Another DarkSide tire on my ST 1300

[970mike]

Just got done installing my Hankook tire on my ST 1300 today and took it for a short ride over Harris Grade Road. The ride was not to bad at all for a brand new tire. I will give my thoughts on this when I get some more miles on it.

Here are a couple of pictures.

 

[bayoubear]

what pressure are you running at ?

 

[970mike]

what pressure are you running at ?

Starting at 34 which others have been running. I only put about 15 miles on it last night after installing it. I have to work today so I will do more testing tomorrow.

 

[LeeWonnacott]

Just now got off the phone with Discount Tire and ordered one. With shipping it's $111 plus state and local taxes. I'll have it Wednesday or Thursday and mounted on Friday. WOOHOO ! I'm feeling 'The Force' guide me. The delay waiting for shipping means no trip thorugh West Virginia this week, as my POC Conti-Motion is cupped so badly I can't trust it. But that's okay, I'll just plan a longer trip with the new tire.

 

[SupraSabre]

Mike, what kind of mileage are you expecting for this tire?

I'll also be interested in what you think about it for handling on the curves (tire bite) and in the rain. I could see something like this for my commutes since 95% of my riding is on freeways!

 

[970mike]

Mike, what kind of mileage are you expecting for this tire?

I'll also be interested in what you think about it for handling on the curves (tire bite) and in the rain. I could see something like this for my commutes since 95% of my riding is on freeways!

I know that Zooker13 has over 13,000 on his car tire and it is still going strong. I guess time will tell how it plays out. This tire cost me 94.50 shipped to my door. I will take a longer ride this afternoon as I have upholstery work to do today.

Your ST would look good with one of these tires mounted on it!!

 

[nhdiesel]

Mike, what kind of mileage are you expecting for this tire?

I'll also be interested in what you think about it for handling on the curves (tire bite) and in the rain. I could see something like this for my commutes since 95% of my riding is on freeways!

To jump in here...I have several thousand on my Hankook now. I just took a trip to Buffalo over the weekend (adding 1300 miles). On my way out I hit a lot of rain, and the tire worked great. It was torrential at one point, with cars bailing off into a rest area. I pulled in long enough to throw on my rain jacket and pulled right back out.

I also commute 70 miles a day, every day, rain or shine. The first 5 miles are a very twisty, hilly section of secondary road. Then 15 miles of high speed state road. Even in heavy rain, this thing sticks like glue. No complaints at all.

And here in New England, it has been a VERY rainy spring and summer. I can count the dry/sunny days on one hand.

Jim

 

[Jefro]

That sure looks an awful lot like a CAR tire.
It seems to me that the only upside would be great mileage.
If that's the case, I'm in!
Jefro.

 

[Diggers1300]

Mileage is not the only upside, the grip... OMG the grip! Looking forward to trying it in some wet weather... if we ever get some here.

<Edit> Also need to try it with the Uni-go and/or two-up. But that will be awhile. I want more testing before I try those options.

 

[970mike]

OK here is a little update on my tire, I just got back from a little ride about 180 miles on all kinds of roads from freeway to back roads and I am liking the tire. It is very smooth on the open road and in the curves, the only thing that it makes just a little different is the throttle. If you let off or roll on the throttle two fast in a curve I feel a twitch in the back end. I am thinking this tire makes my bike more like the other ST owners that have commented on the roughness of the throttle on the ST. I have never had this problem before. It is not a big problem you just have to be steady on and off the throttle.

Here is the route I took today http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=1b714c4c8dec4b0a5

You can zoom in on the roads and go to satellite or street view to see the roads better if you would like to.

I hope this helps anyone thinking about this tire. I will be leaving this weekend for NatSToc and other places and will have a great feel for the tire with the miles to come.

Mike

 

[redst05]

I just mounted up the last z6 I had. I was only able to squeeze out a little over 5000 miles on the last one. 10,000-15,000 on a rear tire sound real good!!! Do you need to do any modifications to the bike or anything to make this work???? I might be up for this next time... I have been hearing some real positive things about this!

 

[Fortunet 1]

I Wanna, Wanna, wanna do that too !!! Hey Mike....Did you mount it yer self ? Balance ? :capwin:

 

[970mike]

No modifications are needed on the ST 1300. I did mount the tire myself and did not balance it or use Dynabeads in this tire and it is smooth up to 100 today. I did have to deflate the tire to slide it in between the swing arm and rear end. We have the Cycle Hill tire changer here and it was no problem to install. Total time to remove the tire from the bike dismount old tire and install new tire and remount was about 40 minutes doing it myself. My wife did help me hold down the tire during the last few inches when mounting the new tire.

 

[FlyingPig]

I have 95 ST1100 and 2000 GW; it would be nice to know how that would work on either. I know that some GW riders use car tire, but I am not sure about ST1100.

 

[970mike]

Is the Hankook any harder than, let's say, the Bridgestone 020 to mount?

Just about the same to mount as the 020 Jim.

I have 95 ST1100 and 2000 GW; it would be nice to know how that would work on either. I know that some GW riders use car tire, but I am not sure about ST1100.

George is working on what will work on the ST 1100 Peter.

 

[970mike]

I have over 2700 miles on my tire now with no major problems. I am about 75% happy with the tire in the twisties and highways are great. I still don?t like the feeling on slow rough roads.

 

[SupraSabre]

I have over 2700 miles on my tire now with no major problems. I am about 75% happy with the tire in the twisties and highways are great. I still don?t like the feeling on slow rough roads.

With your ride to Spearfish, you should have plenty of opportunity to decide if you like it or not!

 

[peterz]

As of 4:30 pm today i have be come a Dark Sider. Cant wait to put some serious miles on this thing. Later.

 

[970mike]

I now have over 4000 miles on my Hankook tire on mostly two lane twisty roads. The more I ride it the more I like this tire. I can run the back roads as fast with this tire as I can with a regular motorcycle tire with no problems. I still don?t like the feeling on city streets coming in or out of driveways as the tire makes the bike move back and forth as it also does on uneven rutted dirt roads. It is great on flat dirt roads as I have over 25 miles on flat dirt with no problems. It works great in the rain also.

I am still out on the road with more miles to come and more feedback.

Take care!

 

[bayoubear]

OK ... ya talked me into it I just ordered mine 2 minutes ago !