A topic for conversation.

A few of us riders meet every Sunday for Breakfast. Last Sunday the topic of Front Mud Flaps came up after one of the guys picked up a bolt in his rear tire.
Now this particular rider felt if he had a Mud Flap up front it may have kept him from getting a flat. His reasons are,,,, in his 50 yrs of riding he has had many rear flats due to nails (or bolts) but only remembers one flat on the front from a nail. He feels the front tire kicks up the debris and sets it up for the rear to pick it up. A Mud Flap will collect it and drop it harmlessly back in the road.

I am NOT trying to dispel his theory, or looking to refute his argument, just wondering what others think on this subject.

In my 45+ years of riding, probably more than 400k miles, I have never had a nail in the front tire [knock on wood]. Have had nails or screws in the rear tires perhaps 4-5 times. I also had been told that the front kicks it up for the rear to hit. Don't know if that is factual or not.

I've also been told that a lot of punctures occur as a result of nails/screws on dirt roads. I had about a mile of dirt street to my house for years and picked up a nail/screw in a couple of motorcycle tires, as well as two in auto tires (rear also).

I had a front fender extension on my GoldWing, but am not putting one on my B. I have seen several front fenders damaged when the extension strikes a sudden drop-off. I decided that I'd put up with the dirt that gets thrown up on the front of the engine.

I would not think that a rear flap on the front fender would negate punctures sustained by the rear tire. The front tire simply will reposition whatever nail/bolt it runs over without throwing it up into the mudflap.

I have installed a mudflap simply to cut down on road spray/grime sprayed on the front end

Some guys here may remember RJ on the VRCC Board. RJ was a retired CHP Motorcycle officer. He always advocated for the idea of a flap on the front to cut down on rear flats for the very reason you mentioned. He said that the CHP put mudflaps on their motorcycles for that very reason and after over a million miles on bikes, he strongly believed the theory of the front kicking up the debris and the flap keeping it from getting into the rear.

The thought is that the front tire stands up a nail, screw, bolt then the rear hits it while it’s still standing up. The front mud flap would need to be very close to the ground. Think the leather style with fringe reaching the ground. On a steel fender it’s no big deal if the mud flap hit the ground. Big problems on our abs fenders. Something with fringes under the motor my be useful. Think of the brush flaps that RVs use to protect there tow vehicle.

The theory seems sound because dual axle tucks get more flats on the rear axle. But who knows if a flap really helps, guess it can't hurt.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by six2go

Some guys here may remember RJ on the VRCC Board. RJ was a retired CHP Motorcycle officer. He always advocated for the idea of a flap on the front to cut down on rear flats for the very reason you mentioned. He said that the CHP put mudflaps on their motorcycles for that very reason and after over a million miles on bikes, he strongly believed the theory of the front kicking up the debris and the flap keeping it from getting into the rear.

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I have to agree with old RJ, in my conversations with him he and I spoke about this very thing years ago.
It seemed to work on my two Valkyries for 300k miles. only had two flats in all those miles. Yes one in front because of
a defective valve stem.

Thanks guys, I must admit my thoughts were always just the opposite. A Mud Flap would catch a nail (or such) and drop it back down in alignment for the rear to hit. But it does seem that belief is with the Mud Flap.

All very interesting..

Some of the H-D touring guys run a low fairly stiff flap in front of the rear wheel. That would look better and maybe work better too

I've ridden well over 600,000 miles and had dozens of rear punctures, but only one in a front tire. The same pattern appears to apply to the cars and trucks I've owned. If you search the internet, the explanation is usually that the front tire flicks a nail or screw up, and occasionally the angle and timing is perfect for the object to puncture the rear.

I'd think that a mud flap might help in some cases, but definitely not all. I won't mount one on any of my bikes because I've heard of many cases where the fender was damaged either from the flap striking the ground, or from the mounting holes. I'll take my chances and carry a pump and some tire plugs.

Being in the tire business, I can concur that "most" nails and objects are in rear tires. I also agree with Dan, that a mud flap would keep the debris to the road more, but don't see the logic in how it would stop the rear tire from still running it over.

IMO the fender extension only keeps the bike a little less dirty. I've got at least 500k under my belt on 2 wheels and I've only had 1 rear flat fortunately and it was due to a faulty valve stem. Now getting a flat due to a drunk driver is a different story.