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Car tire on motorcycle

97K views 335 replies 99 participants last post by  Screw 
#1 ·
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I know this has been discussed over and over again and the reason it keeps coming up is because more and more people are getting tired of the cost and safety of the motorcycle tires on our heavy bikes.

This is a user writeup that I found to be very interesting and states very well the facts.



[align=center]A look at living on the Darkside
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As some of you may know, I just got back into owning a Goldwing again after a 21 year hiatus. Laurie and I owned a 1985 GL1200 which we thoroughly enjoyed riding. The "new" bike was a 2003 with 3625 miles on it which I purchased from a seller in Chicago.

When I got the bike home, I had to have a safety inspection done to license it in Ontario. The tires passed with flying colours. I knew that the tires were the originals from the showroom floor and were 8 years old. I needed new tires soon and started my investigations on the best replacement tires.

One of the things I did between Goldwings was to take up road racing. I say this to set the stage from where I am coming from. Road racing taught me a lot about the feel of the motorcycle and its reaction to input from the rider. You need to be at one with your bike when racing as you are always riding on the edge of traction and control. Being able to feel the tires start to slide is a valuable asset to prevent a crash.

That being said, I spent many hours looking at websites, comparing the price of tires, reading reviews, comparing longevity, pros and cons of each manufacturer, and trying to make sense out of a lot of speculative information. Basically, like car buying, most people seem to have a tire "brand" and anything else is junk. I suppose that we are somewhat the same with our choice of motorcycle brands.

After hours of this research, I stumbled across a website that had a totally unique view of rubber on a motorcycle. Car tires, "who’d of thunk it"? I spent many more hours reading this site and a couple of other ones and read about the pros and cons of running a car tire. What I did discover is that a lot of people are passing judgement on this without any first-hand experience.

These are a group of people that are willing to buck the system and try something that is not conforming to any set standards. Read into this the theory that was rampant for a long time about our world and how it was flat, and anyone that challenged that theory was thought to have been crazy.

I decided that I was going to challenge the theory of a flat world. Based on my evaluations of the car tire on a motorcycle, it seemed at the time that the Khumo Runflat 195/55-16 radial tire was the tire of choice.

I read some more and was just about to pull the trigger and order one when someone else came up with a new tire that they tried. I read some more about this new "wunder tire" and decided that I would give this a whirl instead of the Khumo.

The tire I have on my bike now is none other than the Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3 ZP in the 195/55-R16 size. This tire fits in the wheel well of the GL1800, but is a tight fit to get it in. A "snow tire" you say!!! Yes, a snow tire.

What is a snow tire best at? Providing traction in less than ideal conditions. Take a look at the sipping on a snow tire and you can see how much better it is at channelling away water and snow. Now I don’t need the snow removal part, but being able to remove water effectively really floats my boat.

The Alpin designation in my tire is for the snow tire. You will notice, if you check out the tire on my bike, that the edges of the snow tire are rounder and have tread farther up the sidewall than the all-season version. This contributes greatly to the fact that it does not feel any different than a motorcycle tire.

The ZP designation stands for "Zero Pressure", or run-flat. This is a technology that I am surprised has not made it to motorcycle tires yet.

Some of you have experienced the dreaded blowout on a bike at highway speeds and I can tell you that it causes your butt to grip the seat quite tightly until the bike stops. If you are fortunate, you can keep it upright. If not, well, the consequences can be much worse.

Being able to run with no air pressure is a huge benefit to any rider. It keeps you from being stranded with a flat tire. It will allow you to ride to somewhere where you can get it fixed or replaced. It also keeps you from losing control of the motorcycle. You can ride for 50-100km easily with no air pressure in this tire.

Let’s talk about weight for a while.

The usual suspects of rear motorcycle tires are rated at a carrying capacity of between 825-1000 lbs. Think for a moment of how much your bike weighs. My 2003 non-ABS version weighs in at 791 lbs dry weight from the factory. It tips the scales at 880lbs ready to ride. It can carry 417lbs. of extras. Extras count as riders and passenger, contents of the saddlebags, Farkles and your trailer hitch, as well as hitch weight if you tow one.

Don’t forget the weight of the helmets and riding gear when calculating the weight of the rider and passenger. If I use Laurie and myself as examples, I weigh in at 215lbs in a speedo, and probably an extra 25 lbs if you add the helmet and jacket and boots and clothing other than the speedo.

