I am almost convinced...rear tire on front wheel & TG is running great!

[DK Custom Products]

I am almost convinced...rear tire on front wheel & TG is running great!

I have been thinking about putting a motorcycle rear tire, reversed, on the front of a TG for years.

Finally did it about 4000 miles ago.

Time will tell how well it lasts, but so far it is looking like it is going to be many more miles than a front tire.

What I really like is how much more grip it has...both in the corners/curves, wet asphalt, and stopping power.

It is a significant improvement.

The only condition I am still waiting to see how it does...pouring rain. Have not hit any of that yet. When I do, that will be when I decide to go back to a front tire or keep using a rear in front.

On another note. I could not be more happy with how the TG is running. The other day we ran the Icefield Highway, with no small amount of hills, and still got just under 42 MPG.

Kevin

 

[HDB0B]

I've got a 130/90B16 Michelin Commander II rear waiting to be put on in a few more thousand miles. I feel the rears will hydroplane well before any front tire .... so just slow down. Thank you for the positive remarks about grip and braking. I also will be reverse mounting per Michelin's instructions.

Bob orag:

 

[Sloride]

I have been thinking about putting a motorcycle rear tire, reversed, on the front of a TG for years.

Finally did it about 4000 miles ago.

Time will tell how well it lasts, but so far it is looking like it is going to be many more miles than a front tire.

What I really like is how much more grip it has...both in the corners/curves, wet asphalt, and stopping power.

It is a significant improvement.

The only condition I am still waiting to see how it does...pouring rain. Have not hit any of that yet. When I do, that will be when I decide to go back to a front tire or keep using a rear in front.

On another note. I could not be more happy with how the TG is running. The other day we ran the Icefield Highway, with no small amount of hills, and still got just under 42 MPG.

Kevin

I did the same thing and went with the Dunlop 402 MU85B16.

I have not went through any heavy downpours, but did ride about 40 miles in light rain and did not have any white knuckle moments

 

[Sunman]

I ran a rear tire on the front of my Goldwing trike and liked it. No problems and got a lot more miles out of it. When it is time to change the front tire on my Freewheeler I will put on a rear tire.

Sunman

 

[pcombe]

I have been running a rear tire mounted backward rotation on my trike for 10,000 plus miles and I see way,way more miles left before it becomes necessary to replace it.

Its a Dunlop elite than I ran for a full season on the rear of my bike before conversion so it has about 15,000 miles total on the tire.

I have had it in heavy down pours as well as 3" of slush in Wyoming's high country with no problems.

Togowotee pass, Wyoming 9500 ft. 3rd week of June.

The only draw back is it makes my front end ride a little harder because of the harder rubber compound but the benefits so far outweigh the draw backs I will be doing the same next time I need a tire.

:Shrug: There will be (self) appointed tire experts to lay down absolute rules as to why you should not do so and I will say right up front that I don't give a damn what you have to say so save your breath.

It works and it works very, very well!ThumbUp

My friend Ron is running a rear on the front on his tri-glide and has been doing so for two seasons and is loving it!:Coffee:

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

My friend Ron is running a rear on the front on his tri-glide and has been doing so for two seasons and is loving it!:Coffee:

View attachment 27868

Your buddy has a gorgeous ride ... love the nostalgic look ... the trike ... not him ...

 

[KeithsBMW]

I've got a 130/90B16 Michelin Commander II rear waiting to be put on in a few more thousand miles. I feel the rears will hydroplane well before any front tire .... so just slow down. Thank you for the positive remarks about grip and braking. I also will be reverse mounting per Michelin's instructions.

Bob orag:

Running Michelin Commander II 180/65 B16 on front, expect to get 40,000 miles or more. Last week our group was riding thru heavy rain. All other bikes were big V Twins. We hydroplaned for more than 100 feet, the other bikes had no such problem. The 180 has twice the road contact patch as the other's front tires, so hydroplanes twice as easy. Grips when dry, floats when wet.Please be careful until you've had some experience in heavy rain.

Rears hydroplaning before front would only be noticed by loss of speed? The front wheel doing all the steering, the back just pushing straight. Luck was with us that day. We were on a straight portion of the road and the trike went into a slow drift to the right side until we regained traction.

 

[cavie]

I've got 7000 on my BT 45. looks like the day I put it on.

 

[jc1300]

I have been convinced for years of using a back tire on the front. But I'm not sure if running them backwards has increased mileage enough to turn it around. Tires disperse water using the tread design. So my question is has anyone run back tires both ways, and has running them in the correct direction made a difference in hydroplaning?

