arrows on tires

    I was changing my oil today and just happen to look at my front wheel and noticed that the arrows on the tire are facing towards the back of the bike. I looked at the rear wheel and noticed that the arrow is facing the front. I have the PP's and I'm wondering if it's supposed to be like that? The tread on the front tire looks correct, I mean the treat starts towards the middle of the tire and as it spins it would move water outward. Are the arrows wrong or is my tire really wrong? weird

Pics?

Is the arrow on the back tire on the top and the arrow on the front on the bottom?

The arrows should point in the direction that the tire spins moving forward.  That means that if the arrows closer to the ground, they should point to the rear.  If they are on top of the tire, they should point to the front...if that makes sense.

^^ Yeah, what six said. However, in any case the arrows should be same direction both rear and front on same side of bike (in forward rotation direction).

arrow should be pointing backwards at the bottom of the tire, and front-wards at the top of the tire.

Yea it's opposite. The back tire is normal. I thought maybe I mounted my wheel backwards because the rotor arrow is backwards too but that can't be because it can only go on one way.

My front wheel, the tread is how it should be.



A picture where the arrow is


And a close up with macro, top of the tire the arrow is facing the back


A picture of the right side rotor, towards the bottom of the tire the arrow is facing forward so the top it would be facing backwards


According to the tread pattern the tire is all A-ok but not according to the arrows. I guess it really doesn't matter, as long as the tread pattern is right because the front wheel can only go on one way.

Arrows are supposed to point the direction of forward rotation regardless the tread's appearance. 

Dude, if your wheel only goes on one way, then whoever changed your tire not only put the tire on backwards, they re-installed the brake disc backwards too. It seems pretty obvious what happened, please take it back and show it to the place that did it, they'll fix it free. Then they better say how fvcking sorry they are for not paying attention and give you your next mounting and balancing for free too. Do not leave it like it is, please, I enjoy your comments on here too much to have them suddenly disappear. Are those the Michelins that were on recall? You may know more about that story than I do, but it was about 120/70 2CT's and either PP's or PS's. I don't know the current status of the recall, so I could be waaaay late on this, but seriously, don't leave it or the discs on backwards.

I also just don't see how you could tell if the tread pattern was right or wrong, I mean it should be indistinguishable, isn't that why they put the arrows on? There should be arrows on the wheel itself too...

Man, have you seen this, half way down the page by BlueFox? Are you sure the wheel only goes on one way?

IF I got that wheel changed at a shop, I would take it back and be extremely pissed off about that. That is a serious mistake on the shops part. The one thing keeping us rubber-side-down and they install it wrong. I would demand a refund or some sort of compensation.

Okay, sorry, call me superstitious, but what are the chances that BlueFox would post at the exact same time I edited my message to include a link to his old post about backwards wheels? That's fvcking creepy...change your shit back the right way, please man

quote:

ORIGINAL: SpiritRR

Okay, sorry, call me superstitious, but what are the chances that BlueFox would post at the exact same time I edited my message to include a link to his old post about backwards wheels? That's fvcking creepy...change your shit back the right way, please man

Wow, not just same moment but down to the same exact second even!! that should be creepy and eerie enough to make you have it changed to the correct direction a.s.a.p. :)

btw, i've always checked to make sure arrows are correct direction and know you can't tell by the thread, but can someone tell me why it needs to go a certain direction? just curious.

Because the front tire will try to come apart under heavy deceleration!!!

http://www.ama-cycle.org/roadride/tires.asp

muchos gracias Spirit.
Confirms what I thought but didn't know for sure until now.

quote:

ORIGINAL: SpiritRR

Okay, sorry, call me superstitious, but what are the chances that BlueFox would post at the exact same time I edited my message to include a link to his old post about backwards wheels? That's fvcking creepy...change your shit back the right way, please man

HAHAHA. How the HELL did you notice that???? I honestly sat here for 5 minutes trying to figure out what you were talking about.

Its a little tough to see cause the pic is dark, But my tire is on right
and the pattern is clearly opposite....Like everyone else said, Get that fixed ASAP

Yeah... I've looked over it several times myself and I'll +1 the "tires not right" vote. The arrows will always point the way the tire moves when you move forward. I'd get it fixed pronto! To quote the link mentioned above... (this is about why you should mount the tire correctly) ~~~

"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."

Get that fixed! BTW, NYErion, your bike looks awesome.

Wow... - Never noticed that one before - Front tread on Motorcycles is reversed? - I just checked my Dunlop Sportmax Qualifiers, and yes the "AquaChutes" run from the outside in when it rolls forward (Opposite of my GoodYear Assurance Triple Treads on the Minivan) - Arrows on the Rim, Brake Rotor, and Tire all point in the direction of travel. - Rear tires are normal (chutes channel water away from the center...
 
