Darkside questions

[Alan_Hepburn]

I've spent the last few hours reviewing a lot of information here, and elsewhere, about putting a car tire on my Wing. Since I've got a sidecar I'm not worried about handling in the corners since the bike won't spend any time up on the shoulder of the tire, and the increased lifetime of the tire certainly is a positive. Rear tires on sidecar rigs tend to get a LOT of wear in normal driving due to the geometry of the rig so any time I can get an extra few miles out of a tire is okay with me! But I don't recall seeing much discussion on HOW it's done - do I need to replace the wheel along with the tire or does a car tire fit the OEM wheel with no issues? And, has anyone taken the time to create a spreadsheet showing what tires are good, and what tires to avoid?

[aj1500]

there is no need to modify the wheel on the 1500 for a car tire
as for a spread sheet, well there are only a couple choices of tires that will fit
I'm running a goodyear fuel max on mine right now. it is a little shorter than the stock MC
I don't have any complaints about it being shorter
I went darkside long before I had a sidecar but either way I will never go back
also using a rear tire on the front is a huge plus as well

[minimac]

Although I don't have a hack, I do run an Austone rear on my 1500. Although it's a little taller, I think it's the single best mod one can make to a GL1500. It went on the OEM wheel with no problem and wears like iron. If you could, I'd get the same for the sidecar too. Being a six ply tire radial-it works well with a front bias tire- I changed my front to a MC radial also.

[FM-USA]

Austone here also but I can't suggest either taller or smaller tire due to we don't know what your looking for.
I think you know the basics, more torque = smaller diameter, etc..

I will be taking pix of the tires bead after removing from the rim. I believe the bead molds to the rims shape over time. I know truck tires do... BOY DO THEY! Takes a near stick of TNT to break some loose. Every rim imperfection is transferred to the rubber.

If you're not worried about lower RPM's, the Austone is the only choice. Austone & first gear has no problems. I haul a fairly large and heavy trailer, 450-600Lbs (long dist.) to 1500Lbs (short dist.), AND I can vouch for it's good for 80K miles. HECK, I'm still on the OEM clutch and nearing 200K!
I'm ready to install Austone #2 tomorrow. I have the wear bars JUST starting to hit pavement. If this were on a car, I'd easily go another 5K.

You said rear tire were is wearing too soon. The hack is toed in a smidgen?

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[OldZX11Rider]

I am running a Goodyear Assurance on my 1500. No sidecar and no trailer. I mount my own tires and it fit the Goldwing wheel with no more difficulty than a regular car wheel.
I have read some riders will not run a car tire unless it is a run flat type tire. I think the darkside website is darkside.net. They list the different sizes brands and air pressures to run in "darkside" tires.
Good luck.