1999 ST1100 Thinking of going dark next tire.

I've seen a quite a few people with ST1300s talking about the CT they are running, but what about ST1100 riders? What do you ride for a CT rear?

Let me be the first to tell you: bad idea. Car tires are designed for cars, motorcycle tires are designed for motorcycles. This is really evident when you're following someone with a car tire through a corner, balancing on the outer ridge. The only advantage to a car tire is increased mileage. If you can't afford to replace your tires every 10,000 miles, you should consider taking the bus.

Going dark on an ST1300 is pretty easy... just install the a car tire that fits. Going dark on an ST1100 is difficult... as I understand, you need a Goldwing wheel and spacers, i.e. there are no appropriate car tires that will mount on the stock ST11 wheel. See my thread that discusses this.

roginoz said:

If you can't afford to replace your tires every 10,000 miles, you should consider taking the bus.

Click to expand...

Agreed! No tire manufacturer, auto or bike, will recommend this as a good idea. It all comes down to how cheaply, or valuable, you value your safety. Now we await the Darksiders to jump in to say their piece.

roginoz said:

If you can't afford to replace your tires every 10,000 miles, you should consider taking the bus.

Click to expand...

If rear motorcycle tires lasted 10,000 miles there would be little incentive to install car tires. I'm still on MC tires but couldn't make a case against car tires at this point with probably millions of miles logged and absolutely nothing to report. It might even be safer than riding on a rapidly degrading rear tire every 90-120 days.

Let me be the first to tell you that roginoz is entitled to an opinion but you, as an adult, can make your own choice. Much like MC tires, car tires are ,,,round, flexible, and made of rubber. No big deal.
It can be done with a different wheel (GL 1500} and some machining. That being said, I would not do it again but ONLY because the choice of tires is so limited. I love the Darkside. Works fine. Many tire choices for the 1300 and Gold Wing.

It is not a safety issue. I've read many threads about MC tire failure, can't say the same for MC tires.

Darkside is not for everyone. It's been bashed, hashed, snubbed and clubbed over and over. Do we really need to go through it again? That said, with the help of others on this site and ST-Riders.net, I have gone to the Darkside on my '93.

The well-documented process is much more involved than simply swapping a tire, but not a difficult one if you can get the spacers. You will need a GL1500 rear wheel. There is a very limited selection of CTs that will fit (only slightly fewer than MC tires!). I am running a Bridgestone Touranza and have been very pleased with it. It currently has 13-14k miles on it and has lots of tread left. It is just now starting to round off the edges.

Darkside is different than MC tire; not good different or bad different, just different. But various MC tires are different too.

Only you can decide if it works for you...

You are getting good mileage with the Turanza too Pat. I should have stayed with it. Remember the Dunlop Winter tire I had on at OhioSToc 3 years ago. Bad deal there but I think it was a Monday build. Either that or maybe they are just way too soft.
We're I to do it again I would go back to the Turanza. Seams like I recall they are or were the OEM tire for the Ford Taurus.

It seems to me after reading many of the DS threads on this forum that, the only people who are ok with car tires are the people who could also be perfectly happy on a Goldwing the rest of their days. Since lean angle becomes less and or a bit wobbly according to dark siders, (You get used to it is not a valid argument) I wouldn't in a million years.

So ask yourself does lean angle matter to you? Do you like to lean over in corners? Do you use the whole tread of your tire between changes? If you answer yes to these than stick with MC tires.

Do you ride Iron butt rallies that cause you to cover massive amounts of miles in a straight line like most Goldwing riders than it may be worth looking into. Of course you know what they say about opinions so the ultimate decision is yours.

I'm running double dark on my ST1300, as well as on my Wing, and can still drag pegs if I choose. If you haven't tried Darkside, I don't really see how you can comment on how they handle.

Flame suit on.

Ride Safe
John and Janis

We had our fire equipment (extinguishers, sprinklers, detectors, etc) tested at my office last week. The man testing them said that insurance companies are now reducing payouts on claims based on how compliant you are. So, for instance, if they determine your extinguishers were not tested recently, they might reduce your return by knocking say 30% off of what they were going to get.

I wonder if/when auto insurance well do the same. My guess is that a company might be likey reduce what they would pay if they knew you had a CT on a MC.

I have two rears (twilight I guess) on my 93'; very stable. My 94' is stock. Love em' both. Thought about the Darkside last change, maybe next time.

and you know what ...... I will be able to find many many witness who would be able to provide video evidence that the CT would not have been an issue

5 months after ownership and time for replacing my rear tire. With the proper research of others who did this and what they had to say, I made an informed decision. I'm also the kind of person who takes calculated risks, to be able to experience things and know things for myself. In this case, round rubbery thing filled with air that goes round and round the faster you go. 40k miles later am I glad I did it? Yes. Why? Because I was motivated to ride that way from discovering it for myself, to express myself.
I am losing interest in those who object without trying new things.
People object to riding motorcycles..