And darkness descended upon the land...

[timk519]

Tire is a Michelin Primacy VR 205/60/16 i.nflated to 31 lbs to start.

My first reactions - it certainly feels more "sticky" to the road, seems to accelerate better and gives me greater confidence in the curves and ramps. When I hit the rear brakes hard enough to induce a skid - the back wheel doesn't try to swap places with the front wheel. Overall engine RPM gives me 65MPH @ 3K, which is where I'd expected it.

There's a bit of a squiggle to the back end on when transitioning from straight-line riding to going into a curve, but it's something I think I can get used to. I haven't felt any need to "push" the bike into a curve yet.

Overall - after all these days of work and learning how to take the rear end apart and put it back together again, it's looking good, and I'm glad I did it.   

[ossvalk]

to polish the metal those bags sit on as well as those dirty pipes.

Oh the humanity.............
 

Glad you are enjoyin your tire

Oss

[timk519]

to polish the metal those bags sit on as well as those dirty pipes.

Oh the humanity.............
 

I've been spending all my time figuring out to get the tire changed, etc. The bike needs a good overall wax job / polish, etc. to go with the spiffy new tire - and that's coming up!

Glad you are enjoyin your tire

Oss

Thanks!

[PAVALKER]

Not to steal your thunder Tim... but I decided to give it a try myself since I had a blow out on an Avon that was 60% good yet (darnit).

Hankook Ventus HRII 205-55R-16 90H
Treadware 340, Traction Rating A, Temperature Rating A.

Took it for a 30 miles ride, had some rubbing on the right side... nut cage it appears.  I adjusted the preload on the rear shocks from 2 to 4 and probably should have had it there to begin with with my far arse I guess.  Took it for another ride and  bounced up and down on the floorboards and no rubbing. 

Interesting ride.... gotta give it some more evaluation time I guess.

[timk519]

Not to steal your thunder Tim... but I decided to give it a try myself since I had a blow out on an Avon that was 60% good yet (darnit).

Hankook Ventus HRII 205-55R-16 90H
Treadware 340, Traction Rating A, Temperature Rating A.

Took it for a 30 miles ride, had some rubbing on the right side... nut cage it appears.  I adjusted the preload on the rear shocks from 2 to 4 and probably should have had it there to begin with with my far arse I guess.  Took it for another ride and  bounced up and down on the floorboards and no rubbing. 

Interesting ride.... gotta give it some more evaluation time I guess.

No thunder stolen, I'm glad to see you posting your experience here as well. 

[timk519]

I've ridden darkside for ~500 miles so far - straight line driving is smooth, and I've actually scraped a peg once (which is unusual for me. I'm not sure if there's a "break in" for this tire which would soften the sidewalls up a bit, but it felt different as I rode it.

One issue that came out as a concern was how hard the bike would try to stand itself up at slower speeds to the extent that it felt rather dangerous. I could also feel the rear end wiggle a bit when going through a ramp from one highway to another.

In an effort to deal with the low-speed handling, I lowered the tire pressure from 32 lbs to 29 lbs this afternoon and took the bike for a ride, and it feels a lot better, more in control, etc.  We'll see how things go when I put more serious miles on it over the next 500 miles or so.  8)

---

I also felt a vibration of some sort, but I'm not sure where it's coming from. I could feel it with my right heel when I pressed it against the side of the bike near the peg, so I pulled the back wheel to check the splines and the u-joint to take a peek, and both seemed ok, although the u-joint splines were dry, so I applied some moly paste to them before putting the engine / u-joint / final-drive shaft back together.

I did find a number of rocks embedded in the tire's treads - could that be enough to throw the balance off and cause a vibration?

[timk519]

I took the bike out for about an hour, hit some gravel roads, and some rather rough pot-holed roads, and the lower pressure tire worked a lot better than it did before.

Tomorrow I do a 1hr each way commute to work, we'll see what happens then. 

[MP]

Thanks for the updates.
MP

[timk519]

I did a 100 mile round-trip commute to the client's today, and other than a "skidding" feel from the rear end, this was a much improved ride compared to the higher pressure runs. I also took it over a short gravel road I'd been on earlier, and the ride was much improved compared to the prior run with a higher pressure level - in particular it didn't try and throw the bike to the side when it went over a pothole, etc.

I also filled the tank today, did the math - and the fat girl gave me 42 MPG!    I'm not sure how much is from the tire, how much getting the busted vacuum lines replaced, or that I'd spent an afternoon puttering around the country for 4 hours as opposed to 3500 RPM highway cruising, but still - I haven't been north of 40 MPG since last year sometime.

I like.

[dennisraz]

You guys should really try inflating your tires with more air,not less.
A harder tire will handle better.
A v rated tire has a stiffer sidewall and can be inflated less than a h rated one.
The automobile tire can handle more weight,so you wont have any problems inflating to 40 psi.
I run mine at 60!
 

[Valker]

You guys should really try inflating your tires with more air,not less.
A harder tire will handle better.
A v rated tire has a stiffer sidewall and can be inflated less than a h rated one.
The automobile tire can handle more weight,so you wont have any problems inflating to 40 psi.
I run mine at 60!
 

I tried everything from 20-60 and liked 26 the best.

[dennisraz]

Are you running a v rated tire?
I'm about 250 lbs,and running stock suspension.
I wondering if better shocks would let me drop the air pressure for a little smoother ride?

I'm just not into the $600 shock upgrade.
Progressive can bite my shorts!

[timk519]

You guys should really try inflating your tires with more air,not less.
A harder tire will handle better.

I had it in the low 30's before, and the handling was actually scary, particularly driving over ruts and gravel - it would try and tip the bike to the side as it went over the ruts. Not a fun experience.

A v rated tire has a stiffer sidewall and can be inflated less than a h rated one.

I have a "VR" rated tire, so that may be part of it.

The automobile tire can handle more weight,so you wont have any problems inflating to 40 psi. I run mine at 60! 

I have a hard time believing this handles well.

then again I haven't tried it either. Running a ~29 lbs seems to be working almost like a MC tire, I don't get an extreme response when going over ruts and such, and I like that.

[timk519]

Are you running a v rated tire?
I'm about 250 lbs,and running stock suspension.
I wondering if better shocks would let me drop the air pressure for a little smoother ride?

I'm just not into the $600 shock upgrade.
Progressive can bite my shorts!

I'm 210, stock I/S suspension. Why don't you try running your tire in the 20 PSI range instead of the 60's? At the least it'll be a less harsh ride.

[dennisraz]

I experimented with quite a few different air pressures.
I just kept adding air til I got the ride I want.
I've had the current setup past 120 mph,and it handles pretty well.
I guess it's just rider preference,and maybe tire selection that affects the ride,quite a bit.

I got a nice increase in fuel mileage with the added air pressure also.
Different strokes for different folks I guess.