Front tire mounted and installed rotating opposite of suggested direction

[vagabondtwo]

Hi,
I am actually in Mexico and after a 3 weeks R&R, I just finished cleaning up and loading up the Dakar for the next step that will take me to Brownsville TX, about 1100 kms.
I just noticed that the front tire has been mounted and installed rotating opposite of suggested direction (as printed on tire.)
The tire is a TKC 80, 21" with somehere around 3000 kms on it since it was replaced!!
My question is; am I better off leaving the tire running opposite of suggested direction until I get to a proper dealer shop which I should find in Brownsville OR reversing it now and having the tire run in proper direction but risking the jobber shop in the area pinching the tube and bending the disc???
I read on another blog that the direction is just for the tread to dissapate rain properly and for noise control.

Thank You

[muppix]

I wouldn't worry about it Jimmy, not with a TKC80. You'd notice the difference with a road tire once you get up to speed, but with a loaded bike and symmetrical knobbly tread it wont make a difference. Many people turn their back tires around once the knobbles have smoothed off on one side as a cheap way of getting more life out of their rubber.

[henryuk]

+1 for the above reply, TKC80s are pretty much exactly symmetrical. I wouldn't be surprised if the ONLY difference is the arrow!

[TurboCharger]

Originally Posted by henryuk

+1 for the above reply, TKC80s are pretty much exactly symmetrical. I wouldn't be surprised if the ONLY difference is the arrow!

+1

Don't bother changing unless you want to get more milage as muppix says.

[Riq]

I have to respectfully disagree with the suggestion to leave the tire as is. My son had the same situation and contacted the manufacturer from the dealership which installed the tire. The shop said they wouldn't change it because it didn't really matter.

The manufacturer said the directional arrow was because of the lapping of the belts in the tire and running in the wrong direction would cause the tire to seperate and possibly blow out.

Personally I would take the chance on the local shop and have it reversed.

Rick

[henryuk]

I can see that in a car tyre that is close to failure anyway the direction relative to the belts would be in issue as the road force would be pushing the top belts back into the tyre and the belts are much closer to the surface - the belts could rip through a small amount of rubber and then be pulled out by the road giving you a catastrophic failure.

Given the construction of a TKC80 though for this to be an issue you would have had to get rid of the knobbles alltogether, and by then the bike would be handling like a shopping trolley anyway.

Manufacturers liability concerns and actual risk are different factors alltogether.

I wouldn't be worried about using a local shop to change a tyre though. The press shouldn't be anywhere near the discs and you can always whip the discs off before you take it in. I've pinched a few inner tubes using tyre levers but never with a press.

[markharf]

It's a TKC and won't last all that long anyway. Leave it as-is, then when it starts to cup and the knobs wear funny you can switch direction and get some added use out of it.

To rephrase as less of a recommendation and more of a statement of my own repeated experience: TKC front tires cup badly for me. When they start cupping noticeably, I remove them and re-install backwards. This reverses the wear pattern and brings them back into something resembling "normal" wear, which means they last longer.

Hope that helps.

Mark

[muppix]

Originally Posted by Riq

The manufacturer said the directional arrow was because of the lapping of the belts in the tire and running in the wrong direction would cause the tire to seperate and possibly blow out.

Well, yeah, but what did you expect them to say?

"Don't worry about the directional arrows sir, you can safely ignore those as we just print them on for the hell of it"

Joking aside, it's a valid point, but not one I'd personally worry about given the speed and load that a TKC80 will be subject to. There's a million things lying in the road each day that are more likely to cause you injury or anguish, don't go creating more for yourself by worrying about this kind of stuff.