With more than 3k on my 03 Silver Wing's Sumitomo HTRT4 radial tire Including a 2238 mi 16-day trip in October), I am able to answer some of the many questions I had before purchasing/installing my "darkside" tire:
1) Does it ride/drive differently? Yes! The ONE MAIN DIFFERENCE you will have to get used to is the FLEXIBLE SIDEWALL REAR TIRE. It is very smooth, grips wonderfully and handles well. HOWEVER, you have to be more "upright" about your riding due to the flexible sidewalls.
2) How does it handle in the rain? Excellent! It has a MUCH bigger footprint and disperses water well, thus maintaining an overall BIGGER contact patch.
3) How much air pressure should I run? If it's just you aboard, try 28 - 30. If touring with a load, 30-32. Any more than that and (in my opinion) the tire gets "squirrely".
4) The tire fits the existing rim OK? Well, yes and no. My mechanic got the tire onto the rim OK, but couldn't get it to seat. So, he put a tube inside, ran it up to about 50 pounds, deflated it, took the tube out and VOILA! the tire finally did seat on the Honda rim. HOWEVER - it seeped air about a pound a day. So, I put 40 lbs in it and ran a 16-mile interstate trip (and back) at 80+ mph, heating the tire up and letting centrifugal force do its thing. Tire seated wonderfully and holds air now.
5) Can you scrape the pegs on the mountain twisties? NO!! Remember, your tire tread is "squared off" at the edges. You risk running on the "crown" of the tread edge - a dangerous proposition in anyone's book - little or no grip or handling. [b]YOUR RIDING MUST BE MORE CONSERVATIVE AND MORE "UPRIGHT" TO RIDE SAFELY!
6) Main benefits: Wider contact patch (better braking), flexible sidewall (much smoother ride), tire longevity (40k+).
7) Main drawbacks: Harder to install, flexible sidewalls mean more conservative/upright riding.
If you have more questions, plz email me at: RMLSOTMHG@CHARTER.NET

What size and brand do you recommend?

Since this topic is in the safety section, I am compelled to comment.
Putting an automobile tire on a scooter is NOT a safe thing to do. You can have all the personal anecdotes on the merits of doing so you want, but the bottom line is this:

That car tire was NEVER designed to function safely as a scooter tire, and that scooter was NEVER designed to function safely using a car tire.

Be safe out there.

Sorry BigBird... crossing freeway on foot is not safe... information supports that statement... drinking and driving is not safe... information supports that statement... having unsafe sex is not safe... information supports that statement... driving at speed of 100 mph on icy road is not safe... information supports that statement.....

"Putting an automobile tire on a scooter is NOT a safe thing to do."... information ?????? that statement

2000000miles/60 MPH/24 hours in a day/365.25 days in a year
= 3.802570537683474 years. If riding for only 8 hours a day that would take 3.802570537683474 X 3 = 11.40771161305042 years

I might consider someone an authority on the subject that rides for that much that actually had a failure...

John might not make the best witness in a hearing...

165-65-13 bridgestone works good too

Darksiding is a subject that comes up on the Goldwing forums as well as scooter forums. I haven't heard of any disasters caused by using auto tires on a bike but I do believe it you like any kind of spirited riding they are inferior to bike tires. I have met a couple darksiders who seem utra conservative in the twisties. The reason they ride that way may not be due to their tires but for me half the fun of riding is a bit of peg scraping now and then. It's hard for me to believe that the only reason motorcycle tires are made is to sell a shorter lived tire and make more money for the manufacturers. In the 50s motorcycle and car tires weren't all that different. In fact Cushman scooters basically had 400X8 boat trailer tires on them from the manufacturer. In the past 60 years there has been a lot of engineering improvements in materials and design of both auto tires and bike tires, but the engineering and material choices are different for both types of tires. Just to take one point. Hydroplaning. Motorcycles and scooters are much less prone to hydroplane than autos and trucks. Mainly because they have a narrower contact point which results in a higher pressure footprint. Another point I'd argue is better braking with a car tire on the rear of a bike. Since by far most of the braking effort comes from the front wheel due to weight transfer it's really unlikely that a car tire will improve braking. Yes it does have a bit more contact area but that is countered by lower contact pressure with the road surface. Has anyone seen any qualitative data on the differences between using the different tires? Anecdotal evidence is pretty much unreliable. Even a proponent like Slick-Tenn is basically saying the tire doesn't handle as well or there wouldn't be a necessity of keeping the bike more 'upright' which means a lot slower on the twisties. I don't say that Darksiding is dangerous but I do believe that it derogates performance and therefore a lot of pleasure in riding a two wheel vehicle.

In Slick-Tenn's own words, the Mechanic had a hard time getting the tire to seat properly, well Duh? it's a car tire, not meant for two wheeled vehicles. There is a reason bike tires have grooves on their sides, for better grip on turns, especially on wet roads. I would rather spend a few extra dollars on the proper equipment and be as safe as possible. Ride Safe...Robert in Az.

There has never been a shortage of nay sayers when it comes to darkside subject which is why i kept installing scoot tires on my swing UNTIL i became sick of replacing them every two months.

I TOO...ordered my 165/70-13 sumitomo tire from tireseasy.com....arrived in 3 days flat. INSTALLATION....sure the DS is not gonna just melt into place when mounted.....it will need a little convincing....but IT WILL MOUNT AND SEAT to the bead.

I read reports of people installing a tube inside the rim to get the tire to bead up.....OK?...have someone bead seat that biotch up around the rim. (I watched a car tire shop beat seat mine) WA-LA...its over...like taking a pill. below is a video of the method im describing....

bead seater

Now, im dam glad i didnt listen to all those afraid to try DS, because its the best mod ive done to my bike...it rides like a cadillac now.

P.S. if you ride like the guy in the new forum profile pic on a daily basis you might want to stick to your diablo's....im just saying

Honda Silver....I would ride on my DS anyplace, but then again i dont take curves like im racing for the checkered flag either. I didnt ride that way when i had a scoot tire.

FlyingWing Said:
"if you ride like the guy in the new forum "

Did I miss something... I thought we were the new forum...

OPalboy....the phrase is the "new" profile pic for the forum....u know the one of the front page of this forum.

A-ha... you have to forgive me for not catching the whole statement... you Texans know us Arkies are...

No problem OPALSBOY...i know i probably type with a texas accent....lol.

All it takes is one person to not say anything, who will that be hmmm.

Hi Guys, and of course young ladies. Haven't had access the "interweb" in a while, so when I checked on my fav 2 wheeling site, I thought I stumbled upon a Rush Limbaugh/Keith Olberman point/counterpoint. "Well it's my ball and I'm going home".!!! You guys are a hoot, and we need that Beer Summit at DennisB's Lake front Cabin........Soon!!!
Here's a thought. Surely you've been a little loose with.....say $75 to $100 bucks....haven't you?? Maybe what you spent it on didn't work out, and maybe it was the best money you've ever spent. Well....... A Sumi @ Tirerack is $46+$15 for shipping, mounting at my Sumi dealer in Quincy Il was $15. If the Mrs.....or Mr......wouldn't mind a little of that tax refund going for "research", you could be the Jonas Saulk of the Silverwing Set.
If you are curious........what the heck.......give one a try. You might like it, if not, think how much fun it will be to post a picture of the grandkids playing on their new Sumi tire swing!! You cant lose!!.......Jeff.

Can't we all just get along ???

Okay... I'm sorry... There's a damn blizzard goin' on an' I ain't got nuthin' else to do.