so....got first test ride yesterday. first problem....I had a spacer out of place on the brake caliper bracket on the rear wheel. makes a lot of squeeling noise with that bracket rubbing against the rotor.
second test run was much better. I found that the tire, because it is taller, was rubbing against a small piece of the wheel well. had to take the tire back off to remove that piece. Fortunately that only took me about an hour this time since I knew what I was doing.
Third run today. I can tell you from the second run that the tire is really great. it handles better than I expected and I really can't tell it's a CT compared to a MT. This is my third bike I've gone to a CT on. First was a Vulcan 1500 classic. That was a failure. didn't work well at all. Second was my Concours sidecar rig. with the sidecar removed, the CT was managable, but definitely not suited for curvy roads. This one...best I've ridden. I would not need to change this tire for curvy road riding. Not that I'm going to be racing the big old barge through curvy roads, but it's definitely managable.
Once I solve the rubbing, I'll be pleased as punch!