Darkside/downside

[nethound]

When I went darkside I guess I missed the fact that most people were running around 28-30 PSI. I've been running about 41 for the last 3000 miles or so.

My wife had followed me in her van for awhile and told me it just didn't look right the way I was up on the corner of the tire when taking curves and corners, kind of like one of the pictures posted here earlier.

After reading this entire messy thread I dropped down to 34 and suddenly the R3 no longer feels like I'm wrestling a bear while driving around in town, amazing...


I may drop it a little lower just to see how it feels.

I'm still on the fence with this, though leaning towards the darkside. I really don't understand the holy war though. Ride what you like, seems easy enough.

 

[happyhenry]

4 years and counting

been riding on a riken raptor 225 50 16 for 4 years and counting. over 25000 mi and the tire is still going strong.bet i have at least 2 yrs left.i know it must compromise the handling ,but i really cant tell you how.yea its different than a m/c tire,but with the increased braking ,peg scraping lean angles and crazy milage, excellant in the wet and the cold slippery roads here in the northeast, i see no downside.I dont have to chase down a tire and mounting every year which is a real plus.i hate running on a ragged tire,which is what you have after 5000 mi on a typical metz.yea you can maybe get another 2500mi,but how safe is that.also i had an accident when a car pulled out in front of me and i dont think i could have scrubbed off so much speed with a reg m/c tire .and by the way, my ins co paid over 10000 dollars after the accident to fix my bike, thengave me another 10000 for my injuries and so forth,an all the adjuster could do was rave at how much he loved my bike. the adjuster saw it as did the 4 cops at the accident scene, i sometimes ride with an ins agent,he has seen it ,my lawer saw it ,the shop that does my yearly 'safety inspection' saw it , and nobody cares.nobody refused anything, where do you come up with this stuff.iam very interested in reading any info on the darkside pro or con.but all i here on the con side is hot air and conjecture, lets see some actual accidents due to a bead separation ,sidewall failure ,etc.ihave yet to see or hear of one.but i hear 100's of people using darkside tires ,with great results.

 

[Lester532]

happyhenry just so you know the score. arguing with Phil is like arguing with a women (sorry to the real ladies on this site) his opinions are his opinions presented as hard facts.

Most of us gave up a long time ago. Some of us just like to stir the pot.

 

[happyhenry]

i was not trying to argue with anybody.just stating my observations.i applaud phil for having the balls to voice his opinion,he's entitled to it,.. as we are entitled to ours .

 

[Lester532]

Just stirring the pot.

 

[mexican]

Just stirring the pot.

What!! you meanie

 

[xhdskip]

want to stir the pot?
Just mention how abortion is murder,
Jesus is Lord, or obama sucks...
Or offer any opinion that differs from his,
and you'll get a response.
Usually a name or two, and a couple of words
from a dictionary thrown in for good measure.
That's how he rolls, God love him.

 

[Lester532]

My 2 cents.

During any given year motorcyclists will crash .

Some will have CT's and some will have MT's fitted to the rear wheel.

The crashes are caused by;

Rider Error
Road Conditions
Other Vehicles
Animals
Equipment Failure
Other

If there is data showing that bikes with CT's crash at a higher rate than bikes with MT's the data should include the make/model of the bike as well as the tire used.

If there is data on this subject I was not able to find it with Google. But I would be very interested in reading some.

IMHO if you are going to use a CT it should be a performance tire and even then some high performance tires may be unsuitable for use on motorcycles. To my knowledge the only tire prone to sidewall wear is the Toyo Proxes but there may be others.

All of my Darkside experience is with the R3 standard and with just over 20,000 miles it has been a positive one. I did have one low side crash but I have to take the blame. It was rider error. I could have blamed the CT and jump on the anti-CT side but I have to own up to my mistake.

If riders that crash are caused by CT's and those riders are forced to sign gag orders. TO what end ? What purpose would this serve ?

To hide that CT's are dangerous ?

IMHO the makers of motorcycle tires will never make a MT that is closer is design to a CT. More people would see it and just go buy the CT so all the R&D the MT maker did would be a waste.

Again just my 2 cents.

 

[xhdskip]

now that's a sensible post Lester.
Thank you.
Gag orders and chicken sh*ts who won't tell the truth
to save somebody else's life........
And they call me a conspiracy theorist....
ya'll ride safe whatever you decide to ride on.

 

[Elvis]

In the video the bike dosen't have the ground clearance of the R3 and there is a huge mouse in the side wall because of the under inflation.

You guys are doing the equivalent of Genetic Modification by tyre under inflation in an effort to keep as much tread on the road as you can and to make a car tyre work on a motorcycle..

Fine by me because its your risk, but it begs the question are you willing to gamble your lives to prove it can work? even though its not designed for our application.
Its a little unnerving when some of you guys end your posts with ride safely or sometimes criticise other riders for dangerous behavior.

Sorry guys just my opinion, I hope you never have to force the ole girl down in an emegency situation on a wet road whilst being on the ct edge and on that bulbous side wall ..

Just saying in the interest of safe riding

It is no more of a risk than that Bridgestone that came out on the 08' models, mine was really close to blowing before I caught it.