Questions about tread patterns

[smithbm]

I got a chance to do a little work on my bike last weekend and I noticed that my tire tread pattern on the front wheel doesn't match the pattern on the rear wheel. How will this affect me safety wise? How about performance wise? It's not that big a deal because oddly enough, my parts bike has the exact opposite setup. The front tire on the parts bike matches the rear tire on the road bike and vice versa.

Here's a tread pattern that's similar to my front tire.
http://www.ronayers.com/catalogs/tir...cid=7&type=171

And here's one similar to my rear tire.
http://www.ronayers.com/catalogs/tir...cid=7&type=161

I personally think that the tread patterns should match, but that may just be my OCD showing its ugly face. 8-[ :-D

[bwringer]

Tread patterns on motorcycle tires used on pavement are 95% cosmetic. There are slight differences because of tread pattern -- I mounted up Dunlop 491 tires last time because I ride on a lot of gravel roads and they happen to have a more aggressive tread than most other road tires.

Handling differences are mostly a result of construction and rubber compound, not tread pattern. In fact, I read an article a while back that stated tire companies do all their testing with slicks. The final tread pattern is the last step, and it's mostly left up to a graphic designer to design a pattern that will look good and sell well.

That said, there are important benefits to using tires that are the same brand and thus intended to work together. Many manufacturers use different designations for front and rear tires, and they may look somewhat different, but they are usually catalogued and sold together. For instance, the Cheng Shin HiMax tires have different front and rear tread patterns, but the construction and compound are designed to work well together. From a graphic design standpoint, they do have similarities and look good together.

I also am a firm believer in always replacing front and rear tires together. Many people mistakenly believe that front tires last much longer than rear tires because fronts do not wear with the obvious stripe in the center. You have to look closer, but front tires tend to scallop and cup rather than simply wearing out a band of tread, and bikes handle much better when both tires are always replaced at the same time.

http://tiresunlimited.com is a great place to order and research motorcycle tires, and they have good photos of all the tires.

[snowbeard]

I have unfortunately been running my rear tire the wrong direction for over a year now... mike helped me figure that one out.

short of pulling the rear and taking it back to the custom harley shop (gee, I wonder why they didn't know what to do with a shafty wheel and no bike for reference...) I can't stop riding long enough to tell!

like he said, 95% cosmetic.[-o<

[smithbm]

Thanks for the info. I'll probably go ahead and swap the front wheels to match up the tread pattern. That'll leave me with a complete set of the other tread pattern for next year. Having the spare set of wheels should be pretty convenient in the future for getting new tires mounted.

[Boondocks]

Tread patterns on motorcycle tires used on pavement are 95% cosmetic. There are slight differences because of tread pattern -- I mounted up Dunlop 491 tires last time because I ride on a lot of gravel roads and they happen to have a more aggressive tread than most other road tires.

Handling differences are mostly a result of construction and rubber compound, not tread pattern. In fact, I read an article a while back that stated tire companies do all their testing with slicks. The final tread pattern is the last step, and it's mostly left up to a graphic designer to design a pattern that will look good and sell well.

That said, there are important benefits to using tires that are the same brand and thus intended to work together. Many manufacturers use different designations for front and rear tires, and they may look somewhat different, but they are usually catalogued and sold together. For instance, the Cheng Shin HiMax tires have different front and rear tread patterns, but the construction and compound are designed to work well together. From a graphic design standpoint, they do have similarities and look good together.

I also am a firm believer in always replacing front and rear tires together. Many people mistakenly believe that front tires last much longer than rear tires because fronts do not wear with the obvious stripe in the center. You have to look closer, but front tires tend to scallop and cup rather than simply wearing out a band of tread, and bikes handle much better when both tires are always replaced at the same time.

http://tiresunlimited.com is a great place to order and research motorcycle tires, and they have good photos of all the tires.

I generally agree with you, but a couple of points. If you live on the West Coast where there are rain grooves, it is important that a front tire tread pattern not try to follow the grooves, creating instability. Many front tires have been sold which did not take this potentially hazardous road condition into consideration in the tread design. Same for steel grating on bridges, the front tire tread should ideally be designed to resist oscillation on the grating.

Other than considerations such as above, I agree that tread design for road use has a large cosmetic and esthetic factor. Still, practical considerations are never far away. For instance, regardless of what might look attractive, tread grooves must be of sufficient width to efficiently channel water away and prevent hydroplaning. Tire tread design allows creativity, but is constrained by the parameters of "what works" in various riding conditions.

[Boondocks]

I have unfortunately been running my rear tire the wrong direction for over a year now... mike helped me figure that one out.

short of pulling the rear and taking it back to the custom harley shop (gee, I wonder why they didn't know what to do with a shafty wheel and no bike for reference...) I can't stop riding long enough to tell!

like he said, 95% cosmetic.[-o<

You don't notice anything because you have nothing to compare it to. If a tire is designed and specified to be operated in one direction, you may be giving up something that was optimized to work in that direction for performance or safety.