hey i keep seeing people say you can not mix tires from different companies. why not? is it in the rule book somewhere? why cant you? i see it done all the time watching other bikers with mixed matched tires. can someone please let me in on it?

 

Some tread designs don't play well when mixed and matched. Some do.

 

Some light reading for you.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...re-brands.html

https://twistedthrottle.com/blog/do-...need-to-match/

 

ok the thread on HDF is all personal opion. didnt have time to listen to the vid yet. i dont see any reason you cant have different tires front and rear. reading the remarks on the video seems to be about the same. even to the point that some bikes are sold with different radials on rear and bias ply on the front

 

the biggest reason is that they are not designed to work with each other. does that mean they won't? not at all. but, no company is going to tell you that their tire will work with x company's tire, so it's going to be pretty much up to you to experiment with it yourself. the biggest thing is if you are going to mix radial/bias, the radial goes on the rear. and make sure that the tire that you select has a sufficient load rating for the bike you're putting them on.

 

A few years ago I had Metzeler 880's, front and rear. Was changing the front wheel to different rim size and went in wanting an Avon Chrome tire on the front. I let the local powersports place talk me into Dunlop American elite for the front, said all the Harley guys love them, so I said OK. Kept the Metz on the rear and I was happy with the Dunlop. A few months later the rear Metz was worn and I went with Avon Chrome on the rear. quickly found anytime over 55MPH I had a weird shimmy/wobble that only go worse with more speed, or a crosswind over 20mph. Went over the whole bike, tire pressures, shock adjustments, axle nut torque, rear axle alignment, motor mounts, etc. Finally replaced the Dunlop with Avon Chrome and the bike was back to solid.

So...
1 don't let pushy sales people talk you into something you don't really want
2 Keep the front and rear tires same brand

True story.

 

my SGS has had a HD Dunlop up front with a Kenda Catclysm on the rear for nearly two years, bike rode and handled great! I just got a rear American Elite mounted last week

 

OP What this fella said is my thinking as well

WP

 

IMHO..I’d think a sticky front tire, and not so sticky rear tire wouldn’t behave well pushing it in the twisties. I was an Engineer, but not a tire or vehicle Engineer…so this is my opinion. Not to be confused with technical analysis, finite element modeling, imperial data, or anything else that would validate my hypothesis.

 

I believe that 99% of the time you'd be just fine mixing tire brands. My Kawasaki has 2 different tires on it and it rides just fine. Corners well, tracks straight, and no wobble or twitching at speeds.