Front tire

[Lonerbtw]

I have a 150 80 17 well used Avon Venom on my 98 Valk trike. A friend gave me a Dunlap Sportmax         140 70 17  it says rear wheel only. Question is can I run this tire?  When I built this trike  it sets low in the rear so this tire would set the front lower also.  Thanks for any input.
    Lonerbtw

[Hoser]

Don't see any reason not to, especially on a trike, no cornering compromise, also you will need the extra wear capabilities on the front, hell, you could use a car tire on front if you found one that fit!    Hoser

[shortleg]

  Turn tire around going other way from
rotation when you mount it.
       Shortleg[Dave]

[Goody]

I just mounted a Battlax rear tire on the front of my trike 140-70-17 with the tread going in the reverse direction last weekend.  Feels like a whole new front end on the bike, smooth and handles a lot better.  I asked a tire guru about this and he said a lot of trikers do this,  it has to do with the way the chords are made in the rear tire to handle the torque of acceleration.  When mounted on the front in reverse on the front it improves the stability of the tire since on a trike you don't lean to turn you force the tire to pivot on the ground.  Tire contact patch stays better alingned with the center of the front rim in this configuration.  One of the main things I noticed was the recovery after hitting a bump, there is no squirm and easier to hold the front steady.  Still don.t quite understand the whole thing but its working well for me.

[Tim H]

My Dunlop D206F had it's last long journey at the Veteran's Ride this weekend.  I just ordered a 150/80-17 (72H) Metzeler ME880 Marathon Front Motorcycle Tire.  I was contemplating a rear on front, but I'm not doing a lot of interstate miles and don't expect to replace it more than once a year with my typical commuting.  We'll see how it goes when I'm up for my next one.  The price was good at Jake Wilson ($129).

What do you all use for rim guards while changing the tire?  I'm thinking  a couple of pieces of garden hose cut down one side.

[Sigrún]

What do you all use for rim guards while changing the tire?  I'm thinking  a couple of pieces of garden hose cut down one side.

Well...

Rim guards. From Jake Wilson 

http://www.jakewilson.com/productDetail.do?navType=type&webTypeId=416&navTitle=Motorcycle+Shop+Equipment&webCatId=53&keyword=rim+protector&prodFamilyId=24704

[Tim H]

What do you all use for rim guards while changing the tire?  I'm thinking  a couple of pieces of garden hose cut down one side.

Well...

Rim guards. From Jake Wilson 

http://www.jakewilson.com/productDetail.do?navType=type&webTypeId=416&navTitle=Motorcycle+Shop+Equipment&webCatId=53&keyword=rim+protector&prodFamilyId=24704

I made my own out of clear hose material and tied some 18 gauge solid wire to them to pull them out when they fall in.  It works perfectly and it cost me a couple of dollars.