Going to the Dark Side

I've been practicing a little with posting pictures. I took the forum's advice and opened an account on Photobucket.. It was really easy to upload a picture. Not sure what size it will come out here, but I'm learning as I go. Anyway, I rolled the new Exalto up to the back of the bike and took this picture of the new CT right up against my worn out factory Metzler. Both tires are flat on the concrete. Check out the difference! I have an appointment on Saturday morning to have the Exalto installed at the Yammie shop. I took the tire up there this afternoon. It was comical to watch the customers who were standing around when I handed the tire across the counter for them to hang on to it until I bring the bike in. You could have heard a pin drop in that room. All the conversations suddenly stopped as I asked the guys if they'd ever installed a CT on a motorcycle. Nope, they replied, this was the first time. Weather man says we'll have upper 70's on Saturday, so it looks like everything is go for me to finalize my journey to the dark side.

Think I'm gonna look into getting a Darth Vader decal. Might as well do this right.

Gary in Tampa

Weather man needs to get a new job. Started coming down just before I left the shop, so I got to ride home in a light rain with the new Exalto. Anyway, I took the Feej up to the Yammie shop to get the tires put on (got a new front as well). The boss at the shop wasn't happy about the installation... told me that they'd do it this once, but that it wouldn't be happening again. We spoke about lawsuits and liability, CT construction and Florida law. However, they did put it on for me. Concerning the rain, even under near full throttle at about 4-6K rpm, no slippage noted (GREAT wet weather traction). Based on your comments on this site, I was concentrating on power delivery on the way home. Did it seem to have slightly less power??... maybe. Seat of the pants tells me that the difference appears to be so slight it's kinda hard to tell for sure. But then the Feej has so much power anyway!!! So, I'll go on record as saying that the difference seems to be REALLY small. Next, the handling: First thing I noticed when pulling out the parking lot was that the bike didn't have the same tendency to "turn in" at slow speeds that it's always had. As you know, at speeds under 10 mph, once you initiate a turn, you have to wrestle with the handlebars to keep the bike from wanting to turn in. But with the Exalto, this tendency is gone. It's refreshingly neutral at very slow speeds. Higher speeds: because it was raining, my cornering was limited to mild lean angles. From the forum, I knew that I was looking for an increase in handlebar pressure when going through the turns. I have to tell ya guys, the difference was really minimal. Some may disagree, but the only opinion I can give is my own. I'm serious, flicking the bike back and forth within the lane... doing the line to line lane weave... at 25, 40, and 60 mph: no big deal. Then going through the curves at about 50... did it feel different? Yes, but barely, I'm just happy that it didn't feel funny or disjointed like I feared. Keep in mind I'm comparing the CT to my old factory Metzler, which had quite a flat area in the center (see former post). The bike didn't particularly feel like it wanted to straighten up on me, and it didn't feel unusual to me. First impressions: it's going to be just fine. Based on what so many have said, I thought there was going to be so much more of a difference. I'm happy to say, for me anyway, there isn't. Very happy with my new Exalto.

Looking good Gary, welcome to the Darkside, you are officially Darksider #44 and have been added to the FAQ list.

Thanks again to FJRONAMISSION for finding the Exalto and being the first to try it out. It's a great tire for darksiding and while I was quite happy with the Bridgestone 019G in every respect, and still feel it's a great tire with a solid 40k service life, the Exalto has it beat in the ease of turn in dept. Just more 'flickable', as they say.

Gary, my experience mirrors yours with my Exalto. I still notice little differences like some road grooves etc but overall, I ride the bike the same as with the MT rear tire and just don't think about it too much anymore. I have another bike but probably will use the FJR for trips on the slab especially since I can use regular gas too.

doctorj

doctorJ said:

Gary, my experience mirrors yours with my Exalto. I still notice little differences like some road grooves etc but overall, I ride the bike the same as with the MT rear tire and just don't think about it too much anymore. I have another bike but probably will use the FJR for trips on the slab especially since I can use regular gas too.

doctorj

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Doctorj: Come to think of it, I did notice a slight shifting of the center of balance when going down our dumb dirt road... it has lots of irregularities, ruts and embedded stones. When I hit something big... on one side or the other of the rear tire... I can feel a slight changing of balance that I didn't have before, but no big deal. Seems to happen only at very slow speeds. Anyway, I'm going to try to attach a picture I cropped from the back fender of a black darksider's bike. The decal itself is all silver. They can be ordered in black or silver. The man that I ordered it from says several FJR forum guys have bought them from him. His name is Terry Jeter. His phone # if you need it is 863-699-6840.
First choose a color, black or silver, write a short note and put it into an envelope along with...

$5.00 and a self-adressed stamped business envelope. Send it to:

T. JETER

101 BOWIE AVE

LAKE PLACID,FL. 33852

Please let him know if you have any questions or if there is anything he can do to help you out with your darkside efforts...

Gary

Darksider #44

Finally!

Yokohama Avid ENVigor.

Dood! Looking Good :good: You are officially Darksider #45 and have been added to the FAQ, including your INViger piccy.

So does this make me ZX11 #1 ?



Falken ZE-502 205/50/17 rides like a champ on this machine

zx11darkside said:

So does this make me ZX11 #1 ?

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At least on this list.. Not giving you a number here though.