Thanks - jc

 

[HDB0B]

Running them backwards is so that the tread SPLICE is now biased for braking. In the rear directionally mounted it is biased for putting power to the ground. Both Dunlop and Michelin say to mount them in reverse for this reason.

 

[arnie]

I put the Dunlop rear tire on the front of the 2011 Triglide I had in reverse direction. I only put aprox. 10,000 miles on it with no problems & plenty of tread left. On my 14 Tri glide I put the same Dunlop on, But did not reverse it. I have been in some heavy downpours & it has not hydro planed on me. As far as tread separation only time will tell. I just wanted to give it a try. I don't advise this to anyone, I just wanted to see if there was a difference.

 

[HDB0B]

Arnie,

I like your thinking!

When you think about it ... putting a rear tire on the front of a 2 wheeler where most of the braking is done ... reversing the tread for splice bias makes sense. For our trikes where we do a considerable amount more of the braking on the rear tires and linked front (my 2014) it might be better to mount normal rotation for better water disbursement.

I'm definitely slowing down when it gets wet!

Bob orag:

 

[MB1953]

My $.02 to this...

When I approached the local indie shop about reversing a rear tire on the front, he said he would check into it but initially declined due to the possibility of liability issues.

Damn lawyers!

 

[Sunman]

As per my earlier post in this thread, I ran a rear tire on the front of my Goldwing trike but I did not reverse it and I had no problems even though a couple of the tire manufacturers recommend reversing the tire rotation when mounting a rear tire on the front because of the difference in tire construction. The plies are laid differently on the front tire and the rear tire because on a 2 wheeler the front tires experiences loading from braking and the rear from acceleration primarily. However, on a 2 wheeler the rear tire also experiences loading from braking as well as acceleration so I mounted mine with the normal rotation so as to keep the tread in the correct rotation. I never had a problem with hydroplaning on the front tire.

Sunman

 

[pcombe]

Your buddy has a gorgeous ride ... love the nostalgic look ... the trike ... not him ...

Ron is addicted to chrome, If there is some piece of chrome on the market he doesn't have he soon will!

He even made aluminum diamond plates for the floor boards.

If were like him I would have get a bigger motor than my 80" just haul around all the weight.

 

[jc1300]

As per my earlier post in this thread, I ran a rear tire on the front of my Goldwing trike but I did not reverse it and I had no problems even though a couple of the tire manufacturers recommend reversing the tire rotation when mounting a rear tire on the front because of the difference in tire construction. The plies are laid differently on the front tire and the rear tire because on a 2 wheeler the front tires experiences loading from braking and the rear from acceleration primarily. However, on a 2 wheeler the rear tire also experiences loading from braking as well as acceleration so I mounted mine with the normal rotation so as to keep the tread in the correct rotation. I never had a problem with hydroplaning on the front tire.

Sunman

Any mileage issues - jc

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Ron is addicted to chrome, If there is some piece of chrome on the market he doesn't have he soon will!

He even made aluminum diamond plates for the floor boards.

If were like him I would have get a bigger motor than my 80" just haul around all the weight.

View attachment 27885

LOL ... The chrome does get heavy ... but it sure is purty.

 

[Sunman]

Any mileage issues - jc

I got significantly more mileage from the rear tire mounted on the front. If I remember correctly, a front tire normally has 9/32" thread depth when new and a rear has 11/32" thread depth when new so the rear starts out with 20% more thread depth. Also, depending on which tire you go with it may have a harder compound giving longer tire life. I will for sure go with a rear tire on my Freewheeler when it is time to replace the front tire.

Sunman

 

[Moe55]

I got significantly more mileage from the rear tire mounted on the front. If I remember correctly, a front tire normally has 9/32" thread depth when new and a rear has 11/32" thread depth when new so the rear starts out with 20% more thread depth. Also, depending on which tire you go with it may have a harder compound giving longer tire life. I will for sure go with a rear tire on my Freewheeler when it is time to replace the front tire.

Sunman

Stock Dunlop 402 has 5/32" Rear 402 9/32" American Elite 11/32"

- - - Updated - - -

My $.02 to this...

When I approached the local indie shop about reversing a rear tire on the front, he said he would check into it but initially declined due to the possibility of liability issues.

Damn lawyers!

Print this out show it to Indie may change his mind. I gave it to my Indie and he had no problem reverse mounting the tire.

http://cyrilhuzeblog.com/2009/08/23/tires-directional-arrows-explained-by-avon-tyres

Good Luck

 

[RcSuD]