Darkside Review ???

tdragger said:

As much as this writer may come recommended for his objectivity, I'm skeptical that he could provide a truly thorough, objective and otherwise fair review.

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If your writer does proceed with this review, please share with him my comments. Hopefully he will take them into consideration when he puts his fingers to the keyboard. If he is true to his word about an objective review, then hopefully he will listen to us supporters as well as the detractors.

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tdragger said:

Well Phil, that drivel is based on the following:

A good friend who is the editor-in-chief of a large, very well known motorcycle magazine in the U.S. specifically told me that he would not touch the subject due to pressures from advertisers. It's not drivel, it's real life because millions of dollars are at stake.

/QUOTE]

No offense intended toward your editor friend, t, but I think that his magazine has taken a real chicken**** position. Since the are many, including myself, that believe that there are some serious safety issues at play here, depending upon which bike you ride and how you ride it, vis-a-vis utilizing a CT, what's more important to their magazine, rider's lives/safety or advertising dollars.

In actuality, I just don't see the threat to their bottomline. If a well researched, expert-based article finds that CTs are really great news for riders, assumedly they would pick up ads to sell car tires. The most common MT mfrs make car tires as their main business. If they are misleading motorcyclists into buying needlessly expensive, high margin motorcycle tires, when more affordable, longer-lasting car tires would serve us just as well or better, well, **** them, I would say.

Having put nearly 30,000 Darkside miles on three different bikes, including about 7400 on my R3, all in one of the most densely populated areas in the US, do you know how many other bikes I've seen on the road with car tires on them? Right about zero!!!

What that tells me is that your buddy the editor, won't run such a story because, essentially, for the vast majority of motorcyclists, it is a complete non-issue. I'd be curious to know whether your editor friend would run any of the bikes that he owns or rides on the Darkside??? My inclination would be to believe that he would say "No way, Jose'!" at the top of his lungs.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am not deriding yours or anyone elses choice of tire. I actually like them both for some differing reasons, but the risk of tire failure from riding on the sidewall of the CT is a risk I am unwilling to take.

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PeteOZ said:

He's having trouble getting a darksider to put their hand up and lend a bike in Sydney for the evaluation, Phil.

Pete

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PeteOZ said:

Great to hear, Hanso. I'm really looking forward to Peter's observations.

Pete

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hanso said:

I don't think you will be disapointed but as I said to him it takes a few km's to get used to at first so I expect him need a few km's of easy curves before I let him loose on the Camberwarra Mtn back road from Berry(countless tight 1st gear hairpins that take bit of skill) more likely we will take the easier route straight over from Nowra still challenging but more flowing and plenty of grin factor

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TriumPhil said:

More like an inappropriate use of the R3 than the type of tire it sports, t. I ride quite aggressively in the twisties an am no boulevard cruiser on the flats, so perhaps that explains most of my reason for returning to the MT.

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