opas ride - 2012-06-22 12:37 PM Read the article in the new Rider magazine (the one with the Orange Star bike on the cover)...Those that think they are okay with car tires on bike might learn a little from this interesting review.....NEVER catch me with car tires on a bike...Not worth the risk and possible dangers...I am 72, don't ride hard and usually one-up, very little high speed freeway time so my Dunlops are fine for me....Too each his own as they say.....Be safe.......

+1    RIGHT ON !!!

Arkainzeye - 2012-06-22 8:00 PM opas ride - 2012-06-22 6:53 PM Hey it's your ass and your bike....Do as you please, but if motorcycle manufacturers thought car tires were okay on bikes they would not be so against it....Most dealers will not install one your bike and I do not do my own....As I said above, It is your body and your bike...do as you please and what ever makes you happy....As for me I am not willing to gamble....Perhaps if I rode on the flat slab for long distances, with heavy loads, maybe I would look at it from a different view.......Choices are what makes America great for now....Not sure about the future....... Manufactures also put in their owners manual to obey legal speed limits for personal safety of you and others, but then (1 example) suzuki hyabusa can almost go 200 mph for a street legal motorcycle. and the Dealers who wont install a car tire have No problems selling one of these 200mph bikes to a teen ager... a weak example but still ...

 Excellent point in my book.  I could go on about a sundry of things that we as humans, or citizens can do legally, but in the wrong application can be harmful or downright deadly.

sgiacci - 2012-06-22 8:20 PM People, put the rebuts on Mythbusters site. That is the point of the thread!!!

I'm sorry, I wish I knew how to play well with others.  I don't know what I'm rebutting, I don't think it is a myth that people use car tires on motorcycles, nor do I believe they go up in flames if they do.  Unless you take every single bike in the world that has a car tire on it and an exact replication of bikes and riders without car tires and put them through exactly the same condition and circumstance and record exact data, this is all blah, blah, blah.  What are you wanting Myth Busters do?  What is the myth that you are trying to dispute?

Kelvininin - 2012-06-25 7:49 AM Thinking about this more... The argument about the OM states to follow legal speed limits is weak at best. There is a big difference between operating a vehicle above the posted speed limit and applying equipment to a system that wasn't designed to work with said system. For example. A car tire weighs more than a motorcycle tire, sometimes significantly more, by mounting a CT into on to a motorcycle, one is changing the unsprung mass of that portion of the motorcycles suspension system. Changing the unsprung mass of any suspension system can and will have a negative consequence on the suspension system as a whole. For starters one can expect premature suspension component wear, wheel chatter, unpredictable handling, and possibly even sudden loss of control in some rode conditions. The other thing to consider is most CT have a tread depth twice or more than a MT. This extra tread depth will allow for unanticipated lateral movement in turns as the tread flexes on the reduced sidewall contact patch in the turns. I can't see that as being a positive thing. Of course the Darksiders argument will remain "you have to try it to appreciate it." No actually one doesn't have to "try" it to appreciate it. All one has to really do is appreciate the amount of effort, and understand how systems work to appreciate it, or in this case, dismiss it as something one does not need to try. And I agree, this is no Myth, thus there is no Myth to bust. This is about less than 1% of all motorcycle riders wanting to save a few bucks, handling, reliability, and safety be damned. But really, if you really wanted to save a few bucks, there are much cheaper bikes out there as opposed to Victory. The other argument that all motorcycles use to have car tires... Have you seen the car tires of that said era? Said tires of that era actually resemble modern motorcycle tires as opposed to modern car tires.

very SMART

mathematically darksiders represent less than 1% of all motorcycle riders... Accidents evolving darksiding are such an statistical insignificance, it won't even pop up on DOTs radar. Unlike darksiding the Pinto, GM's saddle mount tanks, the rolling over explorers, ect, ect, ect, represented a much larger statistical representation of that segments cross section, making the situations with said products statistically significant. Plus these were the manufacturers mistakes. Why don't you just admit you care more about saving a buck than the actually handling of your bike, and the potential extra wear and tear to the suspension components? I still blows my mind that you actually think you know more than the engineers and designers who put these products together. I am all about tinkering, but I tinker to improve the ride, not sacrifice it to save some money.

That's the BEST of this whole discussion. Over my years of biking, I have read a number of articles by TIRE ENGINEERS who all said "Don't do it !!!" - and I would rather believe an 'expert' than someone who has 'tried it and it works'.

Bike manufacturers would put them on new bikes if there was ANY real improvement over properly designed bike tires (other than 'mileage'). But they don't. And there is no 'conspiracy' among the makers in case you still believe the moon landing was a hoax.

Okay, having read all the posts on this thread I figured I could jump in and give my two cents worth.

