140 tire option

[crazy steve]

This is the one I found.... http://www.cokertire.com/500-525-16-...blackwall.html

This will physically fit in place of a 130/90-16, but is hardly modern tech...

[natemoen]

But the 1070 max load is nice!

[TopCatGr58]

And it's also Tube OR Tubeless...even nicer! I vaguely remembered that discussion, thanks to Nate and Steve for finding the info. Funny how it says Blackwall, but shows a large whitewall!

I had done some research as well, found an AVON tire that wasn't quite square profiled, but still designed for vintage style bikes and was available in 16" size, tubeless also.

http://www.avonmoto.com/products/cla...y-mileage-mkii

716 lbs load, 110 mph speed. But their price is a bit higher than the coker!

T.C.

[ViperRon]

Given the issues with the XS11 in cornering I have concerns about handling in curves with a car design style when the bike switches from the flatter surface to the edge. It really does not take much to induce wobble. Now for those that always cruise at normal speed and just need a tire or guys interested in more rubber during acceleration it might be an advantage.

[natemoen]

Ron, for Fred a square profile works well since he has a sidecar on his bike. He doesn't lean much.

[daveyg]

The one Steve found is probably the way to go, not cheap, but only a few bucks more than a name brand bike tire...

[crazy steve]

The things to remember about the 'Darksiders' is almost all of them are riding large, heavy touring bikes or cruisers, and all of these bikes were designed to use radial tires. And none of them can generate large lean angles without seriously dragging stuff. While the XS was a large bike in it's day, today it's only a middleweight. And not designed for radials either.

If I owned one of those bikes, I'd make the swap in a heartbeat. I was very intrigued when I first came across this, and read everything I could find. But I came to the conclusion that for the XS (and my Harleys too) there just isn't any viable car tires that will physically fit and offer the advantages these guys are seeing. That tire I linked to was last used as OEM in the very early fifties and the tread was designed in the forties, even if the carcass features more modern contruction. It's not going to have the same wear/handling as a modern design and being a 'specialty' tire isn't cheap either. If you're running a sidecar like Fred is, this may be a great choice if the tire will last for 30K miles or more. The sidecar racers use flat-section tires, they do work...

There seems to be two main objections to 'darkside' tires from the manufacturers and 'normal' riders; one, the loss of contact patch when leaning. Very true, but when you start with a patch that's 2 or more times larger, a 50% loss while leaning simply puts you back to the 'normal' patch size. Two (and this one I find that the manufacturers are being more than a bit confusing on purpose), is that the car tire isn't designed for the stresses of motorcycle use. Again true, but what they fail to say is car tires are designed to withstand much more stress compared to a bike tire. Go to any autocross event and watch how the front tires on many cars flex under hard cornering. You'd trash a bike tire under those conditions quickly...

This definitely wouldn't work on every bike and for every riding style, but under the right conditions I can't really see why it wouldn't. And the big question is, if the tire manufacturers can improve car tires like they have, why haven't there been comparable improvements in bike tires? I can remember when a 40,000 mile tire was top of the line, now that's merely a middle-grade tire; you can get tires with up to a 90,000 mile treadwear guarantee now. Bike tire wear has remained pretty much the same for as long as I've been riding, how come?....

[TopCatGr58]

This definitely wouldn't work on every bike and for every riding style, but under the right conditions I can't really see why it wouldn't. And the big question is, if the tire manufacturers can improve car tires like they have, why haven't there been comparable improvements in bike tires? I can remember when a 40,000 mile tire was top of the line, now that's merely a middle-grade tire; you can get tires with up to a 90,000 mile treadwear guarantee now. Bike tire wear has remained pretty much the same for as long as I've been riding, how come?....

I remember seeing a video taken from the rear fender view of the rear tire of a big bike running one of these car tires and taking considerable corners and such, and it was able to flex to allow stable cornering and such, and they talked about the 10's of thousands of miles they were able to obtain vs. the bike tires.

Steve, I think that the tire manufacturers look at bikers as hobbyists, and that riders are doing it as a leisure sport activity, not as a commuter necessity. Cars for most folks are just shuttle devices, and they don't take corners very fast, so less stress overall. Our type/style of bike is a rather small percentage of the types of bikes that are popular in the U.S.. Sport bikes I would believe are a big part of the bike population, and they ride them for PERFORMANCE, speed, cornering, etc. and not taking multi-hundred mile trips across the country. So bike tires are considered expendable luxury items and not necessities, and so the tire companies are going to keep sticking it to us for our "toys".

T.C.

[fredintoon]

- - - found an AVON tire that wasn't quite square profiled, but still designed for vintage style bikes and was available in 16" size, tubeless also. - - -

>
Hi TC,
that tire (excuse me, tyre) could well be a contender except that I don't see anywhere in the link that says it's tubeless.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Fred,

Sorry, my bad, it didn't say TUBE so I thought it was tubeless. They had poor documentation on their site. The FIRST "tyre" in their CLASSIC series
http://www.avonmoto.com/products/cla...eedmaster-mkii

has the following description:

* Reinforced | TT = Tube Type

and so I think they expected folks to look at the first one first to "learn" their tyre type designations.... after the tyre/rim size....ie. 5.00 x 16 it has TT after it which apparently means TUBE TYPE!

Looks like the Coker is a better choice if you're wanting tubeless!!
T.C.

[fredintoon]

- - - Looks like the Coker is a better choice if you're wanting tubeless!! - - -

Hi TC,
nah, I rechecked that link. The leftside column in the spec sheet gives the spec headings like size, no. of plies etc. including Tube or tubeless.
The rightside column spells it out.
Sez TUBE TYPE
2 more scratched off the list.
Looks like I need to ask the tire store, "what you got that's cheap in a 130/90-16?"