Those big black round things.........yes, tires

[jetta90]

I have a 1984 GS 750E - all original. This is a new old bike to me.
Couple of months ago I switched out tires, new Chen Shin HiMax front and rear.
100/90 - 16 up front and a 130/90 - 17 on the rear.
They grip well enough for what I need and figure I'd give them a try.
SSssoooo.....................1,600 kms (about 1,000 miles) later I see that both tires are wearing really fast, especially the front one. I mean at this rate I'll be lucky to get another 500 kms (300 miles) from them.
I don't baby the bike but I don't ride terribly hard all the time either. Most of
the accumulated miles on the tires have been at easy hwy speeds 60 to 70 mph, with some bursts to 100 mph the odd time. Tire pressures about 36 on rear and 34 on front. Pretty much normal paved roads. The roads are nicely paved and smooth in my area of BC.
Now, I realize these are far from being premium tires but this is bordering on insanity.
A set of tires every 2,000 kms (1,300 miles)? Seems a little excessive for wear. Shouldn't these tires last a bit more? Anyone else use these tires and how many miles did you get out of them?
What says you all? We all know there are many variables that will affect tire wear but i need to hear what you have to say on this.

[Steve]

What roads are you riding? I want to stay away from them.

We had a set of Hi-Max tires on my wife's 850L for a couple of years. Enjoyed them so much that we just got another set. During that 'couple of years', we put on over 14,000 miles. Your very low mileage has me a bit worried. Your pressures seem a bit high, that might be part of the problem. Is your wear primarily down the middle of the tire? The "bursts to 100 mph the odd time" might have something to do with it, too. I took my wife's bike up to about 90 or so one time, but that was just to make sure the tires were balanced. I know she would never get it that fast, so I had to do it without telling her.

.

[themess]

I used to professionally examine tires that had service failures like extremely low mileage. The first examination is the tire: Is the wear uniform? Are there any signs of damage that might indicate that it was run underinflated?

Next, you go to the vehicle: Check alignment, wheel bearings and such. Usually, if there is a vehicle problem, the tire doesn't wear uniformly. And you also see if the vehicle operator regularly checked air pressure, or might have run it with very heavy loads or on rough roads.

Then you cut apart the tire and examine it physically and chemically. Are the thicknesses of the various rubber components correct? Are they in the proper positions? Was anything left out of the tire? Then you examine the tire cord construction.

Finally, you take samples of the rubber and run it through the lab for various chemical components. You also test carbon black dispersion. Tire wear depends greatly on carbon black pellets being broken down into a powder that is completely dispersed through the rubber. Ideally, the carbon black (and sometimes silica) is the material against the road surface. It also is the material that prevents microscopic tears from growing. If it isn't properly dispersed, it can't do that. For you, rub the tire against white paper and see how black it gets, and compare that to what happens with a car tire. Labs have more sophisticated procedures, the paper method is really crude.

There are two other possibilities. First, the factory made a mistake and put racing tread rubber on the tire. Racing tread rubber has a lot of oil in it (sometimes 80%, regular tires are 30% to 40%) and wears very quickly. Second, you could have a counterfeit Cheng Shin tire. There is lots of counterfeiting going on in China today in auto parts of all kinds.

So be sure that your bike is OK, then talk with the dealer, tell them how many miles your last set gave you, your bike is fine and nothing else has changed, and ask for a substantial discount on your next set. Let the dealer take it up with the distributor and manufacturer, who can find the real cause of the problem.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Long time ago I compared a well known brand against a Chen Shin
C907 or what ever # Metzeller copy. The sidewall was paper thin. Some people like them ?? I currently have dual compound Bridgstone Spitfire S11 on my 850 & they work very well and I do a lot of 80mph freeway miles

[NetBSD]

driving style will change tire wear ALOT, fast acceleration and hard stops will cause fast tire wear. keep this in mind when you are figuring out why yer tiers arent lasting. also when you weave from side to side like alot of those crotch rockets do (never a good idea anyway unless yer on a track and need gummy tires) that will cause the tires to go faster.

[simon kuether]

What everyone else said .You get what you pay for.I've had a good run from Bridgestone Spitfires and will probably stay with them.They do start to get a bit "slippery" when they get close to the wear bars The mileage you got does seem a bit low even for Chen Shins though.I run at 34psi front 38 psi rear and check pressures at least every 2 tanks of fuel.Cheers,Simon.

