dARKSIDE

[gearheadfla]

I have had no problems at all in handling, as a matter of fact I feel a lot more confident with it, I have drug the tail pipes a few times with no problems, and on wet roads it is 100% better in every way. I now only limit myself to what the front tire can handle in rain and curves.

[joelcolletti]

Thank you for your posts, and thank you for giving me your personal take on the dARKSIDING topic. It's very much appreciated.

[Barry]

Joel,
The last day of the rally I went over Monitor Pass & a few other fun roads that connect to it. Rubber necking slowed me down some, but I never once gave the tires any thought. On the way home from the rally I went through Lassen NP. There was fresh oil & gravel through the entire park, so I didn't "test" the limits of the CT. That being said, when it comes to twisties, the CT definitely sticks better than any tire I have used previously. I lost track of how many miles I've put on road bikes. It's somewhere between 750-800,000. This tire does not diminish the bikes capabilities. With age, I find that experience has caused me to slow down some in the corners. There aren't any roads near where I live that allow for traction testing.

As to gas mileage, it seems that speed is the big factor. Also the oversized clearview windshield doesn't help. If I stay below 60, I can get over 50 mpg with the car tire. Running 65-70 drops the mileage down to 45-47 mpg.

[joelcolletti]

Joel,

...As to gas mileage, it seems that speed is the big factor. Also the oversized clearview windshield doesn't help. If I stay below 60, I can get over 50 mpg with the car tire. Running 65-70 drops the mileage down to 45-47 mpg.

That's good to hear. I guess the mileage you were getting was better than we had discussed. Congrats. So far, it seems as though everybody is more than satisfied with this dARKSIDING mod. Sounds great to me. Thanks for the update and for your input too.

Joel

[Scott-(Altoona, PA)]

I have had no problems at all in handling, as a matter of fact I feel a lot more confident with it, I have drug the tail pipes a few times with no problems, and on wet roads it is 100% better in every way. I now only limit myself to what the front tire can handle in rain and curves.

Jim, The size listed "165/80R-15" is available at Wally-world and I need to replace both my tires. I've been entertaining the thoughts of going Darkside for a while and my wife just confessed that she still doesn't feel stable on the back seat. So I figure by crossing over to the DS the bike would feel more stable with the flatter tire surface (plus more contact surface).
My concerns are this, everything I've ever read about replacing tires on the Voyager XII's there has always been the warning to avoid radials and stick with bias tires. With the added height and the Nexen being a radial have you had any problems at all?
I would love to get the tire and mounted sometime this week or next. By the way what are you running on the front (Dunlap E-3's)?

[gearheadfla]

I have had ZERO problems at all, Lori has said many times how much she can tell the difference in the ride from the back seat, much smoother. I played with shock air pressures and damper a lot and mine felt good at 50 lbs in the shocks and set to 3 on the damper, your may be different according to the weight your hauling, then I changed to progressive rear shocks and it was a whole new bike, she really liked that upgrade, the only problems I have heard reported is mounting the tire on the rim, I had no problem at all doing it, others had to work at it, and a couple have exploded the tire trying to do it by trying to force it on with more pressure, DON'T DO THAT. If you decide to use a CT contact me and I will give advise and some tricks I and others did that worked. Yes I am running a E-3 on the front, BTW, my Nomad has a E-3 bias on the front and a E-3 Radial on the rear, was like that when I bought it and the rear was brand new, so I left it alone, rides great, when the rear wears out the Nomad will be Darkside too. On a side note, if the tires you have now are worn out, either choice will make a big difference, XII's are picky critters when it comes to tires. E-3's are the most common used and the one recommend by Carl Leo.

[Barry]

Scott,
I just got back from a 2,000 mile trip with my CT. On the trip back from the AVA Regional Rally at Reno, we experienced extreme heavy rain in Redmond, OR. Water was standing several inches deep on the roadway. The CT stuck to the pavement, while the other bike (HD Ultra Classic) had troubles with hydroplaning. Out of caution, we stopped early that day & heard a radio & tv advisory for people to avoid travel. So far I'm very, very impressed with my nexen.

[Furchin]

Scott,give me a call. I'll sell you the Nexan that I bought from Wally world for 1/2 the cost of new. I bought this tire and did not like it so I removed it. Probably has 2 to 300 miles at most on it.

[Rick near Kansas city]

Is The Nexen the only car tire used or has there been other brands used with good results?

[gearheadfla]

Is The Nexen the only car tire used or has there been other brands used with good results?

Winddancer used a different tire, I don't remember what it was but you can search his post, he got 30k out of it and just put on a Nexen, the thing is there is not a lot of tires available in this size (the same as the old VW bug)

[debron]

I believe the 165/80R15 87T FEDERAL SS-657 works. More expensive than the federal, so does that mean it's a better tire??

Or how about a Nankang CX668 High Performance Tire - 165/80R15 87T?? $45!!

[Winddancer]

My last tire was the federal..
I really liked it, stiffer sidewall then the nexen, and got well over 34k on that puppy..
but the Federal, Nexen,Nankang and Kuhmo all work on this bike, as long as it is the 165/80 r15..
mounting seems to be the bugger..
I would take it to a local independent car tire place and have them mount it, then to an MC place to balance it, if you dont have a shop who does this alot.
this is what I did with my last tire and mounting took 5 min.
Kind of a bummer my whole thread was lost with all the tire sizes and prices and all the other CT info..
if you have any questions..feel free to ask..

[stevejinde]

Hey Bill
I've sent you a pm have you got it yet??

Regards Steve

[Bill O]

Hey Bill
I've sent you a pm have you got it yet??

Regards Steve

Steve,
I did not receive a PM. Don't know why. Waz Up?......

Bill O

[Bill O]

Update on my trip to the Darkside.......

I have completed my Genealogy trip to Oklahoma. Went about 3K+ miles. Initially It took me a few hundred miles to get comfortable with the CT. Had to figure out my best pressure.

some of my thoughts.......

1. In the rain, the CT beats out the MT bar-none. Really rides nice in the wet, and I got very comfortable on it in the rain. You can really feel the traction and stopping on just the rear in the rain.

2. Did some off-road riding to some out of the way cemeteries and, again the fact that the tread pattern was so much wider than a MT on the dirt and gravel, it felt much more secure. You could look at the tread pattern in the dirt to see the large contact pattern.

My only concern.......I need to replace my front tire with a new E3 or such to maximize the comfort feel handling between the front and the rear tires. My existing is an older tire that is feeling hard.

I did notice that at speeds up to about 65-70 (actual) the bike handled very well, but getting up to 80 to 85 it got a bit more goosey. Could of been from the front tire...???

In my opinion, around town speeds on the CT is a dream. Smooth! With my Progressive rear shocks and the CT, I have yet to "bottom out", something I routinely did with my MT.

I have only briefly riden with one of my trailers, and so far so good. I really need to hook up my tent trailer and take a run down the highway to get a good feel of the trailering characteristics with the CT. When I do, I will let you all know.

Bill O

[gearheadfla]

Speaking of contact patch, this is my tracks across the body shop floor at work while turning, I noticed them and snapped a pic, as you can see the rear (top) has a much larger patch than the front (bottom), yes it is the front E-3 that we are looking at but the rear has just about the same contact patch, I have two bike on the Darkside now and love both, I will never buy a rear MC tire again. I have been to 100mph on the Nomad and it was rock steady, what you was feeling at speed was probably coming from you a combo of you front tire and air across your fairings, you would be surprised how much air your trunk can catch and make things move around a bit in traffic.

[the2knights]

Just started my journey on the darkside today. Mounted a Nexan in the garage today, added 3 oz. of Dyna Beads. Took her for a couple of short rides. I like it, I can feel the rear tire tracking a lot different as you pitch it over into and out of corners, but nothing alarming. Tried a couple of u turns and it tracks real nice at slow speed, and I can lean over a little farther. Will pass along how I feel after a longer ride, but like it so far!

[Mr Jensee]

Well,
Put wheel on bike a little while ago, (someone ask me how hard it is to put a Voyager on a lift by yourself....) I have a Hitch Doc receiver hitch, so wheel has to drop down to remove/replace.
. . . .
I knew I would eventually get to the Darkside, just wondering why I took so long.

I also have a Hitch Doc receiver hitch but I changed my tire on the center stand following Don Medina's instructions on the NorCal Voyagers "How To" video. The only issue I had was getting the left side muffler back into position so all the holes would line up!

I suspect I will go to the darkside eventually also. However, I have a new Elite 3 rear tire in the garage for the next tire change, after the Western Regional Rally next week.

A couple weekends ago I had the unmitigated pleasure (sarcasm) of putting new skins on 2001 Concours. After battling with that thing for most of the day Saturday and ALL day Sunday I can safely say the Voyager XII is pleasantly easy to take the wheels off. No I did not change the tires. That job I left to experts but dang that Connie fought me every step of the way from requiring special tools to having to jack the bike up on it's center stand and the removal of the exhaust pipes just to get the rear wheel off and on. I promised the owner I WOULD NEVER TACKLE THAT BIKE AGAIN!!!!

[Lucasind]

We can almost feel the pain in ur words Mr. Jensee ! Next time, you can do the same job ,in half the time....... if there is a next time

I hung the connie from the rafters and used blocks also.
Heck.... on the older bikes ( with no plastic ) and the air lift is occupied, I raise em up with straps to a forklift, so I don't have to bend over.The older ya get.... the farther away the floor gets

[Mr Jensee]

Trust me bro, there ain't gonna be a next time.