ok the winter is over so i took my bike out to wash it and just get it ready for spring. when i was washing it i noticed that my front tire is on backwards. my whole rim is on backwards. i had a little drop about 4 months ago taking a 10 mph turn and my bike just slid out from under me just after having the tire for a couple months. do you all think that the tread pattern could really matter and if so, can i sue the **** out of the shop that put my tire on?

 

How's the ware on your tire? Usually backwards installs will make the tread go away VERY quickly. That's on a car though, I guess I'm not really sure on a bike. If the backwards install does cause bad traction I would definitely talk to the shop first and tell them that you want a new tire, and the damages from the spill fixed. If they are a good sized shop they'll probably fix it just to save their reputation.

 

there is plenty of meat left on the tire i have prob a little less than 2000 miles on it.

 

PICS! I had the same problem kind of.... They put my spacers in on the wrong sides and I just installed the tire and didn't realize it was wrong. The tread looked right.

 

What kind of tire do you have? On the Michelin Pilot Powers they have little arrows on the tire by the rim showing the direction the tire is to turn. Are you sure its on backwards and your just looking at the tread design wrong? If you try to put the wheel on the bike the incorrect direction, the wheel will not turn. Can you post a photo of the tire showing the tread design for us?

 

Say what!?!?!

 

Try it, i put my tire on backwards and when I tightened it up, it would not turn, The axle has to be in there perfectly.

 

pssss

One of the more critical marks on a motorcycle tire is the rotation arrow, or arrows. Today's specialized tires generally have a tread pattern that must go in only one direction. Some manufacturers even state that their tread patterns are designed to disperse water, and by mounting the tire backwards, they won't work.
The other big reason for noting wheel direction has to do with the manufacturing process. The tread rubber is initially a flat strip that's cut to length, at an angle, and then spliced together with the two ends overlapping, creating a hoop. Under acceleration, a tire mounted backwards will try to peel back this splice. The opposite is true for the front wheel, where directional forces are reversed under hard braking.

 

I once tried to put my axle in the wrong direction. After sweating, panting, cursing I figured it out.

Nice. Think we can get Shinya Nakano to show us that this year? Is he still the test rider for Bridgestone?

Glad he didn't get hurt though. I still talk about that crash....nasty.

 

i am positive the wheel is on backwards. it is my front tire and the arrow on it is facing backwards and there is even a very tiny directional arrow on the rim, which is also the wrong way. so sould this affect my ride. i havent really noticed anything wrong with it until i cleaned it. will it mess with handleing? im working on getting some pics up.