tire tread question

[alph]

I've got 11,800 miles on my front tire.  it has .064" of tread left before I get to the wear mark.  a new tire comes with .140" before the wear mark.  how many miles do "you" think I've got left in it?  i'd like to squeeze another 3,000 miles out of it, do you think it's possible?  

for those of you that care, it's an Avon Cobra tire, with Dyna Beads.  

[salty1]

Its surely a possibility. I think my Cobras will do 15K.

[Jess from VA]

I cannot answer with any reliability.

I can say this, every mc tire I ever had, that I let go to the end, wore amazingly quickly at the end.

Every time I thought I had another K or two, I had only hundreds of (safe) miles left.  Like I would take an all day ride and get home and cord was showing.  If you are mainly running to and from work or local rides only fine, but don't take any trips, even short ones.  Order a new tire now so you have it when the front is completely unsafe.

I don't let them go to the end anymore... just close, but never the end.

[BobB]

What pressures do you run in these tires?  I have been using Avon Cobras for 5 years and last year I upped the cold pressure settings to 41 in the front and 44 in the rear.  When they get warm on a summer day they can get to 46 and 49 psi respectively.  I can tell this because I have a TPMS installed and the push of a button gets me the readouts.  I'm getting much better mileage on them now.

A few weeks ago, I talked with the owner of a respected Honda shop and trike builder.  He suggested filling Avon Cobras to 50 psi.

[Mallett]

What pressures do you run in these tires?  I have been using Avon Cobras for 5 years and last year I upped the cold pressure settings to 41 in the front and 44 in the rear.  When they get warm on a summer day they can get to 46 and 49 psi respectively.  I can tell this because I have a TPMS installed and the push of a button gets me the readouts.  I'm getting much better mileage on them now.

A few weeks ago, I talked with the owner of a respected Honda shop and trike builder.  He suggested filling Avon Cobras to 50 psi.

I couldn't ride mine with 50 psi....would beat me to death...I run 36 psi on my front.

[wiggydotcom]

What pressures do you run in these tires?  I have been using Avon Cobras for 5 years and last year I upped the cold pressure settings to 41 in the front and 44 in the rear.  When they get warm on a summer day they can get to 46 and 49 psi respectively.  I can tell this because I have a TPMS installed and the push of a button gets me the readouts.  I'm getting much better mileage on them now.

A few weeks ago, I talked with the owner of a respected Honda shop and trike builder.  He suggested filling Avon Cobras to 50 psi.

I've always run 42 psi front and 46psi rear dating back to my Avon Venom days and had pretty good results. I got 22k out of one front Venom.

[BobB]

When running with around 36 psi, I would replace my rear every year and the front every 1.5 years, averaging 9 to 11k miles per year.  I estimate that I am getting at least 50% better millage since upping the pressures into the low 40's.  Don't think I will go up in pressure any further.  I depend upon the Progressive suspension to iron out the bumps.

Alph, I didn't mean to hijack this thread turning a tread question into a pressure question but the two are closely related.

[old2soon]

My fronts seemed to wear quicker the closer I got to the wear bars. Like somebody else said-order the new one now so as not to miss any riding this summer. RIDE SAFE.

[ragincajun]

That 42/46 is cold pressure?  What is a typical expected increase after a few miles riding?

[alph]

I had it at around 40 psi.  I don't think I'd trust having a tire at 50 psi, that just sounds too high!!

[R J]

What pressures do you run in these tires?  I have been using Avon Cobras for 5 years and last year I upped the cold pressure settings to 41 in the front and 44 in the rear.  When they get warm on a summer day they can get to 46 and 49 psi respectively.  I can tell this because I have a TPMS installed and the push of a button gets me the readouts.  I'm getting much better mileage on them now.

A few weeks ago, I talked with the owner of a respected Honda shop and trike builder.  He suggested filling Avon Cobras to 50 psi.

I couldn't ride mine with 50 psi....would beat me to death...I run 36 psi on my front.

I've carried 50 # in MGM since he was 5 weeks old.       Progressive front springs and at the time Progessive HD rears.     Very smooth ride.

Since I Triked him out, I still run 50# front and 36 to 38# in the 2 rears.    We will see how the rears wear and maybe I'll bump that pressure up also.

In my opinion, you are not riding a Cadillac, or a Gold Wing, so air the tires accordingly.

[saddlesore]

I just replaced my Cobra on the front. One of the wear marks was showing and the others close behind.
This tire had 25,450 miles on it.  I usually get 17,000 to  20,000 miles.
I run 40 psi.
   

[Hoser]

I've got 11,800 miles on my front tire.  it has .064" of tread left before I get to the wear mark.  a new tire comes with .140" before the wear mark.  how many miles do "you" think I've got left in it?  i'd like to squeeze another 3,000 miles out of it, do you think it's possible?  

for those of you that care, it's an Avon Cobra tire, with Dyna Beads.  

