Welcome to NESR! Most features of this site require registration, including replying to threads, sending private messages, starting new threads, and uploading files. Click here to register.

Results 1 to 21 of 21

Darkside, the 1st ride

  1. #1
    Angry Gumball RandyO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Farmington, NH
    Age
    71
    Posts
    18,028

    Darkside, the 1st ride

    Awesome day for a ride, I had to work actually, meet a client 9am and check out a few other job sites, a typical day of work riding typical route as well

    Route on Google map

    first thing I did this AM was check the tire pressure, the original inflation was to 40 psi and in a heated garage, I'm still parking my bike outside till snow flies, temp was 18° this morning, the tire was down to 35psi, I pumped it up to 45 based on more darkside research

    even at 45psi, the cage tire feels softer rubber and carcass than the TKC80 I've been running. the TKC80s I believe are Bias Ply so I'm runin a radial ply car tire in back and bias ply knobby bike tire in front

    when I first hit the pavement, my bike had been warming for close to 10 minutes, so it was completely warm on the temp guage, I grabbed a handful of throttle to se if I could spin it up, it gripped well on cold pavement , then a brake test , it skidded probably the same distance as a bike tire, hard to tell, pavement is getting cold, it did skid straight, no tendancy to kick out to one side or the other like a bike tire, from that point, I took it easy and gradually leaned more, cornered faster, it became very confidence inspiring

    One thing I have never been able to do with a bike tire is slide all my weight off the bike in a corner without upsetting the bike with this tire, it's easy, it gets around corners plenty good cause its so easy to get your weight off

    turn in doesn't feel any more different than comparing a 17" front tire to a 19" if anything, its quicker, but I'm comparin from comming off a bald knobby TKC80 in back that was squirley all over the place

    On gravel and even loose freshly graded gravel traction is fantastic, I think as good or better than a new TKC80 or Karoo

    much more rear brake power

    corner on gravel, hang off just like on pavement , my pace was 45-60 most of the day

    I'm sold, bikes otta come with a car tire in back, how does it handle ? like a radial tire, the sidewall squishes on one side, the other side stretches straight, when yer straight up, both sides bulge a bit, isn't that the way all radial tires work

    Now I'm planning to get a studded Hakk 5 for after snow flies to compliment the front studded Karoo T I have left over from last winter

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    RandyO
    IBA#9560
    A man with a gun is a citizen
    A man without a gun is a subject LETS GO BRANDON

  2. #2

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    wow, you actually did it...kudos, and thanks for the ride report

    the fact that it squishes worries me. if you're starting to lean the bike over, and the sidewall is in the process of squishing, won't that make leaning + accelerating, unpredictable?

    I'm also interested to know what the actual tire life is; I'm guessing it's drastically more than any motorcycle tire

    and will this work on a street legal dirt bike with a 17x3.5" rear wheel

    edit: definitely not on a 3.5" rim...I'd be going from a 100/100-17 to a 195/45-17 at best

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    Last edited by breakdirt916; 11-20-10 at 05:12 PM.

  3. #3
    With 2 esses's Rossco's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Westford, MA
    Age
    35
    Posts
    1,941

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    Nice! what kinda bike were you riding?

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    Quote Originally Posted by DucDave View Post
    ...I have your pants!!!

  4. #4
    Angry Gumball RandyO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Farmington, NH
    Age
    71
    Posts
    18,028

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    Quote Originally Posted by Rossco View Post
    Nice! what kinda bike were you riding?
    V-strom 1000, General Altimax Artic 205/50-17 on the back



    Track Day maybe ?

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    RandyO
    IBA#9560
    A man with a gun is a citizen
    A man without a gun is a subject LETS GO BRANDON

  5. #5

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    how's the warm up time compared to a regular motorcycle tire?

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!

