[toby]

Yes yet another car tire on a bike thread. There are a few guys on this forum that have gone dark side on their Stryker. Hoping they will chime in here.
I know I've been one to post all the negatives when ever a dark side thread is posted. I have mentioned that I have done a lot of research on the subject and always fall on the negative side due to the fact that near 100% of my riding is in extreme mountain twisties..
I am re visiting the Idea again simply because of the expense of MC tires has got to the point of whether I ride or not. I'm about out of tread on my 5th tire at 18,000 miles. That's one riding season and half of this years season. Average $225 per tire and $50 to mount times 5 is $1,375 plus one more if I want to get through the rest of the season, $1,650 times two bikes,

$3,300 for two seasons

I would be better off trading them in for new ones every two months. The only problem with that is these bikes devalue almost $2,000 as soon as you ride them off the lot.
I've tried some of the best mileage tires on the market and can't get 5'k miles off them and stock tires can't get 4k miles. This is between 1 and 2 months of riding. And Now times two Strykers. My wife has had her Stryker for 4 weeks and the tire is about shot at a little over 3k miles, and we have almost two months of good riding weather left.
If it means we have to slow down and be a bit more careful using car tires, at least we will be riding is what it has come to.

Any feed back, thoughts and opinions will be appreciated, negative or positive.
__________________

 

[pfhWJ]

hmmm. well when I bought my stryker i asked my dealer when things wear out or need replacing. they said 20K for tires. I have exactly 2k on the stock 210's and they fell like they still have a very healthy amount of thread.... When I had my xt 250 those tires were worn out after about 4k. I cant imagine cruisers needing to be replaced this frequently.

 

[toby]

Yes I know but I'm on the extreme side of wear. Some guys are getting 8k to 12k off the stock tires but they live in areas that the bigger % of riding is done on straight roads and freeways. There isn't a straight road or freeway for a 100 miles in any direction from my house. Also the extreme twisties are all high mountains where you change elevation 3 to 4,000 feet in ten to 15 miles at a time.
This is a concern for using car tires because of always being on the edge of the tire might wear them out just as fast or faster than mc tires? Seing as they are not designed to be on the edge. So you can see my dilemma.
Even car and trucks wear tires out in half the miles they normally would.
I'm also going to try to find a bias ply rear tire that will fit the Stryker.

 

[Silkentek]

hmmm. well when I bought my stryker i asked my dealer when things wear out or need replacing. they said 20K for tires. I have exactly 2k on the stock 210's and they fell like they still have a very healthy amount of thread.... When I had my xt 250 those tires were worn out after about 4k. I cant imagine cruisers needing to be replaced this frequently.

LOL then you have never ridden a cruiser up here in these mountains
Tires have been an issue up here since I started this motorcycle adventure in 2010. I think I bought 3 sets of tires for the virago, and we put 12k miles on that bike. Then I bought 2 sets of tires for the 950, and 3 sets for toby's stryker, and all of that has been since sept 2011...
These roads are like riding over pumice stone... chip n seal tar and pea gravel nastiness to get to town.
They only JUST paved the back side of the mountain with really nice asphalt and that is why I still have some tread left on my stock 210 lol

 

[mikoloe]

hmmm. well when I bought my stryker i asked my dealer when things wear out or need replacing. they said 20K for tires. I have exactly 2k on the stock 210's and they fell like they still have a very healthy amount of thread.... When I had my xt 250 those tires were worn out after about 4k. I cant imagine cruisers needing to be replaced this frequently.

Don't listen to your dealer! 20K hehehehehe

 

[SmokenJoe]

Go for it Toby...............there a lots of guys on the VTXOA site that are using them. They ride on the edges all the time. Check out the U Tube videos on CT on MCs. Even if it doesn't fit your need the out of pocket $ is a lot less.

 

[SilverSlug]

Dealer also told me tires last 25k miles and that I'll never get under 50mpg...

 

[Silkentek]

Dealer also told me tires last 25k miles and that I'll never get under 50mpg...

LOL yeah dealers will tell you ANYTHING to sell you....

 

[pfhWJ]

I better be get 12k out of these 210s.. but there is a good chance come spring time ill have a 240 on the rear and the 210 will just be a back up. My daily ride to work is pretty darn straight. hopefully that may help the longevity of my tires. I really hope my dealer is right, but i highly doubt it.....

 

[gerdawg]

I don't think I've ever gotten more than 4K out of a sportbike tire and that's basically what's on the rear end of this bike.