Alph, if you are asking if you can get to Ohio and back, I would say yes.  I'm betting on there and back from Kansas with my Dunnys at 15,000 miles , and I'm going to Arkansas, Tennesee, and Kentucky first.  Did it last time to SD and back. Put new ones on last July, will probly replace them this July.  I run about 20,000 miles a year and do not like replacing tires more than once a year. Hoser   

[Chippy01]

 how many miles do "you" think I've got left in it?  .  

All depends on weight being carried, roads that are being used, and riding style. If you ride one-up, on good roads well within the speed limits you should be ok. Two-up for touring, a bit spirited on the throttle and roughish roads? - change them now.

[alph]

welp, the wife told me to just change it out.  so, I did......  now I've got two front tires that probably have 5k miles each on 'em.   

now the back was a PITA!!  pulled my drive shaft off, greased that, splines looked good, breaks look good, everything looks really good since I put a new tire on that also!! 

trying to find someone to remove the old tires wasn't fun.  went to three auto shops, two cycle shops and ended up stopping at harbor freight and bought two tire irons and a bead buster!!  after that I was on the way home when I pulled in to one more tire store.  there I saw four guys standing around the tire changer!!  as I pulled up I waved one guy over, and asked him if he'd ever removed a tire off a cycle rim, he never did but said he'd give it a try!  pulled both tires off in about 10 minutes and only charged me $4 each!!!   EACH!!  that's a steal!!  the boss wasn't too happy, you know, there's that "liability" thing about pulling a cycle tire......

so, now, all's good.....

[BobB]

That 42/46 is cold pressure?  What is a typical expected increase after a few miles riding?

Affirmative.  The pressure increase has a lot to do with the ambient temperature.  On cool, 60^o, days the Avon Cobra pressures increase about 2 psi.  On hot, 80^o, days the pressures increase about 5 psi.  I have a TPMS installed on the bike.

[fantsybikr]

welp, the wife told me to just change it out.  so, I did......  now I've got two front tires that probably have 5k miles each on 'em.   

now the back was a PITA!!  pulled my drive shaft off, greased that, splines looked good, breaks look good, everything looks really good since I put a new tire on that also!! 

trying to find someone to remove the old tires wasn't fun.  went to three auto shops, two cycle shops and ended up stopping at harbor freight and bought two tire irons and a bead buster!!  after that I was on the way home when I pulled in to one more tire store.  there I saw four guys standing around the tire changer!!  as I pulled up I waved one guy over, and asked him if he'd ever removed a tire off a cycle rim, he never did but said he'd give it a try!  pulled both tires off in about 10 minutes and only charged me $4 each!!!   EACH!!  that's a steal!!  the boss wasn't too happy, you know, there's that "liability" thing about pulling a cycle tire......

so, now, all's good.....

I'm with your wife on this, maybe you left 5k on the tire, maybe not..maybe the old tire would have held its ground on that curve or wet pavement..maybe not...I would bet my life and that of my wife's on leaving some miles on a front tire for the money spent on a new one. (which is exactly what i am about to do in changing out my croba on the front of mine, the miles and tread depth are nearly the same as yours)And I see it as sorta a karma thing...it was meant for you to change the tire..the deal you got having it mounted proves it..lol

[MarkT]

I've got 11,800 miles on my front tire.  it has .064" of tread left before I get to the wear mark.  a new tire comes with .140" before the wear mark.  how many miles do "you" think I've got left in it?  i'd like to squeeze another 3,000 miles out of it, do you think it's possible?  

for those of you that care, it's an Avon Cobra tire, with Dyna Beads.  

.064" = a hair over 2/32, which is how tire cos. describe tread depths.  Front tires typically are delivered new with about 6/32.  So you have more than 1/3 of the tread depth - closer to 1/2 as the tread depth given is typically the entire tread depth, including that below the wear marks.  Depending on where you measured - the left side wears faster - I'd say you have about half your tire life left on that tire.  Half of what you usually get is what?  That varies a lot between riders (and locations).  EXCEPT - wear seems to go faster towards the end than the beginning. Also, some areas have surfaces that are harder on tires.  

My front tire is a Dunlop K491 rear tire, which was replaced by the 404 in Dunlop's line. It started with 11/32.  Based on wear the first year, it looked like it could last about 50k.  It's presently at 22k, and I just remounted it reversed to wear the other side down.  In my opinion it won't hurt to run it backwards until I retire it.  It's bias ply, running it at 38#, with ride-on inside for most of it's life.  Looks to me like it will make it to 25k before I retire it.  I usually run all the tread off back tires, but not the fronts.  Obviously it wore faster than expected based on extrapolating the mileage remaining indicated by tread depth.

I have run all kinds of tires on Deerslayer and on my wing.  Cobra fronts have usually lasted about 14k for me, before they are done.  Previously not with ride-on but normal balancing, and pressure hovering around 40#.  I have never remounted a tire to wear the other side down - this is just an experiment, want to see how far I can take this tire.  Don't use the Valk for trips anymore, that's the wing's job.  So no problem to change it when I decide it's done.

If you don't already, might be a good idea to get a HF or other tire mounter, so you can change them out to a new one before a trip - then put them back on to wear down on local riding.  In that way I have several partly worn back tires on hand I'm using up for local rides - that came mostly off the wing, will wear down on the valk.

