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Tyre rotation arrow on sidewall

S

Shonky13

Joined Mar 2007
57 Posts | 0+
Parkes NSW Australia
I just turned my 600km old rear metzeler 6 day extreme tyre around so that I now get a 'new' sharp biting edge & maybe get another 600km out of it. I noticed on the sidewall an arrow indicating which way the tyre should spin. Naturally mine is now backwards. Does it really make a difference? The tread is symmetrical so no diff there. Is there some internal construction differences that I can't see and now my tyre will explode when I get over 100kph? I'm not changing the bitch around again that's fer sure - but still curious about the arrow..................
 
If that the speed you're going to ride at, really? On a tire you flipped against the manufacturer's recommendation?

:?
 
Yes. And the max top speed will more likely be 140 -150kph. Do you know the reason why the arrow is there Lefrog? What could possibly go wrong?..........
 
Shonky, why would you do that ? given that the new corners will be worn off in about what ? 30- 40ks. Is it really worth it? There is probably a slim chance of a problem BUT consider the consequences of a tyre going wrong at 140 k/h ?
 
The arrow is there so you know which way to put the tire on!

The tire is manufactured to a structure so that the forces the tire is designed to withstand are directional, sort of like an egg, give it a squeeze end to end and then from side to side, you'll find out what I mean.

BTW, u got Ambulance cover?
 
An egg isn't symmetrical - but a tyre is. I looked inside the tyre and the belts run 90 deg across tyre. Some tyres have directional arrows - some don't. Reversing the tyre will give me a new tyre edge for the same kilometres as the original edge - 600kms. Considering your comments, it looks like I may be playing with fire.........I'll look into it more. I can smell a conspiracy though - those greedy tyre companies making us throw away tyres that are only half used. Shame on them.
 
I would not suggest it for road use or maybe on hard rocky *****, but for mormal samd or dirt riding - depending on how you do it, i would be fine with a reversed hoop.

worst case you will just rip the knobs off, and the Berg makes short work of that when the tyre is spinning in the reccomended direction.

Azza.
 
Car tyre manufacturers stipulate that anything with steel belts should never be run in the reverse direction of that the tyre was originally installed, directional or not. As the tyre seats itself in whilst rotating at speed, the steel belts find their natural position. When you reverse them, the belts try to stretch back the other way, normally causing delamination between the layers where the belts are. This wasnt the case for canvass belts as they are more ductile than the steel ones.

You dont have to throw away a half used tyre anyway. Get a mate, a camera ( preferably video) & a stretch of asphalt that isn't in use & smoke the rest of it ! :lol: If nothing else you get the extra value watching the video having a few beers with ya mate ! Priceless
 
shonky,

How come you expect to get 1200 km form the standard Metz? At 600km on mine you could almost see where the knobs used to be!

As for direction, if a none directional tread, its often based on the lapping of the belts in the carcase when manufactured, and worst case is that the tyre falls apart. You'd be veeeery unlucky, I'd do it, just keep and eye on it at least as often as you lube the chain.

Steve
 
Thanks for the comments everyone - I guess I'll check on it often and look for early signs of impending separation. Hey wildman - I'll keep my old tyres and one day I'll come up to Gladstone and we can smoke a few at Benaraby.
 
Come in spinner. Being a cheap *** is how I saved to buy the 550 - I'll buy a new tyre when I'm good and ready and then you can smoke my c##k.
 
Shonky,
I had a michelin put on wrong way around {by owner of a KTM} by a mate while I worked on the front end ..never noticed the arrow til I was washing it down one day. I was too lazy to turn it around as it was such a bitch to fit in first place! mine is enduro, but I never suffered catastrophic failure of it! sure the manufacturer has designed it to be used in a certain way. But who ever pays any attention to the manufacturer of a product!!
 
Hey Scouser,
I put another couple hundred KMs on the reversed tyre - went way over 100kph too and nothing even looked like failing. I'd still have it on except I got a flat so decided to change the hoop while fixing it. Got a Motoz ( www.motoz.com.au ) on it now and it is working well - we'll see how it lasts. I've heard some very good reports on them.
 
I've put slicks on the "wrong" way several times, as they always wear out the right side faster on track. Never had a problem. Do it!
 

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