That said, I'd really be afraid to go darkside and would do some serious research on what tires work best. I think the main advantage of people going darkside is that they can get 50K+ out of a tire but a lot of the time thats on a huge bike such as a goldwing which is used a good portion of the time for highway mileage and some mountain touring. I live in the twisty mountains as well though it sounds like your environment is a bit rougher. Personally for 3200 a year, albeit steep, it sounds cheap compared to one trip to the emergency room, or worse. I believe with a car tire riding on the sidewall a frequent percentage of the time you'll likely be giving up a lot of patch contact between the road and the tire.

Not to mention I read one of your posts on the other star site I visit frequently for the 1100..where it stated at times you find yourself grinding the pegs, tailpipe and even the chassis (Guys name was Toby with a stryker anyhow lol) and if that's the case I personally think you're putting the bike well past it's limits already, putting a car tire on there with less contact patch might be asking a bit much, especially since you're unloading suspension and tire already anytime it hits the frame or pegs which sounds like it happens often. Again the price is high but I put a high price on safety when it comes to riding bikes..

 

[Mentat Ix]

Been there, done that. General GMax. I didn't like it, and I wore it out in less miles than I got out of a metzler anyway.

edit: I should probably mention, too, that I did slow my roll when I had it on there because I had it slip out from under me in an intersection once. It seemed to handle high speed turning fine, but I was always nervous about pushing it after that one incident.

 

[toby]

I don't think I've ever gotten more than 4K out of a sportbike tire and that's basically what's on the rear end of this bike.

That said, I'd really be afraid to go darkside and would do some serious research on what tires work best. I think the main advantage of people going darkside is that they can get 50K+ out of a tire but a lot of the time thats on a huge bike such as a goldwing which is used a good portion of the time for highway mileage and some mountain touring. I live in the twisty mountains as well though it sounds like your environment is a bit rougher. Personally for 3200 a year, albeit steep, it sounds cheap compared to one trip to the emergency room, or worse. I believe with a car tire riding on the sidewall a frequent percentage of the time you'll likely be giving up a lot of patch contact between the road and the tire.

Not to mention I read one of your posts on the other star site I visit frequently for the 1100..where it stated at times you find yourself grinding the pegs, tailpipe and even the chassis (Guys name was Toby with a stryker anyhow lol) and if that's the case I personally think you're putting the bike well past it's limits already, putting a car tire on there with less contact patch might be asking a bit much, especially since you're unloading suspension and tire already anytime it hits the frame or pegs which sounds like it happens often. Again the price is high but I put a high price on safety when it comes to riding bikes..

Yes that was me on the other forum..
I have already slowed er down since realizing I was scraping hard parts. I actually painted the bottom of the pipe mount twice and it is scraped off again. So I'm obviously still hitting it. All it takes is a slight bump in a curve that has me already scraping the peg.
I have been researching tires for almost two years, including car tires, and have tried a number of brands all with pretty much the same results. At this point I'm thinking even a car tire would wear fast and maybe even faster being on the edge all the time as they are not designed for that.
The one brand we have not tried yet is Avon.
I think I have decided that if I have to give up some of the fun factor of the Stryker and just slow down, I might as well do it without sacrificing safety and performance with a car tire. The twisties up here are much too dangerous, skinny roads barely wide enough for one car, have no guardrails with steep cliffs that drop hundreds of feet.
Avon Cobra 240s are on sale from Amazon right now for $206 free shipping. The word up here is Avons are low mileage tires but everyone everywhere else that uses them say thy are high mileage tires. So I can't count them out until I've tried them.
So if it means we ride less and a bit slower to make the tires last longer then so be it. At least we will be safe.
We might have to start thinking, find freeways, go further and quit playing in the mountains so much. lol.

Mantat Ix thanks for the reply. this is what I was looking for to help me make the right decision.:wink:

 

[SmokenJoe]

A friend has told me since he stopped down shifting coming into a stop he has added about 2000 miles to tire life. He uses a Dunlop on his VTX 1300. Has about 55,000 miles on there now.

 

[Strykeback]

A friend has told me since he stopped down shifting coming into a stop he has added about 2000 miles to tire life. He uses a Dunlop on his VTX 1300. Has about 55,000 miles on there now.

Interesting Cost of pads vs cost of tire. Food for thought.


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App

 

[SmokenJoe]

Interesting Cost of pads vs cost of tire. Food for thought.


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App

pull in the clutch a little sooner and down shift into second when coming to a stop light and then coast a little and be ready to go if you're in 2nd gear.

