Darkside Question

[in2it]

I was thinking about going dark on my 1500 ... I have a question which I know perhaps starts a "can and can't do" answers ... my question is ...what is the better tire now days for the rear

[Andy Cote]

There has been an effort to consolidate Darkside tire options in to one thread to make searching easier.

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=66146&p=386400#p386400

[cycledoc2016]

just passing this along, on ebay the seller is- rochfordtyres they have the 175/75R16 for the GL1500, no issue with fitment same as stock and it was $172 sent to the door hope this helps I have been darksiding for the last 200,000 miles and yes 90% is with a trailer. I know its not for everyone but works for me.hope this helps

[newday777]

I found in my 30,000 miles of Darkside on the gl1500 that there are few choices of available good tires to put on a gl1500. Add to that the 2 shock swingarm design of the 1500 doesn't work well for going Darkside. You will feel more tail action of the rear end going down the road, especially if you ride where there are grooved roads. I've put a motorcycle tire back on and it all goes away. I had 2 different 1500s that this happened on, both 1999. The 1st had 105,000 on it. The second only had 19,000 miles on it. I had some tank slapper corners at speeds of 80 mph and above on highways.
I have since 2013 gone on to the gl1800 with the single shock swingarm and have 150,000 miles of Darkside on it. The gl1800 frame and suspension is far and above the 1500 for Darkside riding. Plus you can get a run flat tire for the 1800 which doesn't fit well in the narrow 1500 swingarm.
You can do what you want but those are my experiences with Darkside on a 1500.

[offcenter]

I have the Austone Taxi tire on my 1500, and I find it to be an EXCELLENT tire.
The Austone is no longer available, but Universal Tire in Carlisle Pa has a Maxxis taxi tire that looks to be the same as the Austone. If I was buying another tire, that is what I'd be ordering.
https://www.universaltire.com/maxxis-ti ... kwall.html

[blupupher]

I had the Maxxis on mine for 9,000 miles before I sold the bike.
Once I got the tire pressure figured out (I felt the bike was comfortable and stable with 50-52 psi in it) I had no real issues with it.
At lower pressures (~40-44 PSI) I had a front end wobble at speeds above 70 MPH and felt very squirrely in corners, especially when hitting bumps in curves.
Before I upped the pressure, I thought I had made a mistake going darkside on the 1500, but after I got the pressure figured out, I was happy with it.

I have a motorcycle tire on my 1800 now, but will be going darkside when the time comes.

[in2it]

I found in my 30,000 miles of Darkside on the gl1500 that there are few choices of available good tires to put on a gl1500. Add to that the 2 shock swingarm design of the 1500 doesn't work well for going Darkside. You will feel more tail action of the rear end going down the road, especially if you ride where there are grooved roads. I've put a motorcycle tire back on and it all goes away. I had 2 different 1500s that this happened on, both 1999. The 1st had 105,000 on it. The second only had 19,000 miles on it. I had some tank slapper corners at speeds of 80 mph and above on highways.
I have since 2013 gone on to the gl1800 with the single shock swingarm and have 150,000 miles of Darkside on it. The gl1800 frame and suspension is far and above the 1500 for Darkside riding. Plus you can get a run flat tire for the 1800 which doesn't fit well in the narrow 1500 swingarm.
You can do what you want but those are my experiences with Darkside on a 1500.

Thank you for your reply and your experiences ... Personally ... I like and admire Dunlops E4's ... for me they handle well and I get good mileage out of them ... was thinking Darkside due to the cost of the Dunlops

[newday777]

I found in my 30,000 miles of Darkside on the gl1500 that there are few choices of available good tires to put on a gl1500. Add to that the 2 shock swingarm design of the 1500 doesn't work well for going Darkside. You will feel more tail action of the rear end going down the road, especially if you ride where there are grooved roads. I've put a motorcycle tire back on and it all goes away. I had 2 different 1500s that this happened on, both 1999. The 1st had 105,000 on it. The second only had 19,000 miles on it. I had some tank slapper corners at speeds of 80 mph and above on highways.
I have since 2013 gone on to the gl1800 with the single shock swingarm and have 150,000 miles of Darkside on it. The gl1800 frame and suspension is far and above the 1500 for Darkside riding. Plus you can get a run flat tire for the 1800 which doesn't fit well in the narrow 1500 swingarm.
You can do what you want but those are my experiences with Darkside on a 1500.

Thank you for your reply and your experiences ... Personally ... I like and admire Dunlops E4's ... for me they handle well and I get good mileage out of them ... was thinking Darkside due to the cost of the Dunlops

You are welcome.
Personally I haven't tried the E4s because of the poor ride I got from the E3s. The road vibrations through the Dunlops was unbearable and the slickness in corners lost my desire to use them again.
My preference for handling and ride quality is the Bridgestone G709 on the front and the Bridgestone Driveguard RF on the rear on my 1800.

[offcenter]

At lower pressures (~40-44 PSI) I had a front end wobble at speeds above 70 MPH and felt very squirrely in corners, especially when hitting bumps in curves.
Before I upped the pressure, I thought I had made a mistake going darkside on the 1500, but after I got the pressure figured out, I was happy with it.

Interesting. Guess the Maxxis is different than the Austone.
I run 38 pounds in the Austone and it's stable as a rock at 80 or 90 mph.
I currently have 23,000 miles on that tire and it's nowhere near worn out
yet. I'm sure I'll see 30,000 before it needs replacement.

[in2it]

I found in my 30,000 miles of Darkside on the gl1500 that there are few choices of available good tires to put on a gl1500. Add to that the 2 shock swingarm design of the 1500 doesn't work well for going Darkside. You will feel more tail action of the rear end going down the road, especially if you ride where there are grooved roads. I've put a motorcycle tire back on and it all goes away. I had 2 different 1500s that this happened on, both 1999. The 1st had 105,000 on it. The second only had 19,000 miles on it. I had some tank slapper corners at speeds of 80 mph and above on highways.
I have since 2013 gone on to the gl1800 with the single shock swingarm and have 150,000 miles of Darkside on it. The gl1800 frame and suspension is far and above the 1500 for Darkside riding. Plus you can get a run flat tire for the 1800 which doesn't fit well in the narrow 1500 swingarm.
You can do what you want but those are my experiences with Darkside on a 1500.

Thank you for your reply and your experiences ... Personally ... I like and admire Dunlops E4's ... for me they handle well and I get good mileage out of them ... was thinking Darkside due to the cost of the Dunlops

You are welcome.
Personally I haven't tried the E4s because of the poor ride I got from the E3s. The road vibrations through the Dunlops was unbearable and the slickness in corners lost my desire to use them again.
My preference for handling and ride quality is the Bridgestone G709 on the front and the Bridgestone Driveguard RF on the rear on my 1800.

Try running E4 front and back ... at 41 psi front and back

[newday777]

Thank you for your reply and your experiences ... Personally ... I like and admire Dunlops E4's ... for me they handle well and I get good mileage out of them ... was thinking Darkside due to the cost of the Dunlops

You are welcome.
Personally I haven't tried the E4s because of the poor ride I got from the E3s. The road vibrations through the Dunlops was unbearable and the slickness in corners lost my desire to use them again.
My preference for handling and ride quality is the Bridgestone G709 on the front and the Bridgestone Driveguard RF on the rear on my 1800.

Try running E4 front and back ... at 41 psi front and back

No thanks