Motorcycle tires are built for specific reasons. You know that m/c tires have evolved the way they have for a REASON! I'M NOT GOING TO YOUR FUNERAL. YOU ARE THE REASON WHY INSURANCE PRICES ARE SO HIGH. please listen to reason put m/c tires back on your MOTORCYCLE! At least try to prolong your stay on earth. Good luck...god bless you.

Trooper said:

Motorcycle tires are built for specific reasons. You know that m/c tires have evolved the way they have for a REASON! I'M NOT GOING TO YOUR FUNERAL. YOU ARE THE REASON WHY INSURANCE PRICES ARE SO HIGH. please listen to reason put m/c tires back on your MOTORCYCLE! At least try to prolong your stay on earth. Good luck...god bless you.

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Are you fooking SERIOUS. Your first post, and you jump in on this. I am pretty sure, not positive, but pretty sure there have been one or two people in the last almost 100 pages that have said they have concerns about this, BUT as you might notice if you took the time, there has not been ONE, not a SINGLE ONE incident caused by running a car tire with how many hundreds of thousands of documented miles?

With only 1 post to your count, I would say TROLL, but I will give you the benefit of the doubt for at least one more post.

Not auspicious for your first post to be "the sky is falling!". Welcome to the forum. Try to add new ideas and fresh comments, rather than just "me too" to a thread. While your opinion is noted, my personal experience leads me to discount your views as irrelevant to the discussion here.

Granted I only have put 2,000 miles on the CT in the last 2 months, but it is so not an issue. I talked to another IBA guy saturday night and he laughed at how how huge it looks under there, then the questions come and the understanding all within 5 minutes.

Any idea if it's do-able for an ST1300 (that's what he rides)

alchemy said:

Any idea if it's do-able for an ST1300 (that's what he rides)

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Not sure. I seem to recall looking at the ST1300 and thinking there would be some clearance issues with the brake arm that may be more difficult to solve than the FJR was. As here, someone has to go first and figure it out.

alchemy said:

Any idea if it's do-able for an ST1300 (that's what he rides)

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Looks like it has been done: https://rides.webshots.com/album/577109982bOhKxc

Trooper said:

YOU ARE THE REASON WHY INSURANCE PRICES ARE SO HIGH.

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HA! I'd love to see the documentation on that! TROLL!

Trooper said:

Motorcycle tires are built for specific reasons. You know that m/c tires have evolved the way they have for a REASON! I'M NOT GOING TO YOUR FUNERAL. YOU ARE THE REASON WHY INSURANCE PRICES ARE SO HIGH. please listen to reason put m/c tires back on your MOTORCYCLE! At least try to prolong your stay on earth. Good luck...god bless you.

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Oh, go bite a toad, ya frog molester!

I'll bet you can not come up with one single instance where anyone's insurance rates are based on what kind of tire someone runs on a motorcycle.

Since I joined the forum in mid-2005, I can with complete certainty say yours is the most stupid post I've read on this forum....and that includes some real doozies!

RadioHowie said:

Trooper said:

Motorcycle tires are built for specific reasons. You know that m/c tires have evolved the way they have for a REASON! I'M NOT GOING TO YOUR FUNERAL. YOU ARE THE REASON WHY INSURANCE PRICES ARE SO HIGH. please listen to reason put m/c tires back on your MOTORCYCLE! At least try to prolong your stay on earth. Good luck...god bless you.

Click to expand...

Oh, go bite a toad, ya frog molester!

I'll bet you can not come up with one single instance where anyone's insurance rates are based on what kind of tire someone runs on a motorcycle.

Since I joined the forum in mid-2005, I can with complete certainty say yours is the most stupid post I've read on this forum....and that includes some real doozies!

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Once again Howie is right on the money. <_<

I'm gonna make a couple of major assumptions here.....

1 - That "Trooper" is a member of the Texas Highway Patrol, based on his forum nickname, and

2 - You can now get one of these

inside one of these                       

True, very true. sorry for being so abrupt with my first post. I was just a bit excited to finally have done this and not killed myself. Ok some background on WHO-T-F I am. Not a troll.

Been riding for 23 years. I moved to Florida from Virginia 10 years ago. Riding is a totally different story down here then up north. I've had my share of 8 or so bikes. First was an 82 interceptor 750, then an FJ1100, then brand new GSXR1100 in 1990, then ZX11, blah blah blah blah... Moved to Florida and guess what... No curves anywhere to be seen. Hills? no hills either WTF? So I went with an old Cruiser down here, got bored, got another cruiser - HD, bored, another and another, and finally got me a used ZX11 again.

I'm on my 11 day and night commuting, relaxing, enjoying the finer things in life. I average anywhere from 16K to 23K annually. Oil and brake pads are not a big deal but since I do my own stuff - including tire changes - I thought I'd look up if anyone had ever tried a CT on a bike. Guess what a bunch had and were happy. The overwhelming majority seem to be Wings and cruisers. I figured i'd be one of the first to try it on a sport touring bike. Well then I discovered a bunch of FJR guys were doing this as well.

Got the tire, installed it, and I like it. Thats all. Just wanted to get a number since the folks at the ZX11forum ended up poking fun at me and just about made me cry. Glad to be here (I think).

Now that I've tried it I think I'll run it as it is for a short while, maybe a few weeks, and then go back to my MC tire. Just wanted to see if it could be done, what the big deal was, and how it would feel. Is that too much to ask?

Ok thats it. See I'm not a troll.