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Is Flipping Tyres Safe?


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I read this in another post but I thought it deserved its own post!

 

This is not the first time I have heard of people doing this, especially here in the UK our tracks are predominantly right handers. I personally thought it was mad and shouldn't be done but when Steve answered the other post you didn't flag it up as an issue!

 

So basically the question is simply, is it safe to flip tyres, front and rear?

 

 

Bobby

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I read this in another post but I thought it deserved its own post!

 

This is not the first time I have heard of people doing this, especially here in the UK our tracks are predominantly right handers. I personally thought it was mad and shouldn't be done but when Steve answered the other post you didn't flag it up as an issue!

 

So basically the question is simply, is it safe to flip tyres, front and rear?

 

 

Bobby

 

There is an arrow on the side of the tire for a reason. I would recommend using it.

 

Question back to you. If the sides of a tire are worn out, but the center is still good, do you ride in a straight line till its totally worn out or do you put on a new tire because you need the sides more than you need the center?

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I agree with following the direction of the arrow, I was just wondering as I thought it was more to do with how a tyre was constructed that it couldn't be run in high speeds in reverse not to mention the tread pattern would be revesed (which is what I thought the arrow was for)! Personally I would be to paranoid to try it anyway as I need everything to be perfect, I just really wondered if its do able or very dangerous?

 

Your question about using tyres with worn edges, I do know people that put part worn track tyres on their street bikes because they know they wont be leaning as much on the street (or maybe its just to look cool when parked up)!

 

Bobby

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I agree with following the direction of the arrow, I was just wondering as I thought it was more to do with how a tyre was constructed that it couldn't be run in high speeds in reverse not to mention the tread pattern would be revesed (which is what I thought the arrow was for)! Personally I would be to paranoid to try it anyway as I need everything to be perfect, I just really wondered if its do able or very dangerous?

 

Your question about using tyres with worn edges, I do know people that put part worn track tyres on their street bikes because they know they wont be leaning as much on the street (or maybe its just to look cool when parked up)!

 

Bobby

 

Flipping Tires:

 

I want riders to think for moment about what it is they are trying to do.

 

I hear of riders wanting to flip their tires to get more life out of the tire. Their thinking being, they have some life left on one side and should use it. The flaw in this thinking is that there is another side of the tire that is worn out, and must be used in at least a couple of corners.

 

So do you go slow in those corners in order to use the other side of the tire? That would be silly and counter productive to your goals of having a good time going fast at the racetrack.

 

I always say, if one side is no good to use, why would it now be good on the other side?

 

Also you must consider the rule on thickness of the tread. The side that is the thinnest (with the least grip and heat), will now be used with the least corners and have the least chance to get heat in it. Less heat, less grip = higher potential for problems.

 

It does not make sense to try to milk it to the very end. Use good judgment. There is an arrow on the side of the tire for a reason. I would recommend using it.

 

Even if you flipped a tire every session to get perfectly even wear, you would spend a lot of time and $ on tire mounts. Better to spend that $ on a new tire.

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Bobby,

I use Dunlop N-Tec slicks and I flip them. I have had no issues doing this.

 

Yeah, but you're old and slow foss! :-p

 

Keep smiling my friend

 

Bullet

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Bobby,

I use Dunlop N-Tec slicks and I flip them. I have had no issues doing this.

 

Yeah, but you're old and slow foss! :-p

 

Keep smiling my friend

 

Bullet

 

Bullet,

There is some truth to your statement. I am old. Don't you have a royal wedding to got to? LOL!

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Bobby,

I use Dunlop N-Tec slicks and I flip them. I have had no issues doing this.

 

Yeah, but you're old and slow foss! :-p

 

Keep smiling my friend

 

Bullet

 

Bullet,

There is some truth to your statement. I am old. Don't you have a royal wedding to got to? LOL!

 

I can't wait, I get a day off for nothing. I think it might be the first positive contribution the royal family have made to my life to date. ;)

 

You do us all proud my friend, not many people can say they race and enjoy it like you do. Be proud to be that motivated at your age my friend, I would be ecstatic.

 

Hope you're fully healed now, that ZX 6 is going to be lots of fun I think, looks trick already?

 

Bullet

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I can't wait, I get a day off for nothing. I think it might be the first positive contribution the royal family have made to my life to date. ;)

Didn't you get a day off when mother was married too?

 

Yeah, I remember. I was actually at Jersey at the time.

 

Kai (showing my age here). As a penance, I'll go and ask Steve a real question.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Chuckwalla is HARD on tires. I can go three trackdays on one set there, but some of my friends can go through a set on one no-sessions trackday. Going through two sets of tires in two days is expensive and not many of my friends are millionaires. Spinning the tire isn't a safety issue as far as I know. If it was, with all the people I know who've done it, someone would have had an accident or learned how dangerous it really is and would have shared their story.

 

On the street is a bad idea. Not here, because it never rains, but the tread is important to be on there correct so the carved pattern can disperse the water giving you traction in the rain.

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  • 1 year later...

How about flipping a front or rear to somehow repair a cold or hot tear?

 

AGAIN: The side that is worn out (or in your case torn), does not magically become new by flipping the tire. You are just using it on a different side. This is not the remedy for a worn out tire.

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  • 3 months later...

I asked the same question the guys from Continental at the June CSS at Silverstone. They replied the most important reason for not running the tyre in the opposite direction is hidden in how the tyre is actually constructed.

 

Simply put the core of the tyre is made out of a long strip of "rubber". In order to make this strip a circle you have to connect its ends by overlapping them so that one is over the other. The correct direction of rotation of the tyre is such that while rotating it doesn't "hit" the edge of the overlap to eventually cause a critical damage.

 

That was enough for me to stop flipping tyres :)

 

Regards,

Tony

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Interesting Side note,

 

Per the lovely article in this months RRW on the Dunlop Facility here in the states. Dunlop is soon to release a new Dual Compound Slick, KR451, which is designed to be "flipped". With a softer compound on one shoulder of the tire you can run it in either direction based on the majority of the turns at your local track.

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I asked the same question the guys from Continental at the June CSS at Silverstone. They replied the most important reason for not running the tyre in the opposite direction is hidden in how the tyre is actually constructed.

 

Simply put the core of the tyre is made out of a long strip of "rubber". In order to make this strip a circle you have to connect its ends by overlapping them so that one is over the other. The correct direction of rotation of the tyre is such that while rotating it doesn't "hit" the edge of the overlap to eventually cause a critical damage.

 

That was enough for me to stop flipping tyres :)

 

Regards,

Tony

 

 

Agreed on this, that is the same thing Will told me. There are different ways to connect the ends, and only certain methods are compatible with being able to flip the tire; for instance if the overlap at the end was cut to a 45 degree angle, you wouldn't want to run it in the direction that could peel back the end of the junction.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I asked the same question the guys from Continental at the June CSS at Silverstone. They replied the most important reason for not running the tyre in the opposite direction is hidden in how the tyre is actually constructed.

 

Simply put the core of the tyre is made out of a long strip of "rubber". In order to make this strip a circle you have to connect its ends by overlapping them so that one is over the other. The correct direction of rotation of the tyre is such that while rotating it doesn't "hit" the edge of the overlap to eventually cause a critical damage.

 

That was enough for me to stop flipping tyres :)

 

Regards,

Tony

 

 

Agreed on this, that is the same thing Will told me. There are different ways to connect the ends, and only certain methods are compatible with being able to flip the tire; for instance if the overlap at the end was cut to a 45 degree angle, you wouldn't want to run it in the direction that could peel back the end of the junction.

 

http://dunlopracing.com/newkr451/

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