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Posts by Jason Pittenger
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I posted the pictures on a Facebook group as well and the owner responded! I'll see if he wants to join.
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That's a car tire. He said he got it from Amazon. It's known as going to the Darkside. Some people swear by it, getting great lifespan out of such a tire. Others say it's dangerous. While I haven't tried it myself, I have heard it makes cornering I bit harder as the bike wants to stay upright....but not as hard as it might look. Many touring riders use them to eat up road miles. The real hard part is holding the bike upright when stopped on a non-level road!
The profile (155/80) is a bit smaller than the stock tire, with 124mm of height off the rim vs 135mm for the stock tire (150/90) or 136 for the commonly used oversized rear (170/80). Total diameter is 24.76" on this tire, 25.62" stock and 25.71" on the oversize. The smaller tire changes the final gear ratio slightly. The RPMs would go up about 150 at 60 mph.
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And here's a semi-humorous look at darkside vs traditional. Sounds like he's against it himself, but understands why people would do it. I've debated it, but I think I'll stick to tried and true MC tires.
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Agreed. It seems theory and practice differ here. In theory, the tire shouldn't stay on the rim. But if this were common, there wouldn't be so many people swearing by it.
If I were doing high milage tours on a regular basis, consisting of mostly straight roads, I'd probably do it. Especially on a larger bike. I'm not so much put off by the supposed higher risk, but the change in handling. I already get a decent amount of use out of Shinko 230s.
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