I have been watching the treadlife on my new tires (hoops). The rear has only about 2000 miles and is almost to the wear markers, and starting to look flat across the tread. About 600 miles have been 2 up with my wife. This puts us over the rating on the sticker under the seat, but at least 100lbs under the rating stamped on the tires. The darkside tire raises the loading rating by another 100lbs or so. So I am thinking about changing.

Handling doesn't change much 2 up other than it takes more effort to turn in. The bike is a bit more stable. What I don't like is the handling does change some. We have 2up'd on a Harley and I don't even know she is there.

Where I am going with this is has anyone else overloaded their wing and what comments do you have to share. I like the added treadlife, weight capacity, and speedo correctness of the darkside tire. Guess I need a push over the edge.

Just wondering....
Does the "Dark Side" do anything as far as the wobble?

No Dave,
The wobble comes from age. I can attest to that. I was out today, plan to be tomorrow, and the wobble was (and I expect it to be) tomorrow.

I don't have a darkside at the moment. The bike handles differently most likely because the suspension sag. With two up it changes the front end angle thus slowing down the handling.

I have the shock preload topped out. I would like to find some air shocks to reduce the sag, although it takes quite a bump to bottom out as it is now. I am just not happy with the change in handling when loaded.

MOWing I dont think I understand what you are refering to when it comes to the woble. I seriously overload my swing with full bags, trunk, camping gear includeing tent and rider and I dont notice any wobble. That was with origonal tires and now with dark side tire. The bike does handle different at slow speeds on gravel with the darkside but it is not a bad diference, just different. The flat surface tends to follow ruts and you can feel it when it comes out of a rut. I realy like my darkside tire and dont plan to go back and intend to put darkside on the other bikes when they are neaded. I did not put on the Sumoto but put on a Mastercraft 175/70/R13 which is bigger and it still has lots of extra room in the wheel well. A friend has a tire shop and I said what have you got in a 13 inch tire. He said I have this lets see if it will work on that rim, and it worked great.

Thanks for the feed back. I don't have a wobble. The bike handles differently 2 up than 1 up. I am wanting to go to a Darkside for the wear. at 10,000 miles a year that is two tires. I have 3000 (not 2000 as mentioned above) Miles on the current rear Hoop. I would ride it further, but I need a state inspection and the wear markers have just started showing. I got 6500 miles on a Vyper Strike and it had threads showing.

Also has any one from here in Missouri had issues getting past inspection with a darkside tire.

I have been curious about the darkside tire. I was warned tho about possibly having problems with the insurance company if I were to take a spill. Has anyone had a problem with this? I was told by a local fuzz biker that it might come up as an issue since the tire is not actually designed for our silverwings. Besides I dont really mind paying for a set of Diablos every year or two. I just dont personally think i can risk it when the Diablos only run me a hair over $100

Well I am well on my way to hell now. My darkside tire is in the garage waiting for my Bridgstone hoop to die. I am also going to balance the darkside with dyna beads. (Ceramic balance beads). So I am up for a double wammy.

I get a kick out of the handfull of subjects that are so polarizing and have such emotional proponents on both sides. Here are couple that come to mind.

Darkside vs MC Tire
Gasoline vs alcohol
Dynabeads vs wheel weights

How many car tires are incorrectly installed on the wrong wheels because it looks good. (Lowriders with wheels too wide for the tire) The previous owner of my boat installed trailer tires rated for a 6" wheel and mounted them on 8" car wheels. The tires didn't last 1500 miles and they separated. Or how does installing large diameter wheels on your car effect braking and handling.

Sounds like I am arguing the wrong way I am installing the darkside tire on a wheel that is a close fit, will stay within the weight range of the tire, my speedo will be right, and will have longer tire life. I tend to keep a close eye on my bike tires and watch for uneven wear and pressure. When installed I will go out and test the tire so that I have a feel for how it will behave.

Hey MOwing, ya forgot lubricating fluid, petroleum or synthetic. That's always a point of contention on every forum and website concerned with internal combustion engines.

Update on the darkside.

Well as much as I believe in the concept, I have had to swap back to a MC tire. I installed my darkside tire. After about 120 miles the sidewall bulged and the bead poped open and the air went out. This was while riding 2 up. Good news is that while I heard the air come out I didn't notice it until I turned into the neighborhood. Back end was a bit squishy. (I was almost home when it went).

It was a sumotomo purchased from tire rack. I was running about 45psi. I can't blame it on the tire changer as I installed the tire. It went on tough, but was very careful not to overstreatch the bead or sidewall. I did notice the bead shape was different than the MC tire and it was a real pain to get it to seat.

I am rather dissapointed. This changing tires at 6000 miles or so (5-7 months) is going to get old. I am thinking about getting a spare wheel from ebay and mounting fresh tire on it. I would still use a DS tire on a heavy cruiser like a valkyrie or Goldwing, as there are more quality tire choices. I may try again, but I have to burn off this new tire. I was lucky to find a replacement locally quickly as I had a ride with my buddy planned the next day.

Here is the funny part. I noticed this evening that the new Dunlop tire in small sidewall print says Sumotomo. I do like the tread depth on the Dunlop it should give me better mileage than the Bridgestone. The Bridgestone didn't last long at all.

One good thing is that the Speedo was dead on with the GPS.

One more thing. I pulled off my wheel weights and put Dynabeads in my tires. They are working great. Very smooth rolling now.

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/

This demo sold it for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg