[kwthom]

They're really difficult to find right now.

Bridgestone Driveguard seems it might be no longer manufactured.
Pirelli Cinturnato P1 Unavailable
Yokohama Avid Envigor Unavailable

The only RF tire choice I've seen that might be available is a non-symmetric tire (Yokohama Advan Sport)

Think of others that might be available and suitable for use?

Run-flat only.

 

[ssncob]

Order quick. Tirerack has the avid envignor and the P1 in stock but only 1-2 left...

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?filtered=true&width=195%2F&ratio=55&diameter=16#0

 

[JGordon2021GW]

Here we go. First off, I applaud you for going darkside, however....I have a question... Does any tire manufacturer make run flat tires for Motorcycles? The answer is absolutely not. No, nada, zilch. Why do you think that is? Oh that's right, you're not supposed to ride on a flat tire. So once again, someone is living in fear and following the herd. Thinking a run flat tire is better than a none run flat. Guess what? It's not. I've rode tens upon tens of thousands of miles on a regular darkside car tire. Even had flats. I plugged it and kept right on rolling. I just installed a Goodyear assurance maxlife on my 2021 GW DCT tour. 205/55/16. $95. Works great.

 

[kwthom]

Order quick. Tirerack has the avid envignor and the P1 in stock but only 1-2 left...

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?filtered=true&width=195%2F&ratio=55&diameter=16#0

Nope...same problem with Discount Tire. Which is where the problem started.

Have a Hankook Optimo RF on order... 🤞

@JGordon2021GW Approaching 200,000 car tire miles personally. Me, and a thousand others, pay up to have a tire that's going to take me wherever I need to go - air or no air. 🎯

 

[ssncob]

@kwthom. Hmmm, unless the website is wrong...

 

[823Jim]

TIRE RACK

In stock, running my 2nd one of these. Love it's rounded profile, handles great.

 

[MountainRider]

Here we go. First off, I applaud you for going darkside, however....I have a question... Does any tire manufacturer make run flat tires for Motorcycles? The answer is absolutely not. No, nada, zilch. Why do you think that is? Oh that's right, you're not supposed to ride on a flat tire. So once again, someone is living in fear and following the herd. Thinking a run flat tire is better than a none run flat. Guess what? It's not. I've rode tens upon tens of thousands of miles on a regular darkside car tire. Even had flats. I plugged it and kept right on rolling. I just installed a Goodyear assurance maxlife on my 2021 GW DCT tour. 205/55/16. $95. Works great.

Wow, a little harsh don't you think? You obviously run what you want or prefer, so why is it such a big deal for another member to run what he wants or prefers? If a non-run flat works for you, happy trails.

That said, kwthom, that Optimo should work well for you. I ran the non-RF version and thought it handled very well. When the Driveguard wears out, I may give the 426 RF a try.

 

[weengers]

Here we go. First off, I applaud you for going darkside, however....I have a question... Does any tire manufacturer make run flat tires for Motorcycles? The answer is absolutely not. No, nada, zilch. Why do you think that is? Oh that's right, you're not supposed to ride on a flat tire. So once again, someone is living in fear and following the herd. Thinking a run flat tire is better than a none run flat. Guess what? It's not. I've rode tens upon tens of thousands of miles on a regular darkside car tire. Even had flats. I plugged it and kept right on rolling. I just installed a Goodyear assurance maxlife on my 2021 GW DCT tour. 205/55/16. $95. Works great.

While I applaud you for posting and am impressed with how much BS you put into this one post, I honestly don't know how you could be more wrong.

 

[kwthom]

TIRE RACK
View attachment 404217
In stock, running my 2nd one of these. Love it's rounded profile, handles great.

So, short story is I wanted to deal with Discount Tire (DT). I've bought the last three Yoko's from Tire Rack (TR), thought I'd give DT the business this time; prices were close.

Stock is quite limited for many RF tires as one might note. The manager of my local DT noted that when on-line stock quantities gets to single digits, it's best to contact a store, where they can see actual quantities and locations in real-time. Web data could be a few hours old by the time you look at it.

After doing a bit of research here in the forum, I took four tire candidates back to the store and chatted with store mgr. while he did the research on availability in his internal system. I'll call on Monday to confirm a delivery date so I can schedule a time to get my spare rim mounted up.

It's not like I'm in a big hurry, but prepping to consume a few thousand miles on that new tire in about a month. The Yoko I have on now will be my mounted spare.

 

[Fido57]

I went in to my local Discount Tire on a Saturday (weekend before the 4th), and picked up my P1 run flat on Wednesday or Thursday.

 

[Steve 0080]

Here we go. First off, I applaud you for going darkside, however....I have a question... Does any tire manufacturer make run flat tires for Motorcycles? The answer is absolutely not. No, nada, zilch. Why do you think that is? Oh that's right, you're not supposed to ride on a flat tire. So once again, someone is living in fear and following the herd. Thinking a run flat tire is better than a none run flat. Guess what? It's not. I've rode tens upon tens of thousands of miles on a regular darkside car tire. Even had flats. I plugged it and kept right on rolling. I just installed a Goodyear assurance maxlife on my 2021 GW DCT tour. 205/55/16. $95. Works great.

The benefit of running a run flat whether on a car or on a motorcycle is simply that, it can run flat. It is harder to plug, other than that you're not doing it on the side of the road in the rain at night.

 

[Snowmoer]

Is Tire Rack still making you buy at least 2 tires? When I went to order a tire about 5 years ago, they would not sell me just one tire. The only way I could order from them is to get two. I had a good place out of the sun and weather to store the other, so I ended up getting two.

