Front tire question

[PastorCurt]

Just wondering if anyone has reversed the front tire to make it run the opposite direction to get longer tread life? Kinda like on cars when we rotate tires. It would work only with nondirectional tires. 

[sleepy2]

Had a front tire mounted backwards by dealer(didn't notice for over a year) and didn't notice anything different! Rode until needing new tires without any problems. Pointed it out to dealer after finding this and they said it would be no problem!

[RDawson]

Many use a rear tire mounted backwards on the front for that reason. Rears are a different compound so they last longer on the front. I can’t say from experience but I can’t see a front tire mounted backwards would last any longer than correct rotation. 

[PastorCurt]

2 hours ago, RDawson said:

Many use a rear tire mounted backwards on the front for that reason. Rears are a different compound so they last longer on the front. I can’t say from experience but I can’t see a front tire mounted backwards would last any longer than correct rotation. 

My thought was to reverse it a couple times during its lifetime. 4k in one direction and 4 k in the other and so on until it’s worn out. Just to see if there’s more life to be had from some expensive rubber!

[N3FOL]

My take on this is that...are you really going to be able to save some money down the road since you still have to unmount and remount the front tire based on what you had mentioned.  It may save some money, if you are able to do your own mounting and balancing.  In my case, I have to pay a shop to get it mounted and balanced.  FWIW, it is a great idea.  

[PastorCurt]

I don’t know if I will do it, I just know that rotating the tires on my car is well worth the effort!

[RDawson]

Trying to remember the science but certain tires years ago on cars couldn’t be reversed or belts would break.  Bias ply maybe??? Once you started them one direction you only rotated front and back on same side.  
Any body with input on that or is my rememberer malfunctioning again?

Edited Thursday at 01:46 AM by RDawson

[PastorCurt]

37 minutes ago, RDawson said:

Trying to remember the science but certain tires years ago on cars couldn’t be reversed or belts would break.  Bias ply maybe??? Once you started them one direction you only rotated front and back on same side.  
Any body with input on that or is my rememberer malfunctioning again?

I hate rememberer malfunctions!

[BratmanXj]

"Darkside" is running a car tire on the rear, if you search "Double Darkside" you'll find a lot of guys running a rear tire in reverse rotation on the front of the bike.

I put an 18" Yamaha Stratoliner front wheel on my '99 Venture.  The available options for tires didn't have a load rating that I liked so I ran a Michelin tire that was designed for the rear of a CB750 on the front for the past few years.  I was having issues with the tire cupping at 10-12k miles, well before tread life was gone but probably average miles for an OEM front tire.   

[Steve S]

I have always Run Metzlers on my Ventures and generally got around 20 to 22,000 miles out of them. The rear tires I may get 11,000 if I make sure I keep them inflated properly. 

[Marcarl]

Touchy stuff, there is a real reason for the arrow on the sidewall, not sure if it means anything but it's there for a purpose. For most everything may go just as planned until the plan flies out the window and then it means all hands on deck but one or two hands were tied up elsewhere. You might get away with it, and then again you might not. Figure first what it might save you and then consider what the savings amount to.

[N3FOL]

That is pretty much what I am thinking about.  In case the unfortunate happens, insurance inspectors are trained to look for details and if it has been determined that the tire has been mounted incorrectly...that is the end of story.  No coverage given.  Just my take.