imported post
I suppose since there have been motorcycles some of us will eventually get around to testing our own limits and trying our own thing.
In the matter of using a car tire on a motorcycle it has been successfully accomplished for many years. A whole lot of Harley riders use a car tire and back when I was just a kid it was very common due to expense. It is still very common and some custom built bikes have a car tire installed from day one.
Everyone seems to take the extreme one way or the other on these kinds of subjects, and a whole lot of rumor and untrue facts always abound. In the case of using a car tire on a motorcycle feelings are very strong, and those of us who use one are called DarkSiders as we are stepping out of the bounds of common knowledge. Those who tell us we are going to kill ourselves are normally doing so just on hearsay. Most who yell the loudest really have no experience in the actual use of a car tire.
Many bikes do not lend them selves to the use of a car tire, they have too much of an extreme lean angle and yes one would have to be quite foolish to expect to lay a bike like my sons ST1300 over on the side and pour the power on in a sharp turn, I am not dead yet and do like to play sometimes, and used to race motorcycles. I can still lay that ST 1300 over so far I can take the leather off my riding suit. A car tire under those situations would not be a wise choice. Some other bikes do not have rims designed to hold a car tire and you have the situation as to the tire bead not matching up with the rim and this also creates a very risky and bad situation.
I myself for quite a few years would try a car tire and just not be happy with it, it always seemed to take away from the natural handling characteristics of the motorcycle. I was just not willing to sacrifice the handling. Or take chances.
My letter over on the other forum deals with the use of a car tire on the GL1800. This is a large touring bike and the lean angle even full over with sparks flying off the foot pets is not extreme enough to actually put the tire over past the running edge of the tire unto the sidewall, in fact there is still room to play in case say you run over a hole in the road in a lean, there is still the fact that you still have tread running on the road.
It is just something you have to look at. I did not have tread wear only under consideration, my main concern was safety. And I have adopted the use of a special tire called a Run Flat. This tire lended to use on motorcycle, a large touring machine has many advantages, and you will just have to study it and make your own decision. I have no desire to influence anyone to make a bad choice and to get hurt due to some stupid thing I might do, but I do not consider it to be stupid. With the modern run flat on a motorcycle I simply feel much safer, if they ever design a run flat specifically for a motorcycle, sure I would maybe switch back.......maybe, but I am also impressed with the low speed handling the run flat gives me and also the extreme grip and traction that I get under all conditions. (do not know about heavy rain yet)
I was a nay-sayer for a long time, I simply repeated things I had heard, hey they all seemed to make sense to me, my favorite one was the car tire has no grip on the road, a MC tire has much more contact on the road, I just never fully stopped to find out for myself and actually get into the facts. Actually a MC tire has very little road contact at all times as from straight up to the full extreme lean angle an MC tire runs on a very narrow strip of actual contact with the road. Go out and sit down behind your bike and take a look at it. I just bet you will find it very interesting if you actually stop and look at it hard. That radial tire design is also very needed for proper handling and perforance on those types of bikes. With the big touring machine we do not have those extreme lean angles.
I have no desire to convince anyone of anything, I do wish to present true facts and as I and others gain experience with this situation at this time I do feel what we learn and can convey to others may help present these facts in a true light and not just from hearsay.
There is a lot to learn when one steps outside the norm of know methods, sometimes as test pilots we fall on our face, sometimes we discover that something does actually work very well.
I myself and done with simply repeating things I have heard and assumed were correct. I will from now on always go find out for myself, and as for myself the use of the Run Flat on the 1800 has been very much an eye opener for me. I will naturally at any time if I ever feel it is a danger to anyone step forward and say so truthfully, but at this time it seems I have found a very real solution.
Respectfully
Kit
