Benefits of mounting front tire in reverse rotation

[MangoMike]

We are leaving next week on a 5000 mile trip and I had a new BattleAxe mounted yesterday. My tech recommended that it be mounted in reverse rotation, and gave me a fairly complicated explanation as to why. I took his suggestion, but wonder if someone can tell me in simple terms the benefit to reverse rotation.

 

[Gold Rush]

We are leaving next week on a 5000 mile trip and I had a new BattleAxe mounted yesterday. My tech recommended that it be mounted in reverse rotation, and gave me a fairly complicated explanation as to why. I took his suggestion, but wonder if someone can tell me in simple terms the benefit to reverse rotation.

Mike as I understand it the rational is to reduce the stress put on the tire bias ply joint while under hard braking. Since the BT 45 is designed as a rear tire the normal rotation is designed to take that force while under acceleration. When mounted on the front of a bike acceleration is a rolling thing but braking is maximum stress.

That being said, when mounted on bikes with active linked brake systems the rear tire will always lessen part of that stress so the reverse mounting becomes less germane. I have run three BT 45s reversed but intend to mount the one in my shop forward then give it some serious testing. I expect I will make it through this summer but by time for the Kerrville Meet and Greet in November I'll be on new front tire.

 

[MangoMike]

Thanks Jerry. We may make it to Kerrville in November, especially since we were stationed at Randolph in the late 80's and this would be our first time back in San Antonio. Hope to see you there...

 

[Gold Rush]

That would be GREAT Mike!!!! epper:epper:epper:

We'd love to see a HUGE turn out. I'd be real happy with just a couple dozen. :xszpv: :xszpv:

 

[Missouri Charley]

Mike I have ran the front tire in both directions but I prefer to run it forward just so it can shed water better.

 

[MangoMike]

Charlie,

I ran my first BattleAxe forward for the same reason, but this time we looked at the tread pattern and I don't see that it will make much difference in how it sheds water since we only use the center portion of the tread pattern and not the sides.

I'll see how I like the reverse mounting on our upcoming trip.

 

[cavie]

Charlie,

I ran my first BattleAxe forward for the same reason, but this time we looked at the tread pattern and I don't see that it will make much difference in how it sheds water since we only use the center portion of the tread pattern and not the sides.

I'll see how I like the reverse mounting on our upcoming trip.

That's exactly the way I see it. Only one inch of tread on the road. Frontward/backwards didn't make any difference.With so many guys getting 30,000 miles, who am I to argue with that!

 

[jaxbobg]

I just had a BT 45 put on my front wheel, but my usual shop refused to mount a rear tire on a front wheel so I had to find another shop that charged me twice as much as I had been paying to have a Metzeler mounted every 10,000 miles.

I asked them to reverse the rotation, but apparently the shop hand got confused and I ended up with forward direction anyway. Fingers crossed that the mileage will be better than the last few tires.

So what is it with these shops that refuse to mount a rear tire on the front wheel of a trike? Is it just that they don't understand the different dynamics between a 2 wheeler and a trike, or is it some subtle form of discrimination?

 

[cavie]

I just had a BT 45 put on my front wheel, but my usual shop refused to mount a rear tire on a front wheel so I had to find another shop that charged me twice as much as I had been paying to have a Metzeler mounted every 10,000 miles.

I asked them to reverse the rotation, but apparently the shop hand got confused and I ended up with forward direction anyway. Fingers crossed that the mileage will be better than the last few tires.

So what is it with these shops that refuse to mount a rear tire on the front wheel of a trike? Is it just that they don't understand the different dynamics between a 2 wheeler and a trike, or is it some subtle form of discrimination?

Can you say "lawyer"? Sue happy world. tire goes down, rider gets hurt, tire shop gets sued.

 

[Gold Rush]

I just had a BT 45 put on my front wheel, but my usual shop refused to mount a rear tire on a front wheel so I had to find another shop that charged me twice as much as I had been paying to have a Metzeler mounted every 10,000 miles.

I asked them to reverse the rotation, but apparently the shop hand got confused and I ended up with forward direction anyway. Fingers crossed that the mileage will be better than the last few tires.

So what is it with these shops that refuse to mount a rear tire on the front wheel of a trike? Is it just that they don't understand the different dynamics between a 2 wheeler and a trike, or is it some subtle form of discrimination?