[jetta90]

I appreciate all the responses on this folks. I am rather puzzled on why they would wear that fast................they both are going very fast but that front one is going quicker. I would have expected the rear to wear out first if anything.
The tires are wearing out uniformally, no ripples, no chunks of rubber falling off, nothing obvious that would raise a red flag. They have a nice even wear pattern along the mid section (most of the miles) and side sections.
I have ridden these miles solo and I weigh in at 215 lbs so excessive loaded weight isn't an issue.
I went through the bike when I bought it. Wheel bearings are very good, swingarm bearings are nice and tight and the swingarm was removed and bearings regreased. Suspension linkage was taken apart and needle bearings regreased. Wheels are running true and tracking straight. Wheels are straight.
I've ridden a lot of miles in my riding life on several differnt bikes and different tires and this is the first time I see this type of quick wear.
I didn't expect too much from an inexpensive set of tires but if all I get is 2,000 kms out of these there is something wrong. I can't see it being the bike and I know i'm not that fast of a rider.
The dealer didn't say a whole lot other than he'd rather see a set of Avons on the bike. I guess that's fine but I think I need to revisit the conversation with them re some sort of discount on the next set..............Avons or not.
Comments from anyone else??
Thank you

1984 Suzuki GS 750E
1980 Ducati Pantah 500

[bwringer]

I always got good wear from Cheng Shin HiMax tires -- 7,000 - 8,000 miles of hard use on a GS850G, which is heavier than your bike. I went through three sets on my bike, and I've seen similar mileage on a couple of other bikes.

Ignore the dipsticks hating on the Cheng Shins just because they don't cost a lot. They're fine tires, and something is Not Right here.

With all that said, for a wee bit more money you could get some Avon AM26 RoadRiders. They feel and handle wonderfully well start to finish -- truly a premium tire.

However, if the wear is from a problem with your bike, such as alignment, they'll wear a bit faster still. I've been getting about 6,000 miles out of a rear Avon and 12,000 miles from a front.

You... haven't been allowing a dealer to actually touch your GS, have you? The monkeys in any dealer service department are well-known for their ability to cause mechanical misery.

Also, have you tried another tire gauge? Could be that simple...

You should check rear wheel alignment using the "string method" (search the forum or Google). Never just rely on the swingarm markings.

[lurch12_2000]

I put the HiMaxx on both front and rear on my GS1100G and have 3k+ miles on them. They hardly look worn and yesterday on my way home from work in heavy rains on the highway(lots of curves) around the city at 65-70mph they still gripped very well. I have run the bike to 100mph and have had passengers 20% of the time. I've travelled many 200 mile trips in hot and cold weather. I really am happy with these tires and can't explain what's happening with yours! I paid $96 for the PAIR and mounted and balanced them myself. I run mine at 28psi front and 32psi rear. I weigh 170lbs, hit the turns aggressively, and do occassionally blow off cars when needed.
But then again I average 45mpg and others get 35mpg on the same bike!

[Zook]

These tires may be old and dry rotted. many a tire has sat in a warehouse for a few years. That rubber gets old and almost flakes off.
There is a date code stamped into the sidewall. I forget how many digits. Someone here will chime in and tell you how to decode it.

[80GS750]

get the date code off the tire,

itll be a stamped in number, if its three digits, your tires are from the 90's

if its 4 digits they are after 2000

it goes like this, the first 2 numbers are the week of the year, and the last 2 are the year.

so: 1104 means 11th week, 2004
138 means 13th week, 1998, or 1988

and some pics would help us all "see" how bad your tire wear is.
-Nate

[argonsagas]

Since both tires are "aging" very rapidly, I would bet they have been sitting somewhere for several years too long before you got them.

Tires can look brand new, and be "brand New" but already be well past their time.

[Clone]

Cheng Shin Hi-Max are usually a well wearing tire. They should do at least 10,000KM from them. I would also check the alignment of your front and rear tire, swingarm bearings and your seating position on your bike, it could be that you sit off to one side or the other and force the bike to run alittle off true.

[jetta90]

You guys rock with your responses!
I didn't think of checking tire age by way of the tire codes................I just went out and took a look................the front has a " 1407 " and the rear has a " 0107 ". So, somewhere around April 2007 is the manufacture date for the front, and January 2007 is the manufacturing date for the rear. They aren't exactly recent but not terribly old either going by those dates.
Good thought on different tire gauges.
I do all of my own work on the bike so I just took the wheels off and the dealer installed the tires on the wheels at their shop for me.
You guys are right when you say its hard to trust the dealers when working on these older bikes.
I'm going to try and get a picture or two up of the tires so you can take a better look.
After reading what you guys have had to say about the amount of miles you get out of HiMax's there definately is something not quite right...............either the bike, my riding style, or the tires are not up to snuff.
Easy for me to say but mechanically the bike is good, I don't think I missed anything. The rider, well not nearly as quick and fearless has I may have been 25 years ago, but I can still ride...................but I'm not a hooligan. I don't do burn outs and that kind of stuff.
Leaves the tires themselves to question.
I'm still puzzled.