The GT versions, Steve? Curious, as I just bought a set. My Conti RoadAttack2 is going fast.
I'm not surprised your bike acted a bit squirrelly with a front at 42 psi. Same with the sliding in the corners feeling. Your contact patch is smaller with the overinflated tire and the corners are where your contact patch diminishes even more and you need more grip. That "slide a bit" will quickly become a more uncomfortable feeling as soon as your bike slides out from under you (and the missus) in the blink of an eye.
Knowing how to ride has nothing to do with my comment. From the appearance of those tires, it looks like most of the riding has been straight up, with the large centre flat spotting.
Bush this is a good explanation for what I have felt. It is time to experiment again with pressures.
I have run these tire pressures in the past and what was has happened is that I went thru the tires in in 2500 to 3500 miles front and rear. My 1100 compared to others is very hard on tires. It might be my riding style it might be the bike. I don't know. What I do know is that the higher tire pressure works well for me on this bike.
I would say for most riders of these types of bikes that 75% of the time is straight up riding. That is the way roads and highways are designed. I have asked many folks about the flat spot you speak of including the people I get my tires from and no one sees that as an issue. It is considered normal for dual compound tires. If you take a closer look at the rear you will notice that there is also very even tread wear across the tire. Yes the center is wore but look at the sides wear the different rubber compounds meet it is very noticeable. The depth of the thread is even and well worn.
I wouldn't experiment, I would stick with what's recommended by the MGF... MHO...
Can't be "the motorcycle"... probably the style (heavy on brakes and throttle), maybe the tarmac (abrasive), ambient & deck temperatures combined with speed (doing +100mph at >100?F and such) and to a good deal the payload/distribution...
I'm always amazed that folks manage to get 3 flat spots on their rear tires... there is the flat centre (that's from spending long highway/motorway hours, vertical...) and from that two equally angled lean marks... like if they always ride the exact same lean angle at the exact same speed...??
I suggest it might be a combination of road architecture, weight and riding style. Here in Alberta (and most of North America) the majority of our roads aren't based on goat and cart tracks, but are predominantly, planned, straight road sections, with intersections generally at right angles. This puts most riding in a straight line, flattening the middle of the tire, and most turns at right angles, which focuses the wear at a particular spot. If you're like me and ride conservatively with a pinion, the extra wear cornering with that extra weight is not near the edge of the contact patch, but generally focused on one strip on each side of the tire, fairly close to the edge of the harder centre material, which removes the softer rubber exposing the edge of the harder centre material. I suspect this is what produces the three flat spots on the rear tire. YM obviously V.
What the heck does this mean?
So they take a map, place a ruler on it, draw a line and that's the road... ;-)
Obviously... :lol:
Your mileage obviously varies, as does your bike's colour.
I think Tom was 'going for' YMMV but didn't quite pull it off!
This happens often to those dad gum Blue ST riders.
