Front tire wear

[Upt' North]

+1 John.
To put it simply, we here live in a clockwise world, you left siders are in an anticlockwise riding environment. No more, no less.
Upt'North.

 

[MerlF]

I lived for many years in the UK and many more years in Canada. In the UK my tires wore more on the right side. In Canada more wear on the let side. I think the illustration from ASPC is probably the best and simplest explanation . FWIW.. It's the camber

 

[Ron_WI]

Are they inflated properly ? 42psi is the quoted figure for st1300s front and rear.

Is your fork oil damping the suspension properly ? Suspension that pogos - boing-boing-boing - is going to wear the tyre badly, and combined with camber and longer distances on the outside of bends, this may result in what you are seeing.


Is the tyre installed on the wheel correctly. Check the direction arrows. (Although if this had been an issue I would have exoected big chunks out of the surface, not the all round wear that you have.). But check anyway.

Check the rear damping for the same reason. That is more likely to have an effect on the rear though.

How is your rear tyre ?
What make / model tyre do you have on ? They look like the tread on Pilot Road 4s. If so, are they a GT version ?

I keep my tires inflated to 42 lbs and check them regularly. The tire is installed with the rotation arrows pointing in the proper direction. The tires are Michelin Pilot Road 4 GT’s. The worn out front has 21,000 miles on it.

I spoke to Igofar who told me how to check my fork alignment to be sure there is no binding on the axel. Test riding today using my throttle lock, with hands off the bars it constantly pulls right. While riding straight, I’m always using the slightest touch of left handlebar push to hold the bike straight. Let go of the bars and the bike goes right. It’s been that way a long time but I never knew what to do about it before. It’ll be interesting to check the fork alignment when I get home.

 

[Igofar]

Standing by the white courtesy phone

 

[Esti1300]

The worn out front has 21,000 miles on it.

I think I speak for everyone when I say we all wish we could get 21k miles on any front tire, however seeing it’s condition after that mileage, I can’t image the ride was very stable/enjoyable.

Truing up the front wheel/axle will definitely help with wear, stability, smiles and heck probably some improvement in your gas mileage. Fuel ain’t cheap anymore so don’t waste it.

Safe riding!

 

[Willsmotorcycle]

I didn't see where you were putting new rubber on. You may want to do that first, then reach out to the Sage of Tucson.

 

[jfheath]

I get 5,000 miles. Clearly the riding is 4 times more fun in West Yorkshire than it is in Ontario !

 

[Upt' North]

I get 5,000 miles. Clearly the riding is 4 times more fun in West Yorkshire than it is in Ontario !

John, you made me laugh fella.
We had a ride around St.Marys Loch, Talla etc (The Borders) on "The B" last Friday, I can definitely say those trailwings won't last 20,000.
It's far better fun wearing them out than making them last.
Upt'North.

 

[Chris09]

I never really bought into the road crown answer until I started looking at bikes I was following; here in lower mainland you can see it plain as day, I would go so far as to [and I know this will go over like a lead balloon,] flip both tires over their rims after 4k, never mind the little arrows.

 

[Igofar]

There you go, flipping directional tires backwards, then go riding in the rain
Works on knobbies, but I wouldn’t suggest it on street tires or some fool may try it.

 

[dduelin]

I never really bought into the road crown answer until I started looking at bikes I was following; here in lower mainland you can see it plain as day, I would go so far as to [and I know this will go over like a lead balloon,] flip both tires over their rims after 4k, never mind the little arrows.

It's a combination of the nature of how roads are built including camber and longer radius turns depending on which side of the road is the travel lane. USA - right, UK - left. If it was just camber then that would not explain how tires unevenly wear across the face of the tread including up to and including the edge of the tread. Crown could not account for wear more than about 2 or 3% from tire centerline as the bike isn't leaned more than that relative to the horizon when going straight down the road. I found some information that road builders typically use 2% down slope (crown to shoulder) for building paved roads and this is 1/4" drop per foot. The OP's picture has tire wear to a least 25% off center line of tire which can only come from leaning in left hand turns. Anyone that has ridden a while and worn out a bunch of tires knows that left vs right tire wear is a fact of motorcycling.

 

[ASPC]

I never really bought into the road crown answer until I started looking at bikes I was following; here in lower mainland you can see it plain as day, I would go so far as to [and I know this will go over like a lead balloon,] flip both tires over their rims after 4k, never mind the little arrows.

