Tr1ke Rear Tire Blow Out

[indycyclefl]

Good morning to ALL.

  I have been following reverse trikes for years now and the one thing that I had learned very early on is that in NO WAY can you mount a car tire on a motorcycle rim/wheel. Yet... I see so many people do it on their cruiser motorcycles (The Dark Side Group), and everyone here owning a Tr1ke. And have been doing it for years. I have read recently a post on another forum with photos and literature and there is NO QUESTION that there are design differences from car rims to motorcycle rims as well as the tires themselves. They are created to mate like a puzzle piece. I will copy the link below to the site for your own edification.

Has ANYONE ever had an issue with mounting their 205/40/17  tire on the R1 rim??? And having it either leak, blow out, or roll off the rim in a corner?  This very issue/concern has kept me from the reverse trikes for some time as it is quite difficult/costly to get a hub manufactured to work with a bike/car rim. (with cush drive included etc). And the bike tire is just too skinny.

Thanks!

-Bryan


Long read... but a good one. Photos for comparison at bottom of page.

www.goldwingfacts.com/forums/10-reference-faq-forum/400426-design-differences-between-car-motorcycle-rim-tire.html

[slugshot]

No problem with the tyres I have used.

Vredestein ultra cento
Kumho V70a super soft
Toyo R888gg

[indycyclefl]

Slugshot-

How long have you been driving your Tr1ke? Did you modify your R1 rim at all to accept the tire, or completely stock?

Thanks!

[slugshot]

Iv'e been driving it long enough for something to to fail if it was going to.

The rear wheel is stock with no machining of the rim and wouldn't recommend machining anything off the wheel to re shape the rim. There's a few on the forum and between us we have covered quite a lot of miles between us.

[4sfed]

Hi Bryon,
Are you planning a build? I just purchased a kit from Pete at Dove racing. He still has a red and a blue one left. It looks like you have a motor in mind. Maybe we can start our own MOG gers meet US style. 
To follow up on your question, I've also read the dark side pages. The TR1KE shouldn't have any roll problem because we're not leaning it. I had a Boss Hoss with 502 Chevy Big block with nitrous that ran a 300mm tire, not a car tire,but I new guys that ran them on their bikes. Their only complaint was it could get hinkey at lean, but at 1300lbs dry they weren't canyon carving sport bikes anyway. The Campagna T-Rex uses a wide car tire and its copy the Veloss uses one also. The single seat Scorpion looks to use a car tire. Have you seen the new Polaris Slingshot should be in dealers soon. I'm not sure what the Slingshot runs, it's a car tire on a custom single sided swing arm. The pictures look cool it only comes in grey or red, but there is always paint. The Slingshot is also front engined which I didn't want. 
I hope you chose the RTR TR1KE it's my favorite. It seems to be the easiest one to build outside of the Exocet. I'm hoping for cheap insurance, no emissions and HOV lane use here in Arizona. Pete at Dove Racing is easy to deal with and excited about getting more machines on the road here in the US.
Good luck with your build if you chose to go the RTR route.
Talk to you soon,
Derrick

[4sfed]

Sorry, Bryan

[indycyclefl]

Build? Yes... still considering.

Wanting to do all the research up front. 1st point being the rear tire on motorcycle rim. If you take a moment to read the article I included in my post it is quite convincing. At the same time quite scary. That is why I have asked for "Everyone's" feed back on the topic here. I have also sent an email to RTR inquiring.

Don't get me wrong... I am NOT trying to stir up trouble here. I am just concerned for safety. For everyone. To lose a rear tire in a hard turn could be deadly and in a straight at speed, at least dangerous.

[Deleted]

Hi Bryan.

To date many tR1kes have been built and put on the road with I assume many of thousand of miles done. To date there have been no mention of any blow outs. Understand your concern but pretty sure RTR/mev wouldn't put a product out that would be at risk of major failure. Just my thoughts anyway

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[mawdo81]

It's a long read but as I read it the crux of the argument is 2 fold, please correct me if I've missed something:

1. The rim bead profile of a car v motorcycle tyre are different and the rims are designed to match :=> not great idea to switch
2. The forces argument though I buy less, this is specifically talking about the different forces in the different applications, but doesn't seem to take into account that on a tR1ke it is the application of the RIM not the TYRE that is changed.

For me, the evidence of forum members is sufficient to suggest that although point 1 applies, it is point 2 that appears to be the overriding factor...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Deleted]

No problem with mine, been on the same budget rear tire (Primo) since registering in 2012, approx 4500 miles and no issues at all, wheel was powder coated and the tire fitted, never leaked.....

I know some people in Holland have had issues, but only after messing too much with wheels.....

I don't hang about and frequently light the rear tire up.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using proboards

[indycyclefl]

MAWDO81 -

I agree. To a point.
 The article I copied from the net is ONLY referencing motorcycles and their cornering affects. I wish they expanded for flat corning. That being said... we are NOT concerned about rolling onto the edge of a tire/tread in a corner and losing traction like on a motorcycle due to the shape of the tire, as described in the article. But... we ARE concerned about the forces put on the side walls of the tire during a turn. Which to me, just using simple common knowledge, would actually have a bigger impact during flat corning. The tire wants to go one way, and the rim the other way. ( I have seen the many Tr1ke YouTube videos recently :-P )

Explanation:
On a motorcycle the forces for the most part stay "up-and-down" because the fact you lean. There is less "side-to-side" forces but more up/down (in the case of a turn... down).

On our beloved trikes, the force on the rear tire is more "side-to-side" as there is Little/NO leaning and only grip on the flat tread. Which would mean at every turn that rim is wanting to push out of the center and the tire (bead) is the only thing keeping things inline.

Is my thinking "inline" with reality? I know there is theory after theory, and then there is reality of what works/doesn't.


Thanks all. Again just being safety conscience. It would make life so much more simple to be able to use the MC rim and Car tire. The more feedback the better. :-)

[andy7b]

I have a Toyo R888 and it's been perfect so far even running down at 17psi never drops pressure. I will admit when I was building I had concerns but not with tyres more with putting side load through the bike rear wheel as it's not designed for it but as so many people have collectively covered so many miles I reckon its fine.
Andy

[seabee70]

Hi Bryan & greetings from a trike builder in E. TN. I've pushed my trike over a few mountain roads in the area & the Sumitomo Z rated tire is staying on the rim. I haven't been on a track to test it more & don't feel the need to push it any further. Take care & if you visit this area, let me know so we can meet somewhere.

[Deleted]

I think whatever reasons you have to not fit a car tire to a bike rim, have now hopefully been put to bed, lots of trike owners here and also the TRIPOD over in Australia are doing this, no issues, unless you mess about machining the rear wheel, of which there is no reason to do it, then no issues will occur.



As you can see, no loss of grip on this corner, no slipping ever.



This is how it sits on the rim

[Deleted]

Sorry Bryan, I canny be bothered to read an article when I know full well the tire fits and seals perfectly, unless you are tring to fit a car tire onto a bike rim, and then fit the rim onto a bike, (Madeye) then I cannot see any logic in the article.... :-)