Trying the Dark Side

[Duke]

Going to try out the Dark Side. Not sure if I’m going to like it, but I’ve got to try it out. I’m tired of buying rear tires every 5 to 8k miles.
The 205/55-17 is the largest I can fit into the stock frame cradle.

[Tropicalrs]

I had good luck on the DS. Did you need to grind back anything?

[Duke]

I had to grind off the brake bracket on the swing arm, and the belt guards. The fender is a modified fiberglass Cholo fender and had to remove the lower swing arm plastic guard. The 1.5" belt is approximately 1/4" from the tire.

[Tykes_Place]

Welcome to the dark side. We’ve been waiting for you.

[Duke]

I'm in the Dark! Been wanting to do this for several years.
Well, I went for a 50 mile ride on curves and hills, and found that It wasn't much different in handling. I did notice that I would set up for a corner a little differently. Might be me just getting use to it.
I'm planning on wearing this tire out now. Time will tell.

[Tykes_Place]

Was the same for me. After a few hundred I didn’t notice it any more.

[Duke]

That's good to know. Thank you.

[Brad_G]

That pic is awesome. That tire with the sideburner pipe looks bad-ass.

[Jclevesque]

Looks good on the back of your bike Duke!

[Duke]

Thank you

[brianmac]

17 ?

[roadiemort]

Warrior wheels.

[Lug Nut]

That 200 looks huge but nice combo with the warrior wheel for sure. I have a 175 on my stock cast wheel and it's fits perfect. No grinding of anything. What tire did you go with? I went with the run flat winter tire so it's a little softer material and stiffer on the sidewall. I probably don't have even a thousand miles on it but it's perfectIt feels the same around roundabouts out here but since we have mostly straight flat area in Indiana is hard to tell handling. It's very stable and I did the double dark side so I have a rear 130 tire mounted up front reversed. Should be good for 25 to 30,000 mi I imagine.

[Duke]

Thank you LugNut.
Did it fit with the stock fender? I might be putting that tire on my other bike if it fits with out a lot of mods.
The 205/50-17 is a Z rated M&S tire but isn’t a run flat.

[D-Fresh]

Curious of your long term test findings.

[Duke]

Me too. I'll be letting you know this fall.

[Lug Nut]

My 175 Dunlop Winter Sport tire fit perfect on rim and perfect within frame ..no mods to anything at all plenty of clearance. I run 35-37 psi and feels fine and love not having to change rear tires every 6k miles maybe 5x as long hopefully...175-60-16 is the exact size 86 load rating (whole lot more than 60ish series on most rear cruiser tires) and run flat makes sidewall stuff so no deflection when leaning over (doesn't get a squishy feel some people report when putting on a shitty cheap $50 off brand car tire that has weak sidewall).

[Duke]

Thank you LugNut,
I'll be putting one on my other bike as soon as I get a mag wheel.

[Tropicalrs]

I rode the 175/75-16s back when you could get them. Had to do a little grinding to keep it from rubbing - I ride mostly 2 up. It was a truck/van tire and had very stiff side walls. I liked it a lot. No problem in curves and didn’t feel squishy. The 1” less side wall evidently does away with the grinding! After this C2 wears out I will try the 60. Thanks for the info.

[Duke]

I have a XVS1300 Star mag wheel I'm going to check out how it fits on our RS. I like the 4.5" rim width compared to the stock 3.5" width.
Has any one tried this rim on a Road Star?

[roadiemort]

950 v star same as 1300 rear rim.Front wheel is 3.50 inches wide fitted with a 130/70 -18 bias tire, while the rear is 4.5 inches wide fitted with a 170/70 -16 bias tire.

[roadiemort]

I did know someone years ago on the old forum that I met up here in Canada that had put a 950 rear on his R*

[Duke]

I be checking out the 1300 rim and let everyone know if it works.
Thank you Mort.

[Ahodge75]

That’s the trick finding cast wheels that are good and not $300 a piece.

[Duke]

I picked up a xvs1300 rim with rotor and hub for under $100.
There is a few on EBay for less than $100., so I thought I'd try it out.

[Sharpman66]

Looks great Duke!

[Duke]

Thank you.

[Ahodge75]

It will be interesting to see how it works. How much mods are needed. Roadstar cast wheels are getting harder to find and more expensive especially if they need shipped. If the 1300 wheel is possible with minor mods those are cheaper. I hadn’t even thought of the 950 that could be interesting also.

[Duke]

I let you know.

[Lug Nut]

That’s the trick finding cast wheels that are good and not $300 a piece.

I have a front one with rotors and tire...but shipping is $$d

[MikeyC]

Thats looking awesome. I’m betting we see that bike at starfest

[Duke]

My son Michael rode it to Starfest last year and complained that it didn't have enough power. So I decided to install the 108ci pistons & jugs setting on the shelf, along with ported heads and home made 2 into 1 exhaust. Kept me busy for a couple of days in the winter, and glad I did it. Man-O-Man, it did come alive! I'm needing to lean it down one step, then I'm thinking I'll have it dialed in.
Yes Mike, you might see it at Starfest this year. Haven't fully decided yet, needing to blow out cobwebs on my other bikes.

I hope your doing good and getting better each day.

[Duke]

The xvs1300 wheel is not a direct bolt on for sure.
It's going to require machining the hub, just like what done when putting the Warrior wheel on our bikes.

[Ahodge75]

That’s unfortunate…..nothing is ever simple….lol……keep us updated