Car tire update

[paul246]

OK, this is for the guys like John and Buzz and the rest of the "doubting thomases" out there.

I now have 13k kliks on my high-performance rear car tire. Still love it. Still corners better than than the m/c tire it replaced. Still gives far superior wet traction over ANY m/c tire could hope to. Still hasn't broken loose on hard acceleration as the m/c tire would.

Replaced the front tire with a new Dunlop Elite 3 and the combination is fantastic.

There are now several hundred Valkyrie riders that have made the move to rear car tires of which 99.9% remain enthusiastic. Many have ridden across the continent through all types of conditions and found the decision to switch a good one. Many have made a point to ride the Deal's Gap and reported great results.

I'm just glad that the Valk came with radials to start with and a rear wheel that readily accepts a variety of car tire sizes.

As for doubters, that is OK, we have Valkyrie riders that doubt as well, since they have never tried it and most never will. These are the people that will read a magazine and declare themselves intellectually empowered. A far cry from being a pioneer and proving convention isn't always the way to follow.

[TechTMW]

Interesting stuff Paul.

I admit I am a doubter too (but not a vocal one) I never would have tried this on my own bike, but it's good to see that there are folks out there willing to test the boundaries of what's "accepted" by the M/C community.

Keep us informed, as I would love to see (for example) how many miles that tire goes, and how it works out in the long run.

How does the cornering feel on that thing, and how aggressively do you ride?

As a sidenote, had an opportunity to ride a friends Valk from North Carolina to Florida for Daytona bike week. Man, for the freeways, there's probably not a better bike made. That engine is sweeeeeet!

[paul246]

TechBMW,

Glad you got a chance to ride the Valk.

I live on the flats (prairies), so what we might call aggressive riding here is charging "on/off ramps", lol. Seriously, there are plenty of places to challenge any rider, and I say the Valk still ranks highly for manueverability. I can actually perform U-turns faster with the car tire than a m/c tire. In fact, the only "weird" handling characteristic is during low speeds on rough/broken/uneven pavement. The tire tends to grab a bit and is disconcerting in the beginning, but after a short while its no big deal. I guess its like anything, including different bikes, eventually you will adapt and become more proficient.

Oh ya, if you like the Valkyrie's engine, wait til you ride the 1800 Goldwing!

[Scott58]

That's pretty cool. You get 50,000 miles out of that and your on to something.

[paul246]

50,000 miles??...not likely, especially with the way I like using the throttle. The biggest factor with this particular tire with regard to tread life is the sticky compound, it is treadwear rated to about half of the typical consumer grade all-season radial. That is the downside of a high-performance summer radial tire. The good part is the tire was still over 100 bucks less than the m/c replacement would have been and I expect to get somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000 km out of it. I wish to stress that I didn't go this route for economic reasons, that is just a bonus.

[Scott58]

Still not bad. And i'd be surprised if you don't get a bit better. You have no where near the weight on that tire it was designed for. can't wait to hear your long term review.

[iwannadie]

50,000 miles??...not likely, especially with the way I like using the throttle. The biggest factor with this particular tire with regard to tread life is the sticky compound, it is treadwear rated to about half of the typical consumer grade all-season radial. That is the downside of a high-performance summer radial tire. The good part is the tire was still over 100 bucks less than the m/c replacement would have been and I expect to get somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000 km out of it. I wish to stress that I didn't go this route for economic reasons, that is just a bonus.

ok i missed your previous posts then what is the Reason to go with a car tire?

i think its interesting for sure, im all for people trying this sort of stuff. but i also think it doesnt make much sense(until i hear the reason). i have little tire knowledge but ive always though mc tires were better designed for bikes, had smaller stiffer sidewalls to better handle the constant leaning. a car tire doesnt have to ever lean therefor its not designed for it? id be worried about the tire rolling off or side wall collapsing on me. unless of course its a nice low profile tire(cant see from the pic). ive seen plenty of cars roll off a tire going sideways with regular sized sidewall tires.

i also thought the tred cuts in mc tires were better suited than a car tire would be, car tire treds relys on the tire being flat on the road to be effectice. mc tire tred assumes only a small contact path will have contact and has tred to match those needs. just from the look of your tire you have way less rubber in contact with the road than any tire ive had.

so again makes zero sense to me, but hey if it works for you go for it

[Forsaken]

I'm sure there's a reason people use car tires that the companies that spend billions of dollars on tire research havn't found yet.

[iwannadie]

I'm sure there's a reason people use car tires that the companies that spend billions of dollars on tire research havn't found yet.

or it could be like oil, the mc oil isnt any better than car oil but they(mc oil sellers) know they can sell mc oil for twice as much and people will pay it rather than using car oil that works just as good if not better for alot less money.

with tires though i think just the general shape and design are to different for car and mc tires to be inter changed like that. id like to see some side by side pics of his old mc tire with the new car tire, just to see how much difference there is in size and shape also with the tred cuts. thats the deciding factor right there to me.

[oldnslo]

If there are any subscribers to Cycle World out there, dig back to the October 2004 issue "Service"section. Paul Dean, one of their tech editors, has nearly a full page of information re the use of car tires on bikes. Needless to say, the article does not support Paul 246's point of view. I do wonder why a car tire hasn't been installed on the front too, though, Paul. If the handling is so nice, the front deserves the same treatment, it would seem.....