Would you do it again??

hootmon · September 24, 2011, 06:07:18 PM

Not long after I put the NanKang car tire on the back of my Magna (about 55K on the odometer), my wife and I took a trip up to Virginia and met up with a bunch of other bikers (sort of a MootMag kinda thing)..

On a ride, someone I had gotten to know via a forum noticed I had a car tire.. He asked me.. Do you like it??
I was still a little new to it, and I'm not sure I was overly convincing.. Then he asked..
"Would you do it again"?? Which is a good question.. I think I answered .. Probably...

Well My bike now has 78,700 miles and the Nankang has had a good life, but was beginning to slip and slide a little on wet roads, so it was time for it to go...

Although the picture makes it look like there is more tread on the right, there really is not, but it looks like it ran slightly over inflated as the center is warn a little more than the edges..

I was searching around on the internet for possible replacements. I was looking at both Car tires and Bike tires..
I then came across a tire I had never seen before.. a Sonar tire in 165/80 15 - Just check out the picture..

I was excited!!! Finally a Uni-directional tire that would fit a Magna.. AND they only had Quantity ONE
This was on a Friday late after noon.. I called up the store because there was no indication of wear/traction/temp and I wanted to know what the specs were...

Then gentleman I spoke with confirmed that the tire WAS uni-directional and went back to collect the info on wear numbers.. He called me back with the info.
I said that I wanted to order the tire. He stated I needed to contact Rick in "web services" since I was in Florida..
I was transferred, but Rick had gone home for the day.

I neglected to call on Monday

On Tuesday I called and was told that Rick was on vacation for a couple of weeks..
I spoke to someone else and I asked, since you only had ONE tire (in an odd size) and I only needed ONE tire, could I possibly get a discount??
I was placed on hold for about 5 minutes then another gentleman came on the line.
He stated that the tire had been transferred on Monday to a store and was no longer available.. I asked if any other store might have one and he stated NO..
I stated that the tire was still on the website, and he stated that it takes a while to remove items from the website, but that the tire was no longer available..

I waited a few hours, the tire was still on the website, so I went ahead and placed an order just to see what would happen..
The order was confirmed, and later I got notice that the tire had shipped..

in Two days, I had the tire..

In the mean time I had done some more research on the tire..
It is actually made by ... wait for it... NanKang..
AND They DO make a uni-directional tire... But not in the size that will fit the Magna.. It is a bi-directional tire

When the tire arrived, it was as I had researched, a bi-directional tire..

I had to jack up the bike to make the swap..
I've done this before and I may have posted pictures, but this is how I make the bike Jack work with the Magna..

My issues with my transaction for the tire were.. ...
1. The first gentleman confirmed the tire was a Uni-directional tire
It is NOT.. (picture incorrect)
2. I was told the tire was not available and had already been transferred to a store. This was obviously a bold faced lie.. If he had just said that there was no way they could discount the tire, I could have accepted that..
He tried to force a NON-Sale on a Single tire, in an odd size that would seem to be difficult to move.. This seems counter-intuitive to me, when you have a customer on the line that is interested.

IF I had known this was NOT a uni-directional tire, I probably would have purchased another Nankang tire, as I had one and was happy with it. The Nankang has a longer wear number than the tire I received and I could have purchased it for about $10 cheaper.

Well we will have more data to submit to the DarkSide info..

Final Product

Magnum Magna · September 24, 2011, 06:55:41 PM

Yes I would and have put a new one on.

Most picture have a declaimer saying may not be the same tire pictured.

hootmon · September 24, 2011, 07:43:37 PM

Quote from: Magnum Magna on September 24, 2011, 06:55:41 PM

Most picture have a declaimer saying may not be the same tire pictured.

Yes, but I specifically asked.. "This is a Uni-Directional tire, correct??" The answer was.. "Yes it is"..

lragan · September 24, 2011, 09:49:09 PM

My guess, Hoot, is that the man figured out he had made a mistake in confirming a unidirectional tire. Instead of simply admitting that, he told you it was no longer available. In a way, he was right -- the unidirectional tire was not available -- never had been, but hey, he didn't have to admit his screw-up this way...

Of course, any blockhead should know that a customer will have a lot more respect for you if you just 'fess up to the mistake, and offer to ship him the tire you eventually received. But this guy is not a blockhead -- much too large -- a pinhead is a better description...

hootmon · September 25, 2011, 03:17:08 AM

Quote from: lragan on September 24, 2011, 09:49:09 PM
My guess, Hoot, is that the man figured out he had made a mistake in confirming a unidirectional tire. Instead of simply admitting that, he told you it was no longer available. In a way, he was right -- the unidirectional tire was not available -- never had been, but hey, he didn't have to admit his screw-up this way...

Of course, any blockhead should know that a customer will have a lot more respect for you if you just 'fess up to the mistake, and offer to ship him the tire you eventually received. But this guy is not a blockhead -- much too large -- a pinhead is a better description...

