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my wife's sportster trike needs a new front tire and after reading the Forum i am confused. you guys mention putting a rear tire on the front and some of you say to turn it around so it runs in the opposite direction it should. i do not want to do anything to put her in harms way so i am asking all of you what is the best way to go. my dealer wants to put a radial tire on it but i am not sure as he says it will last a lot longer and give her better traction when it's wet on the roads.
Guess you've noticed that the trike scrubs down the crown of a bike tire pretty fast, that's the reason for mounting rear tires on the front, since they have a slightly thicker tread depth. Reason for the reverse rotation has to do with tire construction and difference in road force applied during acceleration forces (rear) and braking forces (front).
Either way doesn't seem to affect safety, although rear tire reverse rotation seems to be the way most trikers mount them. Bike mechanics don't generally ride trikes, so reverse rotation is a foreign concept to them. I haven't noticed a difference in performance on wet roads, but then again the rake angle and front end weight can have an impact on this.
As for radials, the heavier the bike, the better off you are with bias ply on the front, due to sidewall construction. Radials might work on the lighter Sportster (I really don't know).
As usual, just my 2 cents, but there seems to be constant controversy on this topic. Just be sure the tire design and profile is close to the manufacturer's spec for you bike.
Dan, I think you might be referring to Mounting a Goldwing Rear Michelin Pilot Activ rear tire on the front of a trike. 130/70/18. I've just done that to get more mileage out of my front tires. My trike a '10 CSCCobra XL is quite heavy and my first two tires were radials. #1 was a Dunlop 250 OEM (came on the trike) it was shot at 4,000 miles then went to a Bridgestone Excedra (another radial) but it lasted 9,000 miles. Am now on the Michelin Pilot Activ which most reviews say they're getting 20 to 25,000 miles on the front of trikes. They recommend running it in reverse rotation but I've seen several reviews that run it in the normal rotation and are getting good results as well. I do know for sure the tire rides a lot harder than the radials I had been running. I have Traxxion springs in the forks (1.6) and am running 15 wt fork oil but I think I'll be changing the fork springs to Progressive and going to 5 or 7wt fork oil to soften up the ride. Most trike owners recommend running 41 lbs in the front tire but it loosened up the crowns on my teeth so I dropped it down to 35 lbs.
It's smoother but I'm still not happy with the harsh ride.
I'll get it figured out (If I have enough Money?) and let you know. Good luck with your trike. Alan
So far, I have found out that the Harder the compound of the rubber in the tire for the front, the better. Atleast on a HD Triglide.
After i converted my bike to trike i wore out a front tire very quickly but i had a rear tire the same exact size as my front with one seasons wear on it.
ThumbUp I followed the forums advice and installed it backward on the front end and have ridden it about 3000 miles now and am very pleased by its performance.
:Shrug: I had to sign a release at the bike shop stating i would not come back at them should something go wrong because of their ins.
:Coffee: When this one finally wears out i will do it again.
My friend did it on his tri glide also and is glad he did. ThumbUp
Just finished up wearing out two (2) different front trike tires on my GL1800 CSC Cobra.
1st Tire: Michelin Pilot Activ - mounted in reverse rotation w/ Dyna Beads = 30K miles
2nd Tire: Bridgestone Battlax - mounted in reverse rotation w/ Dyna Beads = 17K miles
Both tires aired up @ 41#psi and types of road the same for each, as I commute 52miles each way daily + weekend riding.
Currently running a MPA mounted straight up w/ Dyna Beads, and do not have the typical 'buzzing' of the 1st MPA.
Satisfied customer of the Michelin Pilot Activ!
'08 GL1800 CSC Cobra XL - 120K trouble free miles
Eagle Man
[QUOTE=Eagle Man;198593]Just finished up wearing out two (2) different front trike tires on my GL1800 CSC Cobra.
1st Tire: Michelin Pilot Activ - mounted in reverse rotation w/ Dyna Beads = 30K miles
2nd Tire: Bridgestone Battlax - mounted in reverse rotation w/ Dyna Beads = 17K miles
Both tires aired up @ 41#psi and types of road the same for each, as I commute 52miles each way daily + weekend riding.
Currently running a MPA mounted straight up w/ Dyna Beads, and do not have the typical 'buzzing' of the 1st MPA.
Satisfied customer of the Michelin Pilot Activ!
'08 GL1800 CSC Cobra XL - 120K trouble free miles
Eagle Man[/QUOTE]
This is good to hear, I have an MPA setting in the basement waiting for when the stock front tire is toast.
i ended up mounting a Michelin Commander II on the front and so far the wife is happy. we have had it in the rain and she is also happy with the handling. the ride at 40 lbs. air pressure was to hard so i lowered it to 37 and it is a little better. i also could not find a rear 190x90x19" tire anywhere, so i settled on the Michelin after reading all the reviews on this tire. we are happy so far but only have about 700 miles on the tire and will give you guys a heads up when we have about 3000 miles on the tire. thanks for all your inputs.
I have a 14 Harley trike and am going to need to replace the front tire soon and it only has 8000 miles on them. I see a lot of guys have bought the Bridgestone battle axe 45 130/90b16 made for the rear and mounted on the front with the rotation reversed. My concern is the load rating. The factory dunlops have a load rating of 72 while the BT45 has a load rating of 67. The 72 is a 355 pound rating and the 67 is 307 pounds. Since the trikes are so heavy is this lesser load rating a concern?
Anyone using a rear tire on the front of a 2014 Harley Tri-Glide? If so what tire are you using and how i it working?
[QUOTE=scuba1954;249632]I have a 14 Harley trike and am going to need to replace the front tire soon and it only has 8000 miles on them. I see a lot of guys have bought the Bridgestone battle axe 45 130/90b16 made for the rear and mounted on the front with the rotation reversed. My concern is the load rating. The factory dunlops have a load rating of 72 while the BT45 has a load rating of 67. The 72 is a 355 pound rating and the 67 is 307 pounds. Since the trikes are so heavy is this lesser load rating a concern?[/QUOTE]
Got out my trusty Harley Davidson Tire pressure gauge with tread depth gauge. Maybe my tires aren't as bad as I thought. From what I have read the factory Dunlop on the front of the Harley trike started out with 5/32" tread depth and my depth gauge is currently showing 4/32" depth. I wonder what the depth before wear bars show up? When I checked them the other day all I looked at was the indicator was at the lower part of the green gauge didn't realize that was 4/32.
[QUOTE=jeads1;249638]Anyone using a rear tire on the front of a 2014 Harley Tri-Glide? If so what tire are you using and how i it working?[/QUOTE]
I've been running the rear Dunlop equalvent to the factory front tire in reverse rotation. This is same tire sizing and what you would find on the back of a HD Touring model 2 wheeler. The factory front tire was gone in 8000 miles. I now have about 10K on this tire and it looks like it will go about that much further. IMO this is the way to go, the trike handles better and has a lot more front tire bite in the curves and in the rain. I run 32-34 pounds of air in this setup.