Twice damned!

Not only am I one of those heretical Trike riders on one of those "not German/European Safety Approved" modified abominations, (at least, according to a select few forum members) but now I'm joining the Dark
Side!    

My 155/70R13 75T Hercules Raptis tire will be here Friday. Even more amazing, my local Honda dealer has agreed to mount it for me. They will not mount Darkside tires on 2-wheelers, but have no issues mounting one on my trike.

I was seriously disappointed to find my rear tire resembling a racing slick after only 5,000 miles.  

Gyro could you tell us where you ordered your tire and what the cost with shipping was? Also let us know if there are any problems mounting the tire after you get it. I'm sure you will get a lot better mileage out of your new tire. Good luck, and keep us informed.

Gyro I have 28k kl on my Hercules Raptis tire. 18k kl with my Trigg trike kit .My is good 2/3 rd left on my tire. My 140 70 14 was a bust 1/2 the tire was scalloped 1/4 " deep on one side 10k kl on tire . My 120 80 14 Pure sport looks new after riding 8k kl .

model28a wrote:

Gyro could you tell us where you ordered your tire and what the cost with shipping was? Also let us know if there are any problems mounting the tire after you get it. I'm sure you will get a lot better mileage out of your new tire. Good luck, and keep us informed.

Amazon.com/sold by Direct Buy Tire.

$43.99 + $18.74 UPS shipping.

Thank you, let us know how it works out.

The tire arrived on Friday, right on Schedule!   My appointment to get it installed is Oct 2.  I'll take a couple of photos when it's mounted.

I thought about tackling removing/re-installing the rear wheel myself, but decided my lack of experience vs the shop fee was a no-brainer.  Maybe next time.

Here's a close-up of the Hercules Raptis tread, for anyone interested:

It's official!  I've now joined the Darkside!  I've been riding on the Hercules Raptis tire since yesterday afternoon.  

My local Honda shop reported absolutely no problems mounting and balancing the Hercules tire. I passed along a tip I read to use extra lubricant on the tire bead. They did say it required about 60 psi to seat the bead. The shop guys said they've had nothing but bad experiences with balance beads, so they only use external lead weights. This tire only needed 1-1/8 oz to balance. The only down side? They zinged me $15 for a new valve stem.  

I wondered if the new tire would improve speedometer accuracy on my S'wing, or make it worse. The 155/70r-13 Raptis is supposed to have "almost" the same circumference as the stock S'wing tire. So, I clipped my Rider GPS on the trike and took a test ride:

spd = speedometer reading
gps = speed displayed on a TomTom Rider GPS unit
speed units = mph

spd - 30
gps - 29

spd - 45
gps - 43

spd - 55
gps - 52

spd - 65
gps - 61

That's slightly better than with the stock tire.

Thank you for the follow up. Yes $15 is a lot to pay for a new valve stem but it is better to have a new one than to have it fail on the road. Not as dangerous as on two wheels but still no fun to be stuck on the side of the road. Keep us informed on how it holds up compared to the old one.

Thanks so much for the info Gyro. I am definitely pulled towards the darkside every time I get another tire replaced. Next time I'm going to pull the wheel myself and do it. The improved speedo numbers pushed me over the edge!