Rear tire was installed backwards?

TekNinja81

TekNinja81

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So I picked up my '05 V-Strom from the dealer last Monday, and everything seemed fine. Was cleaning up the bike a bit this morning though, and noticed an arrow on the tire, which indicated the spin direction was backwards. I don't know how this was overlooked, as new tires were installed at the dealer as part of the deal when I purchased the bike/as part of the safety certification -- innocent enough mistake I suppose. Heck, I hadn't even noticed anything was wrong myself, though I think the ride back home may have felt a little smoother.

I'm curious, how exactly would the reversed tire affect the bike? I assume because of the reversed tread pattern, I would have noticed a significant difference riding in poor conditions (rain/slippery roads) mostly, but hadn't really been though anything yet to know.

Anyways, took the bike back this afternoon and they fixed it without any hassle. I'll just be keeping a closer eye on my tire installations in the future... :P
 
TekNinja81 said:
So I picked up my '05 V-Strom from the dealer last Monday, and everything seemed fine. Was cleaning up the bike a bit this morning though, and noticed an arrow on the tire, which indicated the spin direction was backwards. I don't know how this was overlooked, as new tires were installed at the dealer as part of the deal when I purchased the bike/as part of the safety certification -- innocent enough mistake I suppose. Heck, I hadn't even noticed anything was wrong myself, though I think the ride back home may have felt a little smoother.

I'm curious, how exactly would the reversed tire affect the bike? I assume because of the reversed tread pattern, I would have noticed a significant difference riding in poor conditions (rain/slippery roads) mostly, but hadn't really been though anything yet to know.

Anyways, took the bike back this afternoon and they fixed it without any hassle. I'll just be keeping a closer eye on my tire installations in the future... :P
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Pretty much all that will happen is that you will have slightly less grip in the wet, as the water channeling will not work as designed. The effect varies with design, some rear tires expect most of the channeling to be done by the front tire anyway, and some manufacturers (with certain bias-ply tires) will specify to install it one direction on the front and the other way on the rear.

It was probably a new tech - every tire they would install these days will have a directional arrow on it anyway, this isn't a new thing. :P
 
On dry roads you should notice no difference at all as long as the rubber meets the ground and sticks.
As you've concluded, and others have mentioned, the difference will be when there's water on the road.

Here's a question for the pros: do full slick tires have a directional indicator? (bike slicks and car slicks)
 
A better question would be...if they got the tire on wrong, then what else did they do wrong before you picked up the bike?
 
At the smaller tracks like tmp I see a lot of different guys "rotating" the rears to get another track day use outta their tires. That track beats the heck outta the right sides of your tires and the left sides don't as much.
 
jeero said:
On dry roads you should notice no difference at all as long as the rubber meets the ground and sticks.
As you've concluded, and others have mentioned, the difference will be when there's water on the road.

Here's a question for the pros: do full slick tires have a directional indicator? (bike slicks and car slicks)
Click to expand...

They do. Dunlop fronts should not be run backwards due to their carcass construction. The rears can be run backwards with no issue, like others have said its a good way to extend tire life.
 
Take it back, go get it flipped around. Won't hold so well in wet conditions.
 
caboose483 said:
They do. Dunlop fronts should not be run backwards due to their carcass construction. The rears can be run backwards with no issue, like others have said its a good way to extend tire life.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! Knowledge is power. :)
 
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