Grey Ghost Posted March 10, 2009 Share #1 Posted March 10, 2009 (edited) This is the Federal car tire that I am running on my 2006 RSTD. There have been many questions by members who are running other tires and some who are considering changing to a car tire. As you can see, there is plenty of room for the tire and after 6,000 miles it still has over 3/16" of tread left. I don't remember exactly what the original tread depth was, but I believe that I will get 20,000 miles out of it. (That is if my back heals before the tire dry rots.) It is 1 ply polyester on the sidewalls and 2 ply steel belted under the tread. I don't know why different tires with the same ply exibit a different amount of stiffness in the sidewalls, but this tire was stiffer than the Kuhmo I saw in side by side test. I chose this tire over the Kuhmo because of the stiffer sidewall and overall height and over the B F Goodrich because the white lettering on one side did not appeal to me personally. There are members who run both of the other tires and like them, so I am sure they are equally good tires. I hope this helps some of you who are considering a car tire. Jeff Edited March 14, 2009 by Grey Ghost Finally got the photos right. Whew!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim44 Posted March 10, 2009 Share #2 Posted March 10, 2009 I just put a federal tire on my bike. Sunday I took it for a longer ride (250 miles). So far I am happy with the tire. The bike felt fine at highway speeds and did great in the mountain roads. There are two things I have noticed so far. The first is sometimes it feels like the bike tracks funny. You know the feeling when you have a worn out tire and the bike follows the ruts in the road. This may be an air pressure issue. The second thing is when I lean the bike in hard corners there is the feeling of the bike "rolling" after a certain point of lean. I am not sure how to explain the rolling feeling. I still felt confident in the bike it was just different then a m/c tire. Even in the twisties I felt like the bike was gripping the road just fine. I did notice that the bike handles better at slow speed with the c/t. Overall I am happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilvrT Posted March 10, 2009 Share #3 Posted March 10, 2009 Don't know if this has been raised before but... I'm wondering how the insurance companies would view the situation if someone had an accident and it was in some way associated to the car tire. Seems to me they'd disallow a claim due to improper tires....?? Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Ghost Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share #4 Posted March 10, 2009 Tim, I run 42 psi in my Federal. I have dropped it down to 35 or so and felt the "roll" you are talking about and went back to 42. I really think that some of the "feel" of the c/t is in our heads because so many have said it won't work that we are paranoid when we first put them on. I remember the first ride after I put the Federal on. Every little sensation started me to wondering if it was the c/t or was it there before and I just couldn't remember. I wiggled the handlebars a little and thought "Oh my God, this thing is not very stable." So I got on a freind's Harley and then a Honda and guess what? They both reacted the same. I was looking for something wrong. Today, I never give it a second thought. I know everybody's experience is different and everyone has the freedom of choice. If other folks don't mind me running a car tire, then I don't mind them running a motorcycle tire. Is this a great country, or what? Ride safe and enjoy. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegscraper Posted March 10, 2009 Share #5 Posted March 10, 2009 It's always a good idea to ask your insurance agent about it. Some companies make it an issue and some don't. Some bigger pictures there, GG? Those aren't big enough to see anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Ghost Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share #6 Posted March 10, 2009 You're right peg, I don't know why they are smaller. I'm not real good at uploading these photos yet. I'll try again later this pm when I have some time. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegscraper Posted March 11, 2009 Share #7 Posted March 11, 2009 That looks a little better. (Editing a post doesn't bump it up though. So here it is.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBoyinMS Posted March 13, 2009 Share #8 Posted March 13, 2009 Tim, I run 42 psi in my Federal. I have dropped it down to 35 or so and felt the "roll" you are talking about and went back to 42. I really think that some of the "feel" of the c/t is in our heads because so many have said it won't work that we are paranoid when we first put them on. I remember the first ride after I put the Federal on. Every little sensation started me to wondering if it was the c/t or was it there before and I just couldn't remember. I wiggled the handlebars a little and thought "Oh my God, this thing is not very stable." So I got on a freind's Harley and then a Honda and guess what? They both reacted the same. I was looking for something wrong. Today, I never give it a second thought. I know everybody's experience is different and everyone has the freedom of choice. If other folks don't mind me running a car tire, then I don't mind them running a motorcycle tire. Is this a great country, or what? Ride safe and enjoy. Jeff Same here! Once I got 42lbs in the Kumho the sidewall was no issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Ghost Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share #9 Posted March 14, 2009 I finally got the pics on here large enought to see good. Now, if I can just remember how I did it the next time I want to post one. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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