Each to their own and I expect many to disagree but my Darkside experience includes:
Four times east, west, east across Australia, once south to north and around and back to the east. Doing Adelaide to Darwin and back again in August (south to north and back), all on a Car Tyre.
There is no statute in Australia that prevents a CT being fitted to a Motorcycle, however there is one that prevents a Motorcycle Tyre being fitted to a car rim, therefore not challenged in terms of roadworthyness and insurance. My wife feels safer (and more comfortable with the rear Tyre running 28 to 30 lb. I love the grip with a larger patch on the road, even when cornering. Soft sidewalls collapse on cornering and provide a larger contact area to get power to the road _ I love to "slingshot" out of corners.
I've never had problems with "bumpiness at speed. Done the 200km north of Alice Springs when it was unrestricted in under 60mins and the 190km from the last town in Western Australia to the first Roadhouse in 55 mins (some will know that one) in a comfortable balance manner.
But
It is what I use the Rocket for - its not a daily rider. If it goes out ..... its gone for a week fully loaded. I have Progressive springs up front and YSS rear shocks professionally valved and sprung for me.
I am quite large ... I think I make the Rocket look small and it all suites me.
Everyone has advice and I/we choose who we will listen to ..... its the nature of being individuals and having choice ......... someone also told me I shouldn't smoke cigarettes as well but I make my own choices, like never having a dealer go near my Rocket (except once and he was great).

Good article though:thumbsup:
What is a good DS tyre for we Aussies pls ?
 
What is a good DS tyre for we Aussies pls ?

Try the Michelin Primacy 3ST
225/55R16
A mate of mine put me onto this one and I have done over 25000km and I think I can get another 10000km out of it -
Run it around 28 to 30 psi
It is rounded on the edge and has plenty of tread on the side.
I have ran 2 others and I find this the best one yet.
What have you been running
 
Phew - I'm surprised no one commented on my "straightness".

Correction: I ride "straight" 100% of the time and typically spend 90% on roads that are primarily straight with normal curves and turns in them.

As stated in many DS threads it is critical to get the bike set up properly (shocks, forks & springs, frame - especially if you've mucked with engine bolts to add bars etc.) and then adjust the tire pressure to get the best comfort/handling. Each tire and rider combo is different and a pound or two of air can make a big difference.

My 2015 came with the stock rear shocks set in mis-matched positions (5 and 3 as I recall) so check that or upgrade to
better ones. I babied it for the most part breaking it in but the cords were showing at 6,500 on the Metzeler so it too now has a nice evil Riken Raptor (painted red of course)...

One of the most cogent posts about DS I've read, ever.

I would offer the improvement in traction people feel is because of the way the bike works as a system and not explicitly the tire. The heavier tire and differing sidewall construction will change the whole suspension system (including the tire) behavior. Stock (and many (all?) off the shelf aftermarket) setups are under-sprung, have too much air pressure leading to a high starting force, are under-compression damped and over rebound damped. The way the different sidewalls interact with that suspension setup will be key and the lower pressure of a DS will allow the tire to do more suspension work vs a properly inflated MC tire. A MC tire will flex very little in comparison to a low pressure DS over road irregularities. The net effect is being able to apply power more judiciously without losing traction.

With proper suspension I can/do put down 251hp/190lbft without issue on an Emax at 38psi, and do so frequently in 2nd gear (pretty much every ride), I am positive if I were using stock suspenders (or a lesser aftermarket one) on my bike, it would be an absolute handful at full power. I actually cannot EVER recall accidentally breaking the rear tire loose on my rocket on dry pavement except at the drag strip when being greedy with 1st gear or when it had stock or progressive 440 suspension back in 2015/16.

While I admit DS has it's advantages for a certain type/style of riding, the assertion by some that it can "corner just as well" as a MC tire is pure delusion. While it may work just as well as an MC tire for a given rider, I would offer that said rider is not pushing near the limits of cornering traction possible on the MC tire in the first place, so any tire would work acceptably.
 
One of the most cogent posts about DS I've read, ever.

I would offer the improvement in traction people feel is because of the way the bike works as a system and not explicitly the tire. The heavier tire and differing sidewall construction will change the whole suspension system (including the tire) behavior. Stock (and many (all?) off the shelf aftermarket) setups are under-sprung, have too much air pressure leading to a high starting force, are under-compression damped and over rebound damped. The way the different sidewalls interact with that suspension setup will be key and the lower pressure of a DS will allow the tire to do more suspension work vs a properly inflated MC tire. A MC tire will flex very little in comparison to a low pressure DS over road irregularities. The net effect is being able to apply power more judiciously without losing traction.

With proper suspension I can/do put down 251hp/190lbft without issue on an Emax at 38psi, and do so frequently in 2nd gear (pretty much every ride), I am positive if I were using stock suspenders (or a lesser aftermarket one) on my bike, it would be an absolute handful at full power. I actually cannot EVER recall accidentally breaking the rear tire loose on my rocket on dry pavement except at the drag strip when being greedy with 1st gear or when it had stock or progressive 440 suspension back in 2015/16.

While I admit DS has it's advantages for a certain type/style of riding, the assertion by some that it can "corner just as well" as a MC tire is pure delusion. While it may work just as well as an MC tire for a given rider, I would offer that said rider is not pushing near the limits of cornering traction possible on the MC tire in the first place, so any tire would work acceptably.

I was running the air bag suspension which I could adjust to depending what I had loaded on bord ,but only 205 Hp .
i never had the Tyre at 38 psi so your suspension must be taking a lot of the shock out of it.
I could lay it right over till the pegs dragged and feel comfortable with it as well
 
Try the Michelin Primacy 3ST
225/55R16
A mate of mine put me onto this one and I have done over 25000km and I think I can get another 10000km out of it -
Run it around 28 to 30 psi
It is rounded on the edge and has plenty of tread on the side.
I have ran 2 others and I find this the best one yet.
What have you been running
Nil yet. Just bought bike ....
 
I was running the air bag suspension which I could adjust to depending what I had loaded on bord ,but only 205 Hp .
i never had the Tyre at 38 psi so your suspension must be taking a lot of the shock out of it.
I could lay it right over till the pegs dragged and feel comfortable with it as well

I use as little damping as I can get away with, letting the spring do as much of the work as possible, per suspension Bible recommendation. My Wilbers live at 3 from full soft setting and 5 low 2 high on the fine adjusters from full soft.

With a car tire i would move down a spring rate or two.
 
T
Try the Michelin Primacy 3ST
225/55R16
A mate of mine put me onto this one and I have done over 25000km and I think I can get another 10000km out of it -
Run it around 28 to 30 psi
It is rounded on the edge and has plenty of tread on the side.
I have ran 2 others and I find this the best one yet.
What have you been running
hanks :)
 
Back
Top