Avon Roadrunner question

[nagrod]

As mentioned previously my '60 A10 is finally on the road. It's been a week of shakedown rides trying to get the remaining bugs out. I was checking the tires and wheels and noticed that the front tire is mounted in reverse of the rotation arrow for a front tire. The rear is mounted correctly. Is this something I need to take care of immediately or is it more an issue of tire wear. I am presently running both at 30 psi and my runs are 10 miles or less and since I am now officially older than dirt I probably wont be running them at highway speeds.

Thanks

Rick D

[Brian]

Rick I would turn it around.

There seems to be a couple of thoughts as to why a tyre should run in one direction, some say its purely the tread design but others say its to do with the construction of the tyre and if its run in the wrong direction it can delaminate (come apart).

Its not a big job to change a front tyre so for the small amount of time and effort required I would fit it as the manufacturer recommended.

[LJ.]

I would agree with Brian here and to change the tyre to the correct rotation. I'm not entirely sure why this is important, I believe it is something to do with surface water dispersion.

[duTch]

Back in the annals of history I recall that Roadrunners were mainly used on the rear, -still got out there will look in the morning, & TT100 front,and not a cut and dried situ, but I was led to believe that in some cases, a tyre that was designed for one end and used at the other needed to be reversed?? maybe as the rear tyre is generally for drive and the forces work in one rotational direction, and the front is predominantly braking, so the forces work in the other rotational direction??
 Could be way off the mark tho', If you have the arrows correct, should be right? but does it feel funny??
        cheers

     

[nagrod]

I will take the advice and remount it correctly, thanks to all! I don't notice anything in handling but that makes sense about the difference between acceleration and braking forces. Each tire is marked, an arrow on each side, one side marked front fitment and one side marked rear fitment. Obviously Murphy's law still has not been repealed.

Rick D

[duTch]

 No worries Rick, but as I said 'back in the annals..', and 'led to believe...' , I'm by no means a tyre or any other expert, so make sure you get good advice on anything I say.


   Cheers, duTch

[Worty]

Heh, resurrected a very old thread here.

I get the rotation stuff completely.  My question is if you buy a tyre marketed as 'front' and it has a directional arrow on it, does that mean you can use it on the rear the other way round?  I would imagine there are tyres that are front and rear only, and are not reversible, but what about those with a single arrow.  I know some tyres are universal with front and rear arrows - that's simple enough, it's just the principle of whether you can use a single arrowed tyre the other way round.  This is the tyre I was looking at, if you look closely, it has a single arrow on it.  I was thinking of reversing it and putting it on the rear.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364749536245

[Triton Thrasher]

It will go round and round and nothing bad will happen.

If you ever find yourself having to claim that you are using a tyre suitable for the application, you might struggle a bit.

[Worty]

It will go round and round and nothing bad will happen.

If you ever find yourself having to claim that you are using a tyre suitable for the application, you might struggle a bit.

Cheers TT - I find I'm struggling for a modern tyre of that size other than the Avons (have an AM26 at present which has been excellent, but the Roadrider II is a bit pricy).  Some say that if you get tyres the wrong way round, they can delaminate due to directional stresses.  I can't go beyond 100/90 19 width-wise for clearance reasons and, other than the blocky skidmasters, there doesn't seem to be much else around.

[berger]

worty another 20 quid will get you the correct rear avon tyre, stay off the brandy for a day

[MikPowl]

http://cyrilhuzeblog.com/2009/08/23/tires-directional-arrows-explained-by-avon-tyres/

[muskrat]

G'day Worty.
I would run that tyre in the direction of the arrow just for water dispersion. As for de-lamination, the tyres are designed for modern power/weight bikes. The massive power of an A10 wouldn't de-laminate a vanilla slice 
Cheers

[Worty]

Fair point Musky.  I get the idea of putting a front tyre on the same way round on the rear for water dispersion, it was the delamination scare stories that got me thinking.

MikPowl - sorry mate, I can't open that link.

So, to summarise, I can put a front tyre on the back with the arrow pointing in the same direction as if it were on the front. 

Incidentally, is there any reason why the same size tyre can't be put on both the front and back.  I know wider tyres offer more grip but, say, a 90/90 front and back, would that cause any major issues - just asking

[Black Sheep]

Having the tyre the wrong way round is an MoT fail and Mr Plod would not be impressed were he to take a look at the bike.

[MikPowl]

There's an Avon Tyre Manual that specifically refers to this, but it's too large to attach here. Google  avontyremanual1978.pdf  and you should find a result 'Dave's Tests and Articles' that links to the Avon Manual.

Bottom of page 18 specifically refers to Roadrunner rotational direction indicating front and rear require different settings. The text suggets that that there's a mark on either side of the tyre.