Upgrade front tire from 150 80r17 to 150 80VR17?

Billythebiker

Turbocharged
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
569
Location
Tiptree, Essex, England
Daft by name daft by nature... anyone who puts a car tyre on the rear of a bike shouldn't care what they put on the front

Why not go the whole hog and put a car tyre on the front? :lol:
 
The V rated Metzeler should be the same as original equipment. Some folk though when they ordered new fronts, didn't pay attention to the speed rating and got a lower rated tire such as the more common H rated tires for the Valks. Pay attention to that if you regularly ride into the triple digits.
 
I also wonder if maybe Triumph put the cheaper H rated Metzelers on the Classic Rockets. I know standard Rockets come with V rated fronts. Never double-checked the Classics... could be another reason why they chose to restrict the Classics to 120 MPH - so they could use cheaper front tires.
 
Has anyone ever put a rear tire on the front? I’m thinking about a Dunlop D205 REAR TIRE 160/70ZR17 for the front of my Goodyear equipped Rocket. It's a bigger tire, just what the Rocket needs up front!
Why would anyone consider a Metzeler tire?
 
Be careful mounting rear tires onto the front. The front tire is designed to optimize countersteering forces so the bike manuevers better. I think as long as a tire is sufficiently round though, it should work to steer the bike but a rear's profile might deaden your cornering response. I'd pay close attention to the tire's center crown profile. The Metzeler is fairly pitched in the center to provide very quick steering with little countersteer. You will want a rear tire with similar profile. These are more common in the sport tire realm.

Far as OEM fitment size goes, the Metzeler is a pretty good choice as its rubber is somewhat sticky and it's V rated while the other choices are H rated.
 
The high pitch is what I am looking to get rid of. Trying to put more tire on the road for touring stability.
 
I looked into getting a better front tyre but couldnt get the right rating for it. I still need a front tyre with the v rating come on avon im running out of tread.
 
I would not care to sacrifice steering response for a little more stability. The flat rear should already give you lots of that. If you do go with a less pitched front be aware that you will need more countersteering movement on the bars to corner the bike and your turning radius will increase.

A less pitched tire won't give you much more contact patch than the stock. Maybe up to 50%. You would have to use a car tire for max stability but that would be big NO-NO for a machine that needs to use countersteering forces to steer. A flat tire in front would make you loose 90% of your stability while cornering and probably triple your effort to steer. Car tire in front should only be used for machines you drive, not ride, like a trike or sidecar rig.