I've got about 14k on my Dunlop D404F up front. It looks like it might weather check itself to death before it wears out. Are others out there getting those kinds of results? It will be interesting to see how it works with the BFG. Does the Cheng Shin hold the road and give mileage like that or better? The price is certainly much easier on the wallet.

Jack

Jack_650 wrote on 09/01/08 at 09:29:57:


My last Savage front was Dunlop K625 Arrowmax which I replaced due to horrible cupping after about 45000 kms. Last SV front was Continental which lasted (to cords) about 39000 kms.

Serowbot, I said only a crazy person would put a 165/80 on the back of their bike with the stock belt because it would rub city.  That was 20-20 hindsight from me to me and Gort was just repeating it back at me with his tongue in his cheek.

I did it, it did me -- it DID require lots of things to make a 165/80r15 fit and work with the stock belt because it is simply too durn big for the space envelope.

I WAS the crazy person ....  it was/is still the first darkside Savage tire since it absolutely refuses to wear out.  So, yes -- I was the crazy feller who was the inspiration to you all.

Jack makes 6 or 7th new darksider among us.  He is the first to mount the TA 155/80 which sounds like the largest practical tire to put on your bike if you plan to run a belt.

Go Jack, Go !!  Sounds like it was easy peasy to do it.

Now, question to the rest of you runs like this:

"What is your excuse now?"

--- Next summer, you are going to need a new rear tire

      (sorry, it's a fact)

I won't, not for some years yet.   You do realize that my darkside rear tire is going to last longer than my stock cam chain/cam chain tensioner?  

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

Just to put it into perspective for you fence sitters.   If you mount a  BRAND NEW IRC rear tire on the same day my car tire finally shows its wear markers (1/16" of tread left) your bike tire will go totally bald in the middle and show white cords before my darksider tire goes bald in the middle.

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


How's that for a perspective moment?

Oldfeller

Easy, peasy? My my, what colorful vocabulary? I bet there aren't many filters on the net that would block that phrase.

I've got plenty of room on both sides and the front with the stock spacers on the back axle. I do have an extra inch and a half or more on my shocks and they're set to three on the stiffness-o-meter. From the looks of things I can't bottom out the fender onto the tire no matter how much weight I pile on.

Pylon - get it? Ha, I'm good.

Anyway, now I've got to go through that whole tire/belt alignment and tensioning trip again. The whine I've got now at all speeds sounds like the '59 Impala convertible I had back in the mid-60's with the 2 speed automatic that wouldn't shift out of 1st. Drove it around Miami for a year that way before I put in a three speed on the floor. Gotta love those old 283's.

Looks like I may get to try a ride in the rain in the next couple of days. Weather channel makes it look like MN is going to get some much needed precipitation. More reports as they come in.

And thanx for the tip on the front tire too. I may just have to order one now at that low price and just hang it on the wall in the garage until needed.

Jack

Oldfeller--FSO wrote on 09/02/08 at 03:40:50:


20000 miles is doable with a decent motorcycle touring tyre so the car tyre should last a bit longer than that. Over 30000 would be impressive. Is there any mileage data on those car-tyre-on-a-bike sites?

Thousand pound Honda flat sixes get 20,000+ miles on a rear car tire.   What will we get?  -- I guess it depends on who is doing the braking with it.

I got 5,350 miles on my IRC OEM rear tire.  I will get 3-4x more miles out of the VW tire, with the existing rates of intentional abuse included in that figuring.

Jack might not be an intentional rear tire abuser and might get twice what I would get.  Maybe.  That's a whale of a lot of miles.

Who in the world gets 20,000 miles out of a rear touring tire on a normal motorcycle?  The folks who invented this trick only got 8,000 miles out of a $190 premium motorcycle tire and they are touring bike experts.

I paid $34.95 for the initial original darkside Savage tire.    Let's see, effectively I will pay less than $9.00 for each of the next 4 equivalent normal motorcycle tires you guys will have to buy (less 4 times whatever you pay to have it mounted on top of that) plus I DON'T HAVE TO MESS WITH IT FOR AT LEAST 5 YEARS.

You will pay $500-$600 of your hard earned money plus you get to screw with doing it 3-4 extra times?

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


What is your excuse now?


It ain't cost.

It ain't performance.

It ain't safety.

Jack says it's easy peasy to do ...   He proved it out by doing it.

Of course, now it will be kinda interesting to see what all that extra traction will do for my gas mileage.

As for braking and poppin' wheelies, I'm a very conservative rider having not even getting started until my mid-late 50's. Not that I don't go above and beyond the speed limit from time to time. It's just that I take my time to get there.

The only time I've squealed the tires braking was on a N. Carolina back road when the fella in front of me decided he was turning left, didn't have brake lights and showed me that turn signal usage is still optional in the south. With the back tire locked up, when it felt like the bike was starting to go into a bit of turning, leaning slide, I got off the brakes and headed for the non-existing shoulder. Of course I was thinking that the only time this bike has gone down with me on it was in wet grass, just like what I was headed for. Had gotten the speed down enough that there was no problem, but still . . . I just wish I was better at extemporaneous swearing.

No, this tire's going to be back there for a while.

Jack

Oldfeller--FSO wrote on 09/02/08 at 15:22:40:


Only invention about car tyres on motorcycles is websites about it. There've been bikes with car tyres since motorcycles and cars first came out and Savages have had car tyres before this web forum (or internet).

The 150/90-15 Avon HL30 Elan on my wife's Savage has 2mm of tread after 30500 kms. It will be over 20000 miles before winter. The one before it was ancient Metzeler ME88 which I rode 24000 kms and it wasn't brand new when I bought that bike. The one I replaced recently on my SV - Continental Avenue 150/70-17, 18000 kms with a lot of two up riding plus hard luggage on German Autobahns at 130kph+. The one before it, a similar Avenue, 27000 kms almost without Autobahn and the one before it, Bridgestone BT45 with lots of fast two up riding etc. 21000 kms. I work in Germany 2 to 5 days a week so I ride longish trips (often halfway across Europe and back weekly) at steady speeds and I never use the rear brake. These are not touring tyres and not exactly touring riding but still seriously close to what car tyres on bikes are claimed to achieve and I can (just) get my knee down with the Contis so tyre performance is not a problem. I admit cost would be a factor between car and motorcycle tyres but the rears I've bought recently are about 80 Euros.

Educatedredneck wrote on 09/02/08 at 23:18:13:


There are very few 150/80-15 tyres available, if any. I commented earlier about how a larger than average, 158mm wide and 137mm high 150/90 Avon fits and in terms of clearance, 155/80 is easier because it is so much lower, as Jack650 told, easy peasy. A 150/90 doesn't handle that well especially when worn flat across the tread. It wants to follow every rut and groove, a pain in the arse in backroads to be honest.