 

[kwthom]

What was a bit strange, and others can look for themselves, some wording on tire availability is a little odd.

As I mentioned in the first post, the Bridgestone Driveguard seems it might be no longer manufactured. Now, is that simply because it's truly discontinued, or is simply because Bridgestone hasn't yet made another batch of tires in that size?

That doesn't mean they might not be available, just the common sources of tires that we're using no longer has them available.

Just something for people to keep in the back of their heads. Don't wait until the last moment in time to start shopping, yet, don't hoard tires either.

 

[FIRE UP]

Here we go. First off, I applaud you for going darkside, however....I have a question... Does any tire manufacturer make run flat tires for Motorcycles? The answer is absolutely not. No, nada, zilch. Why do you think that is? Oh that's right, you're not supposed to ride on a flat tire. So once again, someone is living in fear and following the herd. Thinking a run flat tire is better than a none run flat. Guess what? It's not. I've rode tens upon tens of thousands of miles on a regular darkside car tire. Even had flats. I plugged it and kept right on rolling. I just installed a Goodyear assurance maxlife on my 2021 GW DCT tour. 205/55/16. $95. Works great.

Well Sir,
I myself don't think you're putting out any "BS" in this post. I've only owned my '18 GL1800 DCT Tour Airbag now for about 2 months and have put on it, about 3,000 miles, plus or minus. I ran C/T's on my previous two GL1800's without any issues and they were NOT RUN FLATS. I got around 22,000 miles on the first one and around 23,000 miles on the second one. Both still had tread left on them when I replaced them.

Well, when it came time to replace the rear tire on my present '18 Tour, I decided to go dark side on it too. Well, like you stated, I also stated the same thing, I've never, ever seen a RUN FLAT motorcycle tire. So, I made the same decision on this bike that I did several years ago and that was to pursuit a standard non-run-flat tire. The folks on here have their reasons for everyone going for the same tire(s) when it comes to C/T's for their bike.

I myself simply look for a tire that's as equal to the size of the original rear tire. I determined that a basic 205 55 16 was what I wanted. I went to my local Discount tire and they would not touch my rear rim and tire 'cause it was a motorcycle tire. So, I went to an independent tire shop and asked if they'd handle it. The two techs came out, looked at my rear Wing rim and worn tire and said: "Yep, we can handle this, no problem." So, I went into the office and asked what they had in 205 55 16's. They had two different brands. I looked at both and picked the one I thought would work.

They dismounted my worn tire and installed that new one in about 2-3 minutes. It cost me about $110 out the door, mounted with no balance. They stated their balance machine could not mount my Wing rim due to the hole in the center was too small for the cones on their machine. So, I went home with my new tire and wheel and balanced it myself with my Harbor Freight balancer.

That non-run flat has been on there now for oh, maybe a month and it has around 1,500 miles on it. It handles like a dream, just like my other Wings. So, if one wants a run flat due to they think it's more security, then have at it. There was no run flat on the bike when they bought it.
Scott

 

[Tex-Ed]

Is Tire Rack still making you buy at least 2 tires? When I went to order a tire about 5 years ago, they would not sell me just one tire. The only way I could order from them is to get two. I had a good place out of the sun and weather to store the other, so I ended up getting two.

I've bought two Yokohama Envigor RF tires in the last 4 years - one tire at a time. Just saying.

 

[Pooch]

When I wanted 1 tire through Tire rack I told them wife ran over a piece of metal and just needed 1 tire. No problem. YMMV

 

[MountainRider]

I've never ordered more than 1 tire at a time from Tire Rack, no questions ask.

 

[Walrus]

The RF guys know this, but I'll repeat it for the NRF guys. First off, I don't care what tire a guy runs. Everybody is a big boy, but please just be informed.

With a MC tire, the sidewalls are thicker than a NRF. During a rapid air loss (not very common) I'd rather take my chances with a regular old MC tire, then a NRF. If you blow a hole in the sidewall, or lose a valve stem with a NRF, you'll eat sh!t at speed.

You can ride to safety, with a one inch hole in the sidewall with a RF. It's definitely reassuring. I've personally rode a RF with 0 psi at highway speeds, and I didn't go down. The bike felt very stable even. Also, I've rode behind a wing, 2up, pulling a camper with a RF with 0 psi. They rode nearly a 100 miles on that tire.

Also Rail32 has some stickies in the Darkside Riders forum with pictures, they are worth checking out.

So why buy the NRF?

I can think of a few reasons.

Weight- The NRF is 2-6lb lighter than a RF. The P1 RF is 21lb. That's pretty light for a RF. For 99% of riders a few extra lbs of rotating mass, is a non issue.

Cost- NRFs are cheaper.

Availability- Easier to get a NRF at your local tire place. I'm sure they aren't going to have a RF, in the shop. It'll take a day or two to order one in. Not a big deal of course, unless you need a tire in the middle of a trip.

 

[kwthom]

Have a Hankook Optimo RF on order... 🤞

UPDATE: The tire is due to arrive either today or tomorrow.

Again, the whole point of the thread, and specifically why I dated it in the title was simply as a notice for those reading along that may need something soon to start looking a bit earlier than you might normally. Good on Discount Tire for working thru the stocking issues to get me a tire that others here have used.

 

[kwthom]

UPDATE: The tire only has 50 miles, no appreciable flogging of it yet; that'll happen soon enough.

Highway seems as smooth as a Yokohama.

Take that review for what it's worth.