Long before "Run Flats" were available, "run of the mill radials" were the norm. Run Flats became popular, because, as you have stated, there "more motor cycle tire like ride". Therein lies the difference. The extremely stiff side wall of Run Flats mirror that of cycle tires. They are, in most cases, hard to mount! Some folks have experienced tire damage during mounting while others have not received the anticipated overall tire mileage of conventional radials i.e. 18K miles is really nothing to write home about IMHO.
To each their own when it comes to tire selection and that includes ones choice of a DS Tire. Having just shy of 50K miles on two G-Max's I'm so accustomed to any and all small handling anomalies, it's a mute subject with me. I actually find rear cycle tires "too neutral". Guess I can best describe it as driving two different cager vehicles. One with power steering and one without. CT's require a little extra "drivers input"! That aside, it's a handling feature I've become accustomed to and like 30K miles service from a rear cycle tire is unheard of yet readily accomplished with a Max! "Just what the Doctor Ordered in my case
Ride Safe
bob109
The diameters of the Max and OEM Bridgestone are almost identical! Using the attached Tire Size Formula Chart will give you the specifics on size
http://hondaf6b.com/showthread.php?1...ize-Calculator
After much thought I decided to not mount another run flat myself. I stopped at my local tire shop (the owner is a rider as well) and will have him order and mount my tire. Guess I'm just getting to old for tire work. I really like the way the run flat felt and as long as it is not me mounting it,,, why not. I did not know the Yokohama was also available in a run flat. So I told him my tires of choice. First the Yokohama Envigor ZPS because I like the solid center section and tread block on the edges, IF it was a problem for him to get,,, then mount up a DUNLOP WINTER SPORT.
Bob109, thank you for all your info and I really appreciate you always adding your experience to each of my questions but I think after riding on the stiffer run flat, I think I will stay with it. I wish that G Max was a run flat because I really like the tread design.
zzh54 we will have to get together again soon and compare the two after you get a few miles on yours.
I've spent most my money on Motorcycles and Women, the rest I just wasted.
Dan, anytime Brother. If the weather holds out for Sunday, I am planning a reservoir run, last time I did this I was gone 12 hours. Good day run up in the catskill mountians .
The title of this thread, Rethinking Run Flats, is a case of over-thinking an issue. To my knowledge, no car tire has ever come off the rim due to the theoretical small mismatch between tire and rim profiles. In fact, according to my local tire shop, it's pretty hard to get an old tire off the rim to start with. IMHO, this is almost as bad as an oil thread. Whether or not someone decides to go "darkside" is personal choice but there is no reality supporting not going this route based purely on assumptions and bad theories. I've seen way too many opinions from people who have never experimented with the darkside but want to express an opinion nonetheless. To be honest, I'm tiring of all that. So, this is my time to forget being PC and time to tell it like it is . Now...I've run run-flats previously and they performed just fine. For the past couple of years, I've been running the Falken which happens not to be a run flat but is a great tire, my favorite so far. I have all the advantages of a car tire but it still feels like a motorcycle tire. I'm another one of those darksiders that's never going back to an inferior motorcycle tire.
Ken (Hornblower)
Originally, the tire was a 612, sold exclusively by Discount Tire for around $70. I still have one more new one left in my own stock. That model was discontinued and replaced by the ZE-912. Here is one of many links to it:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-TIRE-195...-/252476664909
As I have mentioned previously, I originally found this tire being used by Yellow Wolf and friends, some of the fastest Gold Wing riders in Western NC. For super-aggressive riders, this tire doesn't last all that long (mainly due to edge wear) but the performance and feel in wet or dry conditions is unbeatable, in my experience. The fact that this tire is not symmetrical is a non-factor since it goes left or right equally well. So, in summary, this tire would be for someone looking more for performance in any conditions than uber-long tread life.
Ken (Hornblower)