Frankenbike goes to the Darkside
- Thread starter RadioHowie
- Start date
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wfooshee
O, Woe is me!!
You have me mixed up with somebody else; :lol: my last name is not Rossi. The furthest I've ever leaned my bike (except during a crash) probably still left 4 inches under the pegs! I'll lead just because I know where the road is, but when you see brake lights, believe it! B)FYI...I will NOT be goaded into squidly activities. Hell, the Michelin will still be smelling new when I get there. Gotta put more than a couple hundred slab miles on both the tire and my muscle memory before I go and get all wfooshee-ey.
Hope Howie remembered some long johns or something. Wed evening look to get into the high 40s. He ain't seen that in a while, I'm betting. Thursday is warmer, but P'cola to Chipley after dark is still gona be chilly.
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RadioHowie
I Miss Beemerdons!
Lessee....red means stop, green means go...Liquid Silver bits all over the highway means Walter is pushin' a BIT too hard.
Thanks for the tip. Got my medium jacket and my heavy leather jacket packed. Will pack a wool sweater and my snowmobile gauntlets too, and my somewhat cold temps and my VERY cold temps balaklavas.
Last time I was up there was December 05 driving from Niceville to Chipley after a playoff game in Niceville. We won, BTW. It was 22 degrees when I left Niceville at 11pm. Warm as toast with my Florida version of Winter Gear behind a fully extended shield.
Let's revert to the original plan of 8am at Chipley Awful House Thursday morning. No need you getting up an hour earlier. I'll let Vic know.
wfooshee
O, Woe is me!!
Nah, we need to be there at 7:00. Mike needs us at Pensacola on time, and I don't have a problem with predawn riding, as long as it's not into the sun. I mean, I've done it before. Twice.
Really, 7's OK, and if I'm a bit tardy, I just get less breakfast than you. It's not like I'm trying for Los Robustos.
Really, 7's OK, and if I'm a bit tardy, I just get less breakfast than you. It's not like I'm trying for Los Robustos.
RadioHowie
I Miss Beemerdons!
Okay, 7 it is. I'll let Vic know when we hook up tomorrow....unless he's following along on his iPod.
RoadGlide
Well-known member
Great thread Howie. I enjoyed your step-by-step process of mounting and installation. I must admit...I'm a darksider too. I installed my 195/55/16 on the Wing a couple of weeks ago and love it. Smoother ride, much more quiet and grips in the wet like nothing I've ever ridden on. I'm liking it.
LgFJR
Well-known member
OCFJR.....thanks for the reply, and yes the road could have been greased up and it could have been just an anomaly.........I didn't have any opportunities to ride in torrential rain after that so I really never settled the issue one way or the other. The Kumo was a V rated 168mph rated donut, so it may have had some hard rubber also. If you guys have found excellent riding qualities in the wet then thats a good thing. With ABS it might actually be fun in the rain................
LG
RadioHowie
I Miss Beemerdons!
I ride whenever...hot...cold...wet...dry...but I can only attach the word "fun" with "rain" only once in my 40+ years of riding...and it was on my FJR.
September, 2005. Had my bike for about 2 weeks.
Woke up one Saturday morning, bored, and decided "Key West! YEAH!"
Sunday afternoon, on the way home, after 8 hours on the road the day before and 4 hours this day, and temps in the 100s, I was BEGGING for rain. Hit a thunderstorm just south of Lake Okeechobee ( the BIG one on the Florida map) and revelled in that damn downpour for the next 2 hours. Didn't even put on my rainsuit. It felt SO good on my sunburned arms and cooled everything down so nicely.
That's it, though, for "fun" and "rain". Rest of the time, rain's a pain.
Zorlac
Well-known member
""No, he says, that's a 17 inch tire and that ain't a 17 inch rim." I casually point to the size of the Avon, still mounted to the rim, which coincidentally says "17". "Well, it ain't the same 17 inches. 17 on a motorcycle wheel ain't the same as 17 on a car wheel.""
Can you get that guy to splain to my wife about 4" vs 8" for me?
Can you get that guy to splain to my wife about 4" vs 8" for me?
wfooshee
O, Woe is me!!
As for the ride, the weather has upped and shat on us. Tomorrow is still on, Chipley Waffle House, and the Museum at 11:00, but RH and Majicmaker are gonna have to bail.
It's not pussification, let's get that straight up front! Friday's forecast for central and eastern Florida is miserable, and they'd have 8 or 9 hours of rain and chilly, if not actually cold weather. That's not commuting distance, so it's OK for them to bail.
