Flatsix - 2011-05-08 8:03 PM


Aaron,

Please help me understand what exactly the 'airsoft pellets' are, where you get them and how much of them to use.

Thanks!

Airsoft pellets.....the little plastic BBs you shoot in the "toy" guns.

They come in everything from small packets....to large plastic tubs.

You can get the almost anywhere - I bought mine at WalMart.  I huge plastic tub like pictured above cost me $9.  My quick calculation showed I could do over 100 tires with that $9 tub.

They come in different weights, indicated in grams.  Indicated on the bag or tub, somewhere, it will show the weight.

For our application I picked the heaviest ones I could get at WalMart.....figuring that if they were heavier, I would need less BBs per tire.

I just used a simple food scale......and weighed out the exact same weigh per tire that was recommended on the Dynabeads website.  Same theory, same principal....so there numbers outta work the same.

......and they did.

I was concerned about run flat tires for a few reasons.
The stiffer sidewalls made me think maybe it would hold it's square, flat bottom profile.

Would not allow them to contour with speed, and give that flat bottom-to-sidewall fallover feeling.
They are usually heavier.
And lastly with the added material I thought the winter performance might be impacted as it would take longer for the tire to get to a good operating temperature.

These are just OOA (Out Of Ass) comments. Nothing based on facts; just my thoughts on it.

So far I can honestly say that I've not had any of those issues with the 175/60/16 Dunlop.

In fact I like it better then the 195/50/16 non run flat Falken CT I had before.

jeffmack - 2011-05-12 11:27 PM In general your concerns of the run flats have been confirmed by the darkside Forums. Of course some guys prefer them and have success with them. The run flats Are more sluggish to turn and stand up on exit campaired to non run flats. I am Going with the vents for the next 15 to 17k miles but will then Go with the kuhmo run flat for my ride to Alaska(no twisties). I look forward To having a camparision of the 2, but am confident my riding style will require A non run flat.

Could you send me a link on which Darkside forum confirmed the concerns on run flats.

A poll was taken on  Darksiders of the GL1800 Riders  and the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 

run flats out numbered the other CT tires. 

 Orbit

It took about 120lbs to set the bead and then the reassembly was a snap. I'm starting out with 35lbs and I'll tweak accordingly. BTW I got lucky with the pulley alignment and the was no chirp at least on the way home. I cut my 1st ride short because it was raining and big black clouds were heading my way :-)

 Man oh man that's a lot of risky pressure to make the bead seat.

 I ride 2up and ran 38lbs in my first CT, the center was wearing more then the sides. Everybody has their own sweet spot.

 Currently running 36lbs.

UPDATE:

After 4k-5k on a car tire I found out why the bike was following the grooves, and it wasn’t the rear tire like I thought.  It turned out to be the front tire.  When I replaced the rear tire the front tire was showing wear, but I didn’t have the money to get a new one.  Also there was some tread left above the wear bars.

I have a Dunlop E3 on the front, and replaced it with another one (13.5k mi.).   I did this out of need, and not want (personal reasons made me go out of town unexpectantly).   The bike now tracks great, osculation is gone, and it doesn’t get drawn into the grooves like it did before.   

The E3’s have a heavy wear band that is about a 1” wide band in the center of the tread, and it makes the tire wear funny.  The sides wore out faster leaving that 1” band as a ridge that reduced my contact patch, hence it started to act like a narrow tire (very narrow).

That explains many of the issues I had, but why didn’t I notice them before I put on the CT.  Honestly I don’t know why, but I will say that the performance continued to decline.   I was getting to a point that I was going to change out both tires, and get rid of the CT. But circumstance and money stopped that – luckily.

The mushy ride is somewhat reduced, and turns can be initiated a bit faster.  When the tires heat up (100+ mi.), the mush comes back.  I haven’t checked the tire and shock pressures in a while, and I will need to see if that can be dialed out.

When shopping for a new front tire I will look for a front tire that doesn’t have that wear band on it.

After changing the front tire I feel much better on the CT, and find myself pushing the bike harder.  I also feel much better about my decision.