Tire Wear (Again) Don't Chance it

[FJRless]

One has to wonder what "inflated properly" meant for that trip. What you describe is common for two up riding, with one up tire pressures. The screen has little to do with tire wear. The majority of the weight to the rear explains the light front wear and heavy rear wear, all the more if rear tire pressure was not increased. I'm not a lightweight, (300 in gear), and ride at 42/42. I still add pressure if I'm putting a passenger on the back, (and still get some additional wear if I do a lot of two up riding).
High speed, road surface, ambient temps and load all play a part in tire wear.

@Happy Rider - Glad to hear you're replacing the tire. In the center of your pic are wear bars. Note that you are at and nearly at them in different places on the tire. That's when it's time to toss it.

The factors you mention are contributory to be sure but I think we all know that friction is the main factor in tire wear and it manifests itself in different ways. Both front and rear tires are subject to friction with the presence of cornering forces. The greater the cornering force, the higher the friction and, ultimately, more wear. On a motorcycle, maximum force is present while cornering when the tire loses traction, but incrementally so as the tire draws closer to that limit. The front tire is also subject to friction when braking; the rear while accelerating. More acceleration equals greater friction. More tire wear occurs accelerating from 0-40 than occurs cruising at 40. However, cruising down the road at 140 produces much greater friction due to rolling and wind resistance. Getting this back on the rails though, Happy Rider, that tire has some life in it but as far as taking a trip, not me. Mattster, It does my heart good to see someone who uses all their tire. Keep up the good work.

 

[blueman]

This subject brings up a question I had on the Storms I have on my bike. I like them and plan on getting another set. I have about 4000 on then and rear is just showing the wear bars. They handle great with zero issues. What is your recommendation should I replace them now or how many more miles ruffly can I squeeze out of them.

 

[user 213]

High speed, road surface, ambient temps and load all play a part in tire wear.

The factors you mention are contributory to be sure but I think we all know that friction is the main factor in tire wear and it manifests itself in different ways.

You sound like an engineer. Try not to hurt yourself. Yes, friction is part of all of the things I mentioned. As is the right wrist, which you alluded to.

 

[FJR-RemingtonRider]

This subject brings up a question I had on the Storms I have on my bike. I like them and plan on getting another set. I have about 4000 on then and rear is just showing the wear bars. They handle great with zero issues. What is your recommendation should I replace them now or how many more miles ruffly can I squeeze out of them.

I had storms on my 92 Connie, when I purchased it. Not having any MC tire knowledge, I replaced them with the same thing. Well, they were sticky and grippey smooth for the first 3k, but they quickly

started to loose that traction. This was totally opposite of the Metz I ran on the FJR, I know different bike and different tires, but IMO the Storms, just did not offer confident endurance after the 3k....traded bike at that point.

I am finding in my readings, that tire wear is each mans risk...what type of riding, where and what are the most likely conditions. If you do commuting and need to be turning and stopping on a dime, then a worn tire will

probably let you down, lot's of wet roads, same thing.....JMO

 

[FJRless]

High speed, road surface, ambient temps and load all play a part in tire wear.

The factors you mention are contributory to be sure but I think we all know that friction is the main factor in tire wear and it manifests itself in different ways.

You sound like an engineer. Try not to hurt yourself. Yes, friction is part of all of the things I mentioned. As is the right wrist, which you alluded to.

I'm not an engineer. Riding every weekend for years with one though, along with others who raced, and others who were track day and canyon junkies you learn a few things. It didn't hurt much either that we were changing tires every month of every year on the various sport bikes we owned so that nearly every week somebody needed a tire change in the garage where one of the subject topics was always, yes....tires. Probably the most important thing I learned was being able to recognize when the subject matter was more interesting and informative listening and asking questions rather than being heard. :blink:

As far as hurting myself, too late. I did that last spring when I stuffed my Feejer beneath a truck. On the bright side, I mostly recovered and got another FJR. Yesterday, the weather in this god-forsaken wasteland of a winter let up enough for me to take it out in the twisties....always a good thing.

 

[user 213]

I'm not an engineer. Riding every weekend for years with one though, along with others who raced, and others who were track day and canyon junkies you learn a few things. It didn't hurt much either that we were changing tires every month of every year on the various sport bikes we owned so that nearly every week somebody needed a tire change in the garage where one of the subject topics was always, yes....tires. Probably the most important thing I learned was being able to recognize when the subject matter was more interesting and informative listening and asking questions rather than being heard. :blink:
As far as hurting myself, too late. I did that last spring when I stuffed my Feejer beneath a truck. On the bright side, I mostly recovered and got another FJR. Yesterday, the weather in this god-forsaken wasteland of a winter let up enough for me to take it out in the twisties....always a good thing.

