Put on car tire, it's great

[rocket51]

Car tire has more tread on the ground therefore better grip on straight takeoff, also there are video's that show motorcycle and car tire on the same bike going down the road and even in the turns and curves there is significantly more tread on the ground with the car tire than the motorcycle tire. I find I have better control on curves and can go faster thru curve with a car tire. Also the rides seems smoother on a car tire and car tire takes bumps and holes better with less jar to passenger, the car tire seems to have more cushion. Probably the biggest difference is that I can save about $2,000 over lifetime of the car tire over the motorcyle tire. I show metal cord at 5,000 miles with motorcycle tire and with past experience I will get 30-40,000 miles on a high mileage car tire.

 

[mexican]

"Better braking wet or dry".
just a question where does the improved braking shows noticeable improvement? since according to all experienced professionals riders and racers the front being 80 to 90% carrying the braking load the rear should be really minimal . are you using it as your main stopping brake ?
just curious.. I use 90% front and 10% rear, never slid nor fishtailed only use rear in turn to change line

Bigger contact patch on the road means you can press the rear brake harder without locking it up, at least that was my experience, they also told me that car tires don't corner, i rode the Dragon a few times, the pig tail in Arkansas and a few other nasty roads 2 up, never had a problem (yet)

 

[CanberraR3]

Personally I will never put a car tire on my ride, but I value the opinions of those that do as they are the ones with the knowledge and experience.

There's the rub. Those with the knowledge of tyre technology, compounds, bead design etc wouldn't have the experience because they know better than to use them. The actual experts - not the self appointed ones - universally say a car tyre is not suitable to use on a motorcycle. Those with the experience you'd have to conclude do not have the knowledge.

Recently someone said they have been using normal automotive oil in their bike without any problems. This is a good parallel. Anyone who knows oils and what goes in them, or who would take advice from the actual experts, would never use ordinary automotive oil in a wet-clutch motorcycle. Just because someone is prepared to do it and experienced no problems doesn't make him an expert nor does it make it right.

"Better braking wet or dry".
I use 90% front and 10% rear, never slid nor fishtailed.

I've heard the better braking argument often, usually justified as a way to counteract poor braking technique. If you are competent enough to use your brakes correctly, this is a non-argument.

Car tire has more tread on the ground.

Rubbish. It's only true if the road is dead flat with no camber. There are plenty of photos to prove it and I've followed bikes with car tyres and can tell you that they only have wider contact momentarily as the roadway changes. Most of the time (99% of the time) around 75% of the tread or more is in the air. On a drag strip maybe you'd get more rubber down consistently but on a road under real conditions it simply isn't the case. At least with a bike tyre I know I have 4 inches of purpose designed rubber contacting the road at all times.

The disinformation put about by people who want to use car tyres is what I hate. Use one if you're silly enough to do so but it's irresponsible to try to convince others you've made a wise choice. It's a cheap, ill-informed, power robbing option that you happen to get away with. End of story.

 

[bruce aussie]

I think what Ksquared was getting at is if you have an accident and someone is seriously injured or worse and you are running a car tyre on a motorcycle. Weather it caused the accident or not the legal people are going to argue that it didn't help and worse case scenario you'll be in the big house for a spell. My guess is it would be similar to driving an overloaded truck. I have been told by the RTA after getting caught for a minor over weight infringement that I was free to continue my journey if I wished to. But keep in mind that I was knowingly driving an overloaded and therefore unroadworthy vehicle. If I was to be in an accident no matter who was at fault it would be my fault and if someone died I'd be in the big house. That's why I don't knowingly overload my truck in weight or dimension or carry unsecured load or drink drive and one more reason not to run a car tyre on a motorcycle. If it all turns to sh#t chances are you'll be in trouble. As I've said before I've never run a car tyre and never will and I've never tried to tell anyone else what to do. Just telling it the way I see it.

 

[Watcher]

I could care less if someone rides a CT but to tell me it's better than a MT I can't believe it I have yet to see one run a race with them if they were better wouldn't we see them ran at the races or are you guys better than the pro's at riding the do get a lot of money to do what they do and if a CT where better I think one of the would ride it to win

 

[Lester532]

"Better braking wet or dry".
just a question where does the improved braking shows noticeable improvement? since according to all experienced professionals riders and racers the front being 80 to 90% carrying the braking load the rear should be really minimal . are you using it as your main stopping brake ?
just curious.. I use 90% front and 10% rear, never slid nor fishtailed only use rear in turn to change line

By the rear brake not locking up. Is it a scientific test ? No but it would seem to indicate better braking. The Metzler would lock up if I thought about stopping too fast.

I've only got a little under 28,000 miles on it. So I'm just now getting the feel of her.

 

[Lester532]

I could care less if someone rides a CT but to tell me it's better than a MT I can't believe it I have yet to see one run a race with them if they were better wouldn't we see them ran at the races or are you guys better than the pro's at riding the do get a lot of money to do what they do and if a CT where better I think one of the would ride it to win

No one said they made better racing tires.

 

[1olbull]

By the rear brake not locking up. Is it a scientific test ? No but it would seem to indicate better braking. The Metzler would lock up if I thought about stopping too fast.

I've only got a little under 28,000 miles on it. So I'm just now getting the feel of her.

Good insight; however, assuming identical brake pressure is not likely, I would also think the delayed wheel lock up was affected by the extra weight of the car tire causing increased rotational momentum.
Get some Rockets, some with car tires - good riders - run some 30 mph and 60 mph to stop tests using radar, chalk gun, stop watch and a good measuring tape - then switch riders.
Do this on level, dry asphalt. Calculate the coefficient of frictions produced and statistically analyze the data. WALA!
Case closed

 

[Steel]

On the recent trip to RAA TX, after a rain NMRocket gunned it and he raised his front tire off the ground without any slipping of the CT. All I could do was get my Excedra Max (with less than 1000 miles on it) to spin. It wouldn't unload the front shocks like it even wanted to raise up. Not a scientific test, but made me believe he had much better wet traction than I did.

As far as contact patch, a motorcycle tire is rounded so you never get more than about 2 inches of contact at any time. Even up on edge a car tire will equal that.

And for what the "experts" say.... Scientist believe that a bumble bee should NOT be able to fly.
BTW, are they the same experts that made second gear, and designed the ignition? Perfect bunch aren't they?

 

[albertaduke]

Bigger contact patch on the road means you can press the rear brake harder without locking it up, at least that was my experience, they also told me that car tires don't corner, i rode the Dragon a few times, the pig tail in Arkansas and a few other nasty roads 2 up, never had a problem (yet)

I guess the larger patch of rubber on the road gives a sense of stronger braking however I still believe that for hard braking the safest way to shorten distance is using the front brake hence the double disc four or six pistons and larger friction surface found on front brakes of any big and powerful models (except barley vamison) because that is where all masses gets transferred during braking
noticeably not much on any rear brakes , must be a reason , I always refer to the bicycle test for those who do not believe the basic view of front versus rear braking regardless of tire patch on the ground .
another way to look at mass transfer is to see extreme front braking the rear wheel literally gets off the ground it is spectacular but not dangerous and the rider notices quickly when this happen and a moderate release of front braking is all that is needed to bring the rear wheel back on the ground I once did it on the R3 it scared me silly but was quite controllable it was a panic stop not a trial to see how hard I could squeeze the front brake before locking up.
so remember when braking all your bike and your body weight regardless move to the front wheel it is a fact .
ride safe we want to keep on readind your posts!!!!