Better Late than Never

I installed an Avon Cobra to replace the worn out Metzler on the front wheel when I bought my '06 Classic a few years ago. The Cobra combined with an Exedra Max on the rear wheel was the ideal combination according to the words of wisdom at the time. Well, after a few thousand miles with that combination it occurred to me that I had to muscle the bike to lean over in turns and after the typical 200 mile ride once a week with the guys my shoulders ached. Well, I finally wore that Cobra out, hallelujah. Last week I followed the advice given by 1olbull a year or so ago and installed a Michelin Road 5, 150/70/R17, a rear tire, on the front wheel with the tread running in the reverse direction. As usual I was skeptical about such a weird sounding setup but trusting his recommendation I did it. Well, HALLELUJAH again! Instead of wanting to stay upright the beast now falls into the turns with very little effort by me, as it should be.

MAY BE JUST ME BUT I THOUGHT (SORry caps) they were suppose to try to stand back up.
same combo exced/avon
i b thinking that road is a little smaller if so would lower bike a little?

TURBO200R4 said:

MAY BE JUST ME BUT I THOUGHT (SORry caps) they were suppose to try to stand back up.
same combo exced/avon
i b thinking that road is a little smaller if so would lower bike a little?

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Yes, a 70 has a lower profile compared to the 80, by a little. My understanding is the "aspect ratio" is a % or a ratio of the sidewall compared to the tire width. In this case the sidewall height is 70% of the tire width. ........ but I may be wrong. When you say, "they" are suppose to stand back upright do you mean tires in general or the Road 5? I probably used the wrong words to describe the much improved handling I am getting, sorry.

I put the Road 5 on my Roadster and it did improve the overall handling. I bet it lasts a long time also.

The pilot seems to weight less too. It had a very good price. The foot print matches the Exedra. They are a good combo.

I run them the correct way on my K1200GT, great all around tire.

You're correct on aspect ratio, sidewall height is a percentage of tire width. There's another factor affecting your handling and that is the change in trail between the two tires. Trail is measured from the axle center to ground and the theoretical center line of the forks to ground, the base of that triangle is "trail," usually measured in inches. The taller tire lengthens trail and shorter one lessens it. The shorter the trail measurement the faster turn in occurs, the longer the trail the harder it gets to make the bike turn. The slight change in trail will affect the way the bike turns more than just the tire. You can probably make it turn even faster by sliding the fork tubes up the triple tree another 5mm, anything you do to shorten trail improves turn in (and worsens straight line stability). Full on stretch choppers with enormous trail are a breeze to ride on the highway because they want to go straight, all the time and you really need to force them to turn. A sport bike conversely runs circles in a short arc, turns easily at speed but straight line stability isn't as secure at high speed.

If you look at my old Yamaha, you'll see the designers put the axle in front of the fork's centerline. Shortened the trail thus improved the handling:

RockOn said:

I installed an Avon Cobra to replace the worn out Metzler on the front wheel when I bought my '06 Classic a few years ago. The Cobra combined with an Exedra Max on the rear wheel was the ideal combination according to the words of wisdom at the time. Well, after a few thousand miles with that combination it occurred to me that I had to muscle the bike to lean over in turns and after the typical 200 mile ride once a week with the guys my shoulders ached. Well, I finally wore that Cobra out, hallelujah. Last week I followed the advice given by 1olbull a year or so ago and installed a Michelin Road 5, 150/70/R17, a rear tire, on the front wheel with the tread running in the reverse direction. As usual I was skeptical about such a weird sounding setup but trusting his recommendation I did it. Well, HALLELUJAH again! Instead of wanting to stay upright the beast now falls into the turns with very little effort by me, as it should be.

Click to expand...

Why run it backwards???

Isn't the direction of rotation indicated because that's the way the tyre needs to rotate for the tread pattern to shift the water in the wet ??

G1bbo said:

Why run it backwards???

Isn't the direction of rotation indicated because that's the way the tyre needs to rotate for the tread pattern to shift the water in the wet ??

Click to expand...

I can't remember what the reasoning is, it was too convoluted for my understanding but I bought into it and it works great for the handling on my bike. You might be able to find discussions about it with some searching. If I get caught in the rain I am not going to ride any farther or faster than necessary to get under cover.

The reasoning, is that the tire's design has asymmetric traction. So the best traction is with the arrow on the tire. A rear tire would be mounted so the optimum traction is for acceleration, so the arrow would be running with the forward motion of the bike. A rear tire mounted on the front, would be mounted the other way, with the arrow pointed against the forward motion of the bike, because a front tire's primary function is to provide most of the braking. Acceleration - at least forward - is not a factor for a motorcycle front tires.

Of course, things get complicated on all-wheel drive vehicles - that is beyond the discussion here.