New front tire after conversion???

[pwhoever]

I am just looking for feedback about front tire after conversion. On my last trike, I had a Dunlop on front, can't remember which one, but I swapped it out as soon as I had driven it home after conversion. I went with a BT-45. On this next conversion, as long as there is plenty of tread left, I'm thinking about just driving around on that until it's worn out.

When it's time to replace, then I will go with either a BT-46 or the Avon AV91 Trike tire. I'm pretty versed in both of those so not really looking for opinions on which one of those to go with. I am more interested in how many kept the pre conversion tire that was already on and how many switched out right away to a more trike centric tire. Thoughts?

 

[Papa Zook]

You currently have a Bridgestone Exedra G709 Radial on the front.

 

[pwhoever]

You currently have a Bridgestone Exedra G709 Radial on the front.

That's good to know. Thanks. In your experience, do most just use up the front tire on there or switch it out for something more common on trikes?

 

[Papa Zook]

It depends...If the tread is good most use it up, but in your case the miles are low because its been sitting a lot. Your front tire's manufactured date is the 46th week of 2019, so I'd recommend a tire change.

 

[pwhoever]

Well if I follow the recommended 5 year rule, that might be a good reason for changing it out anyway even with good tread.

 

[Papa Zook]

It looks to have about 50% of the tread left. If we change it, you'll have new front and rear.

 

[pwhoever]

Sounds like I could probably get a few more miles out of that then.

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Time wise it is basically all used up.
Change it and have everything new and ready to ride for many miles.
My luck it would blow and take the front fender and mess up the brakes and front of trike.
What is a couple hundred bucks when you have a $30,000+ Trike?

 

[pwhoever]

Time wise it is basically all used up.
Change it and have everything new and ready to ride for many miles.
My luck it would blow and take the front fender and mess up the brakes and front of trike.
What is a couple hundred bucks when you have a $30,000+ Trike?

True. Not too concerned about price. I found a BT46 for $139 and free shipping. I can easily get that delivered to me but then would have to figure out how to get it down there when I go to pick up the new trike. And then I would need to have a jack handy to get front wheel off and the space out of the way to leave it while new tire installed. And also need to find an installer to mount it. All of this could be arranged, but doing wheel removal would be easier in my own garage. And I also need to install the Centramatic balancers I just bought.

I had the same thoughts as you. I was sent photos of the front tire and didn't notice any cracking or deterioration and the tread depth seems ok. My thoughts now are it would most likely be good enough to at least get me home. I think that would probably be easier all the way around.

 

[ol' school]

Mike, if Randy is doing your trike conversion why not just have it shipped there and have it installed while the trike is being built if Randy is ok doing with that. Just a thought.

 

[pwhoever]

Mike, if Randy is doing your trike conversion why not just have it shipped there and have it installed while the trike is being built if Randy is ok doing with that. Just a thought.

I actually had discussed this with him so I wasn't trying to remove him from the equation. He had explained to me before that one of the biggest issues locally is the poor reliability with local deliveries such as USPS and UPS. He has experienced a higher than normal frequency of stuff (mail and small packages) getting misdelivered or even turning up missing which is a shame. This can and does cause great difficulties for local businesses. Also shop space is at a premium so for tire changes, its much easier to farm it out to other businesses which makes perfect sense. I am happy with him just focusing on building the trike. The tire change, I can work out by myself.

After looking at close up pictures of the front tire, and the fact that it is low mileage, I'm feeling good about it easily getting me back home to Wisconsin and then I can make the decision sometime later. I started this thread mostly just to see how others have felt and did they change the front tire right away or hold off until they wore it out. It looks like I'm going to be a bit of both. I will hold off doing it right away but will plan on doing it soon after getting it home.

 

[ol' school]

I ran the pre-conversion tire till it wore out then changed to the Avon Trike tire.

 

[pwhoever]

I ran the pre-conversion tire till it wore out then changed to the Avon Trike tire.

Thank you!

 

[HDUSA1]

Bought my used 2020 Ultra in 2022 from Suburban Motors and they had just put a new Harley 130/70-18 front tire on it. It only had a couple thousand miles on it when I converted my bike with a Roadsmith kit this past summer.

I had ordered an Avon Trike tire for it last spring to have on hand when I did the conversion. It kept getting backordered, so I finally got fed up and cancelled the order in late October. The Trike steers and handles great on the Harley tire, so I’m going to run it until it wears out.

In the meantime, I’m reviewing lots of threads trying to figure out what tire to put on next. Honestly, I’m probably going to put an American Elite back on it as my local independent Harley shop likes and keeps them in stock.

 

[pwhoever]

@HDUSA1 So another vote for just run what I have. For full disclosure, @Papa Zook pretty much said the same thing. So looks like I will at least run the current one but will have a replacement on hand for when I think it's ready for a change.

Honestly on the Harley trikes, I'm not sure what the best choice on a replacement would be. The 130/70R18 version had finally startied to show up in the stores which is good but still a bit overpriced IMHO. And those supplies are already drying up again. I'm going to keep watching but will probably just get a Battlax BT46 to have on hand.

 

[HDUSA1]

Btw, the 46th week of 2019 is almost exactly 5 years old. It was probably put on the bike in the spring of 2020. I wouldn’t be a bit afraid to run it another year and in the meantime keep my eye on a deal.

If you are an Amazon Prime member, download the Camel,Camel,Camel app (or Savelist for iPhones) and have it alert you when there is a temporary unannounced promotional price drop. I bought a Denon Flagship AVR A1H Home theater receiver that way and saved an incredible $1,500 on it and they ARE NEVER discounted anywhere with a list price of $6,499!

 

[pwhoever]

Nice! I will check that out!

 

[HDUSA1]

Apologize if this isn’t the right place, but was sick when learning about your accident and was wondering how you are getting along?

 

[pwhoever]

I'm doing quite a bit better. Seems like the fractures are healing up nicely. Still using the walker but might be able to ditch that after next Dr appt Dec 2nd. I was given permission just recently to try driving which will help out tremendously. I start regular PT in about 2 weeks. Thank you for asking!

 

[Marc H]

The 1500 had a regular tire when I got it.Back then the going thing was BT 45 or I think it was a Pilot Active.I just ran it till time to change and by then the trike tire had come out so I went to that.Ran that till a minivan parked on top of it and replaced that with the BT45

 

[pwhoever]

The 1500 had a regular tire when I got it.Back then the going thing was BT 45 or I think it was a Pilot Active.I just ran it till time to change and by then the trike tire had come out so I went to that.Ran that till a minivan parked on top of it and replaced that with the BT45

When my 07 was first triked, I immediately switched to the BT45 because I thought it would be better than the tire that I had on there and ran that for many miles. I honestly don't recall what tire the original was. I see now, I could have just kept running that original tire until it was worn out. The replacement for the BT45 was the Michelin Pilot Active just like you. I much preferred the MPA over the BT45 but it got discontinued. So when the MPA was worn out, I had a Avon trike tire I had bought previously on sale and had that mounted on there.

 

[Marc H]

When my 07 was first triked, I immediately switched to the BT45 because I thought it would be better than the tire that I had on there and ran that for many miles. I honestly don't recall what tire the original was. I see now, I could have just kept running that original tire until it was worn out. The replacement for the BT45 was the Michelin Pilot Active just like you. I much preferred the MPA over the BT45 but it got discontinued. So when the MPA was worn out, I had a Avon trike tire I had bought previously on sale and had that mounted on there.

I learned to ride trike with the standard tire. It didn't have the bite the trike tire or rear tires have so I had to learn how to get through the turns without putting so much pressure on the front.The difference going from that to the trike tire was night and day.The steering felt light and easy with the standard but with almost double the tread contact on the road I lost alot of that with the trike tire.

 

[DK Custom Products]

Have you thought about a rear tire reversed?




Kevin

 

[pwhoever]

Have you thought about a rear tire reversed?




Kevin

That's actually what the Bridgestone Battlax BT46 that fits the front rim is. And I agree with your reasoning with the deeper tread. I have heard different things about which way too run them. Some including a shop that built trikes I had mount the Michelin Pilot Active (also was a rear tire) recommended running reversed. And for the exact reasoning in your video.

The other camp uses the tire mounted in the forward direction so the siping sheds rain on the pavement. And you make a very compelling argument when comparing a rear tire mounted in reverse to an actual front tire. I had just assumed that the siping would be an issue and never looked closely at it. The BT45 I had previously run along with the MPA had been mounted backwards. This last tire, the BT46, the shop that mounted it refused to mount it in reverse so it was running regular. It seemed just fine but unfortunately I only got to use it for about 1 years so I never got long term results.

Just to add, that's probably the route I am going to go when it's ready for a new front tire. I can't see spending $100-150 more for something that I will end up with pretty much the same mileage on anyway.

 

[Notgrownup]

When the time comes for my front swap I will do the rear tire run reversed like in the DK video. For now my factory Tri glide front tire is at 10k miles and still showing half left at least. I am planning a long trip of sorts next summer so I will reevaluate then. I did the reversed rear on my 14 couple years ago and it did great in the rain. I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

 

[Burnerboy]

Avon TRIKE tire on my TRIKE.. So far Soooooooooo good! I'd rather use a tire that's MADE for a trike, and not a tire that I have to mount in reverse (???)

Ronnie
11/27/24

 

[pwhoever]

Avon TRIKE tire on my TRIKE.. So far Soooooooooo good! I'd rather use a tire that's MADE for a trike, and not a tire that I have to mount in reverse (???)

Ronnie
11/27/24

I can understand that but if they both do the same job just as well, I can't justify spending the extra $100-150+ for the trike tire. And on top of that, the failure of Avon (Goodyear) to even ensure an adequate supply to retailers makes the decision much easier. I could understand if there was a temporary blip in the supply chain, but this has been ongoing for several years now.

 

[pwhoever]

Just to add, the BT46 doesn't have to be mounted in reverse but there are compelling arguments to justify doing so and Kevin covered that pretty well. My last BT46 was mounted correctly and seemed to be just fine.

 

[Burnerboy]

PW! You do have a very valid point here.......... I'm 50% through my Avon tire as we speak, (she's in hibernation now) BUT come this spring, I'll try to find an Avon tire, BUT if after trying two or three companies, and it's STILL UNobtainable, I will order a BT46....
I guess if I have never tried one, I'm not a very good critic am I ??? lol "Thanks for the eye open'rrrr

Ronnie
11/27/24

 

[cycle7447]

When I converted my trike. I ran my standard tire for about 10K. Still had plenty of tread on it - but, I wanted to move to the Avon Trike tire.

Current Avon has about 10K on it - so, I will probably be good for some time. When ready, I like others, will move to the BT46 (reversed).

Avon, in my opinion is too costly and they are not producing times like I expected they would.