Glad you've mostly recovered. I hope you fully recover sooner, rather than later. Crashing always sucks, even when you walk away with a couple of bruises and some gear to replace. As for the Winter, just heard that we're in for a cold blast supposedly colder than since Dec. Great, a couple of days in the 60s, then back to the 40s and now this. Usually we just get wet here with a week or two of snow. The back East crowd can keep that solid white stuff!

Tires? Yeah, I've worn a few out too. About 20 on just the FJR so far. Never been much of a sport bike guy though. Always liked to go farther and never really got that 'favorite road' bit. Not knocking it, just didn't get it. They are all good, and all go someplace. Back and forth just didn't make sense to me.

 

[FJRless]

I'm not an engineer. Riding every weekend for years with one though, along with others who raced, and others who were track day and canyon junkies you learn a few things. It didn't hurt much either that we were changing tires every month of every year on the various sport bikes we owned so that nearly every week somebody needed a tire change in the garage where one of the subject topics was always, yes....tires. Probably the most important thing I learned was being able to recognize when the subject matter was more interesting and informative listening and asking questions rather than being heard. :blink:
As far as hurting myself, too late. I did that last spring when I stuffed my Feejer beneath a truck. On the bright side, I mostly recovered and got another FJR. Yesterday, the weather in this god-forsaken wasteland of a winter let up enough for me to take it out in the twisties....always a good thing.

Glad you've mostly recovered. I hope you fully recover sooner, rather than later. Crashing always sucks, even when you walk away with a couple of bruises and some gear to replace. As for the Winter, just heard that we're in for a cold blast supposedly colder than since Dec. Great, a couple of days in the 60s, then back to the 40s and now this. Usually we just get wet here with a week or two of snow. The back East crowd can keep that solid white stuff!

Tires? Yeah, I've worn a few out too. About 20 on just the FJR so far. Never been much of a sport bike guy though. Always liked to go farther and never really got that 'favorite road' bit. Not knocking it, just didn't get it. They are all good, and all go someplace. Back and forth just didn't make sense to me.

It's the adrenaline that sport riding offers that's addicting. At one time it was like heroin to me. Wrecked my pocketbook and my 20-year marriage doing it. I still have a sportbike and now a new wife, but with an aging anatomy and a move from sportbike country (SoCal) a couple years ago I think the Yamaha will get more use now.

 

[Zorlac]

Two up and mostly straight up riding. Fifteen hundred (yes 1500) miles into the trip the rear tire was basically bald. No tread in the center and it was completely flattened out with cords starting to show.

Dude! Where's Paul Harvey when you need him, because there is more to this story. High speeds and the windscreen up will not waste a tire in 1500 miles. At least not that tire. So either it was defective, or severely under-inflated.

Two-up riding will have the biggest impact IMHO, and speed will definitely make an impact too, but won't waste a tire in 1500 miles. At least not a sport touring tire. Windscreen up impact would be minimal.

Heck, I got 3900 miles out of my White Pine Fever rear, and I can just about guarantee you weren't going faster than me.

So if this ain't B.S., then you had a defective tire.

I hate this, but I have to agree with Skooty on this one! If you lost a Bridgestone BT021 in 1,500 miles, you were dealing with a defective tire! I'm not a huge fan of the BT's, but my 2003 came stock with them and I rode them until they were gone. I ride like an old man, that is because I am an old man, but I still got 6,500 miles out of a Bridgestone BT021 rear and 9,000 miles out of the front. I'm big, fat, ugly and way too heavy; however, 1,500 miles makes your Bridgestone a defective tire!

I dunno, maybe pillion weight is a factor?

 

[Go Far]

Yeah-

get on one peg 'till your leg falls asleep

then, switch

Don't think you'll need to roll off with that strategy

Most of us have done way worse than that ......when your tires get to this get to this level is when you take the speed down to under triple digits

 

[Go Far]

Since you asked-

I'ld switch it.

I'm new to sport bike tires and this thread is right on point for my question. This is a Battlax BT 21 with 5800 miles. Based on the photo do you think I should change it prior to taking a 1500 mile ride in about two weeks? :dribble: