Uneven front and rear wear, cupping...

[tom_nuke]

I bought my bike early 2014 (2009 FZ6), bike had fairly new PR3's installed. Since then, I've put roughly 7k miles on them. They are due for replacement and I noticed an odd, uneven wear on them (see pics). I see 2 issues, uneven wear and cupping. I think I can fix the cupping by adjusting rear pre-load, but what can I do to address the uneven wear? It's consistent front to back.

For replacements, what are all the cool kids running these days? I do a mix of commuting, weekend twisties and 2-up. Tires that can handle cold and wet weather would also be at the top of my list. Don't do track days or anything too crazy like that...

Appreciate any advice.

Thanks!

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Don't know what to say, I've exclusively ridden on Michelin for almost 100k miles and never experienced cupping, squaring or uneven wear. But for some reason I go thru my front almost 2:1 vs my rear.

Based on your riding, you should stick with the PP4 roads.

 

[raja777m]

+1^
PR4 to go,
7k miles and they look pretty good with same riding as yours, but less 2-up.

 

[dbldutch02]

My PR3's went the same way at the end, I ditched them at 7.5k (1.5k more than my battlaxes lasted) I didn't wear them as far as you, I wouldn't want to out on tyres that bald in a summer shower, let alone what the police would make of them!

Now on PR4's, they do everything the PR3's did, just a little better

 

[Cloggy]

My first (and last) PR3's cupped as well, since then I have run 2 pairs of PR4's (which I find a better tyre) without any probs :thumbup:

EDIT: I tend to go through rear tyres quicker than front ones

 

[raja777m]

My first (and last) PR3's cupped as well, since then I have run 2 pairs of PR4's (which I find a better tyre) without any probs :thumbup:

EDIT: I tend to go through rear tyres quicker than front ones

I think, for me the other way around or both tires even.
Shinko (front) 7k miles, PR4 (rear) 5k+ miles.
I'm 5'7", 152lbs.
No wheelies, no burn-outs so far.
But the front tire is ready to be changed, because, I see some wobbles on the handlebar and dropped mileage in past 800 miles.

 

[FinalImpact]

The lack of rebound damping shows on the rear. As for how you wore one side off, I'd do some checking to make sure rear wheel is tracking straight ahead. Doing the String Alignment comes to mind. Has the bike ever been down in an accident?

JM2C, but because the center tread is gone, the feathered edges are moot point as you still have plenty of tread.


FWIW: BT-023 at ~8,000 miles. Some feathering on the edges but little squaring. A product of where and how I ride. Plus the Chip Tar that eats tires... R1 shock on the back too! Left is a new BT-023...

 

[The_Paragon]

As for how you wore one side off, I'd do some checking to make sure rear wheel is tracking straight ahead. Doing the String Alignment comes to mind.

+1 My thoughts as well. I bike with a mis-aligned rear wheel will sit slightly canted going straight down the road.

Other than that, I got about 10,000mi out of my rear PR3. I thought that was quite respectable. Yours probably have about the same mileage or close. Fairly new + 7,000mi probably = 10k miles.

Front motorcycle tires get cupped... its just the nature of the beast.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Raj, you sure fill up a lot. You ride a lot!

Randy I agree, the chip seal surface eats up our tires. I use to get 15-16k miles out of every set of my tires when I lived down in Vegas. After moving to Idaho where it's nothing but chip seal, I was lucky to get 7-8k miles.

 

[raja777m]

Randy I agree, the chip seal surface eats up our tires. I use to get 15-16k miles out of every set of my tires when I lived down in Vegas. .

Wow, you're a very careful and smooth rider

Raj, you sure fill up a lot. You ride a lot!

I was showing my concern with mpg drop..!
My city only used to be 45-48mpg, now it got dropped to 42-44mpg.
Same style of rising, same type of cold starts twice a day, with added wobble on my front tire, I kind of hate going long distances now.
I'm going out of country for October(last 3 weeks), So, once I come back, I will do the maintenance call.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Altitude will have an effect on your mileage, I got 62mpg not too long ago. Not sure if some of your higher MPG was up in the mountains.

 

[tom_nuke]

The lack of rebound damping shows on the rear. As for how you wore one side off, I'd do some checking to make sure rear wheel is tracking straight ahead. Doing the String Alignment comes to mind. Has the bike ever been down in an accident?

That was my first step, string align the rear. Could that cause the front the also wear unevenly? As far as I know, bikes never been down at speed. I had one driveway drop when I first got her.

Looks like the PR4's are a nice improvement over the PR3... I'll have to start pricing them out.

I hear the Shinko's are a good value alternative, anyone have long term experience with those?

Thoughts on BT23 vs s20 EVO?

Tom

 

[FinalImpact]

So you detected the tire wear, but how many miles has it been ridden since the string alignment / AND, did you make adjustments to the rear wheels thrust angle?

Point is this: it took thousands of miles to wear that tire to that point, how many miles since the rear was adjusted to correct it? Maybe it is fixed but hasn't shown this due to lack of miles traveled?

Is the front tire also worn more on one side? I couldn't tell from the picture? Some say road camber does this. Our roads are cambered (rains plenty here) and in 24,000 miles mine have never worn more on one side.... Perhaps slab miles could do this where the bike is never pushed into the corner????

 

[tom_nuke]

I just noticed the uneven wear in the last few hundred miles or so. I've never aligned it, but that will change soon. I really only noticed as the tires were getting near the end of life.

Yes, the front is also worn to the left side as well. I can understand a little uneven wear due to road grades/cambering, but this seems more than I would expect. Most of my miles are commuting on 2 lane roads North of Atlanta (50 miles a day). Definitely more curves and turns that a typical slab commute. A guy at work joked I must make more left hand turns than right. Could it be as simple as that?

 

[motojoe122]

That was my first step, string align the rear. Could that cause the front the also wear unevenly? As far as I know, bikes never been down at speed. I had one driveway drop when I first got her.

Looks like the PR4's are a nice improvement over the PR3... I'll have to start pricing them out.

I hear the Shinko's are a good value alternative, anyone have long term experience with those?

Thoughts on BT23 vs s20 EVO?

Tom

I had a set of Ravens 009 that I got close to 13k out of. I found the PR2's to be a much better tire tho.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FinalImpact]

I would never run another Bstone S20! Tire is crap for mileage and the carcass is soft.

Front is BT016 Pro Rear is BT023. They cheap and stick well. But you wont see 13,000 miles from them. 8-10 max.

 

[tom_nuke]

Update!!

Even though the tires are due to be replaced really soon, I decided to try the string alignment method today (and checking chain slack). Partly to practice, partly to try and see if this is an alignment issue.

Before starting anything, I have to note the axle showed even alignment on both sides using the markings on the swing arm.

First I adjusted the chain, which did need a little lovin. Once that was dialed in, I setup the string.

Wow, the back wheel was pretty far off! (see attached pic) It's tough to see in the picture, but there was at least a 1" difference on each side, when measured from the front disc directly under the fork (trying to eliminate any variation of the front wheel being off center even the slightest). Leaving the sprocket side stationary, I started moving the right side forward until I had a straight alignment.

After buttoning everything back up, a test ride confirmed all is well. I noticed that right hand turns where not as squirrelly (seat of the pants test). Left handers always seemed a bit more comfortable than right handers.

Thanks to everyone for your help and advice!

Tom

 

[FinalImpact]

^^ Fixed objects like your jack stands make that a lot easier to deal with. And yes, its seems pretty obvious....
Anyway, well done! lets see how it unfolds after some new tread is installed!