Register now to get rid of these ads!

Motor cycle tires... whos ran them?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by bonechip67, Dec 1, 2012.

  1. I have been running a set on the front of my t-bucket since day one. Mounted on a set of 16" s-10 spare steel wheels. The motorcycle shop that i baught the tires from mounted them and another better shop balanced the whole assembly (wheel, hub, disk). Most tire shops didnt want anything to do with it. Run great. Know better than to turn hard in rain. After all these years they are starting to show some wear and haven't had any problem with air leaks. Not running any tubes. Went this route since i couldn't afford bias all around and couldn't find narrow enough 16" radials for a 4" wheel.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. I have done 80,000 miles in my car on motorbike tyres (mainly Avon Gangsters). Had lots of predictions of death and mayhem but never a moment's trouble with them.

    HOWEVER - the car in question is my light (310 kilos) O/T front wheel drive trike with a huge amount of castor in the steering - so when it turns the wheels do flop over just like a motor bike. I hear what people say about sidewall strength but I have to regularly check pressures in the tyres because they never look flat. They can have 5 psi in them (they run with 25psi) and the sidewalls don't even bulge.

    Having said that the tyres are rated for a full dress Harley with a 110 cubic inch motor and two 200 pound riders on board so I guess there's plenty of safety margin in there for a light rod that's not being used for twisty turny road driving in the wet (sounds like So Cal).

    [​IMG]
     
  3. I'm wondering about this to.I had bias, just switched to vw front tires but still don't look skinny enough for me.if you ran tubes perhaps it's safer? I'm not a bike guy, do they make the square lookin bike tires in 15's as well or just 16's?
     
  4. TR Waters
    Joined: Nov 18, 2006
    Posts: 1,439

    TR Waters
    Member
    from Vermont
    1. Early Hemi Tech

    Lets be honest. Your "car" is not exactly the type that is being dicussed here.
     
  5. Didn't say it was - I was talking about my very considerable experience (80,000 miles) of using motorcycle tyres in a non-motor cycle application that other people without any knowledge or personal experience claimed to be dangerous.

    How's that not relevant - what relevant advice/experience did you offer fella?
     
  6. If they still make them the 5.00x16 Goodyear tire looked just like a bias ply car tire. Lots of bias ply bike tires look a lot like car tires.
     
  7. That's a very cool vehicle !!
    I know absolutely nothing about it other than what you have said here.

    Since the high castor and increased camber gain while turning, you'd almost have to use a round MC tire I would think. That's very unlike a car and I believe if it wasn't a single rear wheel that would give you quiet a bit of problems.

    Its more akin to motorcycle than any car I know of.

    A similar platform is the can am roadster. The dynamics are completely different and the steering is similar to a car and different than . It uses a p165/65/14 tire.
     
  8. ibcalaveras
    Joined: May 30, 2006
    Posts: 599

    ibcalaveras
    Member

    I have run some 500/16s on the front of my Tee for several years now.. No problems so far.. Don't think I would put them on a heavy car tho.
     

    Attached Files:

  9. propwash
    Joined: Jul 25, 2005
    Posts: 3,857

    propwash
    Member
    from Las Vegas

    Considering their abhorrence to paying claims for even miniscule technicalities, what do you suppose your insurance company would do if you were in an accident that required them to pay out and they found out you were running tires on your car that were not specific to automotive use? Not worth it, in my opinion.
     
  10. 117harv
    Joined: Nov 12, 2009
    Posts: 6,589

    117harv
    Member


  11. Actually that brings up a question or two, for one a Harley Servi-Car was a trike and it had 3 motorcycle tires. Now you can lean a servi-car or even a motor cycly with a side car unless you have a flexi car type of side car.

    now the other thing that comes to mind is that those 3 wheeled motorcycles with the front two wheels that steer and the rear that drives are also have motor cycle tires on them.

    So do they have a special motor cycle tire that is not designed like a stabdard motorcycle tire or ?????
     
  12. I ve got white wall harley tires on my t bucket rated at 800 lbs only weighs 1800 lbs total with no problems but the tires dont last for shit! 1500miles on em n there junk but thats the price to be cool!
     
  13. Beaner, the servicar and side car units have adjustable trees don't they?
    I have no idea how that plays on tires but they are for handling issues
     
  14. Nope non that I have ever seen. Maybe the later ones did.

    I do know that a trick that I learned for handling on a 3 wheeler is to run them with 0-1" of trail (that would be castor type of a measurement). That would be running your forks nearly straight up and down.
     
  15. bonechip67
    Joined: Mar 3, 2009
    Posts: 82

    bonechip67
    Member

    So what about running the Excelsior 450-18 that Toxic showed on page one with a tube??
     
