Fifty Plus (50+) - kind of dumb question on tire installation

Bought a new tire called, Serfas rear specific directional design. Does it matter which way you put the tire on? Never noticed before on my old tires when changing tubes. Does the tread have to face a certain way? Should I put the tire on with the fancy lettering on the chain side. There are a few arrow looking things on the tread design. Should they point forward? Sorry for such a newbie question.

Most tires can be put on either direction, but some are supposed to face a certain direction, and it sounds like the ones you have are supposed to. If they have an arrow, you put them on in such a way that, riding forward, the tires roll in the direction of the arrow.

Some Conti tires specify direction, as do the Kenda Kwests I have on one of my bikes.

Bought a new tire called, Serfas rear specific directional design.
Look for a directional arrow on the sidewall. If there's no arrow, do whatever you want.

http://www.cyclenutz.com/repairtips/images/tire_drive_direction.jpg

That's an arrow on the sidewall...not "arrow looking things on the tread design", which may or may not coincide with the appropriate rotation direction. There should be a rotation direction indicator somewhere. If there isn't, there should have been instructions that came with the tire. If not that, check the manufacturer's website. If that fails, email them! No sense paying for specialized directional tires and then installing them the wrong way.

If that is a Serfas "Gator" directional tire then the chevrons (arrow looking things) should be mounted so that they point forward when on the bottom (rearward when on top) of the wheel. Directional tires are usually designed to provide a "scooping" action in loose dirt or other terrain. In the case of your tread design, the inside of the chevron grabs the dirt and "scoops" it backwards which improves the tires forward bite.

Some directional tire sets would have the chevrons pointing in the opposit direction when on the front of the bike for improved braking traction. Other tire sets that are specific to front/rear mounting have a different tread design. The Serfas Gator front tire is such a design. It has a knob pattern designed to promote directional response (steering). Other brands of rear/front tires such as this include the WTB Veloceraptor set and the IRC Mythos XC.

Not all brands of directional specific tires are also front/rear specific. Some simply have a tread design that works better in one direction than the other.

Thank you for your prompt replies. My tire is Serfas Vermin R. It has a Kevlar belt. Lately I've been dodging broken glass, cat claw type thorns and giant goathead stickers. The last goathead I pulled out, air & slime hissed out in my face and my tire quickly went flat.