Ken your opinion please.....

[JUICEDSS]

Lots of debate going on in my Harley forum about going to the "Dark Side". That is, running a car tire on the rear of a Harley Touring bike. Guys have been doing it for years on other brands of bikes. Harley just went wider in 09 so there is a comparable sized tire now.

I have read a ton on this and am going to try it. (Hopefully this isn't my last post! lol)

Here are 2 videos of the same conditions with each type of tire.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks!!

CAR TIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwSSXHanpv0

BIKE TIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIfrFch-VqE

[Dave-S]

Having had several bikes myself I would personally want to stick with a MC tire. While the flat tread may be a bit better for grip in a straight line I would think cornering would suffer with the car tire. And once the corner treads wear on the car tire safety could be an issue as well especially in the rain.

Dave

[wolfdogs]

For one... running 40psi on that car tire is overkill x1,000. Heck.. 30psi on a fully loaded sedan it fits O.E. is recommended... that contact patch has been way reduced by the over inflation.

This discussion has been around for a while, I had the pleasure of eating dinner with several Michelin engineers when my boss and I toured the Greenville SC plant years ago.... this subject came up because, at the time... my 87 FJ1200 was one of the test beds for the new Michelin radials... one of the attending dinner guests was a motor cycle tire engineer....... he said running a car tire can cause under steer due to the difference in belt edge support/construction between a car tire and motor cycle tire... it can create a dangerous situation is a sudden desire to change direction... motor cycle tires are designed differently because of the forces applied by the vehicle running on only two tires in a straight line vs. a 3 or 4 wheeled vehicle.

Personally, I would not dream of doing it.

[ryan34]

I think that video says it all, it looks like you got about an inch of contact patch on the turns.......I'd stick with bike tires.

[FroSSty]

I think that video says it all, it looks like you got about an inch of contact patch on the turns.......I'd stick with bike tires.

Not much better with the bike tire. It looks like less tire touching the road with the bike tire.

[Black97]

Yep that car tire just doesn't look right. Wouldn't have the guts to drive around like that. Another vote for MC tires.