Car Tires or Sidecars, just another non OEM change
Along with my F6B and my Valk I have a 1978 GL1000 with a California Sidecar mounted. I will say the Sidecar is an accepted non OEM addition to my Old Wing but that Sidecar sure is a much larger alteration to my Motorcycle than the car tire is on my Valk.
My point is that many of us make changes that an Insurance Co or Good Lawyer can exploit if push comes to shove in a court room. A chance we must except with our changes!!
While i'm into it I will throw my Car Tire thoughts into the mix...............
For years I wanted to try a car tire on my Valk. It is a 2000 Interstate and as of late 2012 I had a bit under 90 thousand miles on the bike. The Valk is not my only bike, but the one that makes the larger trips as it is set up for long haul two up riding. I decided for this trip to take a friend up on his offer to throw a car tire on. He has 3 Valkyries all with Car Tires and had an extra mounted new tire on a Valk rim ready to go. I had done my researching and reading over the years and started adding up the pros and cons of a car tire on a road trip.
As in the past, our Sturgis trips take in 7000 miles in two weeks so this will be a great test.
I have found the extended highway speeds in the July/August heat, along with the bike tipping the scales at 1200lbs once loaded with gear and riding two up, sure does tear up tires fast. Sooo I mounted the NEXEN 205/60Ri6 tire
NOW after running the CT for well over 10 thousand miles and a years time...
I will say for anyone that thinks they a car tire doesn't handle, just look at what's left of my pegs... You will still corner just as hard and lean just as far as you always had. NO CHANGE. I had thought I would sacrifice cornering with a car tire but that was a non issue. No change from Bike to Car tire in the twisties. This year to Sturgis we took the Northern route from New England thru Canada down into North Dakota. Three days of rain gave a good wet road test. Straight up stopping is awesome with the car tire, and even leaned over I still had good traction on the wet roads.
BUT I think the Bike tire has a bit better traction leaned over on dry roads. That may change with your car tire choice. The NEXEN has very small tread blocks on the sides and I think the larger surface area of the bike tire gives it an edge . Although I never felt any slipping until I was accelerating a bit harder that I should have while leaning in a hard corner up hill...
PRO...
Flat repair much easier and can be run with a plug
Better at heavy load handling
Better wet traction Much better tread life
No Cupping to deal with.. (a big problem with bike tires)
On the Bearthooth Pass we ran into construction and rode 10 miles of dirt in the rain... I was glad I was on a Car Tire for that!!!
Con...
Low speed handling on uneven pavement
Motorcycle dealers don't like to deal with them (but small tire shops have no problem)
Pro or Con depending on how you look at it...
Slightly higher RPM (very slight, maybe 200rpm at 70mph)