GREAT New Tire Report

Bedifferent said:

Okay...after reading this I have to ask....why run the tire backwards?

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1olbull said:

@1K9
Gratitude, Amigo!

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1K9 said:

AAAnd I quote from the Book of Knowledge...

Here are some reasons:
You should turn a rear tire around to run it on the front, to run against its direction arrows. This is because of the way the tread joint is made on the tire. When braking, the forces generated will try to open the tread jointing of a rear tire on the front. This will be prevented if the tire is run in reverse direction

The tread is applied to a tire as a flat wide strip of rubber. When molded, the pattern is added. The ends of the tread sections obviously have to be joined together prior to molding. The ends of the tread are not butt jointed together, but cut at a steep angle & then joined together. This obviously makes the joint area larger to help absorb the stress placed upon it. Therefore because they are joined at an angle, if you rotate the tire in one direction you will (in effect) close the joint once every rotation. If you rotate it in the other direction you will try to open the joint once every rotation. The rear tire rotation direction arrow is noted to close the joint on every rotation of the tire as it is put under power.

The same tire would have to be mounted against its rotation direction arrow on the front because although in normal use the joint is running the wrong way. There is no force being applied to it (the front wheel is just running along without the application of power). When you brake, a strong force is pushing from the rear to the front of the motorcycle and this would open up the tread joint, possibly leading to the tread shearing. If you run the rear tire backwards on the front, braking forces will then be trying to close the tread joint, which is overall the best situation.
Tis a little complicated, I know, but I hope this helps a little.

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Claviger said:

Take a look at the front tires on bikes, the grooves always go backwards. All the same reasons, they need max grip under braking not accelerating.

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1K9 said:

Yeah but... what about the water shed grooves being reversed too? Not that I'm a water dog but, I'm just curious.

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1olbull said:

Well I have now put over 3,000 miles on my new Michelin Road 5 tire.
Tis a 150/70ZR17(69W) rear tire run backwards on the front of my 2012 R3R.

I have finally found a tire as good and likely better than the Avon Azaro.
I love the twisties and at 72 years, I have yet to outgrow the extreme fun of greasing them as best I can. Although not the wild man I once was, there is still nothing better than cutting a fine fast line through a series of twisties!

Although impossible, I'm always in search for anything that can make my R3R handle more like a sport bike. After 62,000 miles and at least 13 tires, this Pilot5 tire is by far THE best I've ever run on my front wheel.

Ninety miles of glorious twisties, called the Coronado Trail (Hwy 191) between Morenci and Alpine, AZ, were my test track.
I found the wider aspect ratio of the 150/70 kept the same wheel diameter and circumference as the 140/75. It provided much improved cornering control and copious quantities of traction. This tire provided me additional ability and confidence to create even more lean angle than ever before on this motor.
I run Standard boards on my R3R which are an inch and a half higher and provide quite a bit more lean angle than the OEM pegs did.
While touching down and dragging my boards was fairly common before, this tire allowed me to confidently increase my lean angle (more with both with butt over the inside of the seat or not) and drag nearly all the way round with total control and confidence. I had to be sure to keep my feet max inboard, so as not to ruin my spendy Daytona yuppie riding boots.
Traction of this tire was so good (not even one slip - ever!) that for me, control was enhanced to the point that the flex of the boards allowed me to gauge just when the engine guards, engine case or kickstand frame bolt were about to drag.

If you enjoy the twisties even half as much as I, you will have the need to lower your front axle and raise your rear axle to improve rake and trail for better handling. To accomplish this, many of us do run the 140/75R17 front with the Exedra Max 240/55R16 rear for this purpose. This tire will noticeably further improve your cornering ability!!!

Michelin Road 5 Rear Motorcycle Tire

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1K9 said:

AAAnd I quote from the Book of Knowledge...

Here are some reasons:
You should turn a rear tire around to run it on the front, to run against its direction arrows. This is because of the way the tread joint is made on the tire. When braking, the forces generated will try to open the tread jointing of a rear tire on the front. This will be prevented if the tire is run in reverse direction

The tread is applied to a tire as a flat wide strip of rubber. When molded, the pattern is added. The ends of the tread sections obviously have to be joined together prior to molding. The ends of the tread are not butt jointed together, but cut at a steep angle & then joined together. This obviously makes the joint area larger to help absorb the stress placed upon it. Therefore because they are joined at an angle, if you rotate the tire in one direction you will (in effect) close the joint once every rotation. If you rotate it in the other direction you will try to open the joint once every rotation. The rear tire rotation direction arrow is noted to close the joint on every rotation of the tire as it is put under power.

The same tire would have to be mounted against its rotation direction arrow on the front because although in normal use the joint is running the wrong way. There is no force being applied to it (the front wheel is just running along without the application of power). When you brake, a strong force is pushing from the rear to the front of the motorcycle and this would open up the tread joint, possibly leading to the tread shearing. If you run the rear tire backwards on the front, braking forces will then be trying to close the tread joint, which is overall the best situation.
Tis a little complicated, I know, but I hope this helps a little.

Click to expand...