First, every time I read a post from a Darksider espousing the virtues of going to the Darkside the PRIMARY reason stated for doing so is because of longer tire life than what you get from a typical motorcycle tire, this tells me the primary reason for going to the Darkside is simply to save money.  In other words they do not like paying to change their rear motorcycle tire every 15K miles and would rather get 30K to 40K miles out of a car tire mounted on their motorcycle, otherwise known as being CHEAP.  There are many places you can save money and be cheaper with things related to your motorcycle, tires are not some of those things.

Second, I have used Amsoil 10W-40 in my Vision since I hit the 10K mile mark with a noticeable increase in the smoothness in shifting and I change my oil every 3K miles. the oil filter every 6K miles.  I buy my supplies from my local Honda DEALER, a dealer I have been doing business with for over ten years because they give me a 20% discount off of their marked prices, something not every customer of theirs gets, and I have their service department do my tire changes because (again, I am on great terms with the service writers and manager) I can call them up and tell them I am bringing my bike in the next day and when I bring it in they get the tires changed out in about an hour and a half.  The oil filters I get from this Honda dealer are Polaris/Victory filters simply due to the fact that they are a current Polaris dealer and a former Victory dealer (they dropped Victory in 2003 due to differences with Victory's allotment procedures).  I support my Victory dealer, the fantastic Randy's Cycles in Marengo, Illinois, by buying most of my accessories and all of my Victory apparel from him as his prices basically match what you can find on the internet.  Oh, it helps that the Honda dealer (Nielsen Enterprises in Lake Villa, Illinois) is only five minutes from my house versus forty five minutes to an hour to get to Randy's, and believe it or not Randy is cool with that!

Third, I have discovered that Wizard Products (no relation to my own Mr. Wizard's BC) are absolutely fantastic for cleaning, polishing, and otherwise keeping my Vision looking fantastic, I highly recommend them, especially the paint sealer which gives a finish just like Liquid Glass but at half the price.

Peace Brothers..............

You can sit around and talk or you really could get out and ride.

The Dunlop Winter Sport. The best tire I have ever had on a road trip. Over 11,000 miles of every kind of road condition.

Two lane, interstate, mountain roads, gravel, rocks, mud, pouring rain for 100's and 100's of miles, hill climbs, dips, pot holes, frost heaves.

Never broke loose. Taking off from a stop in the rain I could feel it dig in. The most confidence I have ever had riding in the rain.

Just based on personal experience. I don't sell tires, couldn't careless what everyone else does.

pollolittle - 2012-06-27 10:31 AM 5 times he's typed it, Gosh, Geez, another page and yet anyone to show the Butt-O-Meter of how it rides, with no hands and hard and aggressive.

 Not only no hands while riding aggressively, but you can stand on the seat and juggle knives while riding in the sphere of death.

I am always amused at these threads.  Most everyone who rides a Vision absolutely loves it and prefer it over any other bike, but not everyone feels that way.  I liken these discussion to conversations I've had with a Gold Winger or two and even BMWers.  They will agrue that a Gold Wing will do everything better than a Vision, and then some.  But everyone that I know has to stop around that hour to hour and half mark, because that's being safe.  I know it be from riding one is because my body hurts.  I listen to the BMWers and the Gold Wingers in their conversations and hear how they hurt from riding also, they talk about being too hot from the engine, or some other discomfort.  Yet when I tell them how much better the Vision is in those areas they deny they have any issue.  I have finally learned just to smile and listen, knowing what I absolutely know for a fact. 

I've done that same thing with going darkside, having read and consider everything that has been written and said about it.  In all of that reading, even the experts have convinced me that riding a car tire is not for me, with the exception of perhaps the Alaskian highway trip.  

At best these threads bring a lot of humor and content to the forums but nothing more.

Now Don. I promised not to enthrall folks any longer these discussion of the darkside. I wouldn't say they weren't real bikers, they are breaking boundries, afterall. I don't know what folks view of riding fast is but I have stretched the boundries on a Vision without flinching in comparison to any other bike I've ridden. The reason I attribute that to is where the rubber meats (sic) the road. I have an older brother, about 5 years, and there are a lot of things I never tried because of him. He was thoroughly convinced it was the right thing to do, only to find out that it wasn't and then have to pay the consequence for it, even to this day. So, I say live and let live. I'm with you, riding has become a very common thing for me, but continues to have that solid encitement each time I stradle the saddle. I will not become complacent, nor will I compromise. Even the experts have shared enough information that a car tire will never go on my bike unless they quit making motorcycle tires or I go on the Alaskian trip.

By the way ROLLIN' - After you completed your Alaskian trip, how do you think the stock tire would have fared?