whats stops a front tire from being a rear?

[timebombprod]

ive been looking for a rear tire for my 650 as the one that was on it needed to be changed, i found an old forum on here saying to get a 120/90 instead of a 130/90 for my rear as the 130 is too wide of a tire, well i ran into the same problem as the last guy who posted about it, i cant find a 120/90x17 rear for my bike that easily.

i can find plenty of 120/90x17 front tired but not rears, but i can find 130 rears all the time, so i gotta ask what stops the front tire from being a rear if the fitment to the rim would be the same?

[salty_monk]

Tread pattern. Fronts are designed for max load under braking, rear are designed to load under acceleration. Some tyres you can simply reverse the direction if you use them on the other end of the bike. Avon Roadriders are like that at some sizes...

[timebombprod]

https://www.chapmoto.com/bridgestone-battlax-bt46-rear-tire.html?sku=330-11674&gclid=CjwKCAjw9-KTBhBcEiwAr19ig08GTjHTV2pSCwWjwHpJKUFWuzOlnrrSMls1-XE2dDyCOdMeCAFwMxoCncMQAvD_BwE

good one to use? only one i can really find thats a rear in this size, the rest are all front tires.

[Cipher]

Its a conspiracy hatched by manufactures just get car tires mounted front and rear

[rphillips]

Interesting thread, I've wondered for a long time what changed. Back in the day, most all bike tires had an arrow on one side pointing for front tire rotation & on the other side an arrow pointing the opposite direction & said rear tire rotation. I'd thought maybe the radials had to be directional, for some reason, but the old bias did not. & yes the braking load front & acceleration load rear are opposite that's why the old tires were mounted one way on front & opposite way if on rear. Still interesting why it's so rare to find tires today that work either way.

[Rob S.]

Just checked my Sport Demons. Each side of each tire has an arrow, and they all point in the same direction (forward). I'd be a little perturbed if it were any other way.

I wonder if the tires on my English Racer are marked...(can't see any arrows on them).

[rphillips]

Shoot Rob, maybe you're not old enough to remember, back in the day, when most were marked for front or rear rotation. That was way back in the 70's & early 80's.

[hank2]

I needed to get a new set of tires at the end of last year for my GS650G. I was able to get a 120/90/17 rear use speced Bridgestone BT46 but no 100/90/19 fronts available at the time. The BT46 may be about the only remaining 120/90/17 rear tire left? Other than a couple of ADV rear tires. So, I got an Avon Roadrider MkII for the front. I didn't mount the Avon until this Spring.

The Avon RR MkII in 100/90/19 is a good bit oversized (for the size). So much, that I had to completely deflate the mounted tire to barely squeeze it between the fender mounting bolts. WTH! Avon specs this tire for either front or rear use and has directional arrows in both directions for either mount. I can't remember ever seeing a motorcycle tire speced for either front or rear use. Then again, I've never bought an Avon bike tire previously in my life. This Avon has the deepest tread I have ever seen on a front motorcycle tire. The Avon fattie is starting to feel a bit better with a few hundred miles on it but doesn't play excellently with the rear Bridgestone. My previous set of BT45's were very sweet together.

Best that I can recall, every motorcycle tire I have owned, bias or radial, always had directional arrows on it. My memory may not be perfect, however.

[timebombprod]

ill be running a shinko 230 100/90/19 in the front with the bridgestone bt46 120/90/17 rear. when the bike is properly broke in and able to be ridden hard more than likely i will get a set of two matching tires lol.

[hank2]

ive been looking for a rear tire for my 650 as the one that was on it needed to be changed, i found an old forum on here saying to get a 120/90 instead of a 130/90 for my rear as the 130 is too wide of a tire, well i ran into the same problem as the last guy who posted about it, i cant find a 120/90x17 rear for my bike that easily.

i can find plenty of 120/90x17 front tired but not rears, but i can find 130 rears all the time, so i gotta ask what stops the front tire from being a rear if the fitment to the rim would be the same?

Dennis Kirk currently has the rear Bridgestone BT46 in 120/90/17. They also list the front/rear Avon Roadrider MkII in that size ( one left). If you go with the bidirectional Avon make sure it gets mounted with the correct direction for rear use.

[Big T]

Dennis Kirk has the 130/90- 17 rear Avon you want Pair it with the 3.25- 19 front Avon and you're good to go