Going to the Darkside

[mrflamewerks]

I now have five days of running the same route with the CT trying to hit as much of the worst parts of the road I can. In doing so, I discovered I still had rub even after removing both nut cages. Cutting the end off of the bolt that holds the right side of the rear fender and right saddle bag bracket on cured the problem. Originally, about six or seven threads protruded past the square nut, now only one thread sticks out.

One characteristic of the DS mod that I'd like to eliminate, if possible, is the tendency to "run down hill" on a crowned road. So far the only thing that seems to help is sitting slightly left of center in the saddle. Any suggestions? I'm still running the tire at 26 psi.

[Sludge]

Sry cant help ya there.  I guess thats just a tendancy of the CT that some have reported.  Mine doesnt seem to do it any worse than my bike tire did.  However, for me I guess it doesnt really matter anyway because our roads are so rarely straight that im always steering it somewhere.

[willness33]

One characteristic of the DS mod that I'd like to eliminate, if possible, is the tendency to "run down hill" on a crowned road. So far the only thing that seems to help is sitting slightly left of center in the saddle. Any suggestions? I'm still running the tire at 26 psi.

Try playing a little more with air pressure.  I tried everything between 24 and 36 psi.  I finally settled on 32, giving me the best all around performance and comfort level for my brand and size of tire.  Remember, there's no set rules regarding pressures on these things.  There's just too many variables between sizes and brands.  Achieve your test pilot status and start testing pressures.

[timk519]

Since putting a smartire in-wheel sensor system, the variation of tire pressure as the bike's ridden, or the outside temps change, has been rather interesting - it's been upwards of 3 lbs +/- from what I'd set it to.

[mrflamewerks]

Finally got some good rain here so I could see how the CT performed. It definitely grips better. I did a bit of hard acceleration from a stop and hard rear wheel only braking. In both instances the Goodyear Triple Tread greatly out performs the Venom I had on previously. I really haven’t pushed it with hard cornering, because I don’t trust the 6 year old Venom still on the front. Especially considering the tread is down past the wear bars. I don’t have any trouble keeping up with other riders, so I know it is at least as good as the MT. I just don’t know if I will see an overall improvement in wet weather handling.

I do have two related questions that keep coming to mind when it comes to wet weather conditions.

What effect if any, does the additional authority required to steer have on the point at which the front tire will break loose and start to skid?

How does the bike handle with only the front wheel sliding in a corner with a CT on the back?