Very Unusual Wear

[squid101]

I had an Avon AV55 Ultra on my front tire for almost 27K miles. Yes that is insane, but the reason is that the right side always looked good and that is the side I would see when the bike is parked in the garage. The left side as you can see has thread showing. I just replaced the tire but I believe the unusual wear is due to me storing a lot of equipment in the Right side bag and leaving the Left side empty, to store my helmet when I park the bike. I believe I must be unconsciously applying continues pressure to the left steering to compensate for the weight difference. I know if take my hands of the handlebars the bike goes to the right immediately. Am I correct or is it something else? And yes I should have changed the tire a long time ago.

 

[fnmag]

Yikes.
I would hazard a guess that it's not simply having gear in the right pannier and nothing in your left pannier.
I'm glad you 'caught' that tire in time.
Are you going to replace it with another Avon?

 

[squid101]

I just put on an Avon AV65 Storm 3D XM. I like the tires. I have 68K on the bike and it rides great. Best thing I ever did was bleed out the brakes, makes it feel like the day I picked it up.

 

[bdalameda]

Looks like a slipped belt in the tire. Since the major Avon blowout issues a few years back and the accidents they caused (Raven)I won't buy another Avon tire.

 

[squid101]

That's interesting. I just redistributed the weight and will see what happens. If it happens again I will change to another brand.

 

[Larry Fine]

I believe I must be unconsciously applying continues pressure to the left steering to compensate for the weight difference. I know if take my hands of the handlebars the bike goes to the right immediately. Am I correct or is it something else?

Yes, you're describing the physics correctly. You're constantly counter-steering to compensate for the bike trying to lean right. By steering the tires back under the center of gravity, which is to the right of the center of the bike.

You should immediately move everything to the other saddle bag, so the stress of steering is on the part of the tire that still has tread.

 

[sky.high]

For most of us, riding on the right side of the road wears out the left side of the tyre faster than the right but we should always try to load the bike evenly

 

[Bush]

It is commonly known that most of us feel more confident in left hand curves than right. Your chosen name may be a clue to your riding style too - aggressive and if so, more so in left handed curves. That, plus the crown of the road is always putting more left side of the tire on the road than the right. It looks like you had a serious cupping issue on the centre tread as well. Possible under inflation issues.

I think you have bigger issues than a heavy right pannier.

 

[Shawn K]

I think you have bigger issues than a heavy right pannier.

Gotta second that. I'd euphemistically refer to it as "an unsafe aversion to pre-ride inspections".

 

[dduelin]

Tires generally wear faster on the left side. Nothing new there. There is discussion about why, and a couple of popular reasons offered up, but the left wears faster for what ever reason.

You might ought to check tires a little more often.

 

[Grabcon]

This same wear type happened with by neighbors BMW R1150S and there are no bags on it. He was running Michelin RPIII. If the wear really is related to left turns then the Brits should have the same issue on the right side.

 

[ST Gui]

It is commonly known that most of us feel more confident in left hand curves than right. Your chosen name may be a clue to your riding style too - aggressive and if so, more so in left handed curves. That, plus the crown of the road is always putting more left side of the tire on the road than the right. It looks like you had a serious cupping issue on the centre tread as well. Possible under inflation issues.

I think you have bigger issues than a heavy right pannier.

I think this is the real answer. Maybe loading the panniers affects tire wear to some degree but I'd have to wonder just what you're carrying that has so much input.

That's some significant wear differential. Counter-steering that causes that much wear should make itself fairly obvious. Both edges of the tire still have some shape. I think inflation probably plays a bigger role than weight distribution.

I know if take my hands of the handlebars the bike goes to the right immediately.

I'd put a throttle lock on the bike (if you don't have one) and pull the bags off the bike. Ride down the road with the lock on then remove your hands. Do the same without the lock and see if it still pulls to the right.

 

[Al st1100]

with the miles on that tire I would not loose sleep over it and it is not a slipped belt.

 

[SMSW]

You should immediately move everything to the other saddle bag, so the stress of steering is on the part of the tire that still has tread.

Yup, then he can get another 28k miles out of that same tire. Do we have an award for 56,000 miles out of one tire?

On a slightly more serious note, me thinks the OP is living dangerously. That tire could have blown out or gone into a skid. And it is my guess that we are talking about more than a heavy saddlebag.

 

[Larry Fine]

Twisted forks, mayhaps?

 

[Igofar]

I've seen a few bikes come through the garage with front tire wear like that. Most recently our very own Skipcurt did an Iron butt ride coast to coast, from Georgia to California, and allowed me to take his bike hostage when he passed through Arizona
I found his forks (among other things) were off quite a bit. I plunged the forks (see video) and whispered his bike, by the time he made it back home to Georgia, straightening out the front end corrected the wear on the front tire and it was round again. Proof that aligning your forks DOES effect/improve tire wear.
I seriously doubt that the wear on your tire was caused by uneven weight in the panniers etc.

 

[Williamson]

My thoughts............

I, like a few others, seriously doubt the theory of the load in the RH pannier would be the cause of THAT wear.

If the bike was unevenly packed, yes the initial thought would be that the bike would lean to the "heavy" side, and then that the bike would steer to the "heavy" side. But, before the rider (either consciously or unconsciously) corrects the steering to keep the bike in a straight line, I think that the rider would me more likely to (unconsciously) adjust their riding position slightly by shifting their backside by a centimetre or two (that's a 1/2" to 1" to most of you guys), before steering the bike to keep it in a straight line.

Another point, the bike must've been handling like a bowl of jelly with that extent of uneven wear. So how the heck could not the OP realize that, even with normal riding, and certainly with some spirited riding?

 

[Williamson]

.......... If the wear really is related to left turns then the Brits should have the same issue on the right side.

The same would go for us Aussies too, because we drive on the left-side of the road as well. I've some pretty bad uneven tyre wear, but nothing, nothing like that on the RS of the tyre.

Here's one that I prepared earlier. And yes, I had noticed the handling deteriorating very badly.

 

[Williamson]

 

[Upt' North]

I thought you Aussies were real men, there's loads left in that. Or is that the Sheila's that are real men?
Upt'North.