Double darkside uses a rear tire on the front put on facing backwards, and in England for as long as I can remember it is not uncommon for people to turn the tires around due to wear. I don’t ask people about it here, I just assume it is done here also. Most young people don’t have a big bike budget, so turning tires around due to wear begins early in the life of a biker. I would not do it on a big bike like the ST but some people do.

 

[Larry Fine]

There are 'universal' tires made for either wheel, and every one I've seen was marked to be reversed for the other end.

 

[ASPC]

I keep my tires inflated to 42 lbs and check them regularly. The tire is installed with the rotation arrows pointing in the proper direction. The tires are Michelin Pilot Road 4 GT’s. The worn out front has 21,000 miles on it.

I spoke to Igofar who told me how to check my fork alignment to be sure there is no binding on the axel. Test riding today using my throttle lock, with hands off the bars it constantly pulls right. While riding straight, I’m always using the slightest touch of left handlebar push to hold the bike straight. Let go of the bars and the bike goes right. It’s been that way a long time but I never knew what to do about it before. It’ll be interesting to check the fork alignment when I get home.

You got 21K out of a front tire and you think there is something wrong with your bike?

 

[Ron_WI]

I think I speak for everyone when I say we all wish we could get 21k miles on any front tire, however seeing it’s condition after that mileage, I can’t image the ride was very stable/enjoyable.

Truing up the front wheel/axle will definitely help with wear, stability, smiles and heck probably some improvement in your gas mileage. Fuel ain’t cheap anymore so don’t waste it.

Safe riding!

I understand there a lot of riders here who like to push their bikes but I use it for transportation and trips. At 75 I’m a fairly conservative rider these days . The bike has been pretty squirrelly lately but I figured it was bad roads until I took a good look at that tire. I just got home from two 500 mile days and I feel it in my shoulders. I’ll order up a new tire then check my fork alignment when it gets here. I sure appreciate all the help I find here.

 

[Ron_WI]

Standing by the white courtesy phone

I’ll give you a call once I get a new tire and check out that alignment issue. Thanks much!

 

[jfheath]

John, you made me laugh fella.
We had a ride around St.Marys Loch, Talla etc

We love it around there, some nice riding. I've not been up to St Mary's Loch recently. A friend was killed at the Crossroads near the white pub and passing there would put far too many sobering thoughts into my head when I need to be focusing and enjoying the ride.

But we often use Moffat as a staging post. We'll be up there again in a couple of weeks for a 12 day tour in Scotland, but we'll use the Devil's Beeftub to make our way north. Lets hope all the other riders are enjoying the NC500, and leave the better roads traffic free for us ! (Although admittedly the run from Durness to Ullapool took some beating, before the NC500 ruined it.).

Plenty of tread on my T32s, fitted in June for a wales tour, but the bike spent most of the time in the car park, while we were suffering from whatever it is that you get the week before testing positive for Covid. I just about managed to wear down the moulding tags on that trip.

 

[Sidekick]

I keep my tires inflated to 42 lbs and check them regularly. The tire is installed with the rotation arrows pointing in the proper direction. The tires are Michelin Pilot Road 4 GT’s. The worn out front has 21,000 miles on it.

I spoke to Igofar who told me how to check my fork alignment to be sure there is no binding on the axel. Test riding today using my throttle lock, with hands off the bars it constantly pulls right. While riding straight, I’m always using the slightest touch of left handlebar push to hold the bike straight. Let go of the bars and the bike goes right. It’s been that way a long time but I never knew what to do about it before. It’ll be interesting to check the fork alignment when I get home.

My 2 cents...
21,000 miles on a front tire is more than a lot.
Wear marks are not the only thing to consider, how old is this tire ?
The rubber is maybe starting to decompose, soft compound first.
I don't believe that you can do any serious troubleshooting this way, replace it and check the new one regularly.

 

[Chris09]

yeah, I kind of thought that one out a couple seconds after hitting send, part of the reason I never leave the yard unless I'm wearing my hockey helmet.

 

[RobbieAG]

My front tire is more worn on the left side too. I have maybe another 1k miles left on it. Unfortunately, it only has around 7k on it. I wish I could get close to 21k!

I think it's normal and I buy into the road crown logic, though it's worth checking that alignment and everything else is correct.