I guess this answers the question my mother asked me when I was 10.
"If your friend jumped off a cliff would you do it too?"

The answer is yes.

That is as long as my friend can produce lots of posts from people who have done it and liked it.


I used tdkkart's thread
http://www.roadglide.org/showthread.php?t=35961
as starting point. Why? Because I had just put 4 G-Max tires on Momma's G8 and they are great. I had already decided to go Dark when I needed a new rear tire. tdkkart's thread helped me chose which tire to use and verified it would fit properly.

Anyway I took my G-Max 205-55-16, a 16 oz bottle of Ride On tire sealant and a 90 degree Anchor valve stem to my Indy. They made me sign a waiver and gave me a blank receipt that only had a price on it when I picked up the bike...

Picked up the bike this afternoon. My first thought was "Holy Toledo, that tire is huge!"

I rode the bike home about 40 miles, mostly highway. Then me and Momma met some friends and rode into Cleveland, to Little Italy for dinner, about 40 miles again. It started raining quite hard during dinner. We put on our rain suits and plowed 40 miles through slop and Cleveland roads to get home.

First thoughts,

The Good:

1) Mostly the learning curve isn't that big of a deal. I did not have concentrate or work at it real hard. I just took it easy and let the bike come to me.
2) Slow speed handling, while not as good as a motorcycle tire is not gross. You just need to muscle the bike slightly more.
3) Momma says the ride is noticeably better with the car tire!
4) Handling at speed seems just fine (I did not really push it yet) The bike holds a good line on highway curves at all speeds up to about 80. (as fast as I have gone yet)
5) The Ride On tire sealant works great for balancing your tire. Smooth as silk.
6) The tire was totally unflappable on the way home in the rain. Made me feel very confident. I was kind of worried when we first left but by the time we neared home I had the stereo blasting and I was singing along to classic rock as we passed cars in the rain.

The bad:
1)Caught an uneven piece of pavement where the raised lip was parallel to the bike at a very small angle. The rear tire climbed up it with a sideways lurch that I was not ready for.
2) On roads with very high crowns you can feel the rear tire trying to force the bike in the downward direction.
3) Not really a bad thing, but apparently the 55 series tire is just slightly smaller in diameter than the stock tire was. My speedo always read about 2 mph fast at 70. Now it reads about 3.5 mph fast. Need to figure out how to calibrate the speedo with my Thundermax. A 60 series tire would probably have been closer to the stock diameter.

Well that's it for now..

And for those of you who wondered:

No, the bike did not spontaneously combust, nor did I at any time fall over dead due to using a car tire on a bike...

 

Day 2

Went on a Poker Run today, managed to put about 150 miles on the bike.

Went through road construction where they had removed the top layer of the road leaving the very rough surface to be repaved. (What is that called?) Anyway the car tire ignored it. It wasn't there. That big fat tire rolled over it almost as smoothly as a normal road. The bike did not shimmy at all! I can't wait to try it on an expanded metal surface bridge.

Got to ride on a long gravel driveway. I will admit that it was very well packed, but once again the car tire just ignored it! No fuss, no muss.

This evening I used my Thundermax to adjust my speedo down by 3 mph at 60. I hope I did it the right direction or the speedo will read 66 at 60 mph.
I will find out tomorrow.

So far I am very pleased with choice to go over to the dark side....

 

Please keep us posted.

 

Took a nice overnight ride with friends. All told put about 410 miles on the bikes.

The car tire was a complete non-issue. No muss, no fuss and no problems. Hardly even think about it anymore. I can't see any non-catastrophic reason that would ever have me riding on a motorcycle rear tire again. (except of course maybe buying a new bike... )

 

I put one on the 2011 RK back then and was told that I would die in a ball of flames and all my kids would blip into non existents instantly.

Still here after 30 000 on the RK and now have one waiting in the garage to go on the 2013 Electraglide after 10000 miles. Which is about a week down the road. Can't wait to get on a good tire again.

Same tire just new 195/60/16 Yokohama AVID ASCEND. It has 16k on it and good for at least another season. I am not easy on rear tires I think I am a little throttle happy but oh well

 

PFWiz, Just read the RoadGlide.org post you had. It was very informative and good reading. Got a laugh outta the guy who forgot about the C-snap ring on the rear and spun the nut off with an impact. I'm gonna be getting a tire within the next couple of weeks and thinking about giving the G-Max AS-03, 205 55/16 a shot. Also, I normally run balance beads, but think I'll do the Ride-on stuff this time. Thanks,

SugsPa

 

Time for another update.

Almost 2000 miles on the car tire. I am still alive and the bike has not spontaneously combusted.

Nothing really new. I am currently running 36 psi (cold) and I think maybe it is a good thing. The bike seems to handle a little better at speed with the higher pressure.

As others have noted, the car tire provides stupid good rear braking. Confidence in your braking ability makes a happier, less stressful ride.

An unexpected benefit is that it seems like it is easier to crawl up to a street light with my feet on the boards. That big steam roller tire in the back is very stable <5 mph going in a straight line.

I am still very pleased with my decision to go the Dark Side....

 

Still Happy with my car tire. Still running 36 psi cold. I like the way the bike handles...

Found a lightly traveled rural highway today and took the bike up to about 105! The bike road perfectly smooth and once again the car tire was non issue. On a side note the bike had lots left at 105, but I am no longer young, dumb and full of ***....

Damn....

 

any problems so far with the ABS?

 

I have had no problems of any kind due to the car tire other than various "experts" telling me that was about to die horribly!

Why do you ask?