Is it just me or does this thing EAT front tires?

[Wee Willy]

OK FJR riders. Am I the only one that is having this problem? I have about 4.2k miles on the bike and I'm beginning to look for a replacement front already. I do have several Southern California canyon rides behind me, none less than 100 miles. I also like to use the front brake when stopping. But I don't think I abuse the system. What's the concensus?

Curious,

W2

 

[Ignacio]

What's the concensus?

Read the Best of NEPRT first.

 

[Wee Willy]

What's the concensus?

Read the Best of NEPRT first.

Thanks Iggy. Searched but didn't get that location to come up.

W2

 

[Nateskate]

I was told to over inflate a couple of pounds to avoid cupping. I'm not sure if it works because my front tire is cupped.... How many pounds are you running?

 

[Jagermeister]

The front Bt-021 is widely known to be crap, on an FJR. The bike is just too heavy for the tire, causing cupping & short life.

The Rear 021 is actually one of my favorites, though.

 

[user 6393]

The front Bt-021 is widely known to be crap, on an FJR. The bike is just too heavy for the tire, causing cupping & short life.
The Rear 021 is actually one of my favorites, though.

the front SUCKS, but the back is a decent tire. Good wet stick.

Ran my set at 42-44, then at the end 44-44. Front died long before the rear. Changed them out at 16,ooo+ kms.

 

[FJRBluesman]

Maybe it's just me, but I seem to go thru front tires almost twice as fast as rears. Same thing on my old Beemer K-bike.

 

[canucklehead-biker]

Can't speak to the Bridgestones as far as wear etc, but I just changed my front PR2 which was just coming onto the wear bars with 23,000 kms on it (that's a little over 14,000 MILES for the metrically challenged). Some of the dual-compound triangle shape, but not nearly as bad as some I've seen. Rear has same mileage, and I reckon it is good for another few thousand before I have to change it.

The weight of the bike on the front wheel under heavy braking seems to cause the fronts to go faster than the rears. My original Metzlers had about the smae differential between front and rear as the Michelins, just with fewer miles on them.

I run the 39/42 that Mammy Yammy recommends, and it seems to be great for the kind of riding I do.

Griff

 

[Wee Willy]

I was told to over inflate a couple of pounds to avoid cupping. I'm not sure if it works because my front tire is cupped.... How many pounds are you running?

I'm running it at 39/42 at F/R. What I think is happening is that the tire has different compound characteristics around the tread radius. Stuff in the middle is harder than around the sides. I use the term "cupping," but to be precise, what's happening is the edges off center are wearing out much more quickly than the center section on the front. The tire is beginning to look more like a "V" than a "U." On the rear, the exact opposite is happening and not nearly as quickly. It is developing a slight flat section about 1 inch across in the center.

I've done a fair share of canyon riding on the bike both with bags off and on and I like to liberally use the front brake into the corners. The FJR is a pretty big bike and I'm no midget (my login is a play on my 6' 6" height). I suspect I am using up the life in the tire doing these canyon rides. But they are only about 15% of all the miles I have on the bike. I'm hoping I won't be buying new fronts every 3 months.

Cheers,

W2

 

[user 6393]

when you start going deaf from the front tire noise, you know you have an 021

WWWWWWWWWWWHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrr

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, wowowowowowowowoaaaahhhhh

 

[Crash Cash]

The front Bt-021 is widely known to be crap, on an FJR. The bike is just too heavy for the tire, causing cupping & short life.

Nah, they're just plain crap, even on my SV-650, and that's only a 400lb bike. I'm going to just avoid Bridgestone in the future.

 

[Wee Willy]

WWWWWWWWWWWHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, wowowowowowowowoaaaahhhhh

Great Avatar pic.

W2

 

[rockmurf]

I believe cupping is more a result of underinflation than wear. I do 39-40 lbs front and 42-43 rear and routinely get 14k miles per tire front and rear. I am not real aggressive though.