The Guy who told me it was uni-directional and the guy who said it was unavailable were two different people on two different days..
Friday/Tuesday..
I believe the Friday guy was looking at the same picture I was (website photo) and confirmed the uni-directional while I was on the phone with him, but he THEN had to go back to the warehouse to check the wear numbers.. He forgot to verify it was the same tread pattern as he had just seen on the computer..

The Tuesday guy.. I'm not sure what his deal really was..

The company sent me an e-mail survey link.. I told them of my experience mid last week.. I haven't heard back from them yet... I don't know how often they actually look at survey responses..

lragan · September 25, 2011, 09:41:38 AM

Well, so much for insightful psychological theories!

guywheatley · September 25, 2011, 06:47:34 PM

I love the darkside tire on my Valk and will never go back. I love the sense of security it gives me. Part of that though comes from the uni-directional tire. I'm not sure I'd ever feel as safe if I couldn't find one for the Magna.

Gloveberg · September 28, 2011, 03:40:29 AM

I know I have never tried it and probably have no right to be critical of somebody's choices but it still makes me shudder every time I see a car tire on a bike.

Magniac · September 28, 2011, 10:25:15 AM

I'm with Gloveberg on this one.

hootmon · September 28, 2011, 02:05:57 PM

Quote from: Magniac on September 28, 2011, 10:25:15 AM
I'm with Gloveberg on this one.

As I've said before..
Last longer,
corners as good or better
I've NEVER had one slip on me (except my last one after 22K miles)
cheaper

It does ride different, and you have to get used to it..

The only real danger that I could see is if you had a true blow out..
Because the side walls are soft you would come down onto the rim and it could get squirrely,

other than that, I prefer the car tire.. I do wish I could find a uni-directional one though..

Gloveberg · September 28, 2011, 02:46:31 PM

I know this horse has been beaten, kept on life support, brought back from the dead and then beat some more but.....lol

I ride a lot of highway miles and I know when my rear tire starts squaring off I hate the feeling and that's on a tire designed to lean. As far as cornering as good or better than a motorcycle tire that is just something I will never believe. If you feel that way then that's you (and that's fine). But for me I cannot and will not put my life in the trust of a tire trying to do something it was never intended for, designed for nor engineered for.

That being said...Come here Trigger for more beatings!!!

hootmon · September 28, 2011, 02:59:31 PM

Quote from: Gloveberg on September 28, 2011, 02:46:31 PM
I cannot and will not put my life in the trust of a tire trying to do something it was never intended for, designed for nor engineered for.

What is a car tire doing on a motorcycle that is outside of what it was designed and engineered for??
Is a car tire designed to accelerate?
Is a car tire designed to brake?
Is a car tire designed to maintain lift on a weight of 700 lbs?
Is a car tire designed for lateral movement?
Is a car tire designed for lateral movement while braking/acceleration?

If you think about a front tire on a front wheel drive car, it must do all of these things with more weight applied while in operation..

So, What is a car tire doing on a motorcycle that is outside of what it was designed and engineered for??
Yes it was NOT intended for a motorcycle, but that does NOT mean its use as such violates it's design specs that it was engineered for.

Gloveberg · September 28, 2011, 03:43:06 PM

Show me one car that leans it's wheel (and I don't mean just a little off camber) and has a tire that is designed to be ridden on the sidewall and we'll talk

hootmon · September 28, 2011, 04:43:07 PM

Quote from: Gloveberg on September 28, 2011, 03:43:06 PM
Show me one car that leans it's wheel (and I don't mean just a little off camber) and has a tire that is designed to be ridden on the sidewall and we'll talk

I put 23K miles on my last car tire, drug my pegs many times and not once rode on the side wall..
Why??
Because as you lean it causes lateral force (Just like a car's front tires in a turn) and this forces the rim outward (Just like a car's front tires in a turn) and pushed the tire underneath the bike. The tire actually stays semi flat against the pavement and NEVER approaches riding on the sidewall.. In fact I would say a front tire on a car would actually push a tire more on the sidewall on a turn than a motorcycle because the rim stays parallel to the road and wants to fold the tire under, where on the bike the rim is countering this action and actually keeps the tire more upright on the tread..

Here is a picture of the forces on a car..

On a motorcycle you help counter this by the angle of the rim in a turn..

I now wish I had not thrown away my old CT.. BUT IF you look closely at the 1st picture in my post, you can see that there is NO wear on the edge of the tire that is not parallel with the ground..

You can even see some of the manufacturing "tits" still on the tire on the side of the tread..

Gloveberg · September 28, 2011, 07:00:21 PM

Hoot, you will never convince me it's a good idea. You want to talk about lateral forces but you are not taking into account the fact that the forces are spread out evenly, to an extent, over the four tires at each corner of a car. Plus leaning a bike is more about centrifugal force rather than lateral force. That's why you have to lean rather than just turning the handlebars and why countersteering is so important. If a car tire is such a great idea please tell me one motorcycle or tire manufacturer has put one on a bike (and I don't mean some Batman movie creation either

) . No rush, I'll wait......**whistling**.....mmmm....mmmm...lol

That is not at all a knock on you or what you choose to run on your bike. You like it and are pleased with it but there is no way I would ever chance my health and life on it just to say a few bucks.