Long commute 172 miles.

Darkside is a car tire on the rear rim that will get you 40k miles per tire.
Double dark is to also put a Rear MC tire on the front. will get you 23k miles per tire.

I am on my 4th rear car tire at 165k miles instead of 20 MC tires......
Less time in the shop and more on the road. The money you save you can spend on gas.
I reallly like this tire for many reasons, will not ever go back to a MC tire.
better stopping, traction, and better flotation on gravel roads, steel belts, ran it almost flat...

rear tire = BF Goodrich g-force comp-2 a/s 205/50r17 (93W) at 26 psi.
front tire = 130/70-18M/C tire

read this thread here.

bf goodrich comp-2
 
Rear darkside on an 1100 is kinda tough to pull off. Front is easy.

I would suggest an auxiliary gas tank. A Ron Major tail dragger would be great but they're kinda hard to come by. They are limited to Iron butt rules in force at the time they were made (3-3 1/2 gal.). I would use the concept and make it 4-5 gal. myself. Other options would be mounting a tank on the rear seat or on a luggage rack.
 
kiltman said:
I’m intrigued. My understanding was 2002 was the last year for domestic models in North America. Does the date of manufacture on the fork stem with the serial number say 2003?
Allthe
Best with your ride.
Click to expand...
Just checked it is an 02 he bought it in 03
 
Changed fuel and she fired right up!!
 

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I am a daily commuter in the Puget Sound area. The biggest difference were the addition of good handlebar muffs. Mine are Oxford handle bar muffs and heated grips. Also a good cruise control or at least a throttle lock to give the wrist a break will be nice for putting down the miles on the straight roads.

Cheers and ride safe.

Craig
 
CELarson said:
I am a daily commuter in the Puget Sound area. The biggest difference were the addition of good handlebar muffs. Mine are Oxford handle bar muffs and heated grips. Also a good cruise control or at least a throttle lock to give the wrist a break will be nice for putting down the miles on the straight roads.

Cheers and ride safe.

Craig
Click to expand...
We're neighbors!! I'm near the Great White cube :rofl1:
I did see a black 1100 near my place last week too.
 
NMkimble said:
No nice maroon. Givi top box.
Click to expand...
Noy trying to be a smart aleck, but AFAIK if it is a 2003 it is a police bike and they came in white.
It could be a police bike that someone changed the skins on.
The original paint color code is on the crossbar under the seat.

I would also highly recommend heated gear - WarmnSafe jacket and Heat Troller and Gordon's heated gloves.
You might also look at Symtec Heat Demons for heated grips - you can use your existing grips and they install under them.

Double darkside means a car tire on the rear (which takes some machine work for a ST1100) and a rear tire on the front.
I run a BT020 bias (fits BMW KLT1200 but correct size for ST1100) motorcycle tire on the rears usually and get 10,000+ miles out of them.

Electronic cruise controls are very useful - MCCruise is the best but expensive, some have used Rostra or Audiovox units and adapted them.

GoCruise is probably the best reasonably priced throttle lock out there.
If most of your riding is 'flat' a throttle lock may be sufficient.
 
cjames431 said:
We're neighbors!! I'm near the Great White cube :rofl1:
I did see a black 1100 near my place last week too.
Click to expand...

At least you don’t have far to go to see the doc…Yes we are neighbors. There are a couple of ST kick’n around our area.
Ride safe on I-5.
cheers

craig
 
RainX is your friend if you ride in the rain. When I commuted, I had a bottle at work and a bottle at home. There's a version now made for plastic that works well.

Chris
 
Just watched all sorts of videos about double darkside. . Not something I'll be looking into. For me I don't see car tires being designed for motorcycle purpose. Just how the beads sit alone are enough for me to say no way!
 
I know double-darkside seems strange. I'd never heard of it before NATSTOC last year. The Dan had done it and for a LOT of miles. We went out on some rides and on twisty roads. I've ridden with some very fast riders before. The Dan is one of the fastest...and on two car tires.

Believe me, his tires weren't holding him back, and he stressed them more than any of us could. If they were going to fail, they would've.

Chris
 
sherob said:
Car tires front and back...
Click to expand...

Daboo said:
The Dan is one of the fastest...and on two car tires.
Click to expand...

No, DD is not two car tires... it a car tire on the rear and a rear motorcycle tire on the front. I run a rear tire on the front of my ST11, works great and gets me 25k miles per tire. I don't run a CT on the back because it's too much hassle on an ST11. DD is not nearly as crazy/dangerous as some make it out to be, especially with millions of miles by DDers.
 
paulcb said:
No, DD is not two car tires... it a car tire on the rear and a rear motorcycle tire on the front. I run a rear tire on the front of my ST11, works great and gets me 25k miles per tire. I don't run a CT on the back because it's too much hassle on an ST11. DD is not nearly as crazy/dangerous as some make it out to be, especially with millions of miles by DDers.
Click to expand...

My bad... a mistake on my part. If Dark Side means a car tire on the back, why wouldn't Double Dark Side mean car tires front and back? :rofl1:

You ride what you want, it's your bike. I've ridden behind DS'ers on Wings... interesting to see the tire flexing going in to the twisties and sweepers. Never saw it leave the tread.
 
Good thing you have two bikes. Because at the rate you are spinning the odo meter you will have a bike in the shop every two months for tires, brakes, oil.
The rear brakes wear out faster than the front. Just keep an eye on them. My commute is the best time of the day cause I am on the bike. Enjoy!
If you run the right pressure in the rear CT you will not feel the edge and it will lean over easy. I am very happy running DD.
 
Gents, when I was working it was 52 miles one way to work and what I found was the weather change as the day went on. I was doing a 10 hour afternoon shift (2 to midnight). It would be nice at noon when I left home and much cooler at midnight on the return trip. Deer were a problem too. Heated clothing made the trip comfortable. Now I am enjoying retirement, things are different.
Mike Coleman;
North Lancaster
Ontario, Canada
 
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