I'm doing trackdays often now and need some advice about tires. I've been using special tires for my trackdays and it's all good, the only thing is I'm wearing the right-hand sides out far faster than the left. A Thai guy I met at the race track, told me to take the tire off and fit it the other way round, so I could get more life from each set. As there's very little tread, presumably it'll be ok, but I though I'd check with you guys first though.

Quote by: Leon

I'm doing trackdays often now and need some advice about tires. I've been using special tires for my trackdays and it's all good, the only thing is I'm wearing the right-hand sides out far faster than the left. A Thai guy I met at the race track, told me to take the tire off and fit it the other way round, so I could get more life from each set. As there's very little tread, presumably it'll be ok, but I though I'd check with you guys first though.

Switching the tires around is not an uncommon practice, but not sensible either. Tread patterns have some bearing on stability, no matter how small, and in the wet, running it the wrong way round is going to compromise the tire's ability to displace water. Even if you never ride in the wet and stability isn't an issue, there's another, more fundamental, reason why it should be avoided.

A motorcycle tire is always cut from one strip, then joined in the middle around the carcass before being cooked in the mold. The join, or splice, is always angled so that, when fitted properly, it is resistant to the forces that will invariably try to open it up. Chuck the tire on the wrong way round, and you're asking an awful lot of that splice to hold together. The more powerful the motorcycle, and worn the tire, the more likely it is to fail.

Tried confirming with Graham at highsidetours? He's not as frequent as he used to be but surely has a similar concern on his rental bikes.