  16. outlaw256
    Joined: Jun 26, 2008
    Posts: 2,022

    outlaw256
    Member

    im with the beaner on this 31, ive been around bikes my whole life and i dont rememebr a trike with adj. trees.but i sure as heck aint sayin they aint out there. guys im not sayin thats its a bad idea to run bike tires.what i was sayin is from what i read yrs ago it was a no-go. and a couple tried it herte and didnt have any luck with them.but i will admit that the tought has crossed my mind to try it myself on some 15 x 4 cragars. but my shop name is badluck so ill think alot more before i do it..lol oh yeah i got a harley trike and it dont have adj trees but it does have a long long rusty chrome girder frontend...lol
     
  17. slinginrods
    Joined: Oct 6, 2008
    Posts: 422

    slinginrods
    Member
    from florida

    they make plenty of skinny tires in the size you need for a car .check on cokers site.use car tires on a car ,bike tires on a bike .but everbody gets lucky for a while...just ask a few on here that run bike tires they will tell you.i also sprayed a 500 hp nitrous shot on my 2 bolt 350 for a while...they said it couldnt be done.i too was lucky ,for a while.point is be prepared to pay the cost for using the wrong parts in the wrong application.good luck,none of you guys runnin bike tires live in florida do you?just wanna know in case im out drivin with my kids.
     
  18. Ever changing rake and trail :D

    Just don't take too many street corners @ 40 and you'll be just fine. ;)

    I probably wouldn't run them myself if for no other reason there is no reason to run them. They are no longer cheap and there are plenty of skinny car tires to choose from.
     
  19. blackrd
    Joined: Feb 6, 2007
    Posts: 34

    blackrd
    Member
    from Illinoize

    AFAIK, the adjustable triple trees were for sidecar bikes, and havent been available since about 71 or so. Servicar was primitive beast running the flathead for 30ish something years, a utility vehicle which top speed was 45mphish
     
  20. I vote no.
    I have done this and its just fine till you get in a pinch situation,like a rainy day and coming down an off ramp at about 45 and it allows your front to skip over about 4" at a time while the rear did not.....really guys it is just not enough rubber width on the road in relation to your rears.....
    Yes you can get by with it....
    Yes it could kill you or your passengers.
     
  21. I had a set of adjustables so I know they exist right from HD & the factory side car units definitely had them. They bring a pretty good buck too.
    Its been along time so forgive the fuzzier side of this. Maybe The servi-car had somewhat similar tree but fixed ( tucked up) & it could be easily modified to be adjustable ( stretched out ) for solo or side car use just like the adjustables

    It pisses me off because I used to know this crap.
     

  22. Never saw a springer with an adjustable tripple clamp although a late model with a hydroslide may have had an adjustable of some sort I never saw one when I was working for harley. Doesn't mean that they didn't exist, just that I never saw one. I have seen adjustable triple clamps after market, they were popular with the off roaders.

    Oh and don't get pissed I can make anything older than a shovel run like a scalded ape but don't even ask me about the late model stuff.
     
  23. 296 V8
    Joined: Sep 17, 2003
    Posts: 4,666

    296 V8
    BANNED
    from Nor~Cal

    Yeah they ran them in the day (my dad told me)
    But id stick to a pass car tire …. I have some repop old style MC tires mounted on 40 rims and I think they look like crap.
     
  24. I think I found the perfect use for those MC tires,actually....lots of us take em off our bikes as they get questionable....
    SINCE everybody is a biker todAY.....
    this is an excelent source for 16" rollers
    for our project cars in the shop.
    since they have tubes a lot of time,they will stay up even if the "roller" wheels have a pinhole or three....
     

  25. Space saver spares. :D
     
  26. clem
    Joined: Dec 20, 2006
    Posts: 4,190

    clem
    Member

    if it is a genuine car tyre- could be ok - so many other things to take into account, - car weight, horsepower and how you drive it, brakes, road conditions, etc. bike tyres are for bikes, car tyres are for cars -it's that simple SAFETY FIRST - ALWAYS
     
  27. 296 V8
    Joined: Sep 17, 2003
    Posts: 4,666

    296 V8
    BANNED
    from Nor~Cal

    WTF is a Tyre?
     
  28. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    That's the correct way of spelling "tire". REAL english.:D
     
  29. INJUNTOM
    Joined: Jun 11, 2006
    Posts: 548

    INJUNTOM
    Member

    I like the look on certain cars.
     
  30. 296 V8
    Joined: Sep 17, 2003
    Posts: 4,666

    296 V8
    BANNED
    from Nor~Cal

    No wonder no one wants to speak it :rolleyes:
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.