Tales From The Darkside

[Lester532]

I was walking up to my 2005 R3 today when I realized just how worn out my back tire is. I have always said that I would never go to the darkside but now with R3 tire prices and my mortgage payment going up I'm thinking about it.
So I have a few questions for those of you that have at least tried a car tire.
Do you regret the change? What size, brand, and pressure do you run? How's your cornering wet and dry? And how do they do in rock, and how bad do they sling rock? Any input would be appreciated.

 

[HeR3tic]

I've enjoyed a Cooper 2XS 225/50 for about 3k miles now. There is a handling condition on potholed and seriously crowned alley ways and flea-market drive ways. It's a bit of a challenge that I'm prepared to deal with for the satisfaction and grins during normal riding conditions.
The Cooper's "slightly rounded" shoulder profile works well with 41-45psi. I won't turn from the darkside.

 

[tdragger]

You will find quite a number of us that have gone to the Darkside and are quite satisfied with the move. I run a Riken Raptor 225/55ZR16 at 30psi which works quite well for me. A recent trip to the mountains of West Virginia confirmed that this was the right move for me.

On the economic front, I recently posted some calcs that showed that the Darkside would be 1/10th of the cost of running the Metz. The Riken was only $94 including tax and cost only $10 to mount.

 

[Lester532]

Thanks for the input guys. Do you think I could go narrower than a 225/50 or 225/55? And any thoughts on the handling on gravel roads?

 

[Paul Hyland]

They do sling rocks I was behind Greg on a trip and was dodging rocks till he was kind enough to let me lead. Just be aware of this when ridding in a group and you come across gravel.

 

[wilbur-t]

On gravel roads you do better to keep up some speed. Not too fast, but if you try to crawl, you will have to fight it.
I'm running a 245 yokohama. Had it on for 12 months and almost 10k now. I might go with a 225 next time, but I've got at least another year to go before I need another one. I won't go back.
I don't think I would mount anything smaller than a 225 on that rim.

 

[tdragger]

The 225/55 is the closest in size to the stock 240/50 without being smaller. It is 1.2% larger which helps with the ~7% speedometer error that most of us have. I find that it has also helped slightly with gas mileage. For me it's mostly about the economics. A smaller diameter tire has an adverse impact on the speedometer error and possibly gas mileage. There's a size comparison chart somewhere in one of the posts.

As far as gravel, my Riken does pick up a lot of small stones in the tread. I would assume that it will also sling them out on the road just like a car would. The tread depth on the Metz isn't really deep enough for stones to get stuck for very long. I also tend to keep the speed up a little on gravel but haven't found that I've had to fight it too much. After a while you really don't notice anything different.

 

[Hero Blob]

I spent about 150 miles on britman's bike last Friday. I don't like the tire. It feels like you're in a constant crosswind blowing in either direction. It might be the way I ride. I weight my hands. That exacerbated the issue greatly. When I relaxed my arms, it wasn't as bad. Old habits die hard and I was right back to weighting my arms and back to imaginary cross winds. It was controllable. Just irritating.

 

[Gunshots]

I think I am about the first here to go dark, I have close to 14,000 miles on my 225/50/16 Goodyear F1, I can't think of any reason to return to a lesser tire. it has it quirks that seem to amplify at slow speeds. I find the tradeoff well in favor of the Goodyear. It has already out worn three and almost four Metzlers. (my first and only metz on the rocket went a tremendous 3600 miles). It remains a fantastic wet road tire, smooth and quiet at a hiway speed, and will stand stride with the lite sideres in the twisties. I don't claim to be a peg dragger but don't fall short in the curves either. I have a trailer hitch and mud flap so it slows the small stones down, but without a doubt it launches some larger ones. But then most others are way back any way

 

[tdragger]

Hero, you'll need at least another 1,000 miles in order make the differences second nature. I'm sure George wouldn't mind!