> On Mon, 12 May 2008 06:01:26 GMT, "Erronous Monk" prcn.org>
> wrote:
>

>> Okay. Just to keep everybody on their toes.
>>
>> The top of the tire travels forward down the road at twice the speed of the
>> bike. This is the direction the tire must rotate to cause the bike to have
>> forward motion.
>> The portion of the tire in contact with the road is stationarary at all
>> times. Except while sliding, then it too travels in the same direction as
>> the top of tire, and the bike.
>>
>> Think: The arrow must somehow get in front of the bike (axle on the
>> wheel). The arrow must accellerate from zero two twice the bike speed and
>> back to zero repeatedly for there to be any forward motion.
>>
>> Since the top of the tire must travel so fast, the tread pattern should not
>> be such that it would cause turbulence by 'pumping' air in advance of the
>> bike. The tread on the bottom just sits there and has a cool nmemonic. The
>> contact patch. (the wide part and the end of the pleasure trail)
>>
>> :-)
>>
>> "." gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:110701c9-9fa7-4175-8d75-a091b863e94b@w8g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
>> On May 10, 5:01?pm, Bodine xxx.com> wrote:

>>> While installing the Road Attack tires I just purchased, we came
>>> across a question of which way is the correct rotation. The front tire
>>> has the arrow on the sidewall with "front" inside the arrow. Does
>>> "front" refer to the rotation or the actual front of the bike? Because
>>> of the inverted writing, if the tire is mounted with the text
>>> readable, the arrow would be pointed either against the rotation or
>>> towards the rear of the bike. I mounted it as the rotation, but
>>> noticed that it causes the tread pattern of the front to be opposite
>>> of the rear. Which is correct?

>> Install the tires so they rotate in the direction of the arrows. Don't
>> worry about the tread pattern.
>>

>
>
> OK, I get it. But now my head hurts. And we won't even get into road
> contact and coefficiant of drag. But here's the response I got from
> Continental.
>
> "Dear Mr. Crowder,
>
> The orientation of the ContiRoad Attack front has recently been
> revised. We responded to feed-back from the markets about maximising
> the already incredible durability of the original front tread pattern.
> After the launch of the ContiSport Attack test riders commented on the
> fact that the reversed tread direction gave much more uniform wear
> across the tyres section and so the ContiRoad Attack front pattern was
> switched in late October 2006 to take advantage of this better wear
> characteristic. Some confusion exists because in some plants outside
> of Germany have a tread mould with small arrows at the edge of the
> tread near the sidewall, these arrows should be ignored. These moulds
> are being replaced. ContiRoad attack customers may be offered the same
> tyre with apparently two different directions of rotation. The tread
> pattern on both tyres is fine. Riders should be aware that all
> relevant and legally required information regarding speed rating and
> direction of rotation is moulded into the side-wall of the tyre, not
> the tread, so be sure your tyre is fitted in accordance with the
> directional arrow on the sidewall regardless of which way the pattern
> runs.
>
> Mit den besten Gruessen/Best regards
>
> Florian Sollich
> Sales International
> Continental Motorcycle Tyres
>
> Continental AG
> P.O. Box 169, 30001 Hannover, Germany"
>
> It's nice to get an actual response from a large company, not a form
> letter. Feeling better about my selection already. And the tires feel
> great.