It's a shame, after getting up here today and all, but wereal riders true forum buddies understand.
Anyway, I'm still gonna see them at the Chipley Waffle House, gotta see that darkside Feej, them I'm going on to P'cola to meet up with Patriot and the guys at the museum. I expect a wet and chilly ride home Thursday evening, but it's only a coupla hours, and me skipping out for that would be pussification.
It's not pussification, let's get that straight up front! Friday's forecast for central and eastern Florida is miserable, and they'd have 8 or 9 hours of rain and chilly, if not actually cold weather. That's not commuting distance, so it's OK for them to bail.
It's a shame, after getting up here today and all, but we
Anyway, I'm still gonna see them at the Chipley Waffle House, gotta see that darkside Feej, them I'm going on to P'cola to meet up with Patriot and the guys at the museum. I expect a wet and chilly ride home Thursday evening, but it's only a coupla hours, and me skipping out for that would be pussification.
dcarver
Well-known member
Besides, that car tire wouldn't last that long..
freaking darkside car tire huggers in FloreeeDUH! :rofl:
freaking darkside car tire huggers in FloreeeDUH! :rofl:
RadioHowie
I Miss Beemerdons!
Just got in...6:11pm...and wanted to let all my forum asshats buddies know that everything went okay on the ride up and back. Two back-to-back 10 hour days in the saddle and my ass is dunfer. Gonna hafeta rethink the "stock seat is okay" nonsense. I cannot imagine doing 10,000 in 7 days like Warchild did. He either has a tungsten carbide ass, or there's nothing between his ears to register the pain back there. :lol2:
Left Vic (MajicMaker) where the Fla Turnpike and Hwy 27 intersect, which is about an hour and a half from La Casa del Howie, or 45 minutes from Disney if that gives a better reference point, so I can say up to where we split, everything was good, but from that point, he's still got another 4 hours before he makes it home. And I hit about 1 mile of light drizzle. I'm sure the "West" contingent won't be able to say that.
DID get a chance to meet up and break fast with wfooshee...he didn't consume nearly enough food, and NO PORK AT ALL! While I made up for it with sides of bacon AND sausage to go with my three eggs, grits and toast. Oh, for you northerners and kalifornicators, grits is what God gave the south for havin' to put up with the rest of the country's BS. "Egg Helper[SIZE=8pt]©[/SIZE]" I call it.
Oh, speaking of "stock seat is okay," the previous owner of my 04 was a short little old guy...about 5footnuthin' and had scooped out some of the foam for his vertically challenged frame. Took only a moment sitting on wfooshee's stock-seated 03 to notice "what a world of difference!" His seat is about 2 inches taller and two inches wider than my "modded" asscracker.
MUCH less pressure on the tailbone and less angle on the knees as well. Combined with his Heli-Bar risers,
, I could actually tell how more comfortable I'd be with at least a stock seat with risers. Gonna have to save up some coin, I guess, or place a "WTB -- stock Gen I front seat" in Classifieds when/if I can scrape up some scratch. Maybe someone who's replaced theirs with a Corbin or Sargent? I'll have to go check.
Anyway, when wfooshee gets back on, he can relate the little scare we got this morning when MagicMaker didn't show for breakfast. Look for his pics of his 03, my 04 and MM's 06 in the hotel parking lot when he hits the forum
Now, to the original intent of Frankenbike going to the darkside.....I DO have some things to report:
I got the tire installed and wheel installed on Monday, but didn't have a long enough ride to report anything of note. Rode the bike to work Tuesday, 60 miles round trip, just to get a feel for it and be prepared for any possible "nasty surprises" but didn't have any. Everything Eric reported on the original "Darkside" thread was apparent on my first day's ride.
The bike required a slightly stronger "push" on the bars when making a turn, but it was more noticeable at higher speeds, such as lane changes and off-ramps, then it was at low, parking-lot speeds. At least for me, at low speeds, the CT feels NO different from a moto-tire, but once you're rolling 20+ mph, when you initiate a turn, your ass can "feel" when the tire goes from flat tread to rounded shoulder. It's almost imperceptible, but it's there. Anyone who may have ridden an older, 20+ years ago or more, shaft drive bike and felt the "shaft jacking" effect when getting on or coming off the throttle in a curve, would recognize the feeling, but in, as I noted, an almost imperceptible fashion. It's kinda like "what was that? Did I just cross the crown of the road while cornering" sort of feeling.
