Life on the road

[Ranger_xs1100]

Very cool! Are those 50 caliber rounds?

[DEEBS11]

You are correct sir.

[LAB3]

Well, well, well, what do we have here? That's about the same price as a POS Dunlop 404.

https://www.cokertire.com/tires/475-500-17-excelsior-blackwall-tire.html

[DEEBS11]

Nice. Good for a Standard.

[LenB]

Sure these car tires would probably last longer than a typical motorcycle tire but what happens when you want to take a fast sweeper? How much tread is actually making contact with the road? All fine if you're only going in a straight line or running a sidecar. There's a lot more tread making contact with the road when vertical - wear?heat?drag?gas mileage? We've all dodged chunks of semi tire on the highway. Sure, these things might look cool but are you willing to trade that for safety? For me 2 wheels = fun in the corners (as good as an 11 can do that) and a car tire profile would definitely compromise that.

[DEEBS11]

I have traveled over 50,000 miles with a car tire on the back. Rode to Mexico from Connecticut last September. They handle great.

[Schming]

Sure these car tires would probably last longer than a typical motorcycle tire but what happens when you want to take a fast sweeper? How much tread is actually making contact with the road? All fine if you're only going in a straight line or running a sidecar. There's a lot more tread making contact with the road when vertical - wear?heat?drag?gas mileage? We've all dodged chunks of semi tire on the highway. Sure, these things might look cool but are you willing to trade that for safety? For me 2 wheels = fun in the corners (as good as an 11 can do that) and a car tire profile would definitely compromise that.

I believe that DEEBS11 and LAB3 are seasoned riders and fully aware of the risk vs. rewards, but you youngins out there pay attention ^^^ This is WORD !!! ^^^
The XS11 really needs a bigger tire on the front. My full dressed '80G is almost too much for the stock front tire let alone when I load her up for a LD ride.

[LAB3]

Sure these car tires would probably last longer than a typical motorcycle tire but what happens when you want to take a fast sweeper? How much tread is actually making contact with the road? All fine if you're only going in a straight line or running a sidecar. There's a lot more tread making contact with the road when vertical - wear?heat?drag?gas mileage? We've all dodged chunks of semi tire on the highway. Sure, these things might look cool but are you willing to trade that for safety? For me 2 wheels = fun in the corners (as good as an 11 can do that) and a car tire profile would definitely compromise that.

There's plenty of reasons not to do it but this isn't about breaking the rules for the sake of breaking them, it's about getting a better setup than I have now.

As with Schming I'm also riding a dressed 1980 G and I'm also pulling a trailer behind it. This bike wasn't designed to do that, was it? After all, it was just a 750 frame with a bigger engine crammed into it so it would out run the competitors on the drag strip!

Nothing changes much until someone breaks the rules. Craig Vetter made fairings, saddlebags and trunks in a generic way so everyone could dress their bikes out like the new for the time Goldwing. You can bet your butt there where plenty of folks with plastic pocket protectors and a band-aid on the bridge of their glasses that screamed 'You can't do that" who were ignored.

Just like those nut cases who extended their forks out a half mile in the sixties someone said "Let's tow a trailer behind a motorcycle" and went to the garage and made a hitch to go on their bike. To my knowledge there still isn't a motorcycle manufacturer that sells a hitch but guess what? People do it anyway!

I'm 60 years old and probably put in more miles underneath me backing up to the curb in a given year than most people put in going down the road, 20k miles in 12 months is pretty average for me. Everything I own either straps to the bike or is stowed in the trailer or on top of it. I'm beyond tired of chasing down a tire several times a year, unmounting the old one and spooning on a new one. Yes, this scrawny old guy does it by hand! If I could get that chore down to once a year then I'd have more time to do the things I'd rather be doing, like taking your grandma out for a date.

[DEEBS11]

Preach on my brother. I'm 58. Ride every day even in blizzards. I poke fun at Credit Card Bikers (tm) of the Willie G. Church of Later Day 500 Mile a Year Riders that I have pushed my bike backwards more miles than most people have ridden forward.

[DEEBS11]

Here's me with George from Trails End BMW in Fairbank's Alaska. I bought a tire from him and spooned it on in his driveway. This was a 14,000 mile trip.

[DEEBS11]

I also built the machine from the ground-up like most of my bikes. It's better to ride something you put you hands on, isn't it?

[Tonyxs11]

ha ha i like that saying deebs ( I have pushed my bike backwards more miles than most people have ridden forward.)