Well, I've decided to give a try to what a lot of trike pilots are doing - mounting a rear bias tire on the front in the reverse rotation. I'll be mounting a Pilot Activ on the front in reverse rotation this week. A number of trikers have been getting great mileage/wear and handling out of this idea and many are using this tire. I'm in search of better mileage from the tire. My car tire on the rear and the sidecar tire never wear out, but that still leaves the front with its receding hairline down the middle after 4000 miles.
Although I'm already comitted to it, I thought this might spin some interesting discussion on topics like:
A rear tire on the front? Yes, it has deeper tread, but it isn't designed for cross tread forces of the front tire universe.
In reverse rotation? Won't it explode or separate? And, finally...
Of course you get short wear on the front. It's a bleedin' sidecar rig.
Jump in wherever you want.
No problem on a rig. May reduce handling on a solo.
Lonnie
Been running a Michelin Pilot Activ rear tire on the front for the past 4000 miles. I'm running mine in reverse rotation. I'm sure you will hear both pros and cons on this but reverse rotation seems to work well for me.
Over the years I have tried several different tires on our '01 Wing and have setteled with the BT45 rear in 140/70-18. This in with a Car Tire in the rear and both wear well.
For Winter I use a soft rubber dual sport type up front and a Blizzak in back.
The Pilot Active is common among the Trike folks but I have found that the larger BT45 has a more correct load rating for the actual weight on the front of the rig.
At the same time a stock MC tire in the rear is way overloaded! It's too soft and the wrong profile for good wear and traction thus the need for a Car Tire that solves all of the problems on that end.
Originally written by JerryR on 9/9/2008 6:53 PM
The Pilot Active is common among the Trike folks but I have found that the larger BT45 has a more correct load rating for the actual weight on the front of the rig.
Jerry, Thanks for the info. I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm looking to replace the front tire.
Good to know about the BT45. Thanks
Just finished a 1,600 mile trip with my new BA in the front. I mounted it to run in normal rotation since I haven't come across any reason to run it in reverse..
No problems at all & the tire shows zero wear. My last Dunlop was toast at 6,000.
One question, though. I'm running a radial car tire on the rear & the BA is bias. Will this cause any problems?
'07 GL1800 with Hannigan GTL
Originally written by Jack H on 9/13/2008 11:36 PM
Just finished a 1,600 mile trip with my new BA in the front. I mounted it to run in normal rotation since I haven't come across any reason to run it in reverse..
No problems at all & the tire shows zero wear. My last Dunlop was toast at 6,000.
One question, though. I'm running a radial car tire on the rear & the BA is bias. Will this cause any problems?
'07 GL1800 with Hannigan GTL
Jack,
Mixing radial and bias tires on an outfit seems to present no issues. As far as reversing the front tire it has become popular to run a rear tire on the front with reversed rotation. i think the trike guys were the first to do this. The idea is that a rear tire is suposedly made to give the best traction when moving forward. When it is placed on the front some feel better braking is allowed when the rotation is reversed.
Call me tonight if you can.
I also have the Pilot Activ on the front, based on the GL1800 trike forums. Appreciate the heads up Jerry. If the Pilot ever wears out I will try that (only 10k on it now, but has all kinds of tread left).
Originally written by Circuit Rider on 9/10/2008 12:36 PM
Originally written by JerryR on 9/9/2008 6:53 PMThe Pilot Active is common among the Trike folks but I have found that the larger BT45 has a more correct load rating for the actual weight on the front of the rig.
Jerry, Thanks for the info. I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm looking to replace the front tire.
I still have several thousand left on my Metz 880, but will try this, especially if I get some more feed back from this site.
Jim, any chance you're related to Louis out in the LA area? Same last name and he also pilots a rig.
Just jumping in with a thought here, im suposing things are different accross the water but i bet in the uk if i had an insurance claim & front tyre was running wrong direction no payout, in fact if the tyre said rear i doubt i'd get the money either.
Yes, the requirements on sidehack rigs are much stiffer in the UK, Euro Union and OZ. There is also a much higher percentage of sidecarists than here in the USA. Licensing and driving requirements are very well regulated. Here(except for Washington State)it's pretty much bolt it on and go.
Lonnie
Just a thought. I have run rear tires on the front. Sometimes I reverse them sometimes not. Some tread patterns are designed to disperse water out and back to prevent hydroplaning. I don't think reversing them would be a great idea.
Tread patterns aside, the tire rotation indicator is an installation guideline based on the expected traction mode. For a front tire, the dominant traction mode is decelleration. For a rear tire, the dominant mode is accelleration. So, if you want to run a rear tire up front, it should be installed in the reverse direction.What if you already have a tire installed in the "wrong" direction? Before you "fix" it, consider this:1> How long has it been wrong? If the tire has taken a set in the other direction, reversing it might not be a good idea.2> If there were any really serious safety issues with reversed installation, there would be no arrows on tires. The manufacturer's legal department would never approve the marketing of directional tires.Bottom line: All motor vehicle operators have to manage risk based on their own judgement - Sidecarists generally do a much better job than most.-=JD=-