Out on the slab is certainly where the CT shines. Plain and simple, it's more comfortable than a moto tire. Period. Expansion joints don't "crash" through the suspension the same way. Minor imperfections in road surface just aren't there and the bike tracks like it's on a rail.
After about 3-4 hours of 80+mph slabbing, I totally forgot I had done unspeakable things to the rear of my bike. That ghostly feeling from lane change transitions disappeared. Now there is certainly ZERO wear in that first 300 miles on the tire to account for the transition ghost to have gone away, so I can only assume my perception has simply become accustomed to it. It's such a "no big deal" that it's gone.
One thing I can report is the amount of traction back there is incredible. I've never, in all my years of riding, had a front tire wash out on me, but heavy handed or overcooked exits in turns has caused rear tires to "step out" on me, on all brands of bikes AND tires I've riden in 40+ years. But after seriously honking down on the loud handle in several on- and off-ramp occasions the last two days, not once did I feel that Michelin slip. Not once.
For me, it's a real confidence boost, because even though I'm no squid, it's those speedy left and right 90's we all make ever day are what boosted my pucker-factor on big, powerful bikes on stock tires. So far I can say the factor has been dramatically reduced. I'm much more confident in that big-assed contact patch back there than I ever was before, even on a race-oriented, sticky shoe like the Pilot Power Sports I run on my ZRX.
MagicMaker, who followed me about 80% of our ride together, reported that when we were taking off-ramps, he paid close attention to what my Darkside rear-end was doing and was VERY impressed with how much rubber is on the road, even in a fast, sweeping turn. I'll let him tell it in his own words when he gets home and gets back on the forum.
Finally, right now, 4 days after officially "Going to the Darkside" I can honestly say I don't reqret it one bit. But I'll periodically update my experiences, along with mileage benchmark photos, as the experiment progresses. So far, 800 miles and no complaints.
'Howie
Left Vic (MajicMaker) where the Fla Turnpike and Hwy 27 intersect, which is about an hour and a half from La Casa del Howie, or 45 minutes from Disney if that gives a better reference point, so I can say up to where we split, everything was good, but from that point, he's still got another 4 hours before he makes it home. And I hit about 1 mile of light drizzle. I'm sure the "West" contingent won't be able to say that.
DID get a chance to meet up and break fast with wfooshee...he didn't consume nearly enough food, and NO PORK AT ALL! While I made up for it with sides of bacon AND sausage to go with my three eggs, grits and toast. Oh, for you northerners and kalifornicators, grits is what God gave the south for havin' to put up with the rest of the country's BS. "Egg Helper[SIZE=8pt]©[/SIZE]" I call it.
Oh, speaking of "stock seat is okay," the previous owner of my 04 was a short little old guy...about 5footnuthin' and had scooped out some of the foam for his vertically challenged frame. Took only a moment sitting on wfooshee's stock-seated 03 to notice "what a world of difference!" His seat is about 2 inches taller and two inches wider than my "modded" asscracker.
MUCH less pressure on the tailbone and less angle on the knees as well. Combined with his Heli-Bar risers,
Anyway, when wfooshee gets back on, he can relate the little scare we got this morning when MagicMaker didn't show for breakfast. Look for his pics of his 03, my 04 and MM's 06 in the hotel parking lot when he hits the forum
Now, to the original intent of Frankenbike going to the darkside.....I DO have some things to report:
I got the tire installed and wheel installed on Monday, but didn't have a long enough ride to report anything of note. Rode the bike to work Tuesday, 60 miles round trip, just to get a feel for it and be prepared for any possible "nasty surprises" but didn't have any. Everything Eric reported on the original "Darkside" thread was apparent on my first day's ride.
The bike required a slightly stronger "push" on the bars when making a turn, but it was more noticeable at higher speeds, such as lane changes and off-ramps, then it was at low, parking-lot speeds. At least for me, at low speeds, the CT feels NO different from a moto-tire, but once you're rolling 20+ mph, when you initiate a turn, your ass can "feel" when the tire goes from flat tread to rounded shoulder. It's almost imperceptible, but it's there. Anyone who may have ridden an older, 20+ years ago or more, shaft drive bike and felt the "shaft jacking" effect when getting on or coming off the throttle in a curve, would recognize the feeling, but in, as I noted, an almost imperceptible fashion. It's kinda like "what was that? Did I just cross the crown of the road while cornering" sort of feeling.
