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Using a car tire on a motorcycle?

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R

Red Brown

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As silly as this sounds, I have met several people who are using car tires on the back of their motorcycle with good results. I have seen them on Goldwings, Silverwings (scooter) and the Honda Valkyrie. Each person I discussed their arrangement with stated the excellent traction plus even better grip when going on gravel roads.

The initial reaction I hear from non-believers is the square angle of the tire is dangerous in turns...but somehow the tire carcass flexes with the turn, allowing some pretty aggressive riding and a rear tire that can go to 15,000 miles or beyond.

Anybody use car tires on their bikes? There is this strange website.

RB
 
Add the big VTX to that list of bikes. I was a doubter, had that initial shocked reaction. Then the science of it all combined with video evidence convinced me that it is a good idea for some bikes. Of course nothing in two wheels is a one size fits all deal, so there will always be spirited discussions.

:popcorn:

Lets see how long it takes......
 
Where is Forrest when you need him? Ah well, he'll see this thread soon enough.
 
If you visit burgmanusa.com there is a discussion on putting the car tire on the rear of the scooter.

Both sides seem adamant they are right. I'm choosing the cycle tire side myself.
 
Don't do it, Dangerous, ball of fire crash, no added benefits except for increased traction in rain and on gravel. Bike still capable of dragging mufflers and floorboards...

nuclear-bomb-badger.jpg
 
In the Goldwing world, they are referred to as "Dark Side Riders".

On my wing, well I like it to handle like a motorcycle. I think I'll stick with rubber designed for corner carving on two wheels, thank you very much.
 
If you can ride the Tail of the Dragon on a goldwing with bike tires as well as YellowWolf does on a goldwing with a car tire, then you can make such a claim that the car tire "doesn't handle like a motorcycle."

They do.
 
I've seen some on Valkyries, but the Valk is a big hopped up Wing, so maybe it works?
 
I recall reading a thread in which YellowWolf tried out a wing with a car tire on the rear, and mounted a video camera to the underside of the bike to video it. I believe his reaction to it was that it handled pretty well... not something he would try to drag floorboards on, but for more relaxed cruising and corner-carving, he didn't have any issues with it. Combine that with the much longer life you'd get out of a car tire, and I can understand why some people feel that it's the better choice for them.

Edit - here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaIj1XrmvLM
Also I'm not certain that it was YellowWolf who did that review, I may be mistaken on that.
 
I read a post on a goldwing from from Yellowwolf... he had never tried a car tire. He got on a goldwing with one and his FIRST run on the dragon, he was 1 minute slower than his best time ever...and the roads where sandy.

I drag hard parts on my VTX WAY more often with a car tire than I ever did with a bike tire. I wouldn't probably try it on a sport bike unless I could try it in a controlled environment and didn't mind if I fell over. But on pretty much ANY cruiser? No big deal. I know Valks, VTXs, Shadows (even down to the VLX), Vulcans, Harleys, Boulevards, Stars...etc etc etc...
 
Where's that dead horse smiley? On a big touring bike or even cruiser where lean angle is far more limited than on a sport bike, I'd run one without hesitation.
 
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