Went to the darkside...

Well, I finally switched. Been thinking and talking about it for at least two years. After my trip to RockSToc this year and my rear tire was all used up, I finally said "I'm doing it". Went with the BFG Comp-2/ BT45 combo that lots of folks like in this thread. Our local hero Vinny invited me up in no time to utilize his skills, garage and equipment. It was quite the struggle getting that Battlax on the front wheel but she went on and installed easily. The rear was easier to mount but there was a little rub/squeak on about 1/4 of the tire on the right side. It was mainly extra material from the molding so we hit it with the air sander and the rubber came right off. Running 42 up front and 28 in the rear. Don't know how anyone can mount these tires to the wheels alone. With just a basic tire changer it seems like a two man job for sure.
Leaving Vinny's house you're immediately in the twisties so it's literally trial by fire as they say. Took it slow and easy to warm up the tires and scuff them up. At first it felt kind of heavy almost like the racing term "plowing". Having never ridden a motorcycle with anything other than cycle tires I'm sure it will be an adjustment. I'm about 60 miles from Vinny's so I had a decent little ride back to feel them out. Gotta get out there and have a nice, long ride to really get an impression. I think I'm going to like them mostly for the longevity but I'm just going to have to get used to the new feel.

Now it's off to research and purchase a new rear shock.

Skip

It was a pleasure helping out, Skip. Many folks like the dark side combination, but then again some purest will not approve. Been running the dark side combo on the wing for almost five years and love it. Very little, if any change in riding characteristics are noticed. The mileage is much better and that results in a huge savings over the life of the dark side combo. I actually get better traction out of the car tire than the Dunlop E3's, have a better contact patch and more stability in the straights.
Enjoy.... once you are used to the feel, it's all good!

I am new to the dark side too. I am double dark on the ST and have a mc tire on the front of the wing. I can't wait to go double dark there too. It seems like that combo just works for some reason. I hope you enjoy it as much as I think I will.

Lots of people seem to say "once you get used to it" so once you get used to the new feel maybe you won't notice the plowing, pushing, or understeer.

Well, I was organizing my garage from the many projects that I have going on around the house and I was moving the bike by hand. I was on the left (clutch) side so the bike is naturally leaning a bit to the left. Heard a squeak and felt a little resistance. Didn't really like the way it felt so I did a little feeler gauge test with some milk jug plastic. Sure enough while it's on the kickstand there is no gap between the tire and the swingarm. Got to work removing everything to take off the rear wheel to investigate. Deflated the tire and wrestled that puppy out of there and this is what I see. Pretty fair amount of rubbing mostly tire to plastic and a little on the swingarm. The red straight line in the pics is where we sanded down the extra rubber from the molding. The red circles are where it was rubbing.

I don't think I'll be using this particular darkside tire going forward. Need something not as wide so guess I'll start reading to find the next most popular darkside tire or....back to PR4's.

There is more radius on that tire than I envisioned. It looks doable but as you say the width could be a problem.

Most goldwing darksiders use a 195 tire. I am wondering why ST riders use 205's.

Too Hot said:

Most goldwing darksiders use a 195 tire. I am wondering why ST riders use 205's.

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The first thing I checked was to see if that tire was available in 195. It's not.

I ground some material off the swingarm on my 1300 to get some extra clearance. I didn't notice any plastic rubbing.

Ride Safe
John and Janis

skipcurt said:

The first thing I checked was to see if that tire was available in 195. It's not.

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The Bridgestone is, but we still use the 205's.

Because the overall profile is closest to our OEM tire in OD and keeping the speedometer /odometer fairly (taken not so liberally) accurate. A 195 in the right height profile is non-existent.

Too Hot said:

Most goldwing darksiders use a 195 tire. I am wondering why ST riders use 205's.

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I checked with Tire Rack, their inventory does not show a 195 in a 17". The Comp II is not available in the 16" either. When I order a new tire for the Wing, It will be the new Michelin Premier A/S to replace the Alpin.

Nashcat said:

I ground some material off the swingarm on my 1300 to get some extra clearance. I didn't notice any plastic rubbing.

Ride Safe
John and Janis

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Skip, Like Johns says, you'll need to grind that swingarm a little. It's not as bad as it sounds. There is plenty of material there and you really are only removing the casting seam if I recall.

kendoo said:

Skip, Like Johns says, you'll need to grind that swingarm a little. It's not as bad as it sounds. There is plenty of material there and you really are only removing the casting seam if I recall.

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I get that and I guess I'm ok with that since plenty of guys are doing that but what about the plastic wheel well rubbing?

try a hankook V12--good clearance--never had a problem--darkside forever

jonjonboo said:

try a hankook V12--good clearance--never had a problem--darkside forever

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Same size? 205/50-17? Also, is that the Evo 2?

I went out and looked at my tire and I do see slight rubbing only on the top edge like what you have circled in your third picture. But I have over 10k miles on this tire.

What do you have your rear pre-load set to? Mine is set up for two up riding (about half way). Maybe I will add some more... I will keep an eye on it. Thanks.

The Hankook is a narrower tire, compare section width and tread width. The V2 is a all season tire and will not have a fit problem with it...

Hankook V2 vs Bfgoodrich Comp-2 A/S
6.5" vs 8.2" treadwidth
8.1" vs 8.4" sectionwidth

Skip fold up a piece of 80 grit sand paper and shove it between the tire and swing arm, rock the tire back and forth in the tight spot till it falls out. That's all I did to my 09 when I went darkside.

The Dan said:

Skip fold up a piece of 80 grit sand paper and shove it between the tire and swing arm, rock the tire back and forth in the tight spot till it falls out. That's all I did to my 09 when I went darkside.

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Thanks Dan and everyone that's replied. I get the whole grinding or sanding of the swingarm but nobody is talking about the plastic wheel well. I'm seriously reconsidering this setup.