Car tire back wheel trike

QUESTION 1:
Do you have direct experience using a car tire on the rear of a TRIKE Silverwing?

This may have been asked before however I have acquired a 2006 Honda Silverwing with Voyager trike kit. The outer two TRIKE tires are 14 inch 60s with excellent tread, I think they’ve been on there the life of the bike which is 8000 miles.

The front tire would get by but it’s factory original but still has tread. But when I replace the rear I will replace the front anyway.

However the rear drive tire is completely bald and I’m definitely going to replace it.

I’ve been looking at motorcycle tires and it just seems the tread longevity has a short lifespan of 1500 to 3000 miles. Depending on how you drive it.

QUESTION 2: would a regular radial car tire be recommended in place of a motorcycle tire on the back?
This is the traction tire setting everything in motion. Since it is a trike with two outer car tires already, the rear tire is not leaning left or right. Am I right about that?

QUESTION 3: Would a car tire cause any problems with the 600 cc engine turning a regular car tire

QUESTION 4: Would there beca rear braking issue if uding a car tire?

And with that in mind, would it be advised to also put an automobile tire on the front?

I’ve also read about reverse set up’s where you put the front tire on the back and the back tire on the front. There is a size difference, the front tire is a recommended 14 inch and the rear tire is a recommended 13 inch. But that advice is given to owners of Harley and Honda Gold wing trike’s, not too sure if it even matters on a small 600 cc trike.

I’m a newbie and I figured you guys might have more experience than I do.

Question 1: Car tire, yes. On a trike, no.
Q2: Radial tire, yes
Q3: No
Q4: No

Since the Silverwing wasn't designed for sidecar or trike use I suspect that the steering head angle & front end geometery might be negatively effected by using a car tire on the front. 

Maybe you are overthinking this a bit. There are several folks here who've had trike conversions (some training wheel trike kits, some with actual trike conversions) and I never recall mention of car tire on the front.

Tim

Good Morning Russ.
I don't have any experience with a Voyager kit but there have been some who have gone what they call "Dark Side" using a car tire. With the Voyager kit I don't see any real problem with using a car tire with it. There are probably others on here who have more knowledge than I do about it.
As for question 3 I don't see any problems with the car tire and the 600 cc engine. That wouldn't really make any difference with the kit already on the SWing, in my opinion.
#4. Braking shouldn't be any more or less a problem.
I wouldn't advise putting the front tire on the back. Not sure if it would fit anyway.
I have an 08 SWing with the Motor Trike kit on it but with mine the original rear wheel is completely removed and only 2 wheels on the back. Both of these wheels have disk brakes and car tires.

What Tim said. He has more experience than I do.

Car tire on scooter rim, in my book a no no---bike (MC) rims are car rims are different at bead area. There is SAE paper on this---with SilverWing, better stick to tires that were made for it!! even with training wheel conversion.



My take with little or no safety approval required for registration, many of these trikes aint too safe. Remember how easy your trike tipped over as kid-----and how Honda had to take its 3 wheel ATV off the market, as it was dangerous?

Based on over 40 years of sidecar experience--SilverWing to use as trike should have steering damper/adjustable trail front fork/reduced gearing.....and then the drive train not designed for extra strain/short belt life.

Car tire has a thicker bead area never fully seated on a motorcycle wheel. Many use them with no problems but why risk it.

Car tire will last much longer though.

Russ,
I am traveling through western Canada from Idaho on my 2004 Swing that has a Voyager conversion. Two years ago I went to the dark side.  The Swing handles it great. No problems braking. Just make sure the pre-load is correct for your riding style.  My wife is traveling as my co-pilot and I have given it a slight positive pre-load. Not sure if Dale's trike bounces a lot. My wife doesn't like it when we go over bumps in the road.
I do notice head shake between 40-48 miles per hour. Tried several things to correct it, but unable to fix it for now. It may have something to do with the rake angle. Just stay out of that speed range.

Head shake---asking SilverWing to do what it was not designed for----steering damper and adjustable trail fork would probably fix problem.

When I had my SWing converted to a trike it was recommended to have a 4.5 degree rake kit put on. I did and haven't had any problems. She still handles great on the road at any speed. Although I haven't tried to take it up to 100 mph like I did when it only had 2 wheels. I just wanted to see what it would do and found out.
Another thing. It is a bit rougher ride on crappy roads and it's probably due to three wheels instead of just two.

Dale, where did you get the rake kit from?

From Besser's Bike Barn when I had the kit put on. I'm not sure if they had to order it from Motor Trike Co. or if they had it in the shop already. I would guess from Motor Trike seeing as they made the trike kit.

Thanks Dale. I will see if they will sell me a kit.

This is the link for Besser's: https://bessersbikebarninc.com/

Trikes converted from bicycles need to have the rake altered. My current ride is a trike conversion of a BMW bike and it has a replacement top yoke (triple tree) to do this. The bumpy ride seems to be inevitable as one of the three wheels is sure to hit the bumps or potholes.