Folks,

I got fedup with my D407's. My front tire was replaced by the dealer with a new D408F, but with a worn rear tire it still was squirrely, and a handful in the rain, or when flying two flags at highway speeds.

I had a set of rims of a 2010 Street Glide that I bought on Ebay and I mounted an Elite 3 130/80R18 radial in the front and a Dunlop SP 5000 car tire in the rear, size 195/60-16. This tire has the same diameter as the Dunlop D407 185/65B16 so the speedometer didn't change, and its just a little wider. It leaves about 1/4 of an inch clearance at the belt on the left side, and about the same at the caliper bracket on the right side. My choices were out of these tires:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...r=16&x=52&y=13
I went with the high performance, but folks up north, take a look at the Blizzak WS60, lol.

In retrospect, I didn't need the front radial. Folks at the Dark Side forum use car tires in the back, some with bias tires in the front, some with radials in the front, and one is just as happy as the other one. It works anyway. If I had to do it all over, I would have kept the front D408F and used it with my car tire.

I removed the wheels and mounted the front tire myself in the garage, and the rear I took to the local Honda dealer, they do a lot of these for the Gold Wing riders. This reminds me that one time I went riding with a friend of mine on his 'Wing, I had a hard time keeping up with him, lol. Now I know.

I am running 32 PSI in the rear and 40 PSI in the front, with 3 ounces of Dynabeads in the rear and 1.5 ounces in the front. This works, its like riding on glass, no tire vibrations of any kind.

Since I just did this, I only have some initial impressions, but more will follow.

Coming out of my neighborhood, there is a street where I turn that always has water running while the rest of the pavement is dry. I turn right on the water, and I had to be very cautious with the D407, the car tire doesn't even notice it, no loss of traction.

Secondary road near my neighborhood that has construction going on and usually has gravel all over it, including the turns, used to give me a coronary, the car tire doesn't even feel the gravel. I can't believe what I was missing, I can relax, even with gravel in the mix, lol. Braking distances are reduced significantly, and there are no adverse effects from the ABS. Braking distances are significantly improved.

I have just one word about traction, in a turn or in a straight line: INSANE
Its hard to explain and hard to believe, the tire sticks like glue.

At highway speeds it tracks like on rails. My bike was never like this, even when it was new.

The initial impressions are overwhelmingly positive. I simply had no idea what I was missing, and it doesn't look like there will be a situation that will make me change my mind, so it looks like no return to the D407's.

Naysayers, I have my flame suit on, but be forwarned that your opinion doesn't carry any weight unless you have TRIED IT. Get it? TRIED IT.


Dunlop SP 5000 size 195/60-16 is the same diameter (or within a small fraction of an inch) to the Dunlop D407 185/65B16





How can a motorcycle tire stand up like that? don't they have a round profile? lol




Side view



Rear view





Finally, the flickability is still there. I can still flick it side to side, just a lot more stable, and the thread not being unidirectional doesn't make a difference. Its just as easy turning left or right.
Tirerack.com has this tire for about 131, and most prices are just about there, I only found one site that has it for 87 bucks, see here:
http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.p...ort=P&dsco=135
This change is not about money and saving a few bucks, even though the car tire is only 87.00 this is about my ride, improving comfort and traction. I got everything I was looking for and more with this change.
Sheeeeeesssshhh....!!!! All this fun and only 87 dollars?

Folks, I cannot take credit for this, it wasn't my idea, the Gold Wing riders have been doing it for years, and there is a fella out of North carolina, I think, that has over 11,000 miles on the car tire on his 2009 Ultra. He says he is not going back, lol.
More to follow.

UPDATE -
I went for a long ride, and I had a front end wobble when slowing down from about 90 MPH. Anything below that was still golden, awesome traction, to the point that a MC tire short of a racing tire cannot even approach. When I got back to the house, after cool down, I checked my tire pressure with a digital gage and found out that my inflator gage is off 4 PSI. When I had an indicated 32 PSI, I really had 28. I adjusted the pressure with the digital gage and all is well. Moral of the story is that you must have a good air pressure gage, 'cuz a couple of PSI make a big difference.

