Double dark.... why does it work?

joshuacathy0321 · May 1, 2016

So after putting several hundred miles (about 1800 miles on the Goodrich Comp rear, and about 600 miles on the Battlax BT45R front) on my 07' St1300 Darkside, I'm perplexed. Why does the Battlax on the front make such a remarkable difference? I can't even describe the HUGE change! No one would be able to tell the difference (between the car tire and a mc tire) if they didn't look first. Wow.... it's fantastic! 200 miles today on extremely curvy roads and sometimes wet.... felt wonderful!

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playinatwork · May 18, 2016

I've wondered the same thing. I'm now on an FJR 1300 and recently put on a car tire. I can't find where anyone has gone double dark with the FJR so it looks like I'll be the first to give it a try. Maybe it's an ST thing? Weird how well it works on the ST.

kendoo · May 18, 2016

Tim, I was wondering the same thing about the front of the FJR . I'll be going with a CT as soon as I burn off the stocker. Let me know how it works out.

SMSW · May 18, 2016

Every tire is going to have certain handling characteristics, and some will work well on a bike and some won't. The manufacturers design the bike for and test it with a small range of tires/sizes; they cannot possibly test all configurations and types. Toss in tire pressures and all the other variables and the number of combinations becomes infinite

You hit on a combination that works. That's great.

playinatwork · May 18, 2016

kendoo said:
Tim, I was wondering the same thing about the front of the FJR . I'll be going with a CT as soon as I burn off the stocker. Let me know how it works out.

I will if I can keep the damn thing running long enough.

spiderman302 · May 18, 2016

What tire pressures are you running front and rear?

The Dan · May 18, 2016

spiderman302 said:
front and rear?

42 front 32 rear

kendoo · May 18, 2016

The Dan said:
42 front 32 rear

Ditto

vinny · May 18, 2016

The Dan said:
42 front 32 rear

What tire are you running? Is it wearing in the center? Running double dark on the wing and running 28 in the rear... they wear even all the way across the tread. Just wondering.

jonjonboo · May 18, 2016

Hankook V12 rear 28 psi and BT45 front at 40 psi--best combo I know of

The Dan · May 19, 2016

vinny said:
What tire are you running?

Goodyear triple tread and BT45 and there wearing fine.

MidLife · May 24, 2016

Contemplating CTs for my ride. Did some web surfing for tech articles on why Dark Side would be bad for you: Quite entertaining!

But looking at vids of a 1300 and GW with CTs, their lines through the turns do not seem very clean/stable? Is it just rider skills or tire induced?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANTlFAFBoXw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNMEv7VoH04

Is there a vid of a CT1300 somewhere with nice and clean turn trajectories through twisties?

Thanks

jonjonboo · May 24, 2016

The fact is some riders have difficulty managing their bike regardless of what tire they use. Most of the guys I ride with run dark and with many years and miles experience. None of us have a problem with handling in any situation. Fact is--motorcycles aren't for everyone.

paulcb · May 24, 2016

jonjonboo said:
Fact is--motorcycles aren't for everyone.

Ain't that the truth!

T_C · May 24, 2016

MidLife said:
But looking at vids of a 1300 and GW with CTs, their lines through the turns do not seem very clean/stable? Is it just rider skills or tire induced?

That's what happens when you roll over the edge of a squared off tire. Ask anyone that has never tried it and they will tell you...

jonjonboo · May 24, 2016

T_C said:
Ask anyone that has never tried it and they will tell you...

exactly---most people I know that say negative things about car tires on a motorcycle have no experience.

RaYzerman · May 25, 2016

I'll speculate that perhaps a rear tire profile is slightly different than a front, or that the BT-045 simply has a profile that is better suited (by pure luck). Regardless of what you have on the back, certain fronts work better (for me) than others and I judge that by the turn-in. It just so happens that a BT-045 rear fits on the front and I would agree, use normal tire pressure up front.

kendoo · May 25, 2016

RaYzerman said:
I'll speculate that perhaps a rear tire profile is slightly different than a front, or that the BT-045 simply has a profile that is better suited (by pure luck). Regardless of what you have on the back, certain fronts work better (for me) than others and I judge that by the turn-in. It just so happens that a BT-045 rear fits on the front and I would agree, use normal tire pressure up front.

Being this is a double dark thread.....anybody doing this on the FJR Ray? I honestly have not even looked at what size front tire is on my new bike. I plan to put a CT on as soon as the OEM wears out.

T_C · May 25, 2016

RaYzerman said:
or that the BT-045 simply has a profile that is better suited (by pure luck).

Well it wouldn't be just the BT-045 profile, I have tried other fronts and they all make the CT on the back feel more rounded.

Probbaly that it has just a slightly larger diameter, just like the CT on the back. So it brings the ST back to neutral.

RaYzerman · May 25, 2016

kendoo said:
Being this is a double dark thread.....anybody doing this on the FJR Ray? I honestly have not even looked at what size front tire is on my new bike. I plan to put a CT on as soon as the OEM wears out.

I have only used a rear CT and to my knowledge no one has done DDS. Perhaps they just didn't know about the BT-45 coming in appropriate sizes..... front FJR is 120/70-17. Don't know if you could squeeze a 130 in there or not..........

Double dark.... why does it work?

joshuacathy0321

playinatwork

kendoo

SMSW

playinatwork

spiderman302

The Dan

The Dude Abides

kendoo

vinny

jonjonboo

The Dan

The Dude Abides

MidLife

jonjonboo

paulcb

- - - Tetelestai - - - R.I.P. - 2022/05/26

T_C

jonjonboo

RaYzerman

kendoo

T_C

RaYzerman