215/ 55r 16

[idk]

The 215 works okay but I found that the gearing was too low for my liking and so have stuck with the 225/55 since.

 

[STRIPES]

I thought the "215" referred to lateral width and had no relation to speed/gearing. I have run 245 (too wide IMO), a 235 (better w less counter steer) and a 225 (almost no noticeable difference). I'd bet with a 215 you would be hard pressed to tell the difference in handling.

I have started riding my new 98 Valkyrie and have found Valkyrie riders have also learned about darkside and are embracing it with more ferocity and less animosity.

I still find it so curious why there is such an effort from a handful on this site who express such vitriol toward darkside.

 

[CanberraR3]

Not having a go at you Stripes but I also find it curious. Curious that people who put a CAR tyre on a MOTORCYCLE insist on giving it a nickname - "Darkside" - and don't seem to be able to bring themselves to say CAR TYRE.

 

[JRock]

The Dark Side is inherently evil, I admit it.
But it feels so, so good.

Without evangelists to suppress evil, the world would be consumed by it.
Hence, the fervent opposition to satanic motorcycle practices.

 

[barbagris]

I thought the "215" referred to lateral width and had no relation to speed/gearing.

The 215 refers to width - the "55" refers to the percentage of the width that equates to the size of the side-wall. ie 215/55R16

So 55% of 215 is less than 55% of 225. This affects to overall radius - therefore the rolling circumference - therefore the gearing.

So for example if you wanted a slimmer tyre without affecting gearing - you could fit a 200/60R16 in place of a 240/50R16. Sadly It probably wont fit the rim.

I run a 225/55ZR16 CAR TYRE rear - And a 140/80ZR17 (M/C rear) up front. Sometimes called a DARKSIDE front. Darkside apparently does not just mean car tyre.

 

[STRIPES]

So, let me get this straight..... If a person has an inferior CAR TIRE on the rear and kicks ass in the twisties over someone who runs a motorcycle tire on the rear, does that mean he is just a lot better rider overall or the motorcycle tire doesn't perform as well as a CAR TIRE?

 

[STRIPES]

The 215 refers to width - the "55" refers to the percentage of the width that equates to the size of the side-wall. ie 215/55R16

So 55% of 215 is less than 55% of 225. This affects to overall radius - therefore the rolling circumference - therefore the gearing.

So for example if you wanted a slimmer tyre without affecting gearing - you could fit a 200/60R16 in place of a 240/50R16. Sadly It probably wont fit the rim.

I run a 225/55ZR16 CAR TYRE rear - And a 140/80ZR17 (M/C rear) up front. Sometimes called a DARKSIDE front. Darkside apparently does not just mean car tyre.

I am now really confused.

 

[CanberraR3]

So, let me get this straight..... If a person has an inferior CAR TIRE on the rear and kicks ass in the twisties over someone who runs a motorcycle tire on the rear, does that mean he is just a lot better rider overall or the motorcycle tire doesn't perform as well as a CAR TIRE?

Now don't go getting all huffy there. You obviously haven't done much research. Car tyres aren't inferior at all, but they are for cars. Just the same as steering wheels aren't inferior to handle bars; they're each designed for a specific application.

There's a lot more to tyre selection than "kicking someone's ass". You blokes are so narrow minded sometimes. I hardly ever go out on my bike to "kick someone's ass". I ride it to work in traffic, in car parks, over uneven ground and I back it over gutters. I like my bike to be a bike: no windscreen, no heated this or that, no steering wheel or seat belt and no car tyre. I have all that on my car.

I'm also concerned about safety much more than penny pinching. If your primary use of your bike is "kicking someone's ass" and you believe you can do that better with a car tyre, bully for you. Go for it and enjoy it. But it's not suited to the way I ride my bike and it's not a safe option for me. It's a CAR tyre.

 

[idk]

Actually, it is not a car tyre - it is a passenger vehicle tyre. (At least that is what they are called in the USA.) My motorcycle is a passenger vehicle and so I have run passenger tyres on it for the last 100,000+ miles. It works for me but it doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

 

[HansO]

the term "Darkside" comes from the "Star Wars" movies where the goodie two shoes follow the good boy side of the "Force" and the guys who don't want stick to the rules follow the "Darkside" of the "Force" both are Powerfull in their own ways.

It is funny but when somebody is admiring my bike when park in public place and they say "Geeezz look at the size (for those that know I run a 245/50/16 Car tyre) of that tyre" I say "yeah it a Car tyre otherwise known as going to the Darkside I run that because it gives me better traction" then I usually get the reply "how's it go round corners" and I say "with ease, that because of modern technology which allows the tyre to flex to maintain as much rubber on the road as possible, I actually can even lean over a long way and I have a bigger contact patch and more surefooted grip" then I usually get "Wow that's incredible" I also refer them to the undercar shot of touring car racing where the car is lifting a wheel of the ground and the opposite side tyre under the load simply deforms to maintain as much contact area to main the best possible grip

yeah it will wiggle and wobble over uneven ground at walking pace but if you are any sort of a rider you can counteract it with reasonable ease and once you getting rolling along it very quickly looses any awkwardness if fact you do not even get the hinge effect that you will get with a bike tyre that has just done a large amount of mile/kilometres on the freeway or Humeboradrome (my nickname for the Hume Higthway) which will have caused a flat centre which then feels like you have a hinge in your tyre the first twisty bit of road you hit.