Strange. - No idea why that would be - If it were for the "Braking" reasons listed, why wouldn't Auto tires do the same? - Perhaps a more agressive tread when cornering?

Yeah, I love engineering/design conundrums like that--my guess would be that since cars have four contact patches checked by four brakes, the tires don't have the same requirements to stop successfully, whereas on a bike, essentially the whole thing only contacts the road by a small patch on the front tire under heavy braking and if the pattern weren't reversed it couldn't channel water out of the way fast enough--I have no idea. Where the hell is Snowboarding? I swear to god if something happened between last night and today because of this arrow thing...

So motorcycle tires are supposed to have backwards tread on the front tire huh? Sorry I've been extremely busy with crap. I've been planning my trap to Deals Gap and my grandpa has been sick and ended up dying this morning at 230am I guess. I had still planned on going to the trip but then checking the weather down there today it is supposed to rain. Maybe these were just 2 signs that I WASN'T supposed to go but I was supposed to go get my tire fixed. /shrug I'm pretty sure the wheel only goes on one way. I don't think they take the rotors off when they put a tire on a rim and balance it do they?! I just find that really really odd that the tread would force the water under the tire instead of away from it. So everyones tire is backwards in the front?

Well since I have the next freaking 5 days off I guess I'll head to the shop and get it fixed. I'll first try to put the tire the other way around but I remember when I tried to put it on originally I had it backwards because the spacer was on the wrong side or something so I flipped it around. I don't know I think it was Tahoe that told me that the wheel can only go on one way?

quote:

ORIGINAL: snowboarding82

So motorcycle tires are supposed to have backwards tread on the front tire huh? Sorry I've been extremely busy with crap. I've been planning my trap to Deals Gap and my grandpa has been sick and ended up dying this morning at 230am I guess. I had still planned on going to the trip but then checking the weather down there today it is supposed to rain. Maybe these were just 2 signs that I WASN'T supposed to go but I was supposed to go get my tire fixed. /shrug I'm pretty sure the wheel only goes on one way. I don't think they take the rotors off when they put a tire on a rim and balance it do they?! I just find that really really odd that the tread would force the water under the tire instead of away from it. So everyones tire is backwards in the front?

NO! Your tire is on backwards!!!!! Take it back and get it fixed! ASAP! And yes, it is a sign that you shouldn't ride the Gap... yet. That many things combined = take heed to the signs or else. You can always go some other time.

Ok check this link, maybe my tires were ALWAYS backwards from when they put my bike together?

http://www.cbrforum.com/m_205444/tm.htm

About half way down there are pictures with my stock Dunlops that show that the water would be pushed to the outside of the tire. I don't know about the arrows though. So maybe I should be mad at who sold me the bike?

quote:

ORIGINAL: snowboarding82

Ok check this link, maybe my tires were ALWAYS backwards from when they put my bike together?

http://www.cbrforum.com/m_205444/tm.htm

About half way down there are pictures with my stock Dunlops that show that the water would be pushed to the outside of the tire. I don't know about the arrows though. So maybe I should be mad at who sold me the bike?

That picture you linked to looks like different tires than the ones you have on. NEVER go by how they look. Go by the recommendation from the manufacturer. Don't get mad... it won't solve anything and you'll just be angry.

It looks to me like they just mounted your rim backwards. Take it off, turn it around, and re install it. Problem solved.

LOL! Ok so I really don't WANT to post this but I guess I should. This morning about 30minutes ago I went outside thinking about what I'm going to do with my bike, take the wheel in, take the bike in whatever. Well I decide to take the front wheel off and try to flip it around. The first time when I got the new tires I was putting the front wheel on the correct way but the spacers were in there wrong and I only knew that the larger one could come out because it fell out on me. I even tried to pull the small one out and couldn't do it. So I thought I would give that a shot again.

I took the large one out then tried pulling on the small one and there's only like 1/4" that I can grab onto. So I grabbed a flathead and very gently pryed (sp?) it out, it didn't take much any force at all, and grabbed it and switched them. Then put the wheel back on so the arrows point the way the tire spins and shoved the axel rod through tightened all the bolts and now I'm good to go. So I still want to blame the shop for putting the spacers in opposite places they should be. lol Wow I feel retarded.

Laugh away

Mike

PS thanks again for all the help and concern about getting this done right away guys! I appreciate all the help a lot! Can my gf wash your bikes for you or something? hehe

quote:

ORIGINAL: snowboarding82

PS thanks again for all the help and concern about getting this done right away guys! I appreciate all the help a lot! Can my gf wash your bikes for you or something? hehe

Yes. Or post pics of her washing your bike some more... that would be okay too. haha! Glad you got it fixed... just make sure the wheel (which is directional), the tire (also directional) and rotors (ALSO directional) are all pointing the correct way now... safety is number one after all.