Darksided my Voyager

[GhostRider32]

I put a General RT43 205/60/16 on my Voyager. I'm very happy with it. It doesn't lean as easy as a motorcycle tire but for me, it leans easy enough. It took a little bit to get used to the difference in how it moves from side to side but overall, it's not that much different than the flat Dunlop Elite 4 I had on it. I doubt that I will ever go back to a motorcycle tire now.

I leave on a 4 or 5 thousand mile trip soon and now I don't have to worry if this tire will make it like I would have the motorcycle tire. I run 35 psi and hope to get 40,000 out of this tire but at the very least, expect to get at a minimum of 30,000 miles. It's rated as a 65,000 mile tire for a much heaver car so maybe it will make 40,000.

Side note, for those who have never used the CO2 cartridges to air your tire up, they work great. I bought this kit,

https://www.jpcycles.com/product/280...ire-repair-kit

and, so far, it works as advertised. I also bought a box of 30 extra CO2 cartridges off amazon for $30. I wanted to know how many cartridges I would actually need to air up a tire so I let the air our of my front to 0 psi. 5 cartridges refilled the tire to 34 psi. I was able to stuff 13 CO2 cartridges into the little JP kit bag so I'm ready to go. No air pump to fail and very small.

[Snake Ranch]

Originally Posted by GhostRider32

I put a General RT43 205/60/16 on my Voyager. I'm very happy with it. It doesn't lean as easy as a motorcycle tire but for me, it leans easy enough. It took a little bit to get used to the difference in how it moves from side to side but overall, it's not that much different than the flat Dunlop Elite 4 I had on it. I doubt that I will ever go back to a motorcycle tire now.

I leave on a 4 or 5 thousand mile trip soon and now I don't have to worry if this tire will make it like I would have the motorcycle tire. I run 35 psi and hope to get 40,000 out of this tire but at the very least, expect to get at a minimum of 30,000 miles. It's rated as a 65,000 mile tire for a much heaver car so maybe it will make 40,000.

Side note, for those who have never used the CO2 cartridges to air your tire up, they work great. I bought this kit,

https://www.jpcycles.com/product/280...ire-repair-kit

and, so far, it works as advertised. I also bought a box of 30 extra CO2 cartridges off amazon for $30. I wanted to know how many cartridges I would actually need to air up a tire so I let the air our of my front to 0 psi. 5 cartridges refilled the tire to 34 psi. I was able to stuff 13 CO2 cartridges into the little JP kit bag so I'm ready to go. No air pump to fail and very small.

I run a Yokohama Avid Ascend,205-60-16. The best way I can describe the difference is when turning I have to counter steer a little more to make up the difference on how it responds. The other thing is I relax my grip on the high side of the turn and use the other hand to control the turn. Other wise I start getting a small wobble, which is me fighting the feedback.

The other thing I have done is to remove the lead weights for tire balance and use a product called RIDE-ON. It's a tire sealant that balances the tires at the same time. And it really works. Past experience made me a believer.

I started using this based on a recommendation from a motorcycle tire shop. It's the cat's meow.

[smokier]

Originally Posted by Snake Ranch

I run a Yokohama Avid Ascend,205-60-16. The best way I can describe the difference is when turning I have to counter steer a little more to make up the difference on how it responds. The other thing is I relax my grip on the high side of the turn and use the other hand to control the turn. Other wise I start getting a small wobble, which is me fighting the feedback.

The other thing I have done is to remove the lead weights for tire balance and use a product called RIDE-ON. It's a tire sealant that balances the tires at the same time. And it really works. Past experience made me a believer.

I started using this based on a recommendation from a motorcycle tire shop. It's the cat's meow.

@SnakeRanch, Tell me more about RIDE-ON please. How is clean up when changing the tire? Does this stuff stay liquid and wipes off easily? Or is this a sticky mess?


How much RIDE-ON per tire is needed?


Ride safe,
Smokier

[GhostRider32]

Snake Ranch,

How many miles do you have on your Yokohama tire? How many do you think you will get out of it?

