Low speed handling?

rash_powder

Supercharged
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
253
Location
Larimore, ND
Ride
2008 Triumph Rocket III Touring
How is the low speed handling of a car tire? Everything I have read seems to indicate that the high speed is fine, but what about around town? I do 90% of my riding around town; so normal city driving and parking lot speeds.
 
The only handling issues I have noticed involves deeply rutted tarmac roads usually at some intersections. I noticed the same issue with the Metzler to about the same degree.

Other than that I like the car tire around town. If it's a quick stop at an intersection I don't always needs put my feet down.
 
Yessir, +1. The stock 240 tossed me round when slowing on a rutted surface and the 225/55 does the same thing (maybe a little bit more).

A good description on handling is like going from an old bike with narrow tires to the 240 Metzler, and then doing it again going from the Metz to a CT. It's the same learning curve.
It's just muscle memory, it will feel normal in a day.
 
With maybe 5-6 times the size of the contact patch of a motorcycle tire's on the flat and level, there are considerably more than nuanced differences in low speed handling between the two.

Whereas the fat meat that is a 240 motorcycle tire is a bit of a handful to maneuver at really low speeds (say under 10 mph) the car tire can provide the rider with a real wrestling match comparatively. Although any bike tire over the 180 size, let's say, is going to provide the user with a more and more pronounced tussle as tire sizes increase on either dirt or gravel roads, on heavily cambered or rain-grooved roadways and on steel-grated bridge ways, for example, the same effect will only become more pronounced, magnified, one could say, with the flat-treaded car tire. This is not to say that an experienced rider cannot become used to or isn't able to accomodate for such deleterious effects.

At slightly higher low speeds, lets say 11-39 mph, one will take notice of the car tire's constant requirement for increased rider input, both in overall effort as well as in the amount of counter-steering required to make all but the sublest turns effectively. Additionally, as speed increases, a good rider will notice and factor in the extra response time that comes with quick maneuvering, i.e. the car tire is slower to respond to a rider's input in virtually any given situation involving emergency or evasive maneuvers, a fact that any intelligent rider will also factor in should they choose to ride on the Darkside. Steering transition or "flickability" as I like to call that handling characteristic, is also noticeably diminished or compromised when utilizing a CT on the rear and the difference difference here becomes progressively more stark as one's speed and the amount of twists in the road increase.

The above is strictly my opinion based upon my own personal experience gained on both types of tires. At this point I have had nearly the same amount of time on my old Toyo Proxes T1R 225 50/16 as I have had on the OEM motorcycle tire or about 7,000 miles on each. I will probably try the B'stone high endurance tire or the Avon Cobras next. There is no way I will return to a car tire on the rear of this particular bike in spite of its, IMO, very limited advantages over a MT.
 
When I changed my front from Metzler to Dunlop 404 per TDtragger's advice, handing has improved immensely with the Rikon Raptor rear. Great combination. It does not "track" as badly as it did before. M2CW. EXCELLENT WHEN WET too.
 
When I changed my front from Metzler to Dunlop 404 per TDtragger's advice, handing has improved immensely with the Rikon Raptor rear. Great combination. It does not "track" as badly as it did before. M2CW. EXCELLENT WHEN WET too.
same thing happens when you go to just about any other tyre than the metz on the front I changed to a Shinko have done 9,000kmand still a bit left yet, best I got out of metz was 7,000km. handling high, low and in between is like chalk and cheese so much better it was hard to believe at first and grips great in wet as well
 
I went to the Dunlop 404 on front myself and I'm running the fat 245/50/16 have been caught in several large rainstorms last one in Tennessee, I'm going to blame that on Rainman but the bike seems more stable than it used to but I do a lot of interstate travel.
 
How is the low speed handling of a car tire? Everything I have read seems to indicate that the high speed is fine, but what about around town? I do 90% of my riding around town; so normal city driving and parking lot speeds.

Learn to ride at slow speed and you'll have no trouble. The motor is your friend, if it gets out of sorts twist the throttle and it'll starighten itself out. Trying to recover using your foot is a BAD idea since that gorilla you're riding out weighs you by about 500+ pounds.
 
I'm probably going to go DS soon with a Raptor 245-50-16 for the rear. What size Dunlop 404 are you guys running?