Rear MT on Front

I have a vtx 1300R. I have a Nexen 165/80/15 CT on back. Front stock tire size is 140/80/17. I have read a little about using a rear mt on the front. Are there any disadvantages to this? Would any 140/80/17 rear work?

You could go to a 150 also. But because of the way the the belts are put together, the tire should be mounted in reverse rotation. This is because you will be putting more force on during breaking.

Jerry

jedishon wrote:You could go to a 150 also. But because of the way the the belts are put together, the tire should be mounted in reverse rotation. This is because you will be putting more force on during breaking.

Jerry

I think this is horse-pucky. IF I had a mt on the rear and lock up the rear brake the belts will seperate because they are put in a different direction? I have a pirelli sport demon rear on the front, standard rotation, 3000 miles on and I love it.
Doc

Should I look for a radial tire for the front??

moparmandjh wrote:

jedishon wrote:You could go to a 150 also. But because of the way the the belts are put together, the tire should be mounted in reverse rotation. This is because you will be putting more force on during breaking.

Jerry

I think this is horse-pucky. IF I had a mt on the rear and lock up the rear brake the belts will seperate because they are put in a different direction? I have a pirelli sport demon rear on the front, standard rotation, 3000 miles on and I love it.
Doc

I was just repeating what the manufacturer told Smokin'Joe when he asked them about it. We are all free to believe what we want, or we wouldn't be here. Thank you for your opinion.

Jerry

jedishon wrote:

moparmandjh wrote:

jedishon wrote:You could go to a 150 also. But because of the way the the belts are put together, the tire should be mounted in reverse rotation. This is because you will be putting more force on during breaking.

Jerry

I think this is horse-pucky. IF I had a mt on the rear and lock up the rear brake the belts will seperate because they are put in a different direction? I have a pirelli sport demon rear on the front, standard rotation, 3000 miles on and I love it.
Doc

I was just repeating what the manufacturer told Smokin'Joe when he asked them about it. We are all free to believe what we want, or we wouldn't be here. Thank you for your opinion.

Jerry

On the subject of the manufacturer comments. I bought a new nissan pickup in 07,the engine rpm hits 2250 everytime on cold to luke warm start up .Nissan (the manufacturer )tells me ,thats ok they all do it ,won't hurt a thing.I told them with at leaste 30 years experience running my own shop that it would kill the engine.It now has 38000 miles on it and sounds like a thrassing machine,it has 50000 mile warranty on running gear so I figure to park in their shop at 45000 or so if it lasts that long. FOR A NEW ENGINE. My point being these days most people representing these companies ,I beleive have programmed responces.You need to be able to think on your feet and let common sense rule or you are at their mercy sorry for the rant but that is where I class this opposite rotation deal.

jedishon wrote:

moparmandjh wrote:

jedishon wrote:You could go to a 150 also. But because of the way the the belts are put together, the tire should be mounted in reverse rotation. This is because you will be putting more force on during breaking.

Jerry

I think this is horse-pucky. IF I had a mt on the rear and lock up the rear brake the belts will seperate because they are put in a different direction? I have a pirelli sport demon rear on the front, standard rotation, 3000 miles on and I love it.
Doc

I was just repeating what the manufacturer told Smokin'Joe when he asked them about it. We are all free to believe what we want, or we wouldn't be here. Thank you for your opinion.

Jerry

I wasn't trying to be an ass, didn't mean any offense. BUT if we listened to tire manufacturers would this website exist?
Doc

none taken......

I may have to try a rear tire on my front next time.

I have read it argued on the Gold Wing forum about this very topic. to me, it's inconclusive. It makes sense to put it on backwards, but then again it doesn't. Heck it doesn't make sense to put a car tire on the rear and we all know how that one got debunked.

I think the jury is still out on this one. I have not heard any hard facts either way. Now DS Wingnut has one mounted backwards on his wing AND a car tire on the back. I'm still waiting for him to burst into flames.....

what happened to my original questions, are there any disadvantages to having a rear MT on the front? I will get to the direction later, and would a radial be best on the front since the rear CT is radial??

http://www.us.metzelermoto.com/web/products/technology/faq/default.page

Look at #3. It's from Metzler's own faq section.

