Tire mismatch phuckery? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Tire mismatch phuckery?

adri

adri

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Forum Sponsor
Last night I bought a (mag wheel) Triumph Bonneville from a first time rider. Nice guy, didn't know too much about his bike.

He had a new front tire put on by the Triumph dealer where he lives. For some reason they put a Bridgestone Battlax S22. Seems like a more sport oriented tire. Weird, but okay...

Except not okay because Bridgestone doesn't make an S22 in the (mag wheel) Bonneville's rear tire size (130/80-17). Uh oh...

I even checked for similar sizes that would leave relatively similar overall diameter. 150/70-17 would be within 0.1" of OEM and only 20mm wider... Except there is no S22 made in that size either.

They also safetied it with a fairly low tread rear tire.

Am I wrong to think that before selling and installing a tire, the dealer should make sure that the tire manufacturer makes a rear tire for the customer's bike? If this happened to you, what's your next move, considering your rear tire needs replacement?
 
What size is the front?

Sell the new s22 front. Buy a matching set more appropriate to that bike.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk
 
There is no requirement in the motor vehicle inspection standard for the tires to be of matched brand and type.

You haven't told us what tire is on the rear wheel ...

This is not a race bike, or even a track-day bike, and unless you have some knee-dragging shenanigans planned, that front tire ought to be okay almost no matter what you put on the rear within reason.
 
Agree with Brian.

I've mixed and matched tires/brands before. As long as they're the same speed rating, similar compound and type and it's just street use, then it should be fine.

You just have to decide if you're happy with the S22s or if you want to go a different brand/model F and R.

S22s do come in 140/70. If the 150s fit inside your swingarm, then the 140s should be fine, and they're closer in width to the OE 130/80s.

Although I do like fat bottom tires. They make the rockin' world go round...
 
Hard to say without a backstory. I was curating a database for a large tire distributor a few years ago, my office was inside a good size tire dealership in Vaughan. At least one tire a day was sold to someone looking for a single tire to pass safety inspection. A really janky tire can pass safety, and there is no requirement for matching front to rear tires.
 
Have a pilot road 2 on the front, and a pilot road 6 on the rear, very different tread patterns.
 
Thanks for the input guys.

To be clear I wasn't worried about tires not matching for safety, I was worried about hte fact hat the rear tire looks like it never should have passed safety... AND that they would install a front tire with no matching one available for my bike. It just seems like putting a quick buck ahead of the customer's best interests. A win-lose, instead of a win-win of just putting an extra thirty seconds into finding something that works.

Making sure rears were available before selling fronts (and vice versa) was standard practice before selling a tire when I worked at a dealership 10 years ago. I guess I was naive for thinking this is something that was still done...
 
  • Like
Reactions: TK4
adri said:
Making sure rears were available before selling fronts (and vice versa) was standard practice before selling a tire when I worked at a dealership 10 years ago. I guess I was naive for thinking this is something that was still done...
Click to expand...
Some people just don't care, sadly...
 
adri said:
Thanks for the input guys.

To be clear I wasn't worried about tires not matching for safety, I was worried about hte fact hat the rear tire looks like it never should have passed safety... AND that they would install a front tire with no matching one available for my bike. It just seems like putting a quick buck ahead of the customer's best interests. A win-lose, instead of a win-win of just putting an extra thirty seconds into finding something that works.

Making sure rears were available before selling fronts (and vice versa) was standard practice before selling a tire when I worked at a dealership 10 years ago. I guess I was naive for thinking this is something that was still done...
Click to expand...
If they installed a new front tire to pass safety, then likely it was the mechanics' discretion that they felt the rear was within limit. Otherwise if they were out for money they would have held the previous owner hostage with a new rear as well.

Rear and fronts don't need to match. People have been mixing and matching for as long as I've been riding. These days the popular mix seems to be a sport front and sport-touring rear to equalize front-rear wear. Personally I prefer to have my tires match for aesthetic reasons, but have run mixed sets when I couldn't get the pair I really wanted and couldn't wait.
 
My tires MUST match or the brain worms will torture me to death
 
Relax said:
Rear and fronts don't need to match. People have been mixing and matching for as long as I've been riding. These days the popular mix seems to be a sport front and sport-touring rear to equalize front-rear wear.
Click to expand...

Yeah, we do that in the dual sport world as well. Back when the 70/30 Heidenau K60s were the bee's knees, it was common to pair one of those rears with a softer, knobby 50/50 TKC-80 front tire for better front end grip. They would wear at about the same rate as the harder compound rears, so you could do a F/R change at the same time.
 
Last edited:
adri said:
Last night I bought a (mag wheel) Triumph Bonneville from a first time rider. Nice guy, didn't know too much about his bike.

He had a new front tire put on by the Triumph dealer where he lives. For some reason they put a Bridgestone Battlax S22. Seems like a more sport oriented tire. Weird, but okay...

Except not okay because Bridgestone doesn't make an S22 in the (mag wheel) Bonneville's rear tire size (130/80-17). Uh oh...

I even checked for similar sizes that would leave relatively similar overall diameter. 150/70-17 would be within 0.1" of OEM and only 20mm wider... Except there is no S22 made in that size either.

They also safetied it with a fairly low tread rear tire.

Am I wrong to think that before selling and installing a tire, the dealer should make sure that the tire manufacturer makes a rear tire for the customer's bike? If this happened to you, what's your next move, considering your rear tire needs replacement?
Click to expand...

Dealer: You need a new front tire to pass safety, the rear is marginal but will pass.
Customer: Great, whats' the cheapest tire you have in stock for the front?
Dealer: Bridgestone S22
Customer: Great, throw it on. I want to sell this thing asap
/end of story
 
cryptorider said:
Dealer: You need a new front tire to pass safety, the rear is marginal but will pass.
Customer: Great, whats' the cheapest tire you have in stock for the front?
Dealer: Bridgestone S22
Customer: Great, throw it on. I want to sell this thing asap
/end of story
Click to expand...

Another story:

Customer is on a roadtrip.
Experiences a blow-out in the front.
Sidewall forked, can't patch or plug.
Gets a tow to the closest dealer.
Customer: "I need an OE front to match my OE rear, so I can get back on the road and continue my trip"
Dealer: "Sorry this isn't a Triumph dealership. Closest thing we have in stock right now is an S22"
Customer: "Not optimum. But fine."

Have I ever ridden out of a foreign motorcycle store wearing mismatched socks? Maybe.

Not saying that's what happened in this case, but not everyone is cheap, stupid and/or malicious.
 
adri said:
Thanks for the input guys.

To be clear I wasn't worried about tires not matching for safety, I was worried about hte fact hat the rear tire looks like it never should have passed safety... AND that they would install a front tire with no matching one available for my bike. It just seems like putting a quick buck ahead of the customer's best interests. A win-lose, instead of a win-win of just putting an extra thirty seconds into finding something that works.

Making sure rears were available before selling fronts (and vice versa) was standard practice before selling a tire when I worked at a dealership 10 years ago. I guess I was naive for thinking this is something that was still done...
Click to expand...
A pretty rough tire can pass safety. If I recall, 2mm min tread depth from base to Sipe - on many tires the wear bars show on a certifiable tire. Sidewall bumps and blisters up to 1cm tall are also passable.

Many mechanics will push back, but not all.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom