front tyres

[Martin Slovakia]

Hi Guys I have maybe a stupid question but I will try.
Do you swap front tires (left to right and right to left) after some millage in order to keep the "same" degradation and prolong their "life"? Or is it worthless?
I am doing quite a lot miles/km - have 8000km on the Bike already in 3 months , and I am guessing if it can help...
Martin

 

[Peter Aawen]

The F3 tyres are the same as all the other models aren't they??

If they are, then you can't just swap the tires across to the other side because the tread pattern means the tires are directional; & just flipping the tire & rim across from one side over to the other would mean the tread would be running 'backwards' to the way it was designed to work, something which isn't 't a good thing for grip, handling, or tread longevity. :sour:

To do this properly, you'd need to take the tires off the rims & get them put on the other way around, ie, with the former 'inner side' that was facing the bike on the 'outside' so it's facing the world!! Then put that tire & rim onto the other side of the bike - that way the tread will still be rolling the same way, but any toe in/out or poor camber 'wear issues' would be wearing the other side of the tread face!

So it's not a worthless idea, it's just not quite as simple as unbolting them from one side, wheeling them around to the other, & bolting them back onto that side wheel hub/spindle.... :thumbup:

 

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

in order to swap left to right you must flip the tires

 

[Martin Slovakia]

sure

Yep guys, I was not clear in my question. Yes I was thinking in the same way, to "undo" them from the rim and then switch them and again put in the rim and mount them back..

 

[Chupaca]

Here's the thing..!!

many have developed more problems by doing this with the balancing and handling. The best is to keep the roadster aligned (laser if posdible) and air pressure even on both tires (JT 's Machine Shop)...:thumbup:

 

[Pennyrick]

Leave them alone

Yep guys, I was not clear in my question. Yes I was thinking in the same way, to "undo" them from the rim and then switch them and again put in the rim and mount them back..

​

Based on our experience with the directional tires my advice would be to leave them alone. The tires are softer than automobile tires and tend to 'wear into' a pattern that works fine for the side they are on but doesn't work as well when switched out to the other side.

I finally had to replace both fronts after fighting a vibration at 44-46 mph for a couple of weeks that was traced back to the tires. We tried both static and dynamic balancing to no avail, double checked alignment (not much to check on the RT) and finally took a wheel off of a showroom Spyder and tried it on both sides.... the vibration went away so we just replaced the tires that still looked good with just 8,000 miles on them.

On my next Spyder I left them alone and finally replaced them at 20,000 miles. My wife's Spyder clocked 18,000 on the original fronts and would have been good for at least another 5,000 if one of them hadn't developed a broken belt.

 

[Kelly1952]

Hi Guys I have maybe a stupid question but I will try.
Do you swap front tires (left to right and right to left) after some millage in order to keep the "same" degradation and prolong their "life"? Or is it worthless?
I am doing quite a lot miles/km - have 8000km on the Bike already in 3 months , and I am guessing if it can help...
Martin

I have a 2014 RT-S, SE6 and I have 21,549 miles on the original front tires ( with ALOT of tread left on them) and the 2nd rear tire, in 1 year. I have not rotated or "swapped" my front tires, just maintained correct tire pressure on both!! Just saying......:clap::clap::clap:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

SWAPPING TIRES

Over the years here it has been proved time and again that doing this is futile moneywise and to extend the tires life.........If you don't have " even " tire wear it's not correctly ALIGNED. Tire swapping is a BAND AID that never cures the problem......Find someone who does " LAZER ALIGNMENT " ( only this ) and forget the tire swapping non-sense.................and this is not just my opinion.....Mike :thumbup:

 

[Bob Denman]

:shocked: :agree:
Tire swapping from side to side; doesn't cure the underlying reasons for uneven tire wear. :banghead:

 

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

​

Based on our experience with the directional tires my advice would be to leave them alone. The tires are softer than automobile tires and tend to 'wear into' a pattern that works fine for the side they are on but doesn't work as well when switched out to the other side.

I finally had to replace both fronts after fighting a vibration at 44-46 mph for a couple of weeks that was traced back to the tires. We tried both static and dynamic balancing to no avail, double checked alignment (not much to check on the RT) and finally took a wheel off of a showroom Spyder and tried it on both sides.... the vibration went away so we just replaced the tires that still looked good with just 8,000 miles on them.

On my next Spyder I left them alone and finally replaced them at 20,000 miles. My wife's Spyder clocked 18,000 on the original fronts and would have been good for at least another 5,000 if one of them hadn't developed a broken belt.

road force!!

 

[ARtraveler]

I am also in the camp that does not switch out the front tires from one side to the other. I usually get about 20K from a set of fronts. Our most recent set on the 2011--NO. The alignment was bad and I had the dealer correct it, then I had a lazer alignment and had the previous alignment corrected. Now the 2011 is straight and true. Expecting 20K or more on the current set.

 

[BikerDoc]

On my 2012 RT I kept the tires properly inflated and properly aligned and they lasted over 43000 miles, the ones on the front of 2014 RT have 28000 mile plus now (after replacing defective tires at 8000) and the 2015 F3 has over 6000 with no sign of wear.. Never considered swapping out tires. Seemed like too much hassle for directional tires. In observing other people in my area I have seen that under inflated tires were the number one cause of wear and lack of laser alignment number two...

 

[Martin Slovakia]

Wgot it!

Thank you guys.. I was just wondering. As i see its not worth of doing that. Have a gread day, thanx for all comments!!!! Martin