Abnormal tire wear after suspension/pressure changes

[DeSudet]

I did a quick search and found several references to tire wear being an indication or cause of a problem, but nothing quite matching what I'm seeing.

My front has about 11,000 miles on it and it was looking good for another 5,000, until I noticed a bit of cupping (this was when it only had 8-9k mi). Found several threads that recommended going up to 39-40 instead of the mfr recommended 36 (it's a '13) and that seemed to do it for the cupping.

About 1,000miles ago, I came across a thread that gave some good clear instructions on suspension tuning and I went ahead and tightened everything up. Front pre-load at 1 ring showing, rebound and compression damping at 4-6 clicks out. The ride and handling has improved greatly, but now I've noticed a bit of vibration up front, and relaxing my grip at speed (>50mph) brings a wobble into play. Double checking the tire this week, I noticed that the left side (about an inch wide and an inch off center) has worn very poorly (about half the tread remaining compared to the rest of the tire) and is cupping pretty badly, but only on the edges of this worn strip. I double checked that my preload is evenly set in case that might have caused a lean and that looks fine. Being a commuter, the roads are the same 23 mile stretch each way. No crown to speak of and it's pretty well balanced as far as turns goes. One tight high-speed left that is a slightly tighter right on the way home. The rest are all high-speed sweepers. I'll be ordering another tire just as soon as I decide which one. This one is a ContiMotion, which I like, but have seen a couple of Metzlers that look interesting and I've heard several other recommendations I want to research more in depth.

I was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on things to check before I put on a new tire and possibly sacrifice it to whatever might be causing this wear.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Your tires are old. Replace them.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Just guessing but with 11,000 miles on it already the tire may be the whole problem. That would actually be the first thing I would replace and I would do it with something besides another Conti.

Do check your steering head bearings and all the other usual suspects anyway though, you never know. You will need a new tire anyway.

 

[Intech]

One line out on the pre-load is just going to amplify the bad tire. That is stiff. The cupping will all feedback. As previously stated, replace you tires. You are expecting performance out of a spent tire. With a new tire I would recommend 2 lines out on the pre-load, 12 clicks OUT on the rebound dampening and 7-8 clicks OUT on the rebound.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Echoing above, change the front tire and loosen up the suspension settings. Tire wear sounds pretty typical for the mileage you have, with more wear on left verses right side.

--G

 

[Harald]

In case you need another person to tell you the same thing Your tire wear is normal and it's time to replace it.

I run my fronts at 40psi and have minimal cupping. I just replaced a front PR2 that was below the wear bars at about 15,000 !!! miles and other than handling like a truck, there was no 50mph wobble. I put a new Conti Motion tire on and immediately got the 50mph wobble when I let go of or only very lightly hold the bars. Although I had a great experience with my previous Conti Motion trial, it sounds like this wobble is a "feature" of this tire. ;(

 

[Intech]

I don't know how the hell you guys get that many miles out of a tire! I must be doing it wrong, but I am doing it FUN!

 

[08FJR4ME]

Less curves more straights is how. I live in flatlandistan.

New PR2 and it is fixed. 40 PSI as stated above.

Dave

 

[DeSudet]

Most of my riding (READ: ~90%) is commuting on superslab between and after rush hours @80mph+/-. I wish I had more time and money to head up to canyon country and really have fun with it, but lately I can't even afford an extra tank At least I have my Yamaha card to keep me in tires I got 20,000mi out of my stock rear

I'm still not convinced that a 1 inch wide badly worn strip on only one side of the tire is normal, especially with the rest of the tire worn perfectly even, but I'm going to give the PR4 a try. Wish they had a GT in stock, but I'll take what they've got. Today's commute was a little nerve-wracking on that tight left I mentioned before. Started shimmying just a bit AND had a cage change into my lane mid-turn.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

It is not uncommon to have more wear on the left side of the front on a big and heavy sport tourer. The Honda ST1300 was notorious for that. There are several reasons I have heard and not all of them make sense. I will give you three of the more "reasonable" reasons you might wear more on the left side of your front tire.

1. The bike spends more time turning left. You ride on the right hand side of the road which makes every left hand curve longer than right hand curves. In a left hand curve you are on the outside of the turn, on a right hand curve you are on the inside of the turn.

2. Road crown is usually dropping to the right, tire wear on left side of tire. Even if it is hard to notice it, most roads have some crown or slope.

3. Folks tend to put more stuff in the right side case more often. Simply because it is on the high side when the bike is on the sidestand. You have to compensate for that off balance weight even if you don't notice it.