One more thing, the guys at the Dark Side forum said that the tire might feel squirrely during the first 400-500 miles because of the need to wear off the MOLD RELEASE LUBRICANT. I googled this, and they were right. Quote from Tire Rack.com:

"As tires are cured, a release lubricant is applied to prevent them from sticking in their mold. Some of the lubricant stays on the surface of your tires, reducing traction until it is worn away. Five hundred miles of easy acceleration, cornering and braking will allow the mold release lubricant to wear off, allowing the other tire components to begin working together."

UPDATE-
Insurance- I just called my insurance company, Progressive, about their official position on the car tire on a motorcycle. The answer to the question was very simple:
Is my policy affected if I put on a car tire on the back end of my motorcycle? NO
So much for all this insurance arguments.

UPDATE-
"Sweet Spot" -I can't believe I forgot to include this. I am now going through the process of finding the "sweet spot" in tire pressure. This involves starting at 40 PSI and then reducing pressure 2 PSI's at a time until I find the pressure where my bike's weight and my riding style work the nest. For folks over on the Dar Side forum, tires similar to mine work best at around 28 to 30 PSI

UPDATE-
Radial or Bias in front. I have both, the E3 radial and an older D402 bias MT90B16 mounted on a 2008 street glide wheel and I changed wheels today to check the ride on a bias tire.







I went up to Bisbee, Arizona, to try some twisties, and then did some highway riding at 80MPH, then some slow backroads near Ft Huachuca, and my bike was just as happy on the bias tire. Some pro's and con's:

E3 radial, 130/80R18 at 40 PSI
1. Rides hard, with the low profile, bounces harder than the MT90B16 and I feel it on my back, lol
2. I have to be careful hitting a curb or pothole, just like an SUV with 22's and super low profile tires. I am afraid of damaging the rim and getting a flat.
3. Huge stability in the corners, on twisty roads, grips like glue
4. Light steering

D402 Bias, MT90B16 at 40 PSI
1. softer ride, doesn't hit as hard on a pothole or curb
2. stable, but I don't feel comfortable scraping anything in the curves.
3. heavier steering
4. Looks better, IMHO. I like a big tire in front. But I am going back to my radial, lol.

Like I said before, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have bought a front tire, I would have kept the D408F. A rear car tire doesn't seem to mind what is up front.


Regards,

 

Guilty !!! I also put a CT on my 2010 Fatboy. I got caught in a heavy rain yesterday and it was great. I have 3k miles on the CT. It handles great in the twisties as well. I wore out the Dunlop at 4500 but ran it until 5K Miles. At that rate I would need tires with each service interval. I need a front tire soon and I'm looking at options for that. Enjoy the ride.

 

Thanks for your post. With all the Dunlop tire problem posts, you may have found the perfect solution. Will be interesting to see what kind of mileage you get from the rear tire.

 

Looks good to me, interesting to see what mileage you get. Maybe 50K or more?

 

I've got an older bike with a 130/90/16, been looking for a non spare in similar size. Looks like they sell them in Europe. Hopefully I can find one so I can do the same.

 

You mean you rode it around? And the sun still shines? Cats arent sleeping with dogs? And the bike still works?
SHOCKING
Wish I could do that on my 08.

 

Someone thinking outside the box.

Sounds almost.....AMERICAN!

Love it.

 

Rockin Rod
Don't hold me to it but I think you can. I think continental 185/76/16 or the Bridgestone 195/60/16 works on those. google darkside riders and do a little research.

 

keep us posted on your results.. we are all interested..

 

Interested and subscribed. It seems like the flat profile of the car tire would be great on straightaways, but in turns it seems like you would have less rubber on the road, and it might be rough in and out of turns as is rolls on and off the flat center of the tire. Have you experienced any of this?