strange tire wear

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I've seen the same thing, never had to ride it that long though.
I tend to think the left hand turns (US) are longer and gentler arcs than the left handers. I know I like to lean it over a bit more going left and make use of the power on tap. The wear on the last pic was not made by 'coasting' thru a turn.
Don't misunderstand me, I find absolutely nothing wrong with using up tires that way. You paid good money for that rubber.
 
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IMO, I don't think crowned roads have too much to do with left side tire wear. They're generally not near crowned enough as the wear is usually much higher on the tire. Plus, roads are generally crowned but it's not consistent/even across the lane, i.e. there are often other subtleties that wear both sides of the tire. My .02.
Most roads in the United States have a minimum of a 2% crown for water run off and curves may have 4 to 6% crown.
 

Sadlsor

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First... yeah, I see this is an older thread.
Posting anyway.
When I first got my ST, it had the original tires on it with 6300 miles on the bike. I ordered rubber, found an indie shop to mount them (wheels off), and I noticed severe wear on mostly the left side, both tires, but much more noticeable on the skinnier front tire. I KNOW our roads are crowned, but that still seemed excessive and unusual to me.
The mechanic patiently took me outside, and said "Look at the road from here." The crown was obvious when I looked for it.
While I had not seen this extensive of one-sided wear on my previous bikes, none have been as heavy as this 1300. Occasionally when off the bike, I will still look at the streets, and am able to clearly see the curvature of the roadway, some more, some less.
In the end, I'm now satisfied that all things being equal to some extent, my bike will always wear more quickly on the left side.
 

dduelin

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Left turns in the USA have the rider leaning to the left for a longer distance. This applies for small radius intersection turns as well as for open road sweepers. The radius of a left turn is larger than a right turn and the bike travels a longer distance. Crown has some effect too but it's time spent in lean that wears tires up to and including the edge of the tread.

Some people learn better from seeing. Myself included.

IMG_1654.jpg
 
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Andrew Shadow

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It won’t if you plunge and correct the forks.
A matter of degree of course, but no matter how perfect a condition the motorcycle is in, all other factors being equal, there will always be more wear left of centre than on any other part of the tire.
A motorcycle is very rarely being ridden on the exact centre of the tire even when going straight. This is because the roads that it is being ridden on are not flat, they slope downward from left to right in North America, so most of the time it is being ridden mostly on the section of tire that is just left of centre.
Crown has some effect too but it's time spent in lean that wears tires up to and including the edge of the tread.
Agreed, and I would offer that the curvature of the road crown results in the most continuous, perpetual and long lasting lean that we ride in and it is recurring every time that we ride. It may not be perceived as a lean because we are not turning, but the motorcycle is not 90 degrees to the road surface, which it would have to be in order to be riding on the exact dead centre of the tire. The angle between the road surface and the motorcycle has to be less than 90 degrees to compensate for the curvature of the road to allow the motorcycle to be vertical. The resulting angle between the tire and the road surface is also less than 90 degrees, resulting in the same angular relationship between the tire and the road surface to keep the motorcycle vertical as is required to do a left-hand turn, only less pronounced.
 
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All this talk of long left handers and crowns in the road makes me think... If this is the case for left hand tire wear, then it stands to reason that the bikes in Britain must wear the right side of the tire. Can our english members confirm this???
 

BakerBoy

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Left turns in the USA have the rider leaning to the left for a longer distance. This applies for small radius intersection turns as well as for open road sweepers. The radius of a left turn is larger than a right turn and the bike travels a longer distance. Crown has some effect too but it's time spent in lean that wears tires up to and including the edge of the tread.

Some people learn better from seeing. Myself included.

IMG_1654.jpg
^This! The cause is simple: sight lines, arc lengths, and speeds in each. Riders here go slower in the right turns due to shorter sight lines, visual obstruction. And riders are able to be faster, more leaned in the lefts given longer sight lines.

It is not suspension setup/action. If it were suspension setup (which it can't be), there would be not just 'left sides worn', but random distribution of tire wear (left sides worn, or right sides worn, both sides worn (not from tire pressure), centers worn unusual, unusual scalloping, etc.).
 
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All this talk of long left handers and crowns in the road makes me think... If this is the case for left hand tire wear, then it stands to reason that the bikes in Britain must wear the right side of the tire. Can our english members confirm this???
Yes I have seen the right side wearing more than left side over here, not a huge difference but measurable. I do like to play on roundabouts though :D
 
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A matter of degree of course, but no matter how perfect a condition the motorcycle is in, all other factors being equal, there will always be more wear left of centre than on any other part of the tire.
A motorcycle is very rarely being ridden on the exact centre of the tire even when going straight. This is because the roads that it is being ridden on are not flat, they slope downward from left to right in North America, so most of the time it is being ridden mostly on the section of tire that is just left of centre.

Agreed, and I would offer that the curvature of the road crown results in the most continuous, perpetual and long lasting lean that we ride in and it is recurring every time that we ride. It may not be perceived as a lean because we are not turning, but the motorcycle is not 90 degrees to the road surface, which it would have to be in order to be riding on the exact dead centre of the tire. The angle between the road surface and the motorcycle has to be less than 90 degrees to compensate for the curvature of the road to allow the motorcycle to be vertical. The resulting angle between the tire and the road surface is also less than 90 degrees, resulting in the same angular relationship between the tire and the road surface to keep the motorcycle vertical as is required to do a left-hand turn, only less pronounced.
I was not referring to normal road crown wear, cupping, or such, but more towards the folks who ride in with CORDS showing through on just one side of a relatively new tire, and they were blaming the tire damage on road crown etc.
These bikes have almost always found the front forks seriously out of true causing this wear.
 

Andrew Shadow

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I was not referring to normal road crown wear, cupping, or such, but more towards the folks who ride in with CORDS showing through on just one side of a relatively new tire, and they were blaming the tire damage on road crown etc.
These bikes have almost always found the front forks seriously out of true causing this wear.
The post that you were responding to was a post that was made in acceptance of the premise that greater left side tire wear is due to road crown. Within that context, I understood your response to be in reference to this premise.
You have cleared it up so all good, no harm, no foul.

What I am really curious to know from you is about that rattle snake in your garage that you posted a picture of the other day. When you put it that Tupperware container every morning, do you put a solid lid on it?
Being from an area that lacks anything poisonous that can kill me, I tend to think that I would want to know that it is securely stowed away and won't surprise me.
 

ToddC

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The post that you were responding to was a post that was made in acceptance of the premise that greater left side tire wear is due to road crown. Within that context, I understood your response to be in reference to this premise.
You have cleared it up so all good, no harm, no foul.

What I am really curious to know from you is about that rattle snake in your garage that you posted a picture of the other day. When you put it that Tupperware container every morning, do you put a solid lid on it?
Being from an area that lacks anything poisonous that can kill me, I tend to think that I would want to know that it is securely stowed away and won't surprise me.
Everything in AZ tries to kill you......snakes, cactus, bushes, wild pig like things with tusks, thorns, the desert, the sun, ..........
:think1: :rofl1:
 
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And your just worried about the baby in the toolbox?
How about Momma who guards the garage, who sleeps underneath the toolbox :rofl1:
20210617_114315.jpg
 

Duporth

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Sheesh! Larry. Please remind me to ring before I drop in, I don't want to be greeted by a serpent!!

Back to the the tyre wear: That wear looks extreme and I can't help thinking of wheel misalignment. Is that possible?

D
 

skidgillen

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Based on the two pictures of the two different tires, that wear is a mechanical issue whether it is alignment or something rubbing on the tire. No way is that wear from the road based on my training and experience. Call Larry on the white courtesy phone and get it sorted out.
 
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