[piss_pot]

Hello everyone. I have been lurking around here for some time now and thought it might be time to post up. First and foremost, I love my XC. Awesome motorcycle with a few little quirks. I picked it up 16JAN19. Last weekend I rolled 7800 miles and I am planning a week long ride through Colorado the middle of August and since the back tire was getting close to bald, I thought it would be best to go ahead and put on a new tire. I have been comtemplating going to Darkside for quite some time, well I finally did it. Bought a Kumho SRT 195/55VR-16 for $140.00 and had it mounted and balanced for $40.00. The moment i rolled out of Bikers Bay, I realized the bike was the same. Yesterday i was on a 320 mile ride and the only compaint was the bike was at the mercy of the road irregularities: followed the cracks and grooves. Not a big problem just not what I wanted. Today i checked the tire pressure, 38 psi. Raised it 40 and set the front at 38. Went for a 200 mile ride and bingo, no more tracking problems. Ran a large 270 degree interchange bridge today purposely pushig the speed and lean angle. Once the XC set, she was rock solid at well above the normal.............. I am very pleased and now waiting to see how many miles I can get out of it. Sorry for the long post, just thought I would let you guys know.

And thanks to everyone for all the great info and entertainment I have gotten from this site.

Come to the Darkside, we have cookies.

 

[marty]

Hello everyone. I have been lurking around here for some time now and thought it might be time to post up. First and foremost, I love my XC. Awesome motorcycle with a few little quirks. I picked it up 16JAN19. Last weekend I rolled 7800 miles and I am planning a week long ride through Colorado the middle of August and since the back tire was getting close to bald, I thought it would be best to go ahead and put on a new tire. I have been comtemplating going to Darkside for quite some time, well I finally did it. Bought a Kumho SRT 195/55VR-16 for $140.00 and had it mounted and balanced for $40.00. The moment i rolled out of Bikers Bay, I realized the bike was the same. Yesterday i was on a 320 mile ride and the only compaint was the bike was at the mercy of the road irregularities: followed the cracks and grooves. Not a big problem just not what I wanted. Today i checked the tire pressure, 38 psi. Raised it 40 and set the front at 38. Went for a 200 mile ride and bingo, no more tracking problems. Ran a large 270 degree interchange bridge today purposely pushig the speed and lean angle. Once the XC set, she was rock solid at well above the normal.............. I am very pleased and now waiting to see how many miles I can get out of it. Sorry for the long post, just thought I would let you guys know.

And thanks to everyone for all the great info and entertainment I have gotten from this site.

Come to the Darkside, we have cookies.

That new Darkside looks awfully flat to me I can'y imagine it being a great cornering tire,but according to your high millage weekends I guess you are in need of a mileage tire.I do both Mileage but I just love to lean her over I think I'll stay with Elite 111

 

[Putter]

Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[Chas_K]

Welcome to the site, glad you're here. Keep us updated on your experiences with this.

 

[piss_pot]

Hello everyone. Ran a large 270 degree interchange bridge today purposely pushig the speed and lean angle. Once the XC set, she was rock solid at well above the normal..............

That new Darkside looks awfully flat to me I can'y imagine it being a great cornering tire,but according to your high millage weekends I guess you are in need of a mileage tire.I do both Mileage but I just love to lean her over I think I'll stay with Elite 111

Hey it's cool.We don't all take the same road to the same destination.Just so you know, I love to straighten out corners too. I did a bunch of road clearancing of my running boards today.

 

[Clubford00]

Welcome Piss, (I cant believe i just said that) Anyway, Its always good to hear people try different things. Im looking forward to hearing your adventures and how the bike handles all types of riding scenarios. Since i live in Illinois and most of the riding around here is done pretty upright, I was thinking of trying the same thing on the next tire change. We'll see.

 

[Gossamer]

i too have contemplated it since we're pretty straight and flat here as well. I'm not a fan of the elite III's, I actually liked the Elite II's better. The one thing I like the best about this option is that you can get run flat options which could be a nice benefit.

 

[marty]

Hello everyone. Ran a large 270 degree interchange bridge today purposely pushig the speed and lean angle. Once the XC set, she was rock solid at well above the normal..............

That new Darkside looks awfully flat to me I can'y imagine it being a great cornering tire,but according to your high millage weekends I guess you are in need of a mileage tire.I do both Mileage but I just love to lean her over I think I'll stay with Elite 111

Hey it's cool.We don't all take the same road to the same destination.Just so you know, I love to straighten out corners too. I did a bunch of road clearancing of my running boards today.

Right on ,just the way they look in the pics.tires and oil are really personal

 

[ddawg]

Welcome "Winkie Tinkie" (the bride won't let me say "piss" - I get head noogies if I do!!). That tire sure looks flat. Wow!! I'll be watching for performance / mileage updates. Thx for jumping into the fray!!!

 

[piss_pot]

Hello everyone. Ran a large 270 degree interchange bridge today purposely pushig the speed and lean angle. Once the XC set, she was rock solid at well above the normal..............