Or straight from the horses mouth.

I had posted this in another thread.

MT

MAS Tequila wrote:http://www.us.metzelermoto.com/web/products/technology/faq/default.page

Look at #3. It's from Metzler's own faq section.

Or straight from the horses mouth.

I had posted this in another thread.

MT

I want to hear what the horse's mouth says about a car tire on the back.
Doc

moparmandjh wrote:

jedishon wrote:You could go to a 150 also. But because of the way the the belts are put together, the tire should be mounted in reverse rotation. This is because you will be putting more force on during breaking.

Jerry

I think this is horse-pucky. IF I had a mt on the rear and lock up the rear brake the belts will seperate because they are put in a different direction? I have a pirelli sport demon rear on the front, standard rotation, 3000 miles on and I love it.
Doc

Well, I use a Pirelli Diablo 150/70-13 scooter rear tire on the front of my 2004 Honda Reflex scooter in place of the standard 110/90-13 Bridgestone Hoop. It is mounted in standard rotation. This rear tire is made for the Honda FSC 600 Silverwing scooter which has a dry weight of 500 LBS. whereas the Honda Reflex scooter is much lighter at 375 LBS. dry weight. Since my scooter is much lighter, I don't think the issue of braking force effect on the tire plies is as much of an issue as the importance of tread orientation for water evacuation.
This tire up front grabs and holds the road better than the Hoop. It gives a smoother ride since it has a little bit larger diameter. At first it seemed a little resistant to turns because it is also wider, but not by much and I've adjusted to that handling aspect. Now it is not even noticeable. Paradoxically, my speedometer which was about 10% optimistic, is now much more accurate. The thing is that now the odometer does not give an accurate accounting of miles traveled. But again, this is no big deal because I use the GPS for keeping track of mileage. This tire is likely to give me many more safe miles of use than the dinky little Hoop. Of course, I also use a 155/80/R12 CT in place of the standard 130/70-12 Bridgestone Hoop on the rear of my scooter and we already know the benefits of a car tire on the back of our bikes. For me anyway, the other thing about having the larger tire up front is that now the bike sits closer to level again. With just the car tire on back before, the rear was raised up a bit and it felt odd riding like that. I've gone 4000 miles so far with this tire combination and it looks and feels good. The only negative I can think of is that I'll have to modify the front fender to cover the larger tire. Luvin it and livin Large.

MAS Tequila wrote:http://www.us.metzelermoto.com/web/products/technology/faq/default.page

Look at #3. It's from Metzler's own faq section.

Or straight from the horses mouth.

I had posted this in another thread.

MT

Hard to dispute that, thanks for a good read

jedishon wrote:You could go to a 150 also. But because of the way the the belts are put together, the tire should be mounted in reverse rotation. This is because you will be putting more force on during breaking.

Jerry

Im running a nexen 165/80/15 CT on the rear and would like to put a radial on the front, is there a radial Metz for other brand that would serve well on the front, the stock front for my 1300r is 140/80/17 and have read here that a 150 would work as well? Im thinking that a radial would ride/handle better? any suggestions?

I'm an ME 880 guy myself. I have used the 150 and 140 on the front of my R. Cant find a problem with either one.

Jerry

kennyg,
I can't comment on the tire size that would go on the VTX. What are the disadvantages.....in my 13,000 miles with the BattleAx (rear M/C tire) on the front of the Gold Wingabago, (a heavier bike than the VTX) I cannot find ANY reason to change back to the original tire. Why would I. The BattleAx has 13,000 miles on it and it is probably 1/3rd gone. I believe I will get at least 25,000 miles on it and it has NEVA failed me in ANY applications. I'm no slouch on a bike, but I'm no constant peg-dragger either. I will replace it with the same tire when the time comes. It comes with almost twice the rubber on it as any front tire. Yes, I do have a radial car tire on the back (check signature). If it is so dangerous to mix different types of tires, why did Mother Honda ship its first two years of the Valkyrie with a radial and a bias ply on them ??? As far as the reverse or forward mount, I mounted mine in the direction the arrow said to. JMHO Semper-fi mIke