Laurie weights XXX with an additional 25 lbs for her riding gear. This would bring the total to somewhere around 375 lbs. give or take Laurie’s version of the numbers.

We carry a bike cover, some maps, rain gear, and a pair of running shoes, a hat and a bottle of sunscreen. When we tow our trailer, we add about 30 lbs of hitch weight to that total. We have installed very little in the line of accessories on the bike, but we have added a hitch, a back rest, highway pegs and floorboards with a heel/toe shifter, which probably accounts for about "50 extra lbs." of accessories. All told, we are at 425lbs.

Based on this information, we are overloaded on our weight limits of 417lbs. When I pulled onto the scales at the local truck stop, the front wheel weighed 520 lbs. and the rear weighed 860 lbs. The Bridgestone G704 rear tire is rated at 827lbs. carrying weight. The Dunlop E3 is rated for 992lbs. The Michelin car tire is rated for 1201 lbs. of carrying capacity. Keep in mind that these weights are based on the maximum tire pressure on the sidewall. Not everyone is as diligent as they should be about checking tire pressures so running under inflated tires reduces the carrying capacity and increased heat buildup, which can lead to premature tire failure.

You have all heard the saying that "If the wife ain’t happy, ain’t no one happy". The sharp rapping feeling you get through the seat when you hit a bump is gone. The ride is much smoother for the missus. I must say that I enjoy it too.

Mileage on a motorcycle tire seems to be measured in hours these days. It seems a shame to pay well over $200.00 a shot for a rear tire that lasts all of 14,000 km and needs replacement. I am still working on wearing out the first tire, but the early reports are that users of this tire are getting 20,000 MILES out of them.

Some of the guys that take their bikes on the track are getting less than that out if it, but I suppose that YMMV (your mileage may vary). I checked on Motorcycle Superstore website which seems to be the cheapest place in the USA to buy tires. They are asking $229.00 for the rear G704 Bridgestone GL1800 rear tire. I paid $141.00 for the Michelin.

I am all for saving money as I have only won the 50/50 draw once since rejoining GWRRA.

So in a nutshell, my reasons for choosing a car tire over a motorcycle tire are, increased load carrying capacity, which makes for a safer ride, run-flat technology which makes for a safer ride, smoother ride which makes for a happier ride, cheaper, which makes for more happy safe riding, and longer tire life which means I can spend more time riding between changing tires.

I have put about 1500km on this tire so far and I can honestly say that I cannot feel the difference at all between the motorcycle tire and the car tire. I can still drag my floorboard in the corners and it instills a lot of confidence. I have not had the chance to put it to the test in the rain other than the little sprinkles we had on the Elora pop tab ride, but I will report back on my findings after I have some more mileage on the bike. One other added bonus that I have found is that the bike does not seem to react to the tar snakes on the road as much as the motorcycle tire did, but I will have to go out and play some more to be sure.

Automotive tire technology has progressed in leaps and bounds over the past 5-10 years. Unfortunately, the motorcycle tire industry has not kept pace. I am still surprised that we do not have run-flat technology in our motorcycle tires. It is my personal feeling that I can get a much better tire for my bike for less money by running a car tire.

All of this information is based on the GL1800. I have not done any research on the GL1500, but I am sure there are those who use them on that bike as well. Please take this information as one riders experience and is not intended to be comprehensive advice or a recommendation.

This is in no way endorsed by GWRRA or any of its affiliates, nor is it endorsed by any of your chapter staff. I just wanted to pass on my findings and let you all know that I feel much better now, knowing that I won’t be riding off the edge of the world.


David Hatton
GWRRA Chapter M, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
 
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#2 ·
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Well put!! BUT YOUR GOING TO CRASH AND BURN WITH A CAR TIRE ON A BIKE:lash::readit::readit::ROFL::ROFL:...I'm just waiting till I get back from NASSIR to go DARKSIDE,this MC tire will be used up by then, and it will have about 5000 mile on it.:sobbing::lash:.
 
#4 ·
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I have recently done some very hard riding including riding in the rain. My car tire continues to instill confidence in me as a very stable, safe and comfortable tire in all weather conditions. I will continue to monitor the mileage to see how many years rather than months it will last.

Dubs
 
#8 ·
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Me very happy so far!
Good write up.
 
#11 ·
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Where are you all getting these CT mounted and balanced at, or are you doing it yourself..

My Honda Dealer will not mount them..
 
#151 ·
Where are you all getting these CT mounted and balanced at, or are you doing it yourself..

My Honda Dealer will not mount them..
I bought mine at walmart $89 + tax including mounting and balance, they mounted it. now have 20000 kms on it
 
#12 ·
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I have nothing at all against using a car tire on a motorcycle. But I don't think one will fit on my 1200. There is about 1/8" clearance between the tire and the right side of the swingarm.

I am amazed at the low load carrying capacity of the Goldwing. Myself and my daughter and a few other things exceed it. A Piaggio Fly 150 scooter has the same load carrying capacity.

I can certainly understand why a Honda dealer will not mount it. Worry about lawsuits, and greed. A Honda dealer will not mount a brand new motorcycle tire if you did not buy it from them. That does leave me wondering how you mount them. While I have always mounted my own motorcycle tires, and actually did manage to mount a stock tire on a mid '60s air cooled VW bug once, it was not easy. MUCH harder than a motorcycle tire. So do you mount them yourselves, or where do you have them mounted?
 
#13 ·
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I did it myself . I had the help of the modern tire machine . I put the tire in the hot sun a while first . No problems . I use beads for balance . Now If I could just find one that fits the front .



If you have an independant corner tire shop I hear they mostly dont have a problem of making a few bucks to help you out .
 
#14 ·
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Check with your local repair shops. We have one in Springfield called PowerSport Dynamic. I had to sign a waiver saying anything that happens is all on me due to the car tire on a bike rim, which is very understandable. I got it mounted/balanced/out the door for $17.50.
If you offer to sign a waiver it may help.
 
#15 ·
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Actually, shouldn't matter if who posts on this thread; be it darkside or non-darkside users as long as the posts are not out of line.

David did after all, post this article in the "Discussion Forum".

So let's get back to "discussing" and my question for David is, have you noticed an noise associated with this tire or is it providing a quiet ride? My initial reaction to a snow tire is, it might make some noise and there are some who's chief complaint of the Dunlap E3's are the noise they produce.

Thanks for sharing the article........
 
#16 ·
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I don't think the OP is the one who did the write up. He was just posting it for general info. I have a friend who is using that Michelin tire now and will observe the miles he gets from it before trying it myself, I am getting good miles per dollar on the BFG I am using now so will stick with it until proof of a better one comes along. The Khumo run flat mentioned, I did ride a bike with one on it and decided by it I did not want a run flat because of the way it felt and have never used a run flat on my 1800 but this michelin may change my mind. I have 100,000 miles on car tires on my bike now and no way I'll leave the dark side.
 
#17 ·
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ColSki wrote:
Actually, shouldn't matter if who posts on this thread; be it darkside or non-darkside users as long as the posts are not out of line.

David did after all, post this article in the "Discussion Forum".
Yes and no....

The problem is that some people have actually done it, and some people that haven't would actually like to know about it. So you have people who sincerely want to discuss it but theyare quashed by people that have no experience but they feel the need to tell everyone else that they shouldn't do it.

Discussion is good, and questions are good, and people sharing real life experience and answering those questions is good.

But it gets a little irritating when everytime I'm looking for information, I get shouted down by people who want to tell me "what part of motorcycle tires belong on motorcycles don't I understand?"

So discussion is good.
 
#18 ·
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:popcorn:
 
#19 ·
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Foodman wrote:
Where are you all getting these CT mounted and balanced at, or are you doing it yourself..

My Honda Dealer will not mount them..
Many Honda Dealers won't do anything anyway, and if they do they don't do it right!

I do my own tires. I asked a small local MC shop and at first they said no, but then they saw the light and said they would mount whatever I bring to them. I think for me it would be $10 a wheel to mount tires, but I still do them myself.

I had to explain to the parts department what Honda Moly 60 was when I had to order some for my first wing!!
If they don't know what Moly 60 is to order it they can;t be doing the job correctly!
 
#20 ·
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Some car tire shops may do them for you. The machine is the same, as long as they are using a mag wheel machine. But independants are more likely because the chains may be too concerned about liablity.
When I worked in an auto repair/tire store, I could do them.

Now I have a friend that owns an auto repair shop, I go to him. Since I know how to use the machine, he lets me use his machine.
You just have to make sure that they clamp the rim properly so that they don't leave marks.
 
#21 ·
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Chromo wrote:
Foodman wrote:
Where are you all getting these CT mounted and balanced at, or are you doing it yourself..

My Honda Dealer will not mount them..
Many Honda Dealers won't do anything anyway, and if they do they don't do it right!

I do my own tires. I asked a small local MC shop and at first they said no, but then they saw the light and said they would mount whatever I bring to them. I think for me it would be $10 a wheel to mount tires, but I still do them myself.

I had to explain to the parts department what Honda Moly 60 was when I had to order some for my first wing!!
If they don't know what Moly 60 is to order it they can;t be doing the job correctly!
I've had mine done twice at Wally World at $5 a pop. I told them is was for my custom trailer and it was a driver side tire if the tire I was mounting was directional. They can't balance it but I use dyna beads anyway so that doesn't matter. The only downside is that both times they put significant vampire bites into the wheels. Probably doesn't hurt it but it bugs me every time I clean the rear wheel. Here's a pic....

P.S. I've got nearly 20K miles on two CTs and my experience has been nothing but positive. If you want details, just ask and I'll share my experiences....

 
#23 ·
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Halfling wrote:
The only downside is that both times they put significant vampire bites into the wheels. Probably doesn't hurt it but it bugs me every time I clean the rear wheel. Here's a pic....
The shame of it is that they are using a mag wheel machine that is designed not to do that. The clamps work both ways. You can work the clamps to put pressure on the inside of the rim, which is the normal way, but a car rim has a back side.

But the machines can also extend the clamps all the way out, and then bring them back in against the lip putting the pressure on from the outside. This way, if the rim slips on the clamps, any scratches would be on the edge and hidden by the tire itself andnot as visible.



Just poor training of the tech on Wal-mart's part.
 
#25 ·
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ColSki wrote:
Actually, shouldn't matter if who posts on this thread; be it darkside or non-darkside users as long as the posts are not out of line.

David did after all, post this article in the "Discussion Forum".
Well the problem with who posts is that anyone that has never ran the darkside has no useful information to share of their own.
Personal opinions or quoting other questionable sources is all they can offer, neither of which is reliable nor necessarily has any basis of fact as it pertains to the real world in which we live and ride.


For many of these not darksiders comments it's about the same as someone that has never ridden a motorcycle to trying to tell all of us we are going to fall over and break our necks if the bike leans over in a turn!:ROFL:

OOOOH, bikes are heavy and if you lean it over you will surely crash and die because it will fall on the road at high speed! :ROFL:

People who do not ride motorcycles really have no business telling experienced riders how to ride do they?
For someone that never rode a motorcycle to ask questions because they are thinking of buying a motorcycle is fine. Experienced riders can give factual information. Information based on fact from experienced riders should not constantly be confused with the personal opinions of those that have never rode a motorcycle.

For people that never rode a motorcycle to start spouting off facts about riding is about the same as people that never rode on certain tires to go spouting off about how bad they are.

The only facts that matter are real life facts, not something you read in a fairytale book someplace. With probably a Million miles of darkside riding from all the darksiders only the darksiders really have real life experience and actually know the true facts of darksiding.
Any company is going to worry about liability and aviod sayig go for it as they could be sued over anything. If they make $150 MC tire and a $50 car tire, WHY would they want you to run the $50 tire? They are NOT going to tell you it works fine, they want to sell that $150 tire!

I may ask questions about other tires, I may point people to threads where others have used a certain tire, but the only tires I actually state facts about are those I have ran personally. Like Spitfires on the rear get splits in 5K miles, mine did and I have seen many other posts of the same splits. That is facts! I ran that tire I know the one I got was junk, though it was a great tire while it lasted the 4 months 5K miles.
E3's I ran them on 2 1500's now, so I speak from facts if I say anything about those.
Auston, I love that tire and it's better than any other tire I ran on any bike and in all conditions for me, so I speak from facts. And I have ran in all conditions on that tire you would find in real life on real roads.

Anyone who never ran any of those tires simply does not know what they are talking about because they have no experience with them to know anything! Simple as that!
 
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