turn your tire around on rim.. is it woth it?

[ballistic]

My Kenda tracker2 (rear)is still about 70 percent nob height left, but the knobs are very rounded on the business side, thanks to the rocky stuff i ride in. They dont grab worth a hoot now in muddy trails. The other side is like knew. Is it worth it to pay $15 clams to rotate the tire around?

[Skid_Jackson]

C'mon dude!! If your gonna ride, you gotta learn a little "Art of the Dirt Bike" and swap that puppy yourself on the garage floor!! I think george mentioned something about cutting a fresh edge on'em, ah la "Art of The Dirt Tracker"!! Personally i'd probably swap it around. all i do is trail ride, a fresh edge would be fine for another couple of months. Still $15 bucks for a fresh edge aint bad and it won't bankrupt you even if it doesn't work out!! Certainly worth a try!! Might get a snicker or sneer from the tire monkey at the shop tho!!

[ET]

ballistic,

Change it yourself and put the money towards a new tire. I know that changing a tire can be a pain but once you get the hang of it, it's just another thing to do like cleaning the filter. We have a lot of rocks in CA and seem to change a tire every couple of months. In fact, got a new IRC VE-33 (directional) sitting in the garage that I am going to put on tomorrow.

[freestyle111]

before you reverse tire direction you need to look at tread pattern.some tires are only meant to perform in one direction.i have IRC M5B which is not reversible on my bike.most itermediate terrain tires will have reversible pattern but tires designed for strictly for hard terrain or mud\sand terrain are often directional tires.

[billywizz]

Don't forget that if you turn the tire the rounded edge becomes the braking edge...You may get more grip on accellaration,but no grip on braking..i did it and found that i couldn't stop! just kept skidding.

[EZGZ]

Why don't you just try cutting them this time and report your results back to us.

I used to cut my Dune buggy sand paddles by using a small C clamp and a utility knife blade. Vise Grips work good to. That way you have something to lay on the top edge so you don't go to deep. Get creative and maybe just do every other one on the center and then go test ride it. It helps if the tire is warm to.

Think out of the box. Be Creative! What have you got to loose? Your not happy with it now, so why not?

[obnoxiousEd]

I dont recomend that, I tried it with my underwear and it turned my schlong all brown(I looked like a black guy with a birth defect). Hey, how do you teach a Yamaha rider how to put his underwear on correctly? Brown stain in back, yellow in front!!! ?

[Wayward Son]

i only get bout 3 rides out a 756 rear.after 2 rides i turn it around for maybe 2 more rides.once you turn them around they go away in a hurry!

[Gyro]

get yourself some nice tire irons. Have a rim lock installed or do it youself if you are more darring. Over time you will save alot of money by changing your tires yourself.

[jayled]

Get that tire nice and warm first.

Last weekend I put on two Trelleborgs cerca 1985. Instead of chestnuts roasting on an open fire there were two tires a few feet way. ?

[Drew_Seattle_DRZ400s]

We just did this on my friend's DRZ last week. He noticed a considerable difference. His tire was a TrakMaster also. Like everybody else says, get some tire irons and get to work. Once you change a tire a few times, it becomes real easy.

[Phile]

Even though I change my own tires I don't rotate them. For me, the benefit is not worth the hastle factor. Money is not the issue, it is the time, so if I am going to take off a tire then I am only going to put on a new one! I probably would get more miles out of the rubber if I turned them around but why not just put on a new one if cost is not an issue. The truth is I don't get to ride that much anyway so new tires don't happen that often. If I rode a lot then my mind set might be different.

[NO_SEE_+_NO_HEAR_=_NO_TICKET]

I will only do it if I am changing to a paddle for the weekend or something. When I put the knobbie back on I flip it around first. I don't do it just for the hell of it though, cause I got used to it over time and it is fine. You will get better starts if you flip the tire, and I have never had a problem stopping. I use alot of front brake.

[IdahoDR]

I turned mine around one time and I had a lot better traction but my stopping traction was not to good. I dont know if it was the tire or the round egdes. I say buy the tires irons instead of spending it one time. then you can change all the tires you want and when your buddys find out you have irons and know how you will be changing their tires too.

[ballistic]

hmmm... well i guess i'll spin it around to try out for myself and see if its worth the trouble/expense. I will get my dealer to do it though... :Dhehe 2 rimlocks on this sucker. Call it wimping out, i dont care. Listen guys... i used to change my own tires at 12 years old on my Yamaha enduro 90 and xr75 honda. I PAID MY DUES LONG AGO ?

[Moredesert]

Every time I do a long ride or tour I put on a new tire. I get some good take off's so I save them for local riding and I do turn them around. It only take me 15 min's to change a tire so I do it all the time.

Mike

[CAB]

Definitely worth your time if you ride alot. I ride a lot and regularly flip them. If the tire change is too hard for you, you need to invest in good tire irons and spend time laboring through it. The more you do, the better and quicker you get. I can do a rear change in about 25 min., and have saved major $$ doing it myself over the years. I flip them even if they are directional and have never noticed any decrease in performance. As mentioned above, 70% of your stopping comes from the front tire anyway.

[nipper]

Does anybody have a step by step tire change guide for a newbie? I have an 02' "S" model, with rim locks. I'm pretty capable mechanically, but motorcycle tires are a new thing for me. I'm willing and eager to learn, but don't want to end up FU^%**% around with the tires for 3 hours when I could be riding. ?

--nipper

[dendrz]

Here is a link, shows tips on changing tires there is also additional reading pertaining to dirtbike tires too.

http://www.clarity.net/%7Eadam/tire-changing-doc.html

Also do a search in archives there are loads of tips on changing tires.

[nipper]

Thanks!

--nipper