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Rear tire wear

  • Thread starter Thread starter REBRIDER
  • Start date Start date
R

REBRIDER

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While checking over my 80' gs850g this week end I noticed that the rear tire is becoming scalloped on the left hand side. Never had a shaft driven bike before,,,so I am wondering if that may have anything to do with it????
Also thanks to all for the good advice a couple months ago about carbs ,petcock ,and Morgan carbtune ,all is well now.
 
Scalloping, or "cupping", can happen on just about any tire.

Primary causes are low inflation pressures.

Shaft drive makes no difference in this type of tire wear.

How old is the tire? Read the DOT number on the sidewall and let us know what the last 3 or 4 numbers are.

.
 
I'll just add to Steve's good advice ....just a little ;)

There can be several possible causes for one scalloping tire. Common enough is imbalance wear or even a tire that's run without being properly seated (you'd usually notice the vibration). A flat spot due to a skid (which isn't always even across the tread) can start the wear which then continues....a skid doesn't always have to be a brake induced one...lots of rear tires are worn out more with rolling off the throttle at high rpm than with spinning on acceleration. If the tire is fairly old and/or the bike was stored with the tire low for a lengthy period of time (especially on the side stand), this can cause a slight "set" in the shape of the tire to take place. After starting to run it significantly the set translates into irregular wear which usually just continues. Another cause of scalloping tire wear is suspension lateral movement (worn bushings/bearings) that might cause the wheel to deflect.....perhaps more when leaning one way than the other or under situations of acceleration or brake torque. Tires which may have sat in a chemical puddle (oil or brake fluid are 2 typical ones) for a length of time and then run may have a softened patch that will accelerate into a scalloping wear.....usally more in one place......as with the flat spotted case above.

Some combinations of ashphalt or road surfacing can do jinky things with certain types of tires also. In my area we have a lot of chip-seal surfaces with lots of holes 'n patches.....running sticky tires on this stuff wears 'em out quick and with no great predictability.

That's my couple-o-thoughts on 'er.
 
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Also the pattern of the tire itself can affect it also (you should see the front on my ninja battlax B-20's) they suck! I guess thats why they stopped making them. 2,000 miles and it is shot! The pattern is ??rippled??not cupped.
 
I axed my Battlax tires also. The front cupped and the rear lasted about 1500 miles.
 
Shaft drive doesn't cause any special sort of tire wear.

It's pretty common for motorcycle tires to wear more on the left side. There are lots of theories out there, but I think the most common is the way that most roads are crowned -- you're basically riding on a slight side slope 99% of the time.

I've also read a detailed thesis based on the idea that you travel more distance in left-hand turns (in the US and other countries where you ride on the right side of the road) vs. right-hand turns.

I dunno which theory is true, but in my experience, unusual left-side tire wear is pretty much confined to bikes that don't do much hard cornering, whether that's brought about by geography or the owner's reluctance to lean.

Let's just say I've never, ever noticed this on my bikes... :twisted:



(A bit off-topic, but...: Yes, I agree that Bridgestone's Battlax BT-020 is about the worst front tire ever. Since it's a radial, this isn't really relevant to a GS with stock wheels, but the new BT-020 that was on my VX800 when I bought it was roasted and unstable very quickly. The cure was Avon Storms...)
 
I'm chuckling here......never noticed any left side wear on mine either......now the sidestand is a different story ;)
 
Thanks for the replys guys. To answer Steves Question, The numbers after the DOT are 3205 , I would guess that translates to made March of 05??? I think running to low a pressure was the problem . You see I was, for a long while, going by the owners manual specs instead of the tire manufacturer. I saw a post on the site on this matter and increased the pressure up to where it should be. Not to far from new tire time anyway, about 3500 on this one .
 
I run my 850 at 32 psi rear, never had any wear problems, except the flat center from too much freeway milage. Check & make sure the swingarm is centered in the frame
 
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