BT23 Cupping Safe to ride????

Joined
Mar 20, 2007
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Hamilton Ontario
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Supposed to go away for 5 days.. 3000k klm... Noticed that the front bt23 now has some major bumps/cupping just off centre in a few spots.. Still lots of Tread.. They have at least 10K klm/6000 miles on them.
Still Safe to ride? Weird but I don't remember having a tire that cupped before.. just lucky till now.
 

sky.high

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Hi Ken, you're probably good to go but really only you know the right answer depending on your riding style, type of roads on route and bike load.

Its always best not to take any chances on tires.
 
Joined
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Paris, TN
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I have ridden some tires that were badly cupped and the only thing I noticed was that the tires growled when leaned over in the turns. Recently I had a front BT45 that was badly cupped which resulted in a head shake when leaned over on wet roads. After that happened I changed the tire as soon as possible.
 

saddletramp8511

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If you are running the standard BT23 you have the wrong tire...For a bike with the ST's weight you should run the BT23 GT.....I got better miles and less cupping on my ST
 
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Cupping is going to give you a slightly (emphasis on slightly) rougher ride. But more important is traction in wet might also go down. I'm no expert on this, but I did notice a difference between brand new tire and old cupped tire (first time I changed - this is not recent) in how smoothly the new tire seemed to be. And that boosted my confidence level when cornering. If you are an aggressive rider, I'd suggest you change the tires sooner rather than later.

And when you say 'still lots of tread left' I assume you are looking at the wear bars area of the tire.... At 6K miles, there is probably sufficient tread - but I was surprised to see the wear bars indicated 'no tread' on my bike's chicken stripe while on the 'shoulders' there was plenty of tread.
 
OP
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CDNolddude
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Yes it does growl a lot now in turns. They are the GT version. Yes I can feel the vibration on the hiway.. I'm sure it is probably still ok but I really don't like the look of it. Might try the PR4 next..
 
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I've had a few set of BT023 on my ST1100 and had the cupping and still road them till they were bald in all kinds of dry and very wet weather with no issues.
 

ST1100Y

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...the only thing I noticed was that the tires growled when leaned over in the turns...
Its depending on how bad the cupping really is...
Are the thread lugs simply worn to an angle, that produces the howl while leaned, but IMO not much to worry yet.

Did significant lips shape at the thread edges? That's a different issue as such is prone to sudden slip/loose of traction on dry or wet...
 
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Is it possible your front wheel bearings need to be replaced?
The heavy cupping is caused by a weak front suspension.

Might want to start exploring a rebuild or upgrade for the front suspension. Believe me, you will thank yourself for doing it. The rear could probably use a refresh if you haven't done it yet.
 
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Feb 17, 2007
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Millgrove, ON, Canada
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2016 Versys 1000
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This link might help to understand it some...... and keep the tire pressures up (42+) to reduce the squirming certain tire tread block patterns have. Suspension as Vinny suggests, unfortunately the ST has no adjustable damping in the front so one could get new fork springs tailored to your weight and go with a slightly heavier fork oil. Those ST-ers who have upgraded could advise better.
http://www.rattlebars.com/tirewear/index.html
 
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The front end of my vstrom felt almost like I had a flat or going flat tyre last week,pulled over to inspect but it was aired up ok, turned out it was so badly cupped it was starting to feel dangerous, so I fitted a new set of mezelers and now she is handling perfectly, not worth risking your life for the price of a new set of tyres imo.
 
Joined
Apr 18, 2014
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San Diego
Hi all. Vinny is correct. The front springs may be worn or over-loaded. Had cupping for two sets, T23GT and T30's. Put Race Tech 1Kg/mm (you choose the force/rate depending on your weight on their website) and no cupping on next set of tires--front at 12K. I used Honda OEM oil but you can play with that if the new springs don't seem right. That cupping can create very weird handling on boot scraping turns. Be careful!
 
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