Tire wear

[Rodney]

My front Pilot Road has worn unevenly. Just to the left, the clutch side, of center, the tred is gone, while one the other side, and on the center of the tire the wear appears normal. I have run this tire longer than I should have. A week ago when I checked it there was still tred everywhere. It appeared to be wearing more on the left, but I couldn't be sure. I've done about 800 miles since then and now the uneven wear is very obvious. This is not cupping, the left side is fairly evenly worn. Is this indicative of a problem other than the tire itself? If I had changed this tire when I usually do I'd never have noticed the uneven wear.

 

By the way I have 2003 RT that just clocked 50-thousand trouble free miles and I can't say enough good things about this machine.

 

Thanks, for the collective wisdom.

 

Rod

[snod]

PTTR and TADT, pretty much cover what you are describing. (Pulls To The Right, They All Do That) The slight drift to the right makes the left side wear more. My AirHeads do the same thing.

[T__]

My front Pilot Road has worn unevenly. Just to the left, the clutch side, of center, the tred is gone, while one the other side, and on the center of the tire the wear appears normal. I have run this tire longer than I should have. A week ago when I checked it there was still tred everywhere. It appeared to be wearing more on the left, but I couldn't be sure. I've done about 800 miles since then and now the uneven wear is very obvious. This is not cupping, the left side is fairly evenly worn. Is this indicative of a problem other than the tire itself? If I had changed this tire when I usually do I'd never have noticed the uneven wear.

 

By the way I have 2003 RT that just clocked 50-thousand trouble free miles and I can't say enough good things about this machine.

 

Thanks, for the collective wisdom.

 

Rod

 

Rod, L/H side tire wear is a problem on about all motorcycles ridden in the united states.. Some bikes or tire combinations just handle it a little better than others).. There are many theories on the cause (doesn’t really matter though as it happens on most bikes & you have to live with it)..

 

If you care to do a little of your own research on why just have a couple of friends help you lean the bike over to the left until the wear area is flat on the pavement.. That would be the lean angle that the bike is at when that wear is occurring.. Or paint a few paint stripes across the tire with a brush then ride the bike in a parking lot.. Keep leaning the bike over a little more at a time to the left while riding in circles until the paint wears on the spot you have your L/H side wear showing at.. I’ll bet you a dozen donuts that the L/H wear you are getting will line right up with the lean angle you use when making left hand turns or corners.. Left hand turns for most motorcycle riders is a lot more distance than R/H turns plus most ride much faster with more throttle when turning left than right.. Same with L/H road curves,, most riders are more aggressive on L/H curves than R/H curves due to both line of sight being different & arc of curve being different..

 

Twisty

[Rodney]

Twisty & Snod thanks for your input. I didn't want to replace the tire before fixing a possible problem.

 

Rod

[Lips_BMW]

+1 on what Twisty said.

 

I had a similar issue with my superhawk, left side of the tries became "bald" alot sooner than the right side. (Love thoes left hand corners) I am expecting the same "problem" with my RT. Just try to work on cornering with the right side of the tires, you'll even them out.

 

- Jason

[Jim Miller]

I've run 42/40psi in my RT tires from day 1 and typically get 12,000 miles per set with no uneven wear characteristics at all. 48,000 miles on the clock. Currently on Avon Storms and love 'em!