That new Darkside looks awfully flat to me I can'y imagine it being a great cornering tire,but according to your high millage weekends I guess you are in need of a mileage tire.I do both Mileage but I just love to lean her over I think I'll stay with Elite 111

Hey it's cool.We don't all take the same road to the same destination.Just so you know, I love to straighten out corners too. I did a bunch of road clearancing of my running boards today.

Right on ,just the way they look in the pics.tires and oil are really personal

I hear ya there,I run Rotella. I love this country, so many choices.

 

[piss_pot]

Welcome "Winkie Tinkie" (the bride won't let me say "piss" - I get head noogies if I do!!). That tire sure looks flat. Wow!! I'll be watching for performance / mileage updates. Thx for jumping into the fray!!!

Just so everyone knows, my avatar is a piss pot; actually a flaming piss pot. It is the symbol for military ordinance. I am a retired U.S. Air Force trained Ammunition Supply troop. (AMMO) Handled everything from 22LR to dead-drop nukes.
Mmmmmm, head noogies.

 

[ddawg]

High volume "Piss Pot" .......
(Watch out!!!!!) LOL!!!!

 

[Clubford00]

Welcome "Winkie Tinkie" (the bride won't let me say "piss" - I get head noogies if I do!!). That tire sure looks flat. Wow!! I'll be watching for performance / mileage updates. Thx for jumping into the fray!!!

Just so everyone knows, my avatar is a piss pot; actually a flaming piss pot. It is the symbol for military ordinance. I am a retired U.S. Air Force trained Ammunition Supply troop. (AMMO) Handled everything from 22LR to dead-drop nukes.
Mmmmmm, head noogies.

Thanks for your service and glad your "Still" with us !

 

[Rocketman]

I too welcome another Darksider to the forum. I darksided my Vision this summer and so far so good. I just got back from a trip to Radium Hot Springs. I left at 10:00 this morninhg and ran for about 20 mins steady rain in the mountains. Then just wet roads for about an hour, no issues it felt great andI didn't slow downcompaired to my oldbike tire. Then out onto the prairies and giver time. 876 Kms in 9.5 hours.The bike ran flawlessly and got better mileage at 120Km/h than at 100Km/h.
Your tire looks great, enjoy.

 

[canonsue]

I think the tire looks great. I have been Darkside for about 16,000 miles on my VTX. I love it, but yes, on certain roads with rain grooves my tire will ride differently than a motorcycle tire. Otherwise, much better stickabilty on sweeping curves.

-Sue

 

[Squirt]

I've also got a darkside on my Vulcan 2000. I went dark after 15,000 miles (and three back tires). I had to replace the tire dark tire once because of a nail, that was around 30,000 miles. I had a picture of the two tires on my old phone and other than the 'tits' you couldn't tell a difference. I currently have 39,000 on my Vulcan (it will be 3 years in September). So 24,000 miles of car tire, and ZERO issues, I didn't even have to adjust the tire pressure. I think it's at 38, I've never bothered to change it.
With this car tire I have been in and out of Death Valley, over Yosemite, and numerous times through the coastal mountains and the Sierra Nevadas, and the Tehachapis, the grapevine, (I live in California so if you want more, look at a map)...
I've done solo, and 2 up with gear.
When poeple ask me how it rides with the motorcycle tire, I tell them "That's a car tire?!!!"
Some of them actually get it...
ride on.

 

[americanv2]

Pisspot, I took your advice and went darkside today. http://darkside.nwff.info/displaymileage.php
The bike handles like before... no noticeable difference. I ordered the Kumho 195/55RF16 KU31 from TireRack.com and had it installed at Two Wheel World in Arlington TX. (shameless plugs for those two merchants because I am so satisfied with their service) 40psi is what I'm running, as recommended by the mechanic at TWW, so I'll go with it and see.

The wide tread patch looks awesome on the bike, just like your XC.

Intesting side note.... Tirerack wouldn't sell me the tire when I told them it was for a motorcycle. I had to call back, get another operator, and tell him it was for a Mini Cooper. I get that they don't want to be held liable, but I'm assuming the liability by having it installed and riding with it. Other rider forums all have praise for this tire so I think I'm in good company.

 

[BBob]

I'm glad to know of a tire that works on the XC. I ran one on a 07 Softail Night Train and loved it. Got all kinds of looks and comments. It rode better than the stock tire and smoothed out the small irregularities of the road. The suspension is so much better on the XC though so I may not notice much of a difference for a while. I do look forward to the experience though. How many miles are people getting on the stock E3 rear tires? I wish I could see the picture of the XC with the CT. I guess when things got changed the pictures got lost somehow.

 

[foambuilder]

I'm glad to know of a tire that works on the XC. .... I wish I could see the picture of the XC with the CT. I guess when things got changed the pictures got lost somehow.

I received my Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3 ZP GRN last week, waiting for my spare rim now. ZP=zero pressure or run-flat GRN=low rolling resistance Here ya go:

 

[TCB-1]

Well to the VOG and the Darkside