darkside mounter in Oregon

[6ft1_grand]

So the meat on the rear of my bike is starting to resemble a Kojack look-a-like. I've been reading up on going to the darkside and I think I may be ready to take the leap. My issue, who will mount this tire? I live close to Portland Oregon. Anybody out there had a darkside mounted in NW Oregon or SW Washington?

[voyager55]

A lot of tire dealers & Independent bike shops will mount it. A tire is a tire in their eyes. $$$

[SgtSlag]

Your best bet is to call around. Many shops will refuse due to liability/insurance issues. Best of luck. Cheers!

[Dnjiemor]

Ok. I gotta ask. What is this dark side I keep reading about

[broksonic]

Ok. I gotta ask. What is this dark side I keep reading about

The "Darkside" is running a automotive tire on the rear of your motorcycle. In the voyager XII case that means running a 165/80-15 tire.

There are all kinds of forum posts about the "Darkside" posted here if you want some more information.

[6ft1_grand]

Thanks all, I will make some phone calls and see what I can find out.

Dnjiemor... read up on it and see what you think. I found a few different forums related to darkside and from what I can tell, most that try it, love it. Myself, I've never done it before and I'm hoping I'm as happy as everybody else with it. I found one forum where a guy posted pictures of himself dragging floorboards with sparks flying riding 2 up with a car tire on the back. Another guy said he constantly grinds his Goldwing riding darkside. If it meets their performance needs, I'm pretty sure it will meet mine.

Some of the benefits that I've read about are; safer in the rain, half the cost of a mc tire, lasts twice as long, takes the wander out of highway riding, better for when you hit gravel, smoother ride, better mpg.

Anyway, I'm rambling. take a look and see what you think. I will also post an opinion here after a bit of riding. It was the opinions posted here (and elsewhere) I found to be very valuable in trying to make the decision myself.

[JHD]

Another place you might look for an installer is on CL. My local CL has a guy near me that runs an add for tire mounting' Does it right out of his garage with a pro machine.

[Lucasind]

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=7333" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
John,
Don't know if you saw this post started by Bill O sometime ago, this thread carried on for 5 pages, ...........................Tony

[6ft1_grand]

Very informative thread, thanks for pointing me in that direction.

[Mr Jensee]

Ok. I gotta ask. What is this dark side I keep reading about

The "Darkside" is running a automotive tire on the rear of your motorcycle. In the voyager XII case that means running a 165/80-15 tire.

And I might add, one of the craziest moves a cyclist can embark upon.

[Stormryder]

Ok, now that I know what the darkside is I'm interested. I just recently got a 2002 XII and joined the AVA right away. I know the bike has a good reputation but didn't know much more than that so I went out in search of knowledge and found the AVA. I know one guy that has had 2 XIIs and now has a 1700. I trust him because he does some serious riding. I myself am coming off of a 2009 HD Electra Glide. Since joining the AVA I met a rider and member by the name of Neal Feikema. Neal traced owners of my bike back to the original owner, that was interesting. Neal is also the CB/ intercom guru in my area, nice gentleman. Anyway Neal has gone over to the Darkside and said the handling and braking of his bike is so much better. Mine is going to get new tires by Spring. Avon or Metzler on the front and I'm thinking Dark side on the rear. My question is this, is there a preferred Dark side tire?

[6ft1_grand]

Since I have yet to ride on the tire, I don't yet have an opinion. I do plan on posting the best non-biased (non pun intended) opinion I can. I've read a lot but I want the personal experience before I vote one way or the other.

As for finding the tire, I found mine on Amazon and it was shipped to my front door. It's a hard to find size and you may have to hunt around. As for quality of the tire, I didn't find many but all the ones I found had the same temp, traction, treadwear and speed rating. Turns out it's the same tire that fits on the old VW beetle. Since those things don't go very fast or weigh very much, there was never a need to build a super expensive tire in that size. I suggest shopping around, doing some research and find what you're comfortable with.