[Anon]

Rules of this thread:

- Post ONE POST with YOUR car-tire-on-a-BURGMAN-experience.
- No rebuttals, no discussion.
- NO POSTS BY ANYONE WHO HAS NOT RIDDEN A CAR-TIRE ON THEIR BURGMAN

My hope is that this thread can be a place for people with experience to POST and anyone with questions to READ (without having to sift through all the discussion that happens in the other threads.

Pretty much, if you haven't said "I have gone to the darkside" in one of these polls, don't post in this thread.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=39253&start=0
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=36347&start=0

There are plenty of threads out there with opinions on both sides. If you feel the need to discuss this topic, please go add to one of those threads, and refrain from doing it here.

Mods: if this thread turns into a discussion, please delete the thread (as it will serve no more purpose than the other threads we already have).

 

[Anon]

Here's my (limited) experience....

Potenza RE92 in 165/65/R-14. 41psi. Only a few hundred miles on it so far.

Under 60mph and in turns, I can feel no serious difference. In off-ramp-leaning, there appears to be MORE contact patch (width) than with a M/C tire (as subjectively observed by a follower in before/after test).

At speeds above 70, there may be a slight occasional disconcerting wobble. I say "may be", because I'm sure that I am being more attentive in trying to find differences.

With no change in the suspension setup or front tire, sections of bumpy roads are FAR less abusive than when running the old (admittedly worn) M/C tire.

I have many more miles before i can give a full evaluation. But, at this stage in the evaluation... if I had to do it all over again today, I'd pay the extra and go with a M/C tire.

 

[QuantumRift]

If we have a WINDSHIELD forum, then there needs to be a TIRE forum.


:thumbleft:

 

[Jim]

From another post.

A follow up about a high speed oscillation starting at 75 (solo) I have reported. It's been a year, and 4,000 miles with a CT.

I recently purchased a set of shocks with springs from another member, '06 with 1,000 miles on them. I keep up on the front fork oil, but there is really nothing you can do to the rear, except increase the preload. I figured after 7 years and 34,000+ miles it couldn't hurt, well it didn't. The ride is superior, and it eliminated the oscillation, so far up to 80. I haven't gone faster than 85 yet with the newer shocks and springs, but then I really didn't need to. I guess the OEM's were pretty well gone. So, of those experiencing an oscillation, I am curious as to the year and mileage. It is possible, part of the problem my be worn out shocks. Either that, or it takes 4,000 miles to scrub a CT in.

Also just this week I worked on a Silver '03 650 while he went on Vacation. He has a set of Pirelli's mounted on it that have about 1-2K left, and a standard OEM windshield, where I have a GIVI.

During the test ride, I noticed his felt like the "Sport" version, and seemed to have more power, (which it will because of the smaller rear tire), very "Flickable" and maneuverable.
Quite fun and Very nice.

Mine feels like "Touring" version, more sedate, quieter and more relaxing, but less maneuverable. It felt like I had a 550 instead of a 650, but the power button takes care of any power issues when the need arises.
Also very nice

I felt lucky to have 2 identical bikes available at the same time to compare.
Both nice, but in their own way.

If you like a "Sporty" type of ride, stay with a M/C tire.
If sporty is not your type of riding, then darksiding is an option.

Again, it depends on the type of riding you do, as to darkside or not.

I am staying with the Car Tire till it wears out. Another 20,000+ miles or 4 years? :wink:

 

[KF5T]

Potenza RE-92, 38 psi, 3000 miles thus far

For me 38 psi seems to be the right balance between sidewall movement and comfort. At lower pressures quick steering input causes the rear end to squirm around too much. Speedometer error is now about 3%, down from 10% with the factory 'Stone.
When the CT was first installed I noticed a little more steering input was needed to move the bike off center, but after a few days of riding on the CT the change wasn't an issue.
I was never one to push the bike to its cornering limits, so I can't speak to the ability of the CT to maintain traction at 10/10ths lean. For me and my riding style the cornering ability of the CT is fine. I do feel more secure in the rain with the larger contact patch and am able to use more brake without locking up the rear wheel. I don't have ABS.
I have no regrets with my decision to go to the darkside.

 

[WingMan]

My Potenza still has a little wear left, but at 20,000 mile (maybe another 1,000) I'm replacing it with another car tire. This time I'm planning to use the Semperit 155/65 r14 which nas been used by Robovious. The Potenza gave me 2.5 more mileage than the oem. :cheers:

 

[Mordechai]

Surprised to find i've got about 11,000 miles on my car tire; works GREAT and looks only slightly worn. NO complaints :thumbup: One of us darksided 400's needed to chime in here, so I did. See other related strings - rweis and utterchaos among those who have car tires on their 400's, too. They're not complaining!

 

[yellowrench]

I have 18,000 on my rear Potenza tire and is good for another 2,000. Pulled a Time-out camper trailer 650 miles last week at up to 80mph and the tire felt good.

 

[Desert Rat]

Tried it but was never able to get the tire to seat on the rim. After a week and every trick in the book tried including 100+ psi :shock: in the tire I gave up and went back to a MC tire.

 

[jnshenshaw]

I have about 6K on my Bridgestone Poteza. I'm riding a 2009 Executive. I put around the same mileage on the OEM and had to replace it. The Potenza looks brand new.

I've had no issues with handling. I'm not the most aggressive rider (don't scape anything), but usually do 20-25 mph over the posted speeds for curves, if it doesn't take me too far over the speed limit. I've not felt any difference going from the M/T to the C/T. I also rode through a heck of a thunderstorm in Tulsa, OK. Once in June with the M/T and again in July with the C/T. The July storm put even more water on the streets than did the one in June. To the point I was throwing up roostertails about two feet higher than the scoot. Didn't slip or slide going around corners with either tire.

My low speed handling is definitely superior with the Potenza. Aside from that, the only difference I've noticed between the two is the wear. I'll not be going back to the M/T again. If I can find a C/T that will fit Judi's Honda DN-01, I'll put one on her ride also. She has 8K on her Dino and we had to replace her rear tire in Ft Myers, FL at about 6,500 miles. Her "new" tire, with about 1,500 miles on it now, shows more wear than my Potenza with over 6K.

I'd like to thank everyone on this and the Wing forum that provided me with the benefits of their research and experience darksiding. I've read every post on both forums that contain the word "darkside" and it really helped me make up my mind to give it a try. I've had a number of folks, including service writers and techs at dealerships, tell me I would experience an abrupt "shift," going from the flat tread surface to the sidewall, while going through the twisties. I'm running 38psi in the Potenza and have never felt any sort of sensation that would tell me if I'm still on the bottom tread or the sidewall. It just runs smooth through the curves, no matter how hard I've pushed it.

My experience..my decision..am not looking to "convert" anyone. Just wanted to share what I've experienced.

Steve

 

[WingMan]

My Potenza still has a little wear left, but at 20,000 mile (maybe another 1,000) I'm replacing it with another car tire. This time I'm planning to use the Semperit 155/65 r14 which nas been used by Robovious. The Potenza gave me 2.5 more mileage than the oem. :cheers:

I now have a little over 5,200 miles on the Semperit 155/65 r14. Handles well, doesn't correct the speedometer quite as much as the Potenza.

 

[MarilynsPrince]

I have about 3000 miles on my Potenza and it still looks like new. The odometer is only about 3% off where it was about 10% off. I run 40lb of air in it but may cut it back to 38lbs one of these days. The ride is smooth and the handling superb. My overall MPGs are about the same as they were before (actual). Eugene W

 

[Desertwinds]

Ran a Potenza over 6,000 miles. Ride an '06 650 Exec. Had about 10,000 miles on the bike when it was mounted. All was well except for a very disturbing wobble that would appear when passing (80-90 mph) and crossing back over into original lane. Experienced on four different occasions on different highways. When changing front tire owner of the local powersports dealership expressed his concerns - similar to what has been shared many times on various darksiding postings. But, he was willing to replace the back tire at cost, and in lieu of the high speed wobbles, I agreed. Have not had any wobbles since returning to the MT. Do miss the more accurate speedo readings. DW

 

[roy_ryall]

You had the air pressure too high in the CT. I had the same problem at first. I lowered the pressure and never had the wobble again.

 

[AustinBurger]

Ran a Potenza at 35psi from Austin TX, to Alaska and back last month, and now have over 11,000 miles on it and it doesn't seem to have worn down a bit. Can't say the same for my underseat storage box, worn through very severely due to some serious bottoming out on the Alaska highway. If I hadn't had so much camping gear piled on the back it might not have been so bad... but it will happen with the CT.

The only handling difference I have noticed is a strong tendency to wobble when crossing seams in the road that are in the direction of travel... but I had that to a lesser extent with the MC tire when it was squared off, usually after only 4k miles. On grooved pavement (when they grind it down) I've noticed quite a bit less wandering than I did on the MC tire. The bike also wants to gently rock back and forth along rutted lanes like I found on the west coast freeways - but the Harley I was with on a good MC tire was doing the same.

While crossing a western state that shall remain nameless I ran the Burg at up to 105 indicated (101 GPS) for an extended period of time at a total weight of around 1050# and the bike seemed about as stable as it was on the MC tire, even while so heavily loaded. I also flew down the mountains on some very curvy roads and never felt the least bit of slip on the back tire, even when transitioning in and out of gravel patches and dirt. The front wheel was a different story, but that may have been due to my CG being very far back due to the camping gear.