I have not heard anything positive about the Continental on our bikes other than they seem to last a long time. Try one of the preferred tires. Some of us like the Michelin PR 2s, 3s, and 4s. Others like the Bridgestone BT-023 and 030.

 

[DeSudet]

According to a local riding coach, the wear I'm seeing is due to technique, not technical problems. Seems if you habitually ride slightly off center or with one arm tensed more than the other, the bike will be going straight down the road at a slight lean, which will cause one side or the other to wear more than the rest. I need to find a good yoga or meditation studio nearby to find my center better Anyway, new PR4 on the front. We'll see how that one does. VERY glad I asked what pressure they ran it up to before leaving. For some reason, they thought it was a sport bike and only put 32psi in.

 

[wfooshee]

Technically, the bike is going down the road at a slight lean all the time, because as 'fish pointed out, roads are crowned, higher in the center, on the bike's left.

 

[Mudslide Miller]

+3. Roads and highways are crowned; Fact! There's no way the wear is from you riding with the bike slightly leaned to the left, unless you consistently ride in cross wind conditions. I've commute daily in Phx for the past 15 years and gone through dozens of sets of tires and never had a set that didn't wear more on the left side. This is just motorcycle tire 101.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

I love how he asks us, we all give basically the same answer but then...

The "Local Riding Coach" says something different so THAT is the answer.

 

[TomInPA]

First, your tires need to be replaced. They are worn out and even if they just had that many miles, they still would handle like crap.

Second, you used a one-size-fits-all Gen I suspension tuning recommendation. A great starting point for a Gen I, but way to rigid for a Gen III. You need to back off the pre-load and if you need help on some suspension settings, start a new thread, post your weight and riding style, and you'll ge some help applicable to your Gen III.

About 1,000miles ago, I came across a thread that gave some good clear instructions on suspension tuning and I went ahead and tightened everything up. Front pre-load at 1 ring showing, rebound and compression damping at 4-6 clicks out. The ride and handling has improved greatly, but now I've noticed a bit of vibration up front, and relaxing my grip at speed (>50mph) brings a wobble into play.

 

[DeSudet]

I love how he asks us, we all give basically the same answer but then...
The "Local Riding Coach" says something different so THAT is the answer.

I was going to just let this thread die since I've replaced the tire, but if you insist...

I used to work on car tires back in the day and one thing that always held true was that tire wear is a good indicator of other problems. If I had a tire on my car that was wearing one side or the other more, I'd be doing checks on the alignment, specifically toe and camber. Obviously, motorcycle tires are different, and I'm getting used to that, but I still have a hard time accepting that one little strip being at the wear bars while the rest of the tire has more than 50% of its original tread can be chalked up to normal wear.

The streets around here are crowned, several more so than I've encountered elsewhere around the country. Most of my riding is on the local freeways. Both home and work are less than a block away from them, at most 1 mile of normally crowned roads. The crowning on the freeways around here is weird by comparison. Virtually none and/or reversed, sloped into the median, more than 80% of the way. (@Miller: SR-51 & T-bird south to I-10 & Elliot, if you pay close attention, you'll see what I mean).

When I thought back on little things I'd noticed but not really considered, things like not feeling centered in the seat, what that riding coach said made sense. It could be that I was unconsciously shifting to compensate for the flat spot instead. I may have been keeping more pressure on the left grip to reduce strain on my imperfectly healed right wrist that got pretty well shattered in a wreck a few years ago. Since the tire has been replaced with a new PR4, it's both moot and a chicken/egg. I'm paying closer attention to exactly how I ride now, so if it is what he said, hopefully I won't run into the same issue this time around. Time and miles will tell.

For those who say the suspension settings I was using are too harsh, I agree. Going down the superslab, it's perfect, but what little time I spend on normal streets, it is a bit much. I've been slowly backing off the dampers and am currently at 8 out front compression, 6 out front rebound, and 6 out rear compression. I'm getting closer to what feels right for me. This coming weekend, I'll probably reduce the preload a little bit, but so far I'm happy with it. It's a work in progress. YMMV.

 

[Just Krusen]

One other factor comes into play with tire wear. Left turns are almost twice as long as right turns. Also many people are more comfortable making left turns and tend to do so more aggressively. Thus there is more left side wear just from corners.

 

[DeSudet]

I just want to take a moment to apologize to some of you. You were right, I just needed a little bit more than "it's normal" for it to click.

Motorcycle Tire Wear

 

[HotRodZilla]

I just want to take a moment to apologize to some of you. You were right, I just needed a little bit more than "it's normal" for it to click.

Motorcycle Tire Wear

Ooooooooooooooooooooo...Just for that, we're sending you pictures of Bust NAKED. Enjoy!!