Out on the slab is certainly where the CT shines. Plain and simple, it's more comfortable than a moto tire. Period. Expansion joints don't "crash" through the suspension the same way. Minor imperfections in road surface just aren't there and the bike tracks like it's on a rail.
After about 3-4 hours of 80+mph slabbing, I totally forgot I had done unspeakable things to the rear of my bike. That ghostly feeling from lane change transitions disappeared. Now there is certainly ZERO wear in that first 300 miles on the tire to account for the transition ghost to have gone away, so I can only assume my perception has simply become accustomed to it. It's such a "no big deal" that it's gone.
One thing I can report is the amount of traction back there is incredible. I've never, in all my years of riding, had a front tire wash out on me, but heavy handed or overcooked exits in turns has caused rear tires to "step out" on me, on all brands of bikes AND tires I've riden in 40+ years. But after seriously honking down on the loud handle in several on- and off-ramp occasions the last two days, not once did I feel that Michelin slip. Not once.
For me, it's a real confidence boost, because even though I'm no squid, it's those speedy left and right 90's we all make ever day are what boosted my pucker-factor on big, powerful bikes on stock tires. So far I can say the factor has been dramatically reduced. I'm much more confident in that big-assed contact patch back there than I ever was before, even on a race-oriented, sticky shoe like the Pilot Power Sports I run on my ZRX.
MagicMaker, who followed me about 80% of our ride together, reported that when we were taking off-ramps, he paid close attention to what my Darkside rear-end was doing and was VERY impressed with how much rubber is on the road, even in a fast, sweeping turn. I'll let him tell it in his own words when he gets home and gets back on the forum.
Finally, right now, 4 days after officially "Going to the Darkside" I can honestly say I don't reqret it one bit. But I'll periodically update my experiences, along with mileage benchmark photos, as the experiment progresses. So far, 800 miles and no complaints.
'Howie
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Well hallelujah. And thanks for checking in with us so promptly, Howie. I for one have been sitting on pins and needles all day.
But with all those words you didn't report the most significant and relevant detail...
Did, or did not, your balls fall off?
Enquiring minds NEED to know.
But with all those words you didn't report the most significant and relevant detail...
Did, or did not, your balls fall off?
Enquiring minds NEED to know.
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RadioHowie
I Miss Beemerdons!
Well hallelujah. And thanks for checking ion with us Howie. I've been sitting on pins and needles all day.
But with all those words you didn't report the most significant and relevant detail...
Did, or did not, your balls fall off?
Enquiring minds NEED to know.
Dammitttalltohelll....where'd the ol' lady put the camera............................................
[SIZE=24pt]Nooooo!!![/SIZE]
Just a word or two will do.
Please! Pretty please!!!
Just a word or two will do.
Please! Pretty please!!!
RadioHowie
I Miss Beemerdons!
Okay, okay....
(standing up)
(bending over)
(reaching WAY too far down, dammitt)
YEP!!
STILL THERE!!
Albeit a little road-weary. :lol2:
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Bustanut joker
Well-known member
Interesting news my aquatic fornicating friend..
Glad to see you did make that run up north and things went as planned. I was hoping the weather would co-operate with you fellers.
After reading this I think I'm going to fire up my bike out here and do burnouts till the tire is Toast Where the hell is that Credit Card?
:jester:
Glad to see you did make that run up north and things went as planned. I was hoping the weather would co-operate with you fellers.
After reading this I think I'm going to fire up my bike out here and do burnouts till the tire is Toast
Where the hell is that Credit Card?:jester:
Damnation Howie!!
Standing on your own nutsack, man... that takes... ummm... balls?
Standing on your own nutsack, man... that takes... ummm... balls?
RadioHowie
I Miss Beemerdons!
fjrboomer
Well-known member
Howie great write up but I strongly suggest you never commit a felony. After hearing from the tire guy that he reads this forum, you tell him you are bustanut. He has already read this thread by now and knows you lied. You obviously did not think out your attempted fraudulent statement. The next time you take a tire in for mounting he will probably turn it inside out before he mounts it just to let you know he knows you lied to him. Just sayin!
Good luck with your ride on the dark side. In FL it will probably work great. If it was a 40k tire for a car I would expect it will get much more on the bike unless you are really wringing out ole Frankenbike.
Good luck with your ride on the dark side. In FL it will probably work great. If it was a 40k tire for a car I would expect it will get much more on the bike unless you are really wringing out ole Frankenbike.
