Thoughts on uneven front tire wear?

[hohum]

Picking up my new bike this friday, but I need to get some new tires for it because the front tire is toast and has some pretty unusual wear...

Just curious as to some thoughts as to the causes of this wear pattern.. Rear tire looks to have worn out normally (still a teensy bit of life left in the rear tire), but the front tire is worn HEAVILY but the wear is in a consistent band but only on one side of the tire, the left side, just to the left of the centerline. This cause a little bit of a wobbly feeling when I took the bike out for a test spin... as you transitioned for left hand turn to right hand turn you can feel it traverse the worn part of the tire...

Any ideas to what could cause the tire to wear like this?

Cheers,
Chris

[mycirus]

Roads are tilted for rain runoff, the left side is on the higher part of the road.

Bruce

[hohum]

Heh, never thought of that..

It still seems a little odd though because all of the worst wear is to the left of the centerline of the tire... I would think road grade would cause more wear on the left side of the tire, but it would be evenly gradiated across the centerline isntead of all to the left of it...

[Stoneman]

Yip. The crown of the road together with improper tire pressure. It's always happened on most of my bikes. I wouldn't be overly concerned...

Incorrect tire inflation is a sure way to detroy tires, FAST...

[benVFR]

Also check suspension settings, the previous owner could have had them wrong for his/her weight.

And then there is the possibility that this person had something wrong with their technique on the entrance to left hand corners that would cause the wear. He/She could have had some kind of issue with higher fear in left hand corners and been trail braking into them.

Also certain tires on certain bikes will just do weird things. One of the sets I had on my VFR wore weird in the front, and the bike seems to be known for that, although it was at least symmetrical. It would cause a little shake if I let go of the bars completely and let the bike start slowing down from highway speeds.

edit: Duh yah tire pressure. That is just a no-brainer though. Keep the pressure right, save money, be able to ride faster, be safer.

Ben

[RandyO]

crown in road causes wear just to left of center as mentioned..scalloping is more common than not. On my Sv, I always had it with stock MeZ4s with D205s and with Pirelli MTR60s, scalloping went away when I mounted Azaros, at first I though my riding might have improved, but with Distanzias, the scalloping came back.

[stoinkythepig]

one other thing I feel compelled to add:

Since we drive on the right side of the road, all left hand corners are longer than right hand corners. If the lane is the typical (I think) 11 feet wide, the lefts are always 11*pi feet longer.

[hohum]

All great reasons for why it may be worn on that side only!

Thanks, that makes me a lot less worried, since it seems likely that it could be one of these things that caused the problem...

Cheers,
Chris

[Karaya One]

Scallopping, or "cupping" as it is more commonly known mostly occurs on faired motorcycles. It is caused by the bike's fairing pushing through the air and causing the bike to enter a very minor occilation. You can't feel it, but that movement is what leads to the cupping, or uneven wear on front tires.

My two Concours were great for cupping tires, no matter what brand I used.

Michelin had some literature on this, and I have spoken to a Michelin tech about it - one of the perks of working for a Michelin Direct Distributor.

Michelin has addressed the issue with it's newest rubber, such as the Anakee. It's larger tread blocks resist cupping, and this makes for a much more even wearing front tire.

The other issue that helps promote cupping is the wrong tire pressure. Check it often! Make sure its the correct pressure for the bike, the load and the conditions.

The new Pilot Power, which will replace the Pilot Sport come July also has characteristics in belt, tread and rubber compound that will help promote more even wear and longer life compared to the Pilot Sport. It will also heat up quicker.

The Pilot Power is gonna be The Shit. This tire is going to rule.

[benVFR]

Wow Dave, that is some really interesting information... very cool.

Sounds like a bunch of the tire manufacturers are just starting to switch over from hand made tires to computerized/robotic construction. I think I had read Pirelli had started this year?

We may get lucky and see another big improvement in tires.

Ben

[Rye]

Originally posted by Karaya One
one of the perks of working for a Michelin Direct Distributor.

is the other perk seriously discounted rubber for members of NESR......group buy?

[PinHead]

Originally posted by Rye
is the other perk seriously discounted rubber for members of NESR......group buy?

I told ya how much I got those 3 rear tires for didn't I
Thanks Dave !

[Karaya One]

When you look at all the time and money put into tires on a racing machine like MotoGP and F1, that tech does trickle down to road tires.

The only place where it may not is NASCAR due to its use of a spec tire in Goodyear.

The Pilot Power has a direct connection to MotoGP. Michelin learned a lot with the advent of very high power four-strokes in GP racing and even WSB. The Power and the riding public will benefit.

The latest 180 Pilot Sports that we got in on Monday are now built using a different process which will be fully realized on the Power. You can tell by the inner casing. The Power will take full advatage of this.

The Sport will be fazed out and the Power will take over completely.

The Race II DOT tires will not change this year. The only addition is of a 160 rear in the M compound for SV650 racers.

We also have the new Super Motard tires. These things are the SHIT. They are non-DOT. The casing front and rear is from a slick, but with a new compound. And they are grooved with marks to provide for grooving if you need them.

The other introduction this year is the 1800 Series entry level slicks. They are built upon the Pilot Sport casing, and are designed to get a rider who may not have wanted to buy slicks in the past a chance to get into them at an entry level price.

Now - deals on race tires? I can do track pricing for sure - usually 375.00 a set for DOT Race II's. If you need 110 fronts or 170 rears I have those super cheap right now.

[Polonius]

OK! Geniuses!

Please define - and I know it changes and I know it ain't the manufaturer's recommended pressure...I think i've learned that the following applies:

1. Correct starting pressure for a given enviromental climate condition especially temperature and riding type - Highway vs. Sport - pressure should increase to a maximum of 10% from initial.

2. The colder the cimate condition, the lower the tire pressure. This will rattle the tire about a bit and heat it up. don't let it rise more than 10%.

3. The higher the climate temprature, the higher the pressure to stiffen the tire and maintain cooling. Again, the mamimum increase should be capped at 10%.

4. Fast highway riding to get to the twistiy roads should be under high initial pressure to keep the tire cool. (Go for the mfr recommendations.) When you get to the twisties, let out the pressure to the point where you have learned that the counter steeting will feel slugish. Stabalize the starting twity pressure to just above the point where the steering feels crisp and the check along the ride to ensure that the tire pressure has increased only 10%. If more then 10%, add pressure. if less, drop another pound or so until it comes our correct.

Safe riding and happy handling.

Your Pal Big Al

Unless I hear and read of different opinions. I am of an open mind.

What thinks thouists?