Car tire report....

I have a question and that is how big can you go without mods with a motorcycle tire on a standard valk.:flamer:

[Valker]

...is a 200. The 240 rubs. Most folks that have run the 200 series do not like it. It is not a radial. It only gets about 5-6000 miles.

[Big Mac]

The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of;
Valkyrie Owners Site Administration
Fellow Valkyrie owners
Those that went to the dark side
My Mother
.......or The Big Mac himself for that matter.

I was at the bike shop right as they opened for my appointment to have the Falken Zien I bought mounted on the Valk. The owner of the shop took one look at it and his opinion went from “No Problem” to "No way”.

He stated lawsuits that he’d read about on the internet, possible loss of life, his house, his shop...geez, I think the poor guy lost a little hair just talking about it. I told him I wasn’t one for making drastic changes, that I’d done the research and even showed him several pages that I printed out from my fellow Valk owners (you guys rule :rockon: ) who have made the switch and swore they’d never go back. He read what I’d brought, but said he wouldn’t feel right about putting a tire like that on my bike and worried about me crashing on the way home. I called my local Honda shop when I got home to enlist their opinion and the only situation like this they’ve run into was mounting a car tire on a Hayabusa for drag strip purposes.

Bottom line is, I have a brand new tire (205/55/R16) and no one will touch it. I guess I’ll keep looking and if I can’t find a shop to do the deed I’ll order a set of conventional bike tire.

I’m not trying to scare anyone, this is just the problem I’m dealing with, if it were up to me I'd be as dark as come right now.
Live long and prosper, may the force be with you or whatever it is you’re supposed to say.
:up:
Mac

[Valker]

Do you have any small, independent bike shops in the area? My Honda dealer in Amarillo mounted mine, but I have a shop in a small nearby town who is cheaper and will do it also. Maybe you could just take in the wheel and say it is for off road, closed course competition at the drag strip!!! Might be worth a shot. Lawsuits may be a bit worse in CA than here in TX. Good luck!:eek:

[Big Mac]

You got that right Valker, Ca. is one sue happy state.

There's not too many small, independent shops left around the Bay Area, the local Honda shop is also a Kawy/Yamy/Suzuki dealer and what they didn't swallow up Arlen Ness took care of the rest. As it was I drove 60 miles to Wing Nuts.

Cycle Gear is real close, but I quit going there after two bad expierences with them mounting a tire that was off the bike. The first time they put the tread on backwards and the next time (same tire) they didn't mount the yellow dot even with the valve stem so they added a butt-load of weights to compensate for it. Needless to say I took the wheel back both times. I'll give them a try and if they say they'll do it I'll be looking over the guys shoulder the entire time.

I know there's more places inland and I'll do like you say, take the wheel off and bring it down there.

"What!?! You act you've never seen a Honda snow blower wheel before."

Thanks for the help Valker, I'll keep ya posted.
Mac :up:

I'm so happy with the car tire I could just s#*t! I can't believe the change in the ride. it seems to me that there hasn't been a bad choice made concerning size or type yet! I don't see me going back to regular bike tire again.
Mike:jump: :2cents:

[hoser]

Hey, if you can't get any one to change your tire, all it takes is a couple of tire irons, some dish soap and a little  sweat, what do you think they used before they invented tire machines! (be careful on the rims, they scratch easily)

[Pistolchamp]

Hey, that's how I got new skis on my Honda CB-650C.  The local bike shop was busy and I already had the wheels off, so I stopped by the welding shop (he sells used truck tires) and used his tire irons to change the tires and then bought some stick-on weights at the auto parts store and balanced them by putting the tire and axle between saw horses and installing weights to balance the tire.  It was pretty easy and I got my tires "right now"!

It was also cheaper as the bike shop usually charges about $90 to mount and balance two tires...

Correct if you can't find someone to put your tire on do it yourself! the big problem I had was getting the old one off. the 215 almost fell on. lined up the marks and put air in it!  I did have a good batch of snot mixed and ready to use . but the tire went on far easier than the old one came off. I cant picture paying someone to do this task for me.
Mike:eek:

[Big Mac]

*Mac lets out a sinister laugh as he steps from the light into….the dark side* :dgrin:

It took my bike jack, a floor jack, a come-along, and a few choice words, but I managed to get the back wheel off. The local Honda shop said they’d mount & balance it, but they were a bit backed up so I took it to Cycle Gear. I gave the guy a little help putting on the second bead (he didn’t have enough lead in his butt), other than that the mounting went smooth. That work thing prevented me from putting it on the same day, but it’s on now and I have no regrets.

I took it to the car wash first to get my greasy finger prints off and that gave me a good chance to give it a local test drive. Of course if you’re looking for something, you’re going to find it, but once I forgot I was out for a test ride everything felt natural.

I drove it to work today and I took it over every kind of terrain I could find, railroad tracks, I aimed for the manhole covers, zipped in & out of traffic, etc. and, like everyone else that’s stepped from the light, I see no reason to go back. I don’t know if it’s because of the deeper tread or the lower air pressure, but this tire actually feels smoother.

One thing I‘ve noticed different about this tire is during deceleration. Nothing bad, just a different feel, I’m guessing that has to do with the tread pattern and/or the fact there’s more tread on the road, when you back off it grips better, just a guess.

Thanks for all the help fellas, reading these posts pointed me in the right direction and helped me over the little difficulties. I’ll post again after I’ve put a few miles on that bad boy, but so far so good.

Ya tho I ride thru the valley of the shadow of the flaming death I shall fear no Harley because I have more traction than I’ll ever know what to do with.

Mac
:up:

[Valker]

I am going to put another 1300 on mine this weekend. That will give me nearly 4000 on mine so far.

mine will still smokie tire!:D
Mike