If I could get 10,000 miles on a tire I wouldn't be on the Darkside.
My Triumph Rocket III gets 3000 miles, after that I've got steel belts showing. Some guys get less than 2000 on a MCT.
The tire on my '76 Sportster (way back then) looked more like a CT than today's MCT.
Everything that can be said has been said.
Lots of theory of why it is not a good idea, no failures, no wear on the sidewall even though we drag the pegs through the twisties, nobody running off the road or dumping it in the gravel.
I run a Riken Raptor 225/55 ZR High Performance CT.

The worst part of the MCT is that the last third of it's life I'm sweating bullets on wet roads, and the fun twisties are no longer fun. I feel much safer in the twisties with the CT, than with a 3/4 used MCT.

The skills are a little different for the Darkside, just like switching from a sport bike to a cruiser. After 500-1000 miles things are just fine. Right from the very start 75% of the time the CT inspires much more confidence, the other 25% follows with time.
I'm saving $1000 a year in tires, and having fun doing it to boot.
The CT gives me me more feel for the road, reminds me of drivng a cage with rack and pinion steering. I like that, other don't.

My apologies to those think I'm beating a dead horse, but hey, you didn 't have to click onto this thread.

 

For those that know better,and do mostly cruising,car tires work great.

 

That right there tells me you're waaayy too cool to be my friend.

 

done it. works great can get 25k mi out of a 40dollor tire.and your bike will corner the same as it alloways has. the hardest part is getting the beed to set.

 

Well here we go again m/c vs c/t all I can say is if you havent tried it you dont know chit just sayin it aint safe & saying it dont hold in the rain arnt facts I wanna know where do you get that chit? ride one first and then say that. I dont think it will happen at the most you might switch and never go back I did look at the facts ride through water while turning and then go look at the foot print the c/t leaves 2-3x the print of the m/c tyre they hold better cause more rubber on the road and last longer. read some then ride some before you talk chit about what you dont know nothing about.

toyo T1R or the R1R are my choice try it before you decide it aint for youand
Ride Safe Grandpadave

 

I'm liking this one.
Cooper Zeon 2XS 205/50 ZR17 93W BSW




Click here for more info on tire.

 

I have read all 11 pages of posts on this subject and have a couple of observations:

1. There is a total lack of empirical data to support either side.

2. Those that are opposed to it, have never tried it and have no real life experience with it.

3. Those that support it are currently running a CT.

It seems it its broken down to 2 sides and an analogy comes to mind.... Who are you going to trust about what childbirth feels like?
A woman who has been through it, or a man who is just positive he knows what it is like???

I listen more intently to those who have experienced what they are talking about.

Nomsayin???

Now if someone presents sound, scientific empirical data on testing and failures, that trumps all.

 

Most of the people in this thread have no idea what they're talking about. I've been running car tires for the past 60K miles on my Valkyrie....a great many valk riders run them. My first two were Hankook Ventus, and the one on the bike currently is a Toyo Proxes...all have been 205 55 16, which fits easily into the fender with very minimal modification (trimming a fender stay bracket and bolt). A few people run 205 60 16, but that requires more modification.

To do this right you need a Z rated high speed radial with a nice rounded profile. If you follow somebody riding 'the darkside' through the twisties you'll find they have more rubber on the road EVEN on turns that require severe leans than does a normal motorcycle tire. A good high performance radial is quite rounded and deforms when the bike leans....so there is no transitional period when you're riding on the tread, and then the side of the tire....it's all tread on the road all the time. The few people I've met that didn't care for them are the ones that cheaped out and bought a radial with sharp edges....like something you'd see on a Crown Vic.

I've ridden the things in the rain, on dirt, and every kind of mountainous twisty terrain. They're rock solid. The weight and the power of the motorcycle nowhere approach the stresses these tires are built to handle. The Valkyries have more power and weight than most Harleys, and in the years I've been riding them (along with literally hundreds if not thousands of 'dark side' riders) I've never heard of a car tire failure. The biggest problem for Valk riders is that they will often put so many miles on the bike between rear tire changes that the lubrication interval for the rear drive splines gets ignored.....you need to pull off the tire to inspect and relube the splines about half way through the car tire life (at about 12K). Honda was counting on selling you a $300 tire every 9k, and they'd normally lube the splines on that interval.

Course' the doubters can all sit on their butts and opine about how it couldn't work, and it's unsafe, etc....but the fact of the matter it works quite well....and compared to all of the other risks associated just with riding a motorcycle....is quite safe.

 

Irony. I got banned from a Harley Davidson forum, not here obviously, for giving my "opinion" about running a CT on a bike.

Ignorance runs deep in some people but that isn't to say their opinion isn't valid or more valid than other's.

The comment about running a quality tire is right on.

The only reason more people on HD's aren't running CT's is because it's only in the last few years the rear rims on stock HD's can handle them and only on certain models. Give it a few more years and more people on HD's will be running them.

 

three questions: 1- what is the cost difference? 2- what is the value of your life? 3- is #1 worth #2?