Since I would have already used up 2 MC tires in only the past month and would be on my 3rd for the year by now I'm pretty pleased with the Potenza and will continue to run one. I prefer the handling with it over the Bridgestones and the grip is far superior in poor conditions. There is no evidence that it has ever left the tread, in fact, the wear pattern is more centered than on my car's front tires!

No, it's not for everyone... but for long distance touring I will definitely recommend that people consider it.

 

[geezerider]

Ran a Potenza at 35psi from Austin TX, to Alaska and back last month, and now have over 11,000 miles on it and it doesn't seem to have worn down a bit. Can't say the same for my underseat storage box, worn through very severely due to some serious bottoming out on the Alaska highway. If I hadn't had so much camping gear piled on the back it might not have been so bad... but it will happen with the CT.

Same thing happened to me on my trip to AK. The problem for me was the pogoing over the frost heaves. I replaced the stock shocks with Ikons on my return and put a layer of fiberglass in the wheel well. No more problem.

 

[AustinBurger]

Same thing happened to me on my trip to AK. The problem for me was the pogoing over the frost heaves. I replaced the stock shocks with Ikons on my return and put a layer of fiberglass in the wheel well. No more problem.

Yes, the frost heaves did the most damage because you were "bottomed" for a very long time - in some instances for a second or two. The occasional bumps I experienced on the rest of the trip didn't do much compared to the 100 miles of major heaves near Destruction Bay in YT and Denali NP. Unfortunately I went through those areas 2x but the second time I learned how to spot the heaves better and how slow I needed to hit them.

I put a sheet of rubber in the bottom of my box and it conformed to the bottom but left "gaps" where the rubs were. My trunk was already pretty messed up from a leaking gas can two summers ago - filled the box with gas and that ate off most of the felt lining inside so it was no big loss to me... I'll probably just glue the rubber down and call it "good enough"

 

[robbovius]

My Potenza still has a little wear left, but at 20,000 mile (maybe another 1,000) I'm replacing it with another car tire. This time I'm planning to use the Semperit 155/65 r14 which nas been used by Robovious. The Potenza gave me 2.5 more mileage than the oem. :cheers:

I now have a little over 5,200 miles on the Semperit 155/65 r14. Handles well, doesn't correct the speedometer quite as much as the Potenza.

Hi Wingman, glad you're having good luck with the Semperit. I still have mine on the back, and currently have about 18,500 miles on that particular back tire, which is 2x the life of the OEM which I changed from at ~8500 miles. The '06 650 has 26,000 or so on it now. I do the occasional burnout too.

the tire is getting very close to the wear bars now though, and so I'm thinking about replacements. I have not been able to find another Semperit Winter grip for sale in the USA and - given the scarcity of tires in the sizes we prefer for the back of the 650, 155mm to 165mm in profile width - was looking at going up to a 175 profile width, since that gives many more options in tire choice. the burgman 650 swingarm certainly has enough space for it, though the issue of external wear to the trunk floor might become more of an issue.

I have thought of going back to the original Bridgestone TH01 (or the upgraded equivalent THM01 I believe)....but...****...I DO ride on dirt surfaces likely more than the average 650 rider (rock climbing paarking areas, the parker river refuge road on Plum Island..etc) and the automotive tire on the back works an order of magnitude better than the OEM for that.

...and, there's the whole initial cost and mileage issue compared to the OEM, which are not insignificant.

the Semperit winter grip automotive tire has been no impediment to aggresive riding. interestingly, I also had issues with a minor weave on high speed lane changes - which was mentioned above - but, I know think that I might have been usign to high a tire pressure as well. I have since backed it off to about 32-34 psi, and the weave has gone away.

I won't decide until I'm partway thru the wear bars, which might not happen until november or so. I'll certainly post upwhen I do.

 

[v8eyedoc]

Sorry.........BUT this car tire on the rear does not relate to the Burgman at all.BUT........I had a Boss Hoss motorcycle with a Chevy V8 racing engine (355 hp) and weighing close to 1400 lbs for 11 years.and had a Firestone Firehawk 225 X 15 & a 60% profile height...!

I always felt comfortable with it and put close to 40,000 miles on it.. Much bigger contact patch on the road surface and better traction in the rain..........cornering was never a problem. Tire pressure IS very important when using a car tire on the rear.............

Ken "RIDE WHEN IT'S SUNNY - WORK WHEN IT RAINS!"

 

[Mordechai]

Let's hear from a 400, again; I'm up to about 18k miles on my Kumho car tire; just had a lovely 1800 mile or so trip to Pittsburgh and back, including a good thunderstorm and some lovely West Virginia [almost heaven, right!] twisties - no complaints, no issues. Lots of tread left!
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