  6. #6
    Angry Gumball RandyO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Farmington, NH
    Age
    71
    Posts
    18,028

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    there isn't really any warm up time to speak of, they don't get as warm, as a bike tire, at least on the cold pavment we had today

    the Altimax I have has sipes that are over 1/2" deep, rubber conforms to road imperfections without being heated


    yes, that ice you can see in the puddle in the photo, strong enuf for my 300lb lard ass to walk on



    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    RandyO
    IBA#9560
    A man with a gun is a citizen
    A man without a gun is a subject LETS GO BRANDON

  7. #7
    Kosher Assassin Stoneman's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Center Barnstead, NH
    Posts
    1,128,333

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    Those last pics, Randy: where'd you take those?

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    Did you grit your teeth and try to look like Clint Fuckin' Eastwood?
    Or did you lisp it all hangfisted like a fuckin' flower?

  8. #8
    Angry Gumball RandyO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Farmington, NH
    Age
    71
    Posts
    18,028

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    Quote Originally Posted by Stoneman View Post
    Those last pics, Randy: where'd you take those?
    Ridge Road, Eaton/Conway

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    RandyO
    IBA#9560
    A man with a gun is a citizen
    A man without a gun is a subject LETS GO BRANDON

  9. #9
    Kosher Assassin Stoneman's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Center Barnstead, NH
    Posts
    1,128,333

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    You'll never use all that power...

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    Did you grit your teeth and try to look like Clint Fuckin' Eastwood?
    Or did you lisp it all hangfisted like a fuckin' flower?

  10. #10
    Fast is contagious JettaJayGLS's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Tahoe City
    Age
    35
    Posts
    6,149

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    If its any help at all....I run those same tires for winters on my FWD Jetta. I love em. I'd put it up against any all wheel drive car/truck/SUV with all-seasons any day of the week....awesome in the snow, and I have had no issues on dry or wet roads.

    And I am a frequent driver to Jay peak and have not gotten stuck on the hills. If anyone has driven there in a snowstorm (all the time) they know how much of a pain it is.

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    A man of many names...Jay, Gennaro, Gerry, etc.

  11. #11
    Angry Gumball RandyO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Farmington, NH
    Age
    71
    Posts
    18,028

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    Quote Originally Posted by JettaJayGLS View Post
    If its any help at all....I run those same tires for winters on my FWD Jetta. I love em. I'd put it up against any all wheel drive car/truck/SUV with all-seasons any day of the week
    ya, I still consider it a summer tire on my bike, I got it cause it was cheap to experiment with

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    RandyO
    IBA#9560
    A man with a gun is a citizen
    A man without a gun is a subject LETS GO BRANDON

  12. #12
    Angry Gumball RandyO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Farmington, NH
    Age
    71
    Posts
    18,028

    Darkside,1st ride mini mud season

    anybody that travels on gravel roads in northern new england knows what they are like today, a week or so of freezing nights has driven the frost in few inches, yesterdays rain is stuck in the top 2-4", road are a sea of mud

    the Altimax Artic is AWESOME, doesn't get sucked into ruts or when you ride into one, is just as easy to ride out, and didn't spin up my front is a TKC80 about 40% wear left and was slip sliding, with Karoo's or TKC's on both ends, the rear spins out before the front slip slides around

    I was getting yanked around, following the front in places, in curves I had to slow right down to 1st gear or take a wide front wheel not wanting to steer the bike kinda turn, but after I got the hang of it, pushing the front wheel thru the mud wasn't bad

    what's available in a 19" (stock 110/80-19) that would be better than a Karoo or TKC in the mud

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    RandyO
    IBA#9560
    A man with a gun is a citizen
    A man without a gun is a subject LETS GO BRANDON

  13. #13
    Lifer markbvt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Georgia, VT
    Posts
    3,716

    Re: Darkside,1st ride mini mud season

    Quote Originally Posted by RandyO View Post
    what's available in a 19" (stock 110/80-19) that would be better than a Karoo or TKC in the mud
    You could try any of the 19" motocross rear tires. They'd obviously be squirrelier on pavement, but they've got much more aggressive knobs to bite into the mud. Kenda makes a version of the Millville with a softer rubber compound for better grip on hard surfaces, so that might be a good one to look into.

