rocketman Posted June 10, 2005 Posted June 10, 2005 I have an 04 Lemans with 5500 miles. My front tire is wearing crazy...almost bald on the left side. Right side wear looks normal with some cupping. Is this possibly suspension related? I was hoping to get at least 8-10 miles out of it. As far as cornering goes I know I don't favor the left side over the right. I am scheduled to have the Marzocchi forks serviced soon. Looks like I will be replacing the tire too. I hope this corrects the problem. Has anyone else experienced this? Please share your thoughts with me. Rocketman
edge Posted June 10, 2005 Posted June 10, 2005 My front OEM Briodgestone wore very badly with asymetrical wear and cupping. Barely made it to 4K during annual MVA inspection. It was run under pressure the prior season due to improper servicing. I had a sticking pressure gauge, I found the one I used to check it with was showing 10-15 psi more than actual.
guzzi323 Posted June 10, 2005 Posted June 10, 2005 My front tire is wearing crazy...almost bald on the left side. Right side wear looks normal with some cupping. As far as I can tell, this is normal for roads where you dfrive on the left hand side. A) The road is crowned in the middle so for left turns it's off camber (and more prone to slidding and tire wear) and for right turns it's on camber (less sliding and wear.) Left turns you have better visibility through the turn so you might tend to go a little faster through the turn. The opposite is true for rioght hand turns. I always wear the left side a a front tire more than the right on every bike I've owned. johnk
dlaing Posted June 10, 2005 Posted June 10, 2005 My left front wears out like crazy. My rear tire is nice and even...maybe a tiny bit more wear on the left, but nothing like the front. I have been blaming it on the the Compression Left / Rebound Right set up of the early V11 models....but if the newer do it too, than maybe it is something else
Steve G. Posted June 11, 2005 Posted June 11, 2005 Sounds like you need to ride in the fast lane from now on. Either that or ride in your lane at a line on the other side of the ridge that has developed from trucks and cars. Ciao, Steve G.
Mike Stewart Posted June 11, 2005 Posted June 11, 2005 Most riders do wear the left side of the tire out more (sooner), at least in the US. This is because you can see farther around left hand turns so it is easier to lean more with out fear. At least that is what I do . Mike
rocketman Posted June 11, 2005 Author Posted June 11, 2005 Thanks for the input. I think you guys are correct. The left wears faster due to the crown of the road. I ride mostly two lane highways, very little freeway stuff. When I do travel the freeway I'm always in the fast lane going fast. And, because of greater visability which inspires confidence and higher speeds going left vs right. I guess I need to quit whining and face the fact I probably got all I am going to get out of my front tire. 5500 miles is all she wrote. Rocketman
dlaing Posted June 11, 2005 Posted June 11, 2005 So Rocketman, How is your rear tire wearing? I guess I am the only one that has the problem just on the front Those OHLINS better fix the problem
callison Posted June 11, 2005 Posted June 11, 2005 My left front wears out like crazy. My rear tire is nice and even...maybe a tiny bit more wear on the left, but nothing like the front. I have been blaming it on the the Compression Left / Rebound Right set up of the early V11 models....but if the newer do it too, than maybe it is something else 53937[/snapback] No kidding. Your left front wears out like crazy? Dave, are you driving a JZR these days? That's way cool. BTW, I've run through something like 11 sets of tires across both of my sport bikes. Typically, I get 7000-7500 miles per set. Currently I'm running Metzeler Sportec M1's. Front tends to wear a tad less than the rear, but I change them at the same time.
dlaing Posted June 11, 2005 Posted June 11, 2005 I guess I should not complain, and I should just replace them in pairs.... I'd be happier if I could get 7000 miles out of a tire. I probably need more air pressure. Time to calibrate the gauges!
Gio Posted June 16, 2005 Posted June 16, 2005 Same deal with BT-010 front (cupped on left side after ~12,000km just about to replace) but rear seems to wear evenly. Out of curiosity do you folks that ride on the left side of the road see cupping on the right of the tire (or should I say tyre?)...? Gio
rocketman Posted June 16, 2005 Author Posted June 16, 2005 So Rocketman, How is your rear tire wearing? I guess I am the only one that has the problem just on the front Those OHLINS better fix the problem 53942[/snapback] Dlaing, sorry it has taken so long to reply. My original rear tire took a big fat screw to the center puncturing the casing. That happened at 2000 miles. So the new rear has 4000 miles on it and is wearing really well (fingers crossed). Just now noticing a little squaring. I just remembered that I rode for approximately 1000 to 1500 miles without a speedo due to cable breakage. So that means I got about 6500-7000 miles out of the front tire. If I ever get to the place where both front and back need replacing together, I will consider another brand. Would like to try the Pirelli diablos or corsas everyone is raving about. Rocketman
Guest bshpilot Posted June 16, 2005 Posted June 16, 2005 heavy CUPPING of the front tire is more likely due to HEAVY breaking... if you look at the tire the leading (front) edge will be HIGHER than the REAR...because under heavy breaking the tire tread gives or rolls UNDER ever so slightly. the heavier the BIKE the worse the cupping...typically. on the sportier bikes i wear 2 rears to every front...on the KOUCH i typically wear 1.5 rears to every front...and thats if i can muster up some occassional self control & avoid performing any burn outs
GuzziHutch Posted June 19, 2005 Posted June 19, 2005 Rocketman, The OEM tires on my '03 Lemans have EXACTLY the same wear pattern you described after 4900 miles. The front is entirely cooked, bald on the left side. I'm glad I'm not the only one! Rear still has mileage left in it. I find this a little unusual for a bike with rear weight bias. Joe
dlaing Posted June 19, 2005 Posted June 19, 2005 To me it seems to make sense that the asymetrical damping could be causing the problem. Perhaps the problem could be reduced by increasing the pre-load on the Rebound fork My guess is that when braking, the right fork dives more than the left fork twisting the axle so that the left side of the tire gets more wear. Combined with the crown of the road, it wears out faster on the left, unless you are in the UK or something. Another solution, if at all possible, would be to switch the compression damper to the right side and the rebound to the left I just moved to an Ohlins fork, so I will let you know in 4000 miles how the tire is wearing
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