For the most part those shops just are not use to dealing with trikes. Even some that do trikes aren't up to speed on the reversed mounting. I have to sign a liability waver to get mine mounted in reverse but as I've said earlier, that will not be an issue this next time.

 

[msocko3]

I just had a BT 45 put on my front wheel, but my usual shop refused to mount a rear tire on a front wheel so I had to find another shop that charged me twice as much as I had been paying to have a Metzeler mounted every 10,000 miles.

I asked them to reverse the rotation, but apparently the shop hand got confused and I ended up with forward direction anyway. Fingers crossed that the mileage will be better than the last few tires.

So what is it with these shops that refuse to mount a rear tire on the front wheel of a trike? Is it just that they don't understand the different dynamics between a 2 wheeler and a trike, or is it some subtle form of discrimination?

As cavie and Gold Rush said, liability, some shops don't want to take the risk.

FWIW I was chatting with a friend of mine who works at a place which does a lot of suspension work. The shop owner performed a test on a GL1800 trike with a rear tire mounted on the front. He marked the tire side wall and the rim, he then performed a hard stop using a lot of front brake. The tire rotated on the rim 3/4". A rear tire has a narrower bead than a front tire which causes it to not hold quite as well under certain circumstances.

Even though, I have a MPA mounted on the front of my GL1800 in reverse rotation. The dealer I bought the bike from had no problems doing it, they even had no problems mounting it revers rotation.

 

[MangoMike]

I bought my trike from my dealer, and they are very trike savvy. My tech suggested that I have this BT-45 mounted in reverse. My first had been mounted normally. I understand the different stresses, but wonder if I'll get any more mileage with the reverse mount?

 

[TouringOn2]

I've had 3 BT-45 on my bike mounted both directions. I couldn't tell any difference. The last one I mounted it the way I thought the tread looked the best. It works for me. Good luck. Be safe and enjoy the ride. Larry

 

[Gold Rush]

I bought my trike from my dealer, and they are very trike savvy. My tech suggested that I have this BT-45 mounted in reverse. My first had been mounted normally. I understand the different stresses, but wonder if I'll get any more mileage with the reverse mount?

Mike, I know it's a long time to wait but I'll give you a straight answer this time next year.... I have a couple more months to go on the current reverse mounted BT 45 then I'm going forward. I'll have plenty of miles on it by this time next year to give an fair evaluation.

Sorry, that's the best I can do for now. :xszpv: :xszpv:

 

[jaxbobg]

Thanks to cavie, Gold Rush, and msocko3 for the feedback. I understand the liability issue now (makes sense) so I guess I'll have to ask my triker friends which shops will do rear tire/reverse mounts for a reasonable price. I had to pay the rogue shop half of what I paid for the tire.
Oh well, I love riding so what the heck!

 

[Solidbob]

Well that's just nuts.... 20.00 everyone around me here in Texas.....epper:

 

[MangoMike]

Mike, I know it's a long time to wait but I'll give you a straight answer this time next year.... I have a couple more months to go on the current reverse mounted BT 45 then I'm going forward. I'll have plenty of miles on it by this time next year to give an fair evaluation.

Sorry, that's the best I can do for now. :xszpv: :xszpv:

No problem, we leave Tue the 22nd on a 5000 mile trip, so I'll get an idea of how my newly mounted tire holds up, and see how that compares to my original. I put on a new tire but could have probably left the original on and been fine. I had about 11K on the tire (which I still have and will remount), and I'll bet there's about 8-10K left.

 

[jaxbobg]

Well that's just nuts.... 20.00 everyone around me here in Texas.....epper:

That's what I paid the last time I had a Metzeler mounted. Not going to make that mistake again.

 

[jfingalls]

It is very hard for me to understand why we are still having these discussions about what direction to mound tires. The reason for reverse mounting is unfounded (as proven by a survey conducted by this forum). That is, we are trying to solve a problem that does not even exist. For goodness sake, let's move on with something constructive and stop putting the shops in jeopardy of being sued because they and some of us don't understand the safety issue in this process. Charlie is absolutely correct, water shedding is the issue and a tire under dynamic force is not round and had a very different forward tire footprint on the road surface (depending on speed and inflation pressure). Therefore it does hit the road in a wider footprint than 1 inch that you see when the tire is in a static state. Concentrate on your safety under extreme conditions my friends and you will better understand why the DOT cannot wait to jump on this condition and find out who the installers are performing this type of installation.