BakerBoy
It's all small stuff.
^A couple good points (dual compound, and lots of cornering) increase that tire wear. I suspect an important factor is underinflation of the tire.
Ntour, given you've seen this on multiple tires, you may have a tire gage that is just 1 or 2 psi off, or you simply need to add a couple psi, or you're not insuring proper inflation before leaving home.
My ST's did that, even subtly, when pressures weren't always at or a couple psi above Honda's recommendation. It is amazing how running underinflated just once generates wear so quickly on the sides. I've seen it even on flatlander straight-road rider's tires I've changed.
If the tire is underinflated for the total weight on the tire, the tire carcass flexes, more so in cornering or braking, or when the bike is heavy (the ST!)., but even when going straight if the tire is underinflated enough. Contact area greatly increases as the loads increase or as the pressures are decreased, resulting in different portions of the tire contact patch having to slip slightly (ie wear). If underinflated the center of the carcass actually produces less braking traction load than the perimeter of the contact patch.. I'm not talking gross underinflation, I'm talking even subtle amounts (the more underinflated the more prominent). Underinflated also means that when the bike is loaded, Honda's default tire pressure is not enough.
You should cross check your tire gage, try +2 or +3 psi, and ensure they're at proper cold pressure before every ride.
Ntour, given you've seen this on multiple tires, you may have a tire gage that is just 1 or 2 psi off, or you simply need to add a couple psi, or you're not insuring proper inflation before leaving home.
My ST's did that, even subtly, when pressures weren't always at or a couple psi above Honda's recommendation. It is amazing how running underinflated just once generates wear so quickly on the sides. I've seen it even on flatlander straight-road rider's tires I've changed.
If the tire is underinflated for the total weight on the tire, the tire carcass flexes, more so in cornering or braking, or when the bike is heavy (the ST!)., but even when going straight if the tire is underinflated enough. Contact area greatly increases as the loads increase or as the pressures are decreased, resulting in different portions of the tire contact patch having to slip slightly (ie wear). If underinflated the center of the carcass actually produces less braking traction load than the perimeter of the contact patch.. I'm not talking gross underinflation, I'm talking even subtle amounts (the more underinflated the more prominent). Underinflated also means that when the bike is loaded, Honda's default tire pressure is not enough.
You should cross check your tire gage, try +2 or +3 psi, and ensure they're at proper cold pressure before every ride.
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