So I could be full of it.

[F6MoRider]

Was once told by a tire repair guy with 40 years experience the reason they wear faster near the end is the tire gets progressively smaller as it wears.  Even 2/32's is considerable in terms of additional rotations to cover the same distance.  With 4/32's worn off, it's twice as much less distance per rotation than 2/32's.  The smaller it gets, the more rotation needed for the same distance as a non-worn tire.  More rotations =  faster wear.

[Gryphon Rider]

Was once told by a tire repair guy with 40 years experience the reason they wear faster near the end is the tire gets progressively smaller as it wears.  Even 2/32's is considerable in terms of additional rotations to cover the same distance.  With 4/32's worn off, it's twice as much less distance per rotation than 2/32's.  The smaller it gets, the more rotation needed for the same distance as a non-worn tire.  More rotations =  faster wear.

Hmm...Let's do the math.  I'm going to start with a 24.125 diameter tire, then wear off 2/32:

24.125 - (2/32 X 2) [times two because the diameter is reduced on both sides of the circle] = 24.000

(2/32 x 2) / 24 = 0.0052 = 0.52% difference in rotations per mile driven.  No wonder we notice the faster wear!

[tank_post142]

Lets see... carry the 5 ....cross the t .... 11 goes into 36 ........ sorry brother you need to rework your formula. more like 0.0053% or approx. 5/1000 of a percent.

[PhredValk]

I run a D404 rear up front with a car tire on back, both 42# cold and Dyna Beads for balance. I have about 23K miles on the front, with meat left, but have a new D404 in the van to install before my 6K mile trip East next month. At $32 to change out I think I'll just toss the current front tire rather than re-installing it to get the full use out of it.
Fred.

[Mallett]

I run a D404 rear up front with a car tire on back, both 42# cold and Dyna Beads for balance. I have about 23K miles on the front, with meat left, but have a new D404 in the van to install before my 6K mile trip East next month. At $32 to change out I think I'll just toss the current front tire rather than re-installing it to get the full use out of it.
Fred.

I have a local tire store that put mine on for 10 bucks...I also tip the installer 10 bucks...what a deal. After they installed my CT, I rode it back over for them to see it...they loved it...I may have to run them some donuts by ever now & then to keep this relationship going....LOL

[R J]

When my front tire on MGM, got about 1/2 to 2/3rd's worn out I usually changed to a new tire.

I saved the old tire to give or sell to someone who needs a tire now.     So far, I have given 6 of them away to various motor riders who had a flat or worn to the cords.

Had a guy and his wife come into the shop on their Gold Wing.    It wasn't running to his liking.     Started checking it over, found the rear tire to have cords showing.  Also found a plug wire not fully in contact with the plug.   Plugged it in and told him about the tire.

He rebelled like a stuck pig on that tire.    He told me he only had 4,000+ miles on the bike and it was perfectly good.    Got him on the floor to look at it.   He still wouldn't believe me, so I charged him $15.00 for checking it out and plugging his spark plug wire in.

Sent him on his way very much worried to death about him.     Heard later he made 120 miles & was setting at a stoplight when the rear tire failed.   He was right in front of the BMW store and they fixed him up.      Only way I knew this was the BMW dealer told him he should sue me for not telling him of this problem.   So, we went to court, had a hearing, when my attorney produced our copy of his repair order with the notation on the bottom, that he had unsafe tire and cords showing in the rear one, the judge called the attorneys and him and I up to the bench.     He told the guy suing me, that he was awarding my attorney fees & the court costs to be paid by him.

Then he announced, Case Dismissed.

[Oklahoma_Valk]

When my front tire on MGM, got about 1/2 to 2/3rd's worn out I usually changed to a new tire.

I saved the old tire to give or sell to someone who needs a tire now.     So far, I have given 6 of them away to various motor riders who had a flat or worn to the cords.

Had a guy and his wife come into the shop on their Gold Wing.    It wasn't running to his liking.     Started checking it over, found the rear tire to have cords showing.  Also found a plug wire not fully in contact with the plug.   Plugged it in and told him about the tire.

He rebelled like a stuck pig on that tire.    He told me he only had 4,000+ miles on the bike and it was perfectly good.    Got him on the floor to look at it.   He still wouldn't believe me, so I charged him $15.00 for checking it out and plugging his spark plug wire in.

Sent him on his way very much worried to death about him.     Heard later he made 120 miles & was setting at a stoplight when the rear tire failed.   He was right in front of the BMW store and they fixed him up.      Only way I knew this was the BMW dealer told him he should sue me for not telling him of this problem.   So, we went to court, had a hearing, when my attorney produced our copy of his repair order with the notation on the bottom, that he had unsafe tire and cords showing in the rear one, the judge called the attorneys and him and I up to the bench.     He told the guy suing me, that he was awarding my attorney fees & the court costs to be paid by him.

Then he announced, Case Dismissed.

WOW! some people are unbelievable arent they? To think the guy would take it that far.

That shows the importance of proper documentation when running a business!