Car tire on a scooter

[bobc455]

Be advised that the car tire you've selected isn't exactly symmetrical.

In the photos above you'll see the yellow / red lines. Those are intended to be put on a car toward the outside, and on the opposing side of the car the yellow/red lines would also be toward the outside.

Your tire is mounted as if it were on the passenger side of the car.

Will you ever know the difference? Probably not, but you should just be aware of it.

-Bob C.

[Wyldesoul]

Er, actually, Bob, being as it is a directional tire, it is a symmetrical as well. I honestly don't think they make tires that are both directional AND asymmetrical, and most assuredly would not make a winter tire both directional and asymmetrical.

And no, the yellow lines don't mean anything at all. They are used in manufacturing and quality control, and not as a judge of anything in installation.
(I know this from both being a tire installer technician, and being a student at the top rated auto service school in Indiana, one of the top 10 in the nation.)

They have yellow DOTS on the sidewall that are supposed to indicate where you should line up the valve stem for the best balance, but any indication of what side should be mounted out is clearly written on the sidewall, as you'd see with asymmetric tires like the Falken Ze-912, The Goodyear Eagle GT, or the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. A
A directional tire, like this one, the Goodyear TripleTred, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S, or the Bridgestone Blizzak just has an arrow indicating which direction it should rotate.

Think about it, if you had a tire that was both asymmetric AND directional, you would have to have two completely different molds to make a left side and right side tire, the tire sold would have to indicate "Left side only," and have a different SKU or stock number to sell the two different tires.

[cat0020]

Originally Posted by bobc455

Be advised that the car tire you've selected isn't exactly symmetrical.

In the photos above you'll see the yellow / red lines. Those are intended to be put on a car toward the outside, and on the opposing side of the car the yellow/red lines would also be toward the outside.

Your tire is mounted as if it were on the passenger side of the car.

Will you ever know the difference? Probably not, but you should just be aware of it.

-Bob C.

Have you got any further information that you can supporting your claim about the red/yellow lines on tires?

[kamesama980]

I'll second his claim (as a tire tech and student at another top auto tech schools) that the colored lines mean nothing for directionality/side-to-side. if the tire is supposed to be mounted on one side or the other it WILL say left or right on the sidewall along with the directional arrow. Do you think the tire companies could get away with NOT doing so and not get the $%^% sued out of them? I've got a set of tires that are left/right specific and directional and they say how to mount them.

as for the bike tires, I get below 45* at least once per ride and certainly get off the center/flat that would be on a car tire every turn. once I get the front forks rebuilt, I'll probably be a lot lower around corners, they're pretty loose now.

[cat0020]

Originally Posted by kamesama980

as for the bike tires, I get below 45* at least once per ride and certainly get off the center/flat that would be on a car tire every turn. once I get the front forks rebuilt, I'll probably be a lot lower around corners, they're pretty loose now.

Prove it with some pictures of your "chicken strip" on your tires.

[Wyldesoul]

Originally Posted by kamesama980

I've got a set of tires that are left/right specific and directional and they say how to mount them.

Wow, I honestly didn't know that they made tires that were both asymmetric and directional.

What type of tire are they?

I must find out more!

[bobc455]

Originally Posted by cat0020

Have you got any further information that you can supporting your claim about the red/yellow lines on tires?

It's part of the training video series where I used to work, unfortunately that information is not in the public domain.

But it is an interesting point about that being a directional tire too, while I don't have access to the training information any more, those lines did mean something about how the tires would tend to track. The rule of thumb was that they would have to be be mounted in opposing positions on the car. But it's a good point about the tire being directional, obviously there isn't anything you can do in that situation.

[Wyldesoul]

Originally Posted by bobc455

But it is an interesting point about that being a directional tire too, while I don't have access to the training information any more, those lines did mean something about how the tires would tend to track. The rule of thumb was that they would have to be be mounted in opposing positions on the car. But it's a good point about the tire being directional, obviously there isn't anything you can do in that situation.

It's probably more a matter that that merely indicates the orientation as it came out of the mold.

Thus, if you mounted the lines on the outside, any imperfection in the mold would be mirrored, and cancel each other out, rather than be "stacked" and increase the difference.

So if the mold has an imperfection which causes a light pull to one side, you flip the tire around on each side so the pulls cancel each other out, rather than causing a definite felt pull.


So it is most likely just to account for possible imperfections, but not an intentional design of the tire.

[kamesama980]

Originally Posted by Biffmeistro

Wow, I honestly didn't know that they made tires that were both asymmetric and directional.

What type of tire are they?

I must find out more!

goodyear GS-C IIRC. mine are factory off my finacee's dad's 94 firebird. they're 350 miles away or I'd get pics of the sidewall left/right marking.

something else to remember about tire markings (both dots and lines) is that they are specific to each manufacturer. a red dot on one brand may not mean the same as a red dot on another. some manufacturers use 3 colors, solid and hollow dots, some use none. same for the lines. it's possible they do relate to side-side specificness on some brand, but the majority do not.

if they are specific like that then the place I worked at only EVER bought tires for one side of cars because EVERY directional tire we sold had the lines on the same side through the whole stock (not all tires on the same side, but all tires of the same make/model were the same) and we never once had a problem related to it. not beyond what could be called random chance.

Who made the video you trained with? the manufacturer you got tires from, their distributor, your company? your individual store?

[kamesama980]

Originally Posted by kamesama980

goodyear GS-C IIRC. mine are factory off my finacee's dad's 94 firebird. they're 350 miles away or I'd get pics of the sidewall left/right marking.

something else to remember about tire markings (both dots and lines) is that they are specific to each manufacturer. a red dot on one brand may not mean the same as a red dot on another. some manufacturers use 3 colors, solid and hollow dots, some use none. same for the lines. it's possible they do relate to side-side specificness on some brand, but the majority do not.

if they are specific like that then the place I worked at only EVER bought tires for one side of cars because EVERY directional tire we sold had the lines on the same side through the whole stock (not all tires on the same side, but all tires of the same make/model were the same) and we never once had a problem related to it. not beyond what could be called random chance.

Who made the video you trained with? the manufacturer you got tires from, their distributor, your company? your individual store?

As for my chicken strip...

More than yours but then my tires are fairly high profile/rounded and My forks need to be rebuilt.
http://s29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...012001317c.jpg