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Trike front tire

2604 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  RedgieDR
I have a 08 1800 trike that I have been running a rear Michelin Plot Active on the front. I am now after 30000 + miles in need of a new tire. This tire I found out is not being made anymore. My question is what you are running on your trikes now and what kind of milage and how do you like what you have?
Thanks Dannie
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As I'm sure you know, the popular choices have been rear tires mounted on front wheel as the Michelin Pilot Activ is. The other popular one is the Bridgestone Battlax. It used to be BT45 and is now the BT46. I have tried both the BT45 and then switched to the Michelin Pilot Activ. I liked the ride of the Pilot Activ over the BT45. Not sure about the BT46 as I havent tried it but I seemed to get reasonable mileage out of both of the others. I don't recall though actual mileage I got out of both. Last year, I ended up switching to the Cobra Chrome AV-91 Trike tire. It is specifically designed as a trike tire. There is also a regular AV-91 in the same size so you have to be careful to get the trike version. It will specifically have "Trike" in raised embossed letters on the sidewall. The Avon was originally the AV-71 and then upgraded to the AV-91 which I have. I would say that one advantage that the AV-91 has over the Pilot Active and the Battlax is that its a radial as opposed to bias ply. I think it gives an even better ride. I switched to it last year while riding around the Smokies. Since then I have put several thousand miles on it and it seems to be wearing well. I don't know how many miles I will be able to get out of it but so far, so good.
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Mike looks like you have more experience than I do on these trikes. I have only had this one tire since I have had the trike so not being able to find the Michelin, I really did not know what kind of tire to look for. I called my dealer here and the parts man told the only rear tire he could in the right size was a Continental and he could not even get one those till the end of the month. Looks like the AV-91 trike tire will be it. Thank you for sharing your experience. Dannie
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Cobra Chrome AV-91 Trike tire is my choice, too. Only about 2K miles on it so far, but smooth as silk and grippy.
And the rears are Continental ExtremeContact in 205/55ZR16 91W. Smooth, grippy, quiet. Comes with a high 'wet traction' rating.

'06 GL1800 / 2021 Roadsmith
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Cobra Chrome AV-91 Trike tire is my choice, too. Only about 2K miles on it so far, but smooth as silk and grippy.
And the rears are Continental ExtremeContact in 205/55ZR16 91W. Smooth, grippy, quiet. Comes with a high 'wet traction' rating.

'06 GL1800 / 2021 Roadsmith
Thank you for the reassurance on this tire. Looks like this is what I will be getting. The reason I had not looked at it before was a friend had one and he had the opposant reaction. I am guessing he must have had the older one.
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Where are you able to get the Cobra Trike Tire?
The only store I know of right now that has them in stock is Genes Gallery in Springfield, MO but are mighty proud of them and it will be a base price of $310


Pretty much everyone else is out of stock and I'm not sure why. I have heard that supply is supposed to start trickling back in early this year but no specific dates or guarantees... My suggestion unless you are in a big hurry is be patient and see if they don't start showing up at the various dealers in the next couple months. Otherwise spend the money and buy one at Genes. Or consider one of the optional rear tires mounted on front like the Bridgestone Batlax BT46 which does seem to be available and tremendously cheaper than an Avon will cost you at Genes.
Thanks for the info. I just bought a 2008 with the Motor Trike Conversion and the front tire is still in good condition for awhile but will probably need this summer. How easy is it to put a back tire on the front? Do you have to change wheels or can you use the same front wheel?
I have watched a few videos on Tire Manufacturing, and learned that All Tires, are not made Every Day.
The factories do them on a Schedule, and the number of days a run is done, is predicted on the last couple years of Sales.

so, it is possible that the Trike Tire manufacturing run, might only be 3 days out of a year....
so the next shipments might well be a long wait.
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The dimensions are same 130/70R18 or 130/70-18 so nothing special about having it mounted. Where using a rear tire on the front shines is because rear tires usually have a deeper tread which makes them last longer, more miles.

But the other consideration is whether you want to mount it in regular rotation or in reverse rotation. The idea of the reverse rotation comes from the idea that rear tires are designed to have the most force on them during acceleration. Front tires have the most force on them during braking. So by reversing the rotation, the tires forces will work as designed.

But with that said, many run these tires in normal rotation and say they work perfectly fine. So that part kind of comes down to personal choice...
Cobra Chrome AV-91 Trike tire is my choice, too. Only about 2K miles on it so far, but smooth as silk and grippy.
And the rears are Continental ExtremeContact in 205/55ZR16 91W. Smooth, grippy, quiet. Comes with a high 'wet traction' rating.

'06 GL1800 / 2021 Roadsmith
Great to hear the AV-91 trike tire is recommended here. This and BT45 are my uncle's top choices. We'll work on his trike after we installed the rotors and xd wheels on the truck this weekend.
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