    --mark

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    '20 Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro / '19 Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE / '11 Triumph Tiger 800 XC / '01 Triumph Bonneville cafe
    My ride reports: Missile silos, Labrador, twisties, and more
    Bennington Triumph Bash, Oct 1-3, 2021

  14. #14
    Soul Rider Paul_E_D's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    western, MA
    Age
    53
    Posts
    15,000

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    There's only one solution: Fit a car tire to the front!

    Do it.

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    Paul_E_D


  15. #15
    First name on the shit list.... SVRACER01's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Farmington
    Age
    46
    Posts
    16,968
    Wirelessly posted (HTC EVO "DROID" : Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-us; Sprint APA9292KT Build/FRF91) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

    It would have to be a 19" spare tire

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    When I start my KTM in the morning, rules are broken. Its inevitable...
    01 SV650S (RC51 eater)/07 690SM /03 300EXC/14 XTZ1200
    TRACKS:Firebird/NHMS/VIR/Calabogie/California Speedway/NJMP/MMC/NYST/Palmer/Thompson/Club Motorsports

  16. #16
    Lifer zxme's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Mass
    Posts
    2,204

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    That tire is great, i have them on the wifes car.....But on a bike? thats awesome...

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!

  17. #17
    Angry Gumball RandyO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Farmington, NH
    Age
    71
    Posts
    18,028

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    about 6000 miles so far, no visible sign of wear yet

    I freaked out yesterday, putting bike away I noticed tire tracks that looked like a truck had backed up to my workshop turned out to be my own tracks

    downsides of the car tire on back

    1. it's not an ideal tire for agressive sport riding, while its got the traction and can do the job, it required more effort, I think not because its a car tire, but just because it's a 205 instead of a 150

    thats about it for downsides

    advantages of a car tire on back

    1. rubber that doesn't need to warm up to stick
    2. long lasting tread, I expect even the softest winter tire rubber to last 25k+
    3. deep tread, good in wet, good in snow, good in mud, good on gravel

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    RandyO
    IBA#9560
    A man with a gun is a citizen
    A man without a gun is a subject LETS GO BRANDON

  18. #18
    TWINS! xrocket21's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Central Maine
    Age
    43
    Posts
    7,162

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    that square carcass has to feel a little funny

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!

  19. #19
    Angry Gumball RandyO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Farmington, NH
    Age
    71
    Posts
    18,028

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    Quote Originally Posted by xrocket21 View Post
    that square carcass has to feel a little funny

    its a radial carcass flexes the same as a radial motorcycle tire, its only the treadcap that makes it appear square

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    RandyO
    IBA#9560
    A man with a gun is a citizen
    A man without a gun is a subject LETS GO BRANDON

  20. #20

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride

    Quote Originally Posted by RandyO View Post
    I freaked out yesterday, putting bike away I noticed tire tracks that looked like a truck had backed up to my workshop turned out to be my own tracks

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!

  21. #21

    Re: Darkside, the 1st ride


    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    FREE $10 UBER CREDIT W' PROMO CODE --> PON41
    1994 Yamaha YZ250 CA Street Legal 2-smoke :smoke:

Similar Threads

  1. Darkside tire Wear
    By RandyO in forum General Bike Related
    Replies: 38
    Last Post: 10-03-11, 07:59 PM
  2. the DarkSide of tires
    By RandyO in forum General Bike Related
    Replies: 38
    Last Post: 11-19-10, 07:16 AM
  3. Randy - Strom darkside and sidecars
    By Karaya One in forum General Bike Related
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 09-01-10, 10:34 PM
  4. Ive joined the darkside
    By union in forum General Bike Related
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: 01-16-07, 05:24 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •