The graduate engineering teams who design tires take into account all the factors needed to produce a safe tire for the application.  Motorcycle tires are deliberately designed to provide superior traction compared to car tires.  Tread patterns are different, the rubber is 'stickier', and so on. For these reasons, they do not last as long as car tires.  

Any back yard mechanic can jam any tire on just about any rim.  I've seen brutes in Tijuana do it all the time. If you are  lucky, you may ride thousands of miles on it without incident.  If you are un-lucky, you will have problems.  Problems are the last thing you need on a motorcycle.

Tire manufacturers' engineering teams know this practice is not safe, resulting in the manufacturers doing what they can to stop the foolish from ignoring safety precautions.  They do this by funding public education on the subject, ,trying to restrict sales to the proper application, and with disclaimers.

All you have between the road and your body is the tires.  Why would anyone presume to know more than engineering teams, and recommend the wrong tire for an application just because he got away with it so far?  Motorcycle tires are stickier and have better side treads for banking.  Motorcycle tread patterns are far different than car tire patterns, and the 'Net is full articles about the handling problems when mixing dissimilar patterns on a motorcycle. Don't you want that edge in case you have an emergency need for it?

The motivation stated for switching to a car tire is the saving of $.  How many beers would it take to make up the difference? How many cigarettes? How about not eating out for a few nights, and instead spend the money on the safest tire?  What would you loved ones want you to do?

Brad_THMP3R wrote on 08/18/08 at 19:39:50:






Sometimes a reply makes no sense if you are replying to a post that is on a previous page, especially if the topic has changed.  Quoting the post I am commenting on provides clarity and continuity.

Engineers design a tire to meet the requirements of the broad public.  From the 2 wheeled cager to Johny peg grinder.

And for the same reason that we rejet our bikes we select tires to meet our needs.

All the dire warnings, in the face of current & ongoing SUCCessful, hard ridden, car tires on Savages by ( I think) 5 current riders? & they call ME a doomer!

In one sense Gort is right -- you ARE taking a risk.  For several weeks your bike will handle quite a bit differently and YOU SHOULD BE VERY CAUTIOUS during this hind-brain retraining period of time.  Your ass is on the line if you take it out into heavy traffic too early and it is your ass, after all.  

Give yourself time to explore rapid braking and hard turns before you go out to play on the freeway to find your high speed rumba point.

Read the whole thread -- note my mentioning just how the new sensations make you feel when you first feel them.  
(you too will need a fresh set of undies at some point in time)  Remember to jack your preload on your shocks up all the way to the highest setting (you have reduced tire clearance) and start out at 33 pounds of air pressure in the tire for max stability.   The tire below is fully broken in (took more than a year to do so) and is ready to go anywhere and do anything.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1179508142     (read the whole thing)



Beyond that, every list is equipped with at least one nay-sayer and a vocal peanut gallery.  Generally both chime in on "car tires on a bike" as it seems like their natural turf to them.

Sometimes you have to consider if the opinions are from people who have done things or from people who are equipped with fingers and a keyboard and a vocal opinion.  The way to sort them out is to look in the Tech Section for the folks who have actually done stuff and contributed real content to the site.

========================

Now, if I told you that riding a motorcycle fast on mountain roads required you to give up on using your rear brake for quick stops -- would you listen?  

You need to rev your motor more and use engine braking to slow down if you need to and ALWAYS ALWAYS concentrate on leaning on through the turn .....  never give up,    keep on leaning   --   keep on leaning   ---

Oldfeller

Oh no, my little flamer -- for you I would suggest people click on your name, then scroll down to the bottom of your profile and just click on "Show the last XX posts made by Mornm ---GO!---" crank that sucker up to the 25 maximum, hit the "go" button and instantly review your site-wide high value content contribution level.

Humbling ain't it?   Reminds me not to get into pissing contests with the ones who live for such stuff -- t'aint really worth the effort.

Arthur wrote on 08/19/08 at 10:26:08:

Putting a car tire on a motorcycle rim is no feat for an amateur.  M/C tires are hard enough.  This alone made my decision for me.  I may be able to slip on a tubeless tire, but wasn't able to do the tubed version w/o pinching it.  Putting on a car tire in place of a m/c tire is a gate for the amateur.

And lab conditions simulate the real world, but those that have done it know it does not replace it.  A well trained hind-brain has more computing power and more sensitivity then the sensors used in testing.