Tire wear experience

[tbtapper]

I have a sweet old 1100RSL. Last cycle I put BT21's on primarily because of price but also because they have the "new" dual compound concept that makes sense to me at least in concept.

 

Last week after a run to/through the Dragon area I noticed the front tire was almost bald on the left side (sitting on the bike) while the right was sort of ok.

 

This wear pattern is not apparently unusual but the fact that it has happened in under 5k miles is. Most interestingly the rear tire looks hardly worn at all which is also unusual from my prior experience.

 

This is the lowest mileage I have ever gotten on a tire. Anyone else have any experience with the Bridgstones and this kind of wear pattern??

 

Lucky me I do live right at the base of western NC and my riding is exclusively on those sort of roads with spirited but not race speed pace. Anyway, I've always ridden these roads on other tires so that is not an explanation.

 

Thanks

 

Travers

95 1100RSL

[don_m]

I had the same experience with the 21's .very disappointed. I now run the Dunlap "road smart" and they seem to be lasting longer.

[boatzo]

Travers,

I had a set of BTo21s several years ago that lasted 11k miles. I also had a problem similar to yours later on with the front tire wearing on the left side. A dealer's service mgr. said, "they all do that, its' the crown in the road". I also had bad PTTR and all this was after the dealer changed the tires. I got a second opinion from an independent service shop and he suspected a fork alignment problem. I followed his instructions, removed the front wheel and sure enough, the axle would not slide freely from one side to the other. It was in a bind. I loosened the bolts on the lower fork bridge, aligned the forks for a free sliding axle, retorqued everything and also followed the procedure of bumping the front wheel & brakes to seat everything (this is in the Clymer manual.

 

I can now say that I have eliminated the PTTR and the front tire wear has equalized. I am now on a new set of 880's after getting 10k miles on my last set of Pilot Roads.

 

Try this and see if it helps. It may be too late for your tire and you may need to replace it.

 

Good luck

[tbtapper]

Thanks for the alignment advice. When I replace the tire I will definitely do that check.

 

Can you elaborate a little more on the "bump align" process in Clymer I don't have that manual. Sounds like loosen stuff a little and let it all sort of self align and then re-torque.

 

Guess I'll go with the BT21 again since the rear tire looks so good and the alignment may square away the hyper wear problem.

 

Thanks again.

 

Travers

[boatzo]

Travers,

 

The bump procedure is to leave the axle pinch bolts just snug, then rock the bike forward and hit the front brake and do this a couple of times. I also read somewhere to push the bike forward and bump the front wheel against a solid wall. This doesn't have to be a crash just bump it and then torque the axle bolts.

 

Hope this helps.

[Mr. Frank]

The bump process is meant to allow the forks to move a bit on the axle to reduce any binding. Therefore the pinch bolts must be loose and the large axle bolt should be tightened before you bounce. After the bouncing you can properly torque the pinch bolts.

[T__]

Travers, different tires on different bikes react differently to different riders.. What works good for me might not work good for you in your riding area on your roads..

 

I usually get about 5k on a front tire,, sometimes slightly more but usually not much more..

 

That accelerated L/H side tire wear is pretty normal as L/H corners are longer as well as L/H curves..

 

Just take that worn tire & set it on level ground,, then lean it over until the wear area on the tire is on the pavement.. I think you will find that tire lean is way more than any road crown in your riding area & way more that any fork alignment could have it leaning.. Remember a bike corners by leaning & if the worn spot isn’t actually touching the pavement it won’t wear in that area.. Now if you actually are riding down the road with the front tire leaned over that far then you do have severe bike alignment issues,, my guess is you would notice that yourself though..

 

If that particular tire is wearing prematurely & your riding style,, roads,, speeds,, aggressiveness,, & cornering loads are the same as always then you are either running incorrect air pressure for that tire or for some other reason that tire construction & rubber compound isn’t suited for your bike,, roads,, & riding style (try a different brand)..

 

 

Twisty