No runnin' on the sidewall here:

 

Midgitfire, that was a great idea and picture. I grabbed a chalkstick and immediately went out to our MSF training range to make a comparison.

I have a brand new Dunlop E3 on the back of my Ultra. I not only marked across the tread, but also ran a chalk line up edge between the tread and sidewall, for clarity.

The second picture shows how little tread is on the street, just sitting on the sidestand !

 

I then ran the Ultra, each direction, through this curve as used in the MSF Advanced Rider course. This can easily be done, without scraping....in other words, the bike is not yet leaned over as far as it can go.

 

After just one pass through, each direction, here's the pics, from each side.

I have no doubt that if I went back out there and did the "Ride Like a Pro" manuevers, I could erase that chalk mark in its entirety. I would venture to say you've got more tread left on "the edge" than I do.

 

I don't understand why people keep saying the bikes run on the sidewall. That is not physically possible. The sidewall never touches the ground, the floorboard or bags would hit long before the sidewall touches the ground. I don't care what the know it alls have to say about it. The bike never rides on the sidewall. The tire would have to be all most out of air for the sidewall to touch the ground, no one I know rides on a flat tire. You can lay a bike down on its side and at no time will the sidewall touch the ground.

 

Your "after" pics really show what us Darksiders have been saying all along. We have more surface area going straight and just as much leaning as any m/c tire.

 

Right on the money!!

7,200+ miles since 4-30-12 dark siding it has convinced me. I just put on a new Yokohama avid ascend and liking it. Not quite as much as the Dunlop sp5000 i had, but the Yoko starts with 12/32 tread, so I expect as it wears down it'll act more like the Dunlop.

 

I went back out, and did some sharp U-turns using the Ride Like a Pro technique. I can do U-turns in about 17 1/2 foot, either direction. Thats 18" wider than two parking spaces.

I shaved off a little more chalk during the U-turns, and again, without scraping, so I'm not yet leaned over to the maximum (but I was definitely at the max of my comfort zone!).

If someone has a new tire on a rim, and can set it on edge so just the amount of tread I have left in these pictures with chalk on them is not touching the ground, and snap a picture of the contact patch at that angle, that would show how little a mc tire is contacting.

 

I went down in the basement and dragged out my original rear wheel and Harley Dunlop. This tire had <10,000 miles on it, and as you can see, it should have been changed long before I did. Look at the shape of the tire and how it wore. It now looks like a car tire. Living in an area with few sharp curves, the edges still have the nubs on them.

 

I then chalked the edge of the tire equal to what was left on my previous pictures, and stood the tire on edge just to the point of the chalk hitting the pavement.

Look at that "great motorcycle tire contact patch!" Not much there, is there. Incidently, Harley specs say the maximum lean angle on an Ultra is 30-32 degrees.