Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Triumph Tire Question

A couple of friends and I were sitting around B.S.ing yesterday. One of them noticed the front tire on my speedy and claims that it is mounted backwards!

He says that the V in the tire grooves are designed to channel water away from the contact patch with the ground as they roll. Looking at the top of our tires, the outsides of the V will hit the ground first, and channel water TOWARDS the center of the contact patch.

See picture below:


To tell you the truth, what he says makes a lot of sense to me and I would tend to agree with him. However, I checked both mine and my buddies speedmasters and the tires are both mounted the same way.

Could Triumph have made a mistake on both of our bikes? Or is this persons agruement wrong and it does not "Hold Water"?

Vance

The Metzlers (and all mC tires that I know of) have little arrows that point in the direction of rotation, as well as little red dots that should also line up with the air stem. Look closely and tell your friend to bite ya.

My theory:When heeled over for a corner, you want the water to be squeeged to the rear and not in front of the tire.
Mike Sr.

If you visualize the bikes forward motion and the tire groove position/rotation as it would be at point of contact to the pavement, it is correct. It's a little optical illusion or/when compared to the rear tires on an old farm tractor. You're fine the way they're mounted.