Abnormal tyre wear

[Chippy01]

Yesterday I was doing some cleaning and polishing. Yep, she did need a good rub down........


boy, doesn't the black and chrome shine up well..

Anyway, while checking on the tyres, I noticed some very strange tyre wear.
Rather than write a story, I thought I would just post a couple of pics to show you what I mean.
These pics are taken from the back of the bike looking forward.
The tyres are Venom R's, with about 11,000 miles on them.



Take a look to the right of the tread....


On this one, I wiped the dirt off.

Now I don't mind the 'flat spot' appearing in the middle. I expect that as I normally run two-up anyway.
It's the wear to the right that has me puzzled.
It is all the way around the tyre, just on that side.
Any ideas? Anyone?

[Ferris Leets]

Real bad cupping.  Several theories for wear like that.  Badly balanced tire, too low air pressures, missaligned front to rear.  I've seen some fronts like that but never a rear that was that bad.  If you are not feeling it I would go ahead an wear it out.  Make sure the next one is balanced correctly and keep the air pressure up.

[DFragn]

Nasty...
Check the torque on your swingarm pivot bolts. They may be a little loose and can show that kind of wear when stressed in a lean. Center looks good, if the wheels front to rear were mis-aligned your center wear would show it.

Your rear wheel is definitely moving around on you when your leaned over. I don't think it's underinflation because the center would also be showing some cupping. JMHO

[petevenne]

Just took off a Avon Venom, looked exactly like your picture @ 5K..It felt like tire was hopping under 15Mph...Have a E3 now with 3K seems to be wearing normal..

Pete

[Sharkey]

This was mine



In Ireland you ride on the wrong side of the road?? If the road is crowned so the rain runs off you will get more wear on one side. What kind of pressure are you running?

Mine is worn on the opposite side. It went bad fast too. The tire in the picture had under 10,000 on it. I am on a Darkside tire now and love it.

[Chippy01]

I'll try and answer all of you who have posted so far.

Pressures are 40psi on the rear, and 36psi on the front.
Had them professionally fitted when I got them (know the guy in the tyre shop, so I know he did a good job)
Never had any hop, wobble, etc that might lead me to believe the tyre was going bad.
Bike has always run straight - no drifting.
Front tyre still looks perfect (checked that when I spotted the rear wear)

In Ireland you ride on the wrong side of the road??  Always liked that line  If I ride on the 'wrong' side of the road, I could end up meeting someone coming the other way on the 'right' side of the road 
But yes, we are just like the UK, we drive on the left.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Best mileage I ever got out of a rear motorcycle tire was 6,400 miles. I can't even get 11,000 out of a car tire    in fact my last one a Cooper Zeon 2XS only lasted 7,400 miles. I'm giving this one a try now a Fuzion ZRi it has alittle harder compound but still a directional high performance tire.

[Sharkey]

We ride on the "OTHER" side of the road, and my tire is worn on the "Other" side. I thing it has a lot to do with the crowning of the roads. Out two lane heres in Missouri have a lot of crown on them, Here you a always slightly leaning left to go straight, hence the left of the tire wears out quicker.

Keep an eye on that tire, when they start to go, the last little bit wears out quick.

[Ricky-D]

We ride on the "OTHER" side of the road, and my tire is worn on the "Other" side. I thing it has a lot to do with the crowning of the roads. Out two lane heres in Missouri have a lot of crown on them, Here you a always slightly leaning left to go straight, hence the left of the tire wears out quicker.

Keep an eye on that tire, when they start to go, the last little bit wears out quick.

That is some of the reason for asymmetrical tire wear but the main cause of that particular tire wear is for a different reason.

When you normally drive on the right hand side of the road, like we do here in the good ole US of A, you are actually spending more time riding on the left hand side of the tire due to the longer left hand turns.

So, when in Ireland, you are driving normally in the left hand lanes, you are spending more time in the right hand turns so that side of the tire wears more.

Look at the tire.  The rut will not cause that kind of wear so far up the tread.

***

[R J]

When I run a bike tire I ran 50#'s to slow that wear down.

Sidewalls on our bike tires are not stiff enough for the power these bikes can throw out back there, which in turn makes them like drag car flexible slicks.

[Chippy01]

We ride on the "OTHER" side of the road, and my tire is worn on the "Other" side. I thing it has a lot to do with the crowning of the roads. Out two lane heres in Missouri have a lot of crown on them, Here you a always slightly leaning left to go straight, hence the left of the tire wears out quicker.

Keep an eye on that tire, when they start to go, the last little bit wears out quick.

That is some of the reason for asymmetrical tire wear but the main cause of that particular tire wear is for a different reason.

When you normally drive on the right hand side of the road, like we do here in the good ole US of A, you are actually spending more time riding on the left hand side of the tire due to the longer left hand turns.

So, when in Ireland, you are driving normally in the left hand lanes, you are spending more time in the right hand turns so that side of the tire wears more.

Look at the tire.  The rut will not cause that kind of wear so far up the tread.

***

I read something like that over the past couple of days. It does make a lot of sense.
I have just had a closer look at my front tyre. Although it is not showing the degree of wear that the rear tyre is, it is decidedly worn in an uneven pattern.
There is a wear limit bar on either side of the centre of the tyre, and the right side wear bar is definitely closer to the surface than the left side.
Hopefully I will get the rest of the summer out of these, and over the winter get the beast some new shoes.
While I'm at it, I'll check out the legalities of going DarkSide here in Ireland. [€200 ($285) is a bit steep for a 10 to 12,000 mile tyre]
I think it's a no-no though.

[Ricky-D]

"I'll check out the legalities of going DarkSide here in Ireland.............I think it's a no-no though."

That to me is anathema and absolutely anti bike legislation, if true.

It surely should not fall under bike modification in any regard,
And to legislate type of tires on street vehicles is absurd.

Lastly do you think an inspector would get down on his hands and knees  seeking information on whether the tire is for cars or motorcycles?   I think that there is little, if any information regarding application, there is ample information on load ratings however.

I would challenge that to the enth!

***

[Chippy01]

Did a check on going DarkSide, and it's not looking good.
On the legal end of it, it is not actually illegal, but it will null and void your insurance in the event of an accident, if such an application wasn't listed as a modification on your insurance policy.
I called my insurance company, and they seemed shocked that I would even know of people who have done such a thing, and aghast at the thought that I might be thinking along the same lines!!!

Well, I've been getting messages from all over about this. General consensus of opinion is that it's just normal tyre wear for a big heavy cruiser, riding 2up, with full luggage, and the Irish roads . . . . . . . oh, and driving on the left...lol.

Conclusion of all this? I need a new dang tyre!!!!

I've posted a poll about the types of tyres available to me here in Ireland. I haven't checked the prices yet.
The object of the poll is to see what the members here would choose if these were their only choices.
I would appreciate your input.

Thanks to all that have replied so far.


Phil.