[Chuck A.]

Originally Posted by GhostRider32

I put a General RT43 205/60/16 on my Voyager. I'm very happy with it. It doesn't lean as easy as a motorcycle tire but for me, it leans easy enough.................. I run 35 psi............

That PSI just seems a bit much for the weight of the bike. I know a guy that has a car tire on a older Goldwing and he is only running 22 psi. Lets the sidewall flex in the corners and he handles every curve quite well.

I am considering going dark side after this tire wears out. I had to do the "on the road" tire replacement last fall due to a tire wearing out fast due to all the weight(me and luggage) while riding a multi state mountain ride. Had planned on changing the tire to a car tire after I returned but didn't make it.

[GhostRider32]

You may be right chuck. I will lower it to 33, 31, etc... and see how it rides. The tire is rated at 1389 lbs so it should have room for adjustment.

[mbarr10]

Just a thought, After watching this I will pass on the dark side.

[GhostRider32]

Already have seen the video. There are numerous inadequacies in that video when comparing to a Voyager. First off, his bike weighs almost half what a Voyager weighs. That in its self makes a huge difference in how the tire sits at an angle. Sitting on the side stand, my Voyager already compresses the tire to make more surface contact with the ground. Another glaring discrepancy, his bike was made to turn much sharper and lean side to side far more than a Voyager. The list could go on but the reality is that I'm very satisfied with my tire and won't go back.

If you want to stay on a motorcycle tire the great, I don't care. As is typical fashion, far to many people have an argument but no experience to back up their argument. Even the extremely young fellow in the video didn't test a Voyager so much of his "opinions" mean jack.

After watching this and having actual experience, I'll stay with the car tire.

[BrokeAss]

Originally Posted by GhostRider32

Already have seen the video. There are numerous inadequacies in that video when comparing to a Voyager. First off, his bike weighs almost half what a Voyager weighs. That in its self makes a huge difference in how the tire sits at an angle. Sitting on the side stand, my Voyager already compresses the tire to make more surface contact with the ground. Another glaring discrepancy, his bike was made to turn much sharper and lean side to side far more than a Voyager. The list could go on but the reality is that I'm very satisfied with my tire and won't go back.

If you want to stay on a motorcycle tire the great, I don't care. As is typical fashion, far to many people have an argument but no experience to back up their argument. Even the extremely young fellow in the video didn't test a Voyager so much of his "opinions" mean jack.

After watching this and having actual experience, I'll stay with the car tire.

Ryan didn't give his opinion other than to say, "It works". And it does, indeed, work. So does driving a car with your feet. It's the best option for someone who wants to go 20k miles between tire changes. In that regard, it is VASTLY superior. In every other aspect, it's worse.

I'm well past arguing with people about whether darksiding works or not, the verdict is in and millions of miles of evidence prove that, yes it does. Problem is, darksiders aren't content to say it works and move on with their lives, they get greedy, and usually they further argue that it's "just as good" or I've even heard "better" than motorcycle tires. Just be happy that it works, and saves you money and time...it doesn't work better, or even as well. I can tell such a huge difference going from a squared off worn rear tire from too many boring highway miles and putting a fresh new ROUND rear tire on...you're essentially starting off on Day 1 with a squared off tire... Enjoy crisscrossing Kansas with your cruise control set, save the curvy tires for those of us who ride curvy roads.

[Peg]

Originally Posted by BrokeAss

Ryan didn't give his opinion other than to say, "It works". And it does, indeed, work. So does driving a car with your feet. It's the best option for someone who wants to go 20k miles between tire changes. In that regard, it is VASTLY superior. In every other aspect, it's worse.