 

[Silkentek]

pull in the clutch a little sooner and down shift into second when coming to a stop light and then coast a little and be ready to go if you're in 2nd gear.

I do this already. I basically pull my clutch and kick my gears all the way down to first, but I do not engage the clutch again until it is clear to go.
I think part of the way my tires wear has to do with how I brake in the turns... toby gets nice even wear, his tire looks GOOD even tho it is almost bald but then I rarely see him braking ... that boy just has no whoa
Actually it really is just the skill he can ride these roads with.
I am still learning and having to constantly tell myself to just let the bike do what it does best and quit fighting it... so my tires square off as they get worn because I use my brakes more, and sometimes I am trail-braking halfway thru a turn (usually on the steep downgrades with sharp turns)
just my theory =) anyway...

 

[11Stryker]

Yes that was me on the other forum..
I have already slowed er down since realizing I was scraping hard parts. I actually painted the bottom of the pipe mount twice and it is scraped off again. So I'm obviously still hitting it. All it takes is a slight bump in a curve that has me already scraping the peg.
I have been researching tires for almost two years, including car tires, and have tried a number of brands all with pretty much the same results. At this point I'm thinking even a car tire would wear fast and maybe even faster being on the edge all the time as they are not designed for that.
The one brand we have not tried yet is Avon.
I think I have decided that if I have to give up some of the fun factor of the Stryker and just slow down, I might as well do it without sacrificing safety and performance with a car tire. The twisties up here are much too dangerous, skinny roads barely wide enough for one car, have no guardrails with steep cliffs that drop hundreds of feet.
Avon Cobra 240s are on sale from Amazon right now for $206 free shipping. The word up here is Avons are low mileage tires but everyone everywhere else that uses them say thy are high mileage tires. So I can't count them out until I've tried them.
So if it means we ride less and a bit slower to make the tires last longer then so be it. At least we will be safe.
We might have to start thinking, find freeways, go further and quit playing in the mountains so much. lol.

Mantat Ix thanks for the reply. this is what I was looking for to help me make the right decision.:wink:

I had no problem with either of my Avons. Son still running my old Avon 240. My 250 did get punctured my metal shard and I had to replace it.

 

[SmokenJoe]

I do this already. I basically pull my clutch and kick my gears all the way down to first, but I do not engage the clutch again until it is clear to go.
I think part of the way my tires wear has to do with how I brake in the turns... toby gets nice even wear, his tire looks GOOD even tho it is almost bald but then I rarely see him braking ... that boy just has no whoa
Actually it really is just the skill he can ride these roads with.
I am still learning and having to constantly tell myself to just let the bike do what it does best and quit fighting it... so my tires square off as they get worn because I use my brakes more, and sometimes I am trail-braking halfway thru a turn (usually on the steep downgrades with sharp turns)
just my theory =) anyway...

Really should not brake on a turn. Just before, then ease on throttle.

 

[Silkentek]

Really should not brake on a turn. Just before, then ease on throttle.

I know that, and believe me, I do my best, however until you have seen these roads up here lol you just couldn't understand why it is sometimes necessary.
the hill I usually have to do this on has a 25% grade to it and 3 hairpin turns... and I mean HAIR PIN... they actually loop back on themselves.
This picture is the second of one of the series closest to our place, and the grade is mild ... garberville hill... about a mile from town has 2 turns that are TIGHTER and the grade between them is about 4 times steeper...

 

[toby]

A friend has told me since he stopped down shifting coming into a stop he has added about 2000 miles to tire life. He uses a Dunlop on his VTX 1300. Has about 55,000 miles on there now.

We are very conscious of what the rear tire is doing at all times, trying to minimize drag and stress as much as possible is a constant practice.
Practicing front braking and trial braking techniques especially on down hill grades in twisties to minimize rear tire drag as best possible. There are times when we rely on compression alone to slow but that's becoming more and more rare as we try to maximize rear tire life. I have been using front braking as much as possible in all circumstances to minimize drag on rear tire. When I need to down shift and stay in gear for any reason I rev the rpm to equal mph and keep on the throttle so there's little or no drag on rear tire.
There is nothing that can be done with up hill grades in twisties or accelerating through and out of turns though. When you add the grades we have with twisties it's going to wear tires. You have to consider that these are race style tires we run and where I live is like an extreme race track with 12% to 20% grades with rough areas and obstacles course areas where you have to constantly dodge stuff in corners.
Makes for excitingly fun riding but we pay the price in tires. The up side is we don't have to pay fees to get on a track lol.:thumb: