New Front Tire at 15,000

[HarleyPap57]

Took Blue III in for her 15,000 mile check up a few weeks ago and had the front tire replaced. She now has a Dunlop American Elite MT Rear Tire up there. Had them turn the tire around because of the way the cords are laid. The tread depth is deeper, the profile looks flatter and then center portion of the tread is different to give a longer wear. The dealership service writer had a cow when I told them what I wanted and bulked at putting it on at first. Only issue was they put 42psi in the front and the tire only calls for 40psi. I've since dropped it down to 38psi and handles great after 1,000 miles. They also put 32psi air pressure in my back tires even though HD says 26psi is max. Left the dealership and dang near wrecked with all the air pressure in the back. I quickly dropped the pressure back down to the 21psi I've been running.....:Coffee:

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Was this the first tire change in front? ... If so ... 15k ain't bad. What size tire did you put on?

 

[HarleyPap57]

Was this the first tire change in front? ... If so ... 15k ain't bad. What size tire did you put on?

Yep, first front. It's a MT90B16 (Dunlop # 34AE92), Tread Depth is 10/32 and rated for 827lbs @ 40psi

 

[DK Custom Products]

Thank you for the report. I've decided (after reading about it for years)...this is what I'm going to do on my next tire change.

Kevin

 

[screwball]

You are doing a lot better than I. Changed front tire at 9000 miles and thought I was doing good.

Still skeptical about the rear tire on the front. I know I hear it here a lot BUT tire companies pay thier engineers A LOT to design tires. I keep thinking why would they designate front and rear tires, and direction of rotation if it wasn't important. Just another old Engineer's thinking.

 

[HarleyPap57]

You are doing a lot better than I. Changed front tire at 9000 miles and thought I was doing good.

Still skeptical about the rear tire on the front. I know I hear it here a lot BUT tire companies pay thier engineers A LOT to design tires. I keep thinking why would they designate front and rear tires, and direction of rotation if it wasn't important. Just another old Engineer's thinking.

I looked into this a great deal. The tire profiles are different for the front = more rounded vs the rear = flatter. Also the cords are laid opposite since the front is used for braking and the rear for power.

 

[Sloufoot]

I looked into this a great deal. The tire profiles are different for the front = more rounded vs the rear = flatter. Also the cords are laid opposite since the front is used for braking and the rear for power.

Those are all a plus in my book. The tire being a flatter profile means you will have more of the tread on the pavement. There isn't the need for sidewall support in turns as in tread. The reason for a reverse rotation on the rear tire on the front is just because of the cords being laid opposite. The tire was designed for acceleration & on the front it gets pushed around. Reversing the rotation lets the cords work like they were intended.
Some tire manufactures are supporting the reverse rotation. I think the others are afraid of committing themselves even they know it will work. Some knotthead would try a law-suit if a tire happened to fail for any reason other than rotating backwards.

 

[psychogramps]

Got 11,000 miles on my Free. Front tire new has 5.5/32" tread. I'm at 4.5/32". I'm happy. Used to average 20,000 on my Tri's.

 

[Trent]

O.P. I did what you did also. Got 15K outta my first tire. Reversed a rear tire next and got 23K outta that one.
Could have easily gone a couple of K more but we were going on a long trip so swapped it out just because I could. Got 6k on tire #3 so far and it still looks like new.


As usual, for those with questions about this practice, there are at least 3,652,457 threads discussing the pro's and con's of this subject. Just do a search. Type in "reversed front tire".. get a big mug of Crown Royal on ice, lean back in your chair, and you can read for a coupla weeks.

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

As usual, for those with questions about this practice, there are at least 3,652,457 threads discussing the pro's and con's of this subject. Just do a search. Type in "reversed front tire".. get a big mug of Crown Royal on ice, lean back in your chair, and you can read for a coupla weeks.

LOL ... been there done that.

I think it's interesting to me that tire wear on the front of trikes seems more dependent on riding style and road conditions that on 2 wheelers ... at least that's what I'm "hearing". I'll explain.

In the little group I ride some with, we all have touring 2 wheelers (I'm the odd triker now). We all seem to like different roads, I like backroads with a combination of scenery and making time. Others like the twisties and some prefer highway to make time. But somehow, the rule of thumb seemed to be about 10k on a rear and 20k on a front.

What I've observed here is that the numbers on the front tire wear are all over the place and rear tire wear seems more consistant ... I'm guessing the lack of leaning on the trike and steering forces somehow bring other factors into play, road surface, twisties or not, speed, probably even weight (load) and air pressure. Can anyone confirm this or is it just that now I'm looking at a larger data base ... maybe the 2 wheel numbers vary widely too and I just never noticed.

Just an observation in reading these threads.

 

[Trent]

I believe the road surface has a big effect on tire wear here in the Spud State. We ride on a little bit of everything. Freeway, long curvy sweepers, and a lot of twisty hairpin type mountain passes that will make your forearms sore the next day. Chip sealing is the main road preservation method used by the hwy depts. That involves laying down a layer of melted tar. Covering it with an inch of sharp edged pea gravel. Let the cars and trucks smash it down for a few days. Make a sorry attempt to sweep up the remaining gravel. Seal it with another layer of tar if needed. Then tell everyone Tuff $--t if you complain about chipped up paint and windshields.

The result is a miles long sheet of very course & sharp edged sand paper that files down your tires like a cheese shredder and really takes it's toll in the curves and twistys. If you are an aggressive driver, which I am possibly maybe might be known to be unless my Director Of Operations is seated directly behind me, that just makes it worse.
But,,, all part of doing business for me, as I don't worry about replacing tires when needed. I ride to have fun and when a tire wears out sooner than it maybe should have, that means I was having fun.

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

I believe the road surface has a big effect on tire wear here in the Spud State. We ride on a little bit of everything. Freeway, long curvy sweepers, and a lot of twisty hairpin type mountain passes that will make your forearms sore the next day. Chip sealing is the main road preservation method used by the hwy depts. That involves laying down a layer of melted tar. Covering it with an inch of sharp edged pea gravel. Let the cars and trucks smash it down for a few days. Make a sorry attempt to sweep up the remaining gravel. Seal it with another layer of tar if needed. Then tell everyone Tuff $--t if you complain about chipped up paint and windshields.

The result is a miles long sheet of very course & sharp edged sand paper that files down your tires like a cheese shredder and really takes it's toll in the curves and twistys. If you are an aggressive driver, which I am possibly maybe might be known to be unless my Director Of Operations is seated directly behind me, that just makes it worse.
But,,, all part of doing business for me, as I don't worry about replacing tires when needed. I ride to have fun and when a tire wears out sooner than it maybe should have, that means I was having fun.

We have chip seal here to .... never noticed much effect on mileage on tires ... guess I'm not too aggressive