I'm well past arguing with people about whether darksiding works or not, the verdict is in and millions of miles of evidence prove that, yes it does. Problem is, darksiders aren't content to say it works and move on with their lives, they get greedy, and usually they further argue that it's "just as good" or I've even heard "better" than motorcycle tires. Just be happy that it works, and saves you money and time...it doesn't work better, or even as well. I can tell such a huge difference going from a squared off worn rear tire from too many boring highway miles and putting a fresh new ROUND rear tire on...you're essentially starting off on Day 1 with a squared off tire... Enjoy crisscrossing Kansas with your cruise control set, save the curvy tires for those of us who ride curvy roads.

I'm also a (longstanding) fan of Ryan's, especially his humor, and agree with your post entirely. You seem to have nailed exactly what I was thinking when I read that slightly defensive post, so it's from me

[GhostRider32]

I agree that it will never be equal to a motorcycle tire in pure performance. I don't recall anyone saying it is. If someone does, they are probably lying. I just get tired of people who don't have a dog in the race giving their opinions as if they are somehow superior, especially those who have no experience with the same setup.

It's the same in everything. There's always "experts" who don't have a clue or actual experience yet give their opinions as fact and if you don't accept it then you are somehow less intelligent and a rube. Case in point, as an airplane fan, I'm open to various engine types yet there are "experts" everywhere who will tell you that if it's not a air cooled, horizontally opposed engine then it isn't a real airplane engine. Quite often they look dumbfounded when they learn that the first airplane engine was a water cooled inline 4 cylinder on the Wright Flyer. The best fighter engine in WW2 was the Rolls Royce Merlin supercharged, water cooled V-12 in the P-51 Mustang. Yet these "experts" who have no experience and even less knowledge will assume you to be unintelligent if you don't agree with them even though they don't have any experience with the subject and everything they have learned comes from the internet which we all know is never wrong....

I knew before I posted the original post that after I did, very soon someone with no experience would be by naysaying but I decided to post my results anyway to help others who are thinking about it.

Here's the bottom line. If you don't want to darkside then by all means don't. Most darksiders couldn't care less what tire you run. I have a sport bike. If I want to carve a canyon, I can. I went to a car tire because on my cross country bike, I want 30,000 miles out of a rear tire, not 5,000 to 10,000.

If you believe that the world will start turning backwards if someone goes to the darkside then that is your right but quit acting like because you may not do it, it's not right or can't be done. Good grief, if everyone took the same attitude as most people today then we wouldn't have half of the discoveries that man has made because most people would be too scared to try anything that the majority of people don't agree with.

[BrokeAss]

I constantly see Straw Men from the DS crowd. Nobody is saying it doesn't work, that's a Straw Man. Nobody has ever argued (intelligently) that a DS'd bike rides on the tire's sidewall, that's also a Straw Man. Nobody is arguing using empirical crash data because AIS Detectives are not called out to reconstruct a crash unless two or more vehicles are involved and there's a fatality and who to blame is in question. So what we're left with is Ryan F9's entirely diplomatic conclusion...choose what attributes best serve your situation and then LET IT GO...

[mbarr10]

Backing up I read all these post again and in all I read no one sad it was Dumb. Just a few stated it is not for them.

Ride safe and enjoy the ride

Hey I switched to Full synthetic oil this year, So I can still change my mind about things.

[Chuck A.]

Cant make out the whole tire size in the video but the first number was a 2--/--. Why didn't they get a tire closer to the size of motorcycle tire if they are gonna make a comparison? Car tire is way wider than the rim and way to much air in it. Tire shouldn't have more than 22 PSI so it could flex.

[BrokeAss]

Originally Posted by Chuck A.

Cant make out the whole tire size in the video but the first number was a 2--/--. Why didn't they get a tire closer to the size of motorcycle tire if they are gonna make a comparison? Car tire is way wider than the rim and way to much air in it. Tire shouldn't have more than 22 PSI so it could flex.

If you peruse the DS forums and the YouTube video comments section you'll see a "wider than the bike tire" trend. Same with the high air pressure, thought being a more inflated tire will ride more on the center tread when going straight. Second thought probably being acknowledgement that neither the rim's bead nor the hump are utilizing by a car tire so the ONLY thing keeping the whole arranged marriage together IS air pressure. There is no redundancy.