Tire

[V-SIX DS#121]

Does anyone remember the discussion of putting a rear tire on the front of a Valk?  It was suposed to last longer.  Tks V6

[Ferris Leets]

I've done that for a long time with other bikes.  Haven't needed a front on the Valk yet.  Never had any problem.  More miles per tire.  Conventional wisdom has it that a rear on the front shold be mounted in the reverse direction.

[Dave Weaver]

Yes,  Dfragn just put a rear bias ply tire on the front of his Valk and says he loves it.  Do a search on posts from him or shoot him an e-mail as he would be glad to help you.  He will probably even reply to this later.

[DFragn]

Yep, Dave' got a good rememberer.

I put a Kenda K671 Rear Bias Ply 150/70-17 up front. It's a bit shorter then the Honda spec 150/80-17 so the speedo will reflect a generous exaggeration incrementally.

My GPS shows indicated speed true thru 30 mph then it starts climbing. An indicated 65 is 60, 70 is 64, 80 is 73. But then my GPS has recorded my max speed by as much as 238 mph.
Obviously a lower profile tire is going to turn faster...

This tire has got a lot of tred and a great tread pattern at 10/32. I reverse mounted its rotational direction so the braking load was applied to the belts the same way the drive load is on the rear.

Metzler Corp. advises it's OK to mount an MC Bias up front with a radial in the rear, but never reverse that order. Mine's teamed up with a radial CT GoodYear Triple Tred 205/60-16.

Joanne' V-Star came with bias ply and the times I've ridden it I thought they felt great. We just replaced the tires 15k only because they were 5 years old, they showed very little wear.

I have no problem at all with handling or traction. It sticks very well and have had it laid all the way over at 30 mph & 80 mph [true speeds] and that's on cold pavement.

It's a $60.00 tire and I expect some very high mileage from it. Got my fingers crossed 

There are some Bias 150/80-17 rears out there, but I had trouble finding one I liked. The selection is limited. You can find a front 150/80-17 easily but I wanted lots of meat on it.

Here's the K671 with only about 25 miles on it.
Just finished lightly scuffing it in.

[Mildew]

It's a $60.00 tire and I expect some very high mileage from it. Got my fingers crossed  :roll

Keep us posted on the wear. That $60 tire with twice the meat of my $175 tire got my attention. If you get good wear out if it, it will be a no brainer for me on my next tire.

[Pete]

Having done many rear tires on the front  ---   caution   ---- tread pattern is very important.
Pick something that is as consistent and even side to side as possible to prevent handlebar shake.
Test the new tire by having light pressure on the bars to see if it starts to weave or shake.
Many rear tires on the front are OK with light pressure on the bars but will start to shake with NO pressure on the bars. Riding with no hands is usually a bad idea and may be especially a BAD idea with a rear tire on the front.

With all that said I still like a rear tire on the front and have it on 2 of my current bikes.

[f6power]

While I'm ok with CT on the rear,reversing rotation direction for the front makes me think :when you're riding wet road,water supposed to be removed from the center of tire thru the treads.If you reverse the rotation direction that water will go from the outside of tire to the center,for me that is a straight road to hydroplaning.
Am I wright or wrong ?

[DFragn]

Having done many rear tires on the front  ---   caution   ---- tread pattern is very important.
Pick something that is as consistent and even side to side as possible to prevent handlebar shake.
Test the new tire by having light pressure on the bars to see if it starts to weave or shake.
Many rear tires on the front are OK with light pressure on the bars but will start to shake with NO pressure on the bars. Riding with no hands is usually a bad idea and may be especially a BAD idea with a rear tire on the front.

With all that said I still like a rear tire on the front and have it on 2 of my current bikes.

 

The K671 above has tested [for me] well with no hands at speeds from 30 to 70 both on deceleration & cruise and also tracked very well too.

Your results may vary. But, if all your steering & suspension components are up to snuff you should be just fine. With slightly "Off" steering or suspension [wear] some tires can be unforgiving.

[DFragn]

While I'm ok with CT on the rear,reversing rotation direction for the front makes me think :when you're riding wet road,water supposed to be removed from the center of tire thru the treads.If you reverse the rotation direction that water will go from the outside of tire to the center,for me that is a straight road to hydroplaning.
Am I wright or wrong ?

I think the same way.
Although I haven't ridden in the rain yet or braked in it yet. I did run through a well cantered curve at 70, leaned over to about 75% of grinding point, that had 20 yards of cross flowing run-off following a rain. I could see the flow, it was at least .25" deep. I got nervous as I spotted it. I relaxed as I went through and didn't experience a slip or skip. And it was barely scuffed in.

If wet traction was to be an issue that was the time for it to take me down. If it had been raining I wouldn't have been doing 70 in a curve.

Personally, I'm not worried about it. Anyone can override any MC tire in the rain. Ya got too get the feel for your new skins.

[V-SIX DS#121]

Thanks to all who replyed.

[Pete]

Have run rear tires on the front in both directions have not had any problems with wet traction so far.
With about 1 out of 3 have had a very light head shake that got slightly worse as the tires wore. But never a problem that a single light touch on the bars would not stop.

Go for it, just test it so you know what to expect.