utter the name of the stock tire from my mouth again. Moving on, at pace, my milage has suffered considerably. not making it to 200miles per tank has resulted in fill-ups in the 6.43g range, todays was 6.454g./195m

psi

I use 44 on a 245/50/16 and 38 on a Lopdun front . A soft tire on a bike just slows reaction time and handling IMO.
rockenrobert
Link Removed

So is that the widest tire size (245/50-16) that will fit? I love the way that Yoko looks, after reading all this darkside info I won't even bother replacing it with another bike tire.