txrider

Wow, that's great news about the BFG's for me. I usually either ride solo or with luggage only...and I have don't have a Venture, so cool. But looking at y'alls pressures and the fact that the tire seems to be wearing in the middle at 35psi, I'm gonna revisit my pressure. Thanks! And tsigwing, I love that setup with the Route66 in the front. I just put that on the back of an old '99 Nomad I'm fixing for a buddy. It looks like people are getting an average of 15,000 on that tire from what I've read. You'll go forever on your tires.

If you want to convert your driving lights to HID, you will have to get different housings designed for halogen replacement bulbs, the H3 bulb. And yes, each bulb has it's own ballast...lots of wires. Also, I would recommend the 5000K lights because they are the very best for being seen in the daytime...and they still have a very small hint of blue. I know this because my brother has a roadstar with the 6000K where my RSTC has the 5000K. Really no difference at night, but a noticable difference in daylight.

I got my light from Canadian Cruiser Customizing: http://canadiancruisercustomizing.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3&zenid=kg6dq88csadse45fe7r3cfntu7 Our headlights are the H4 kit. The HID kits put out 3200 lumens compared to the 980 lumens of our normal halogen headlamp. But the real advantage is it only takes 35 watts to run the HID compared to the 55/65 watts of the halogen. Great to get the 20 watts back for GPS, phone charger, etc. This kit is also a high and low beam, so even if you don't get this kit, make sure the one you buy has a high/low beam. Both high and low are 35W, but at 3200 lumens, the high is still crazy bright. Also, there are many different colors to choose from. Most HID's we see on cars are the 6000K with a hint of blue, but I wouldn't recommend that one. For safety reasons, I got the 5000K, bright-white light. This one is easier to see in the daylight and the same lumens as 6000K. The reason the hint of blue was not my choice is because it is almost identical to natural sunlight...so it actually blends into the daylight. And I put my ballast behind the plastic covers just above the ignition. Plenty of room.

I'm sure you've gotten a tire by now, but in case others are reading, BFGoodrich makes a 155/80 15 in their classic Radial T/A that works well for me. I have no other experience with car tires so someone else will have to chime in on how this one compares. There is flex, but it's totally comfortable to me now that I have the right pressure. For me, between 42 and 44lbs is what works. Done the same up and down pressure as other people to find what works for me. I like the 155/80 because with me having a '98 Tour Classic, I don't have the same power as the bikes with the 32mm carbs. Losing a total height of approx .9 of an inch, helps a little with power and hasn't affected my gas mileage. Heck, this motor loves to rev anyway, so a few extra rpms doesn't bother me at all. And for me, I had to have my whitewalls, so I found Diamond Back classic tire...they "vulcanize" whitewalls onto name brand tires; not making their own tires or copying a tire design. This process makes the withwall meld to the tire...you can not remove it even if you want to. Using certified manufactured tires gives you the normal tire warranty, thru BFGoodrinch in my case. They also use Firestone, Pirelli, etc. It's even possible that they would put a whitewall on a tire that you send them too.

Running a BF Goodrich Radial T/A on the back with double-sided whitewalls. Put it on last October. I went to Diamond Back Vintage Tire and asked if they could put whitewalls on both sides. They said they could, but it cost almost twice the amount. Still, it was around $200 dollars which is not much more than a good Avon. I love the tire and I love the look of the wide whitewall! They can put whatever size whitewall you want on it, so I had them put about 2 1/4 '' on it. It took me a while to find the perfect pressure so it didn't flex too bad or wobble, but with around 42 to 44psi, it is actually steadier than my old Dunlop and does not hop. Yes, I do notice the grooves on the pavement a little more, but who has never driven a car with wider tires and not felt the road better. The first time I scraped my pegs with this tire, I scared myself because I wasn't expecting it. It is so much easier to maneuver than with the bike tire at low speeds, at least to me. It does want to wobble over about 90 mph while taking slow curves, but how fast do you really want to go? On straights, I've been with some buddies and gotten over 100mph (allegedly, right?) and had no wobble. Andthis may not be new for most of you, but I've also learned that if it does happen to wobble, to push forward on both sides of the handle bars; helps straighten it out for me. I'm sorry that some of you couldn't find the sweet spot with your CT. But after 2500 good miles so far, I'll never go back.

I appreciate the heads up. No, I hadn't ordered them, but only because of what Mike G stated with them being pulled. They are "out of stock" on the website. Thanks guys. I'll definitely wait now...Time to do some more research.

Goose is right mostly. More like till April and back in in November. Lets say anything under 50 degrees, 80% of people here put their bikes in hibernation. I don't know why we have such wimps here in Texas. I live in the Houston area and rarely see other bikers on the road with me in what we call Winter down here. I've been an all year rider for 19 years and people think I'm crazy. Like tonight, I'm at work, the only one that rode in tonight (we have about 15 "riders" at my job) and have only seen three other guys that periodically ride for the last two months. I am DEFINITELY the only one that rides under 40 degrees, much less under 30 degrees like tonight. I guess we are totally spoiled down here. And back to the subject, I'm ordering these lights right after I write this.