If you’ve ever changed the tires on a motorcycle, or even thought about it, chances are you’ve asked yourself the question, “Can you put two different brand tires on a motorcycle?” Whether you’re an experienced rider, a professional motorcyclist, or just looking to save a few bucks on tire replacement, whether you can mix tire brands is good information to know.
Is It Safe to Mix Different Brand Tires?
The short answer is no. You typically don’t want to mix different brand tires on a motorcycle. It’s technically possible. However, there are things you want to consider before you make that decision because it makes a difference in the performance, safety, and life of your bike.
Design and Construction Differences: Each brand of tire is designed differently. They have different tread patterns, rubber compounds, and carcasses. These things are optimized to work together when you have one brand’s front tire and one brand’s rear tire on your motorcycle. If you have two different tires on your bike, they’re not necessarily going to work together. This can affect how your motorcycle handles, especially in adverse conditions like rain and when you’re going around a corner.
Handling and Stability Issues: Motorcycles are incredibly sensitive to tire performance differences. Even though differences in tread pattern or tire profile might seem minor to you, they affect the balance and stability of motorcycles – especially high-performance bikes or situations where you need the maximum amount of traction. A front tire from one brand might have a different lean angle and tread pattern than the rear tire from another brand, which can create handling issues.
Traction Mismatch: Tires from different brands have different levels of grip, especially under different conditions like rain or loose gravel. For example, if you have a soft compound rear race tire that’s going to have a lot of grip under acceleration, but then you have a front tire that isn’t the same brand as the rear tire, and it doesn’t have the same grip, you’re going to have a traction issue either at the front or the rear of the bike.
Wear and Tear Discrepancies: Different brands use different rubber compounds and construction methods. Because of this, you’ll get different wear out of the tires, which means one tire may go bald, lose its tread, or wear out way sooner than the other tire. This is a bad thing because it’s going to screw with the performance or the safety of your motorcycle because one of those tires is going to be beyond its useful life before probably both of them are.
Impact on ABS and Traction Control Systems: ABS and traction control systems on modern motorcycles are not set up to handle the differences between your front and rear tires. The computer was programmed with the assumption that both tires on your motorcycle are the same. This can screw up how these systems work on your motorcycle and either get you in a wreck or kill you.
When Is It Okay to Mix Different Brand
Tires on a Motorcycle? While I would recommend that you stay with a matching set, there are some situations where it might be okay or necessary for you to run two different brand tires on your motorcycle.
Emergency Situations: If you find yourself in a situation where you have to replace a tire, and either your brand of choice, or even the model of tire you’re using, isn’t available, you’re going to be forced to go with a different brand. Is this the end of the world? No, it’s not. However, you’ll want to work on getting a matching set as quickly as possible.
Touring and Long-Distance Riding: Some riders who do long-distance riding mix up the brand of tires they use. They’ll put a harder, long-distance tire on the back to get more mileage. Then, they’ll put a softer tire designed for better grip on the front. Even in these circumstances, it’s crucial for you to make sure that the tires you put on your motorcycle work together.
Testing New Products: Professional riders and riders who test tires will mix up brands specifically to evaluate a certain tire or to gather data. But these riders do it under controlled conditions, and this is typically not something you want to do.
Best Practices When Mixing up Tire Brands
If you absolutely, positively, absolutively have to mix up the brand of tire you’re running on your motorcycle, do the following:
Consult the Man: You want to reach out to the tire manufacturers or the motorcycle manufacturer for guidance on a mixed set of tires.
Mix up the Tire Types: If possible, make sure the tires you’re running on your motorcycle are of the same type – either both radial or both bias-ply. Don’t mix a radial front tire with a bias-ply rear tire, or vice versa, because that can insanely screw up how your motorcycle handles.
Check the Tire Profiles: Make sure the tire profiles are close to being the same. If you run a tire with a round profile on the front of your bike and a tire with a square profile on the back, it’s going to completely change the way your motorcycle handles.
Keep a Close Eye on the Tires: If you end up with mixed tires on your motorcycle, you’ll want to watch to see how they wear, the pressure, and the performance. You’ll want to be aware of any changes in handling or stability and address them before you kill yourself. Replace Tires Together: Whenever possible, your best move is to replace both tires at the same time with a matching pair of tires.
In conclusion, can you put two different brand tires on a motorcycle? The answer is yes, but it’s not generally recommended because different tires look different and they are made differently. They have different rubber compounds, and they have different amounts of grip. These things can, and normally will, cause issues with the handling and the pushing of your motorcycle.
Before you go and spend your hard-earned money on tires, remember there are a ton of other benefits to buying two of the same tires to put on your motorcycle. Yes, I understand that it’s more expensive than buying one tire, but you get what you pay for.
If you’re in the market for a new set of tires, make sure you do your homework and get yourself a matching set of tires. Preferably from a reputable brand. The reason is because the tires impact how your motorcycle performs, and more importantly, how safe it is on the road. If you’d like some help picking out a set of tires, please check out my tire selection page by clicking here. There you’ll find help picking out the perfect set of motorcycle tires.
