Front tire on rear ?

[SilvrT]

I replaced my tires with new E3's. The rear was almost shot so discarded it but I kept the front coz there's still lots of wear left. It's a Bridgestone Spitfire II.

 

Now, my son has an '03 Sportster 1200 and his rear tire is shot. Turns out my front tire is the same size as his rear tire.

 

The question is, can a guy put a front tire on the rear? ... and if so, should I change the rotation direction?

[KeithR]

I'm no expert but I do know my brother put a set of Avon's on his VTX1300 and the suggestion from Avon was to put the one they recommended for the front to be but on in reverse.

 

 

Keith

[bongobobny]

Yes you can, and yes you should mount it backwardsdue to braking charactoristics, but the front tire will wear much faster than a tire designed for the rear. But hey it's a Brick-stone so maybe that's a good thing...

[flb_78]

yeah, you can mount it on the rear, reverse the rotation so the tread pattern will run the right way. It'll wear down faster but it'll work until he can get a new tire on hand.

[eusa1]

lets all give life and death opinions about running tires in a manner other than what they were made for, because it's not your life, your bike or your problem if they crash.

 

remember when you ask for an opinion, you get an opinion.... maybe not the best advice

 

ride safe, ride often...mike:080402gudl_prv:

[MiCarl]

Somebody once posted a blurb from one of the manufacturers that said you can run a rear on the front backward, but under no circumstances should a front be used on the rear.

[SilvrT]

Somebody once posted a blurb from one of the manufacturers that said you can run a rear on the front backward, but under no circumstances should a front be used on the rear.

 

All good advice (and opinions) of which I will take into consideration. As for what you're saying (or repeating for that matter), I don't disagree; however, I am the kind of guy who always ask "why". (aka "show me") ... no particular reason other than just to know why a statement is made ... can you or anyone provide the "why" to that?

[MiCarl]

All good advice (and opinions) of which I will take into consideration. As for what you're saying (or repeating for that matter), I don't disagree; however, I am the kind of guy who always ask "why". (aka "show me") ... no particular reason other than just to know why a statement is made ... can you or anyone provide the "why" to that?

 

I can make some guesses, but I cannot tell you for certain.

 

What I can say is that tires with two opposed arrows (one for front, the other for rear) used to be fairly common. With a few exceptions the manufacturers have stopped doing that.

 

I think it's safe to assume that they did not do that because the manufacturing guys thought it'd be fun to have extra molds laying around.