Tire wear question

[Mallett]

This a Avon Cobra with about 5000 miles on it...obvious from the pic most of my riding is on the interstate...How many more safe miles can I expect from this tire?? Most of my riding is solo...I weigh about 180 lbs...

[Jack]

Many variables but most get about 15,000 miles.

[Fritz The Cat]

Ha HA, if you had a CT you wouldn't have to worry about it getting flat in the middle. 

[Chrisj CMA]

With the size (width) of that flat spot and mild cupping Id say your tire pressure is too low.......if thats true and you dont correct it.......4 or 5 K more is all you might see

[RainMaker]

4-5K. I never got more than 10K out of a rear tire before I went darkside.

[3fan4life]

I've never been able to get more than 8k out of an Avon on the rear.



This is after 8k mi and running 44 psi. The wear pattern still suggests that the pressure was too low.  This same tire looked a lot like yours when it had 4-5k mi on it. 

[houstone]

I knew there was a reason to do this!  ;-)
It was a Dunlop E3, I think...(about 5500 miles).
Jeff

in case you can't see it...
http://www.houstonefamily.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=16315

[Chrisj CMA]

I've never been able to get more than 8k out of an Avon on the rear.



This is after 8k mi and running 44 psi. The wear pattern still suggests that the pressure was too low.  This same tire looked a lot like yours when it had 4-5k mi on it. 

Id say with no flat spot or cupping that doesnt look like low tire pressure, it looks like you were doing some long hard turns riding on sandpaper.  Holy crap dude

[MarkT]

Notwithstanding the other comments - my experience is, when a tire has a flat spot like yours, you might think there's plenty of rubber & time left, but I'll bet ya a beer another thousand miles is about all you'll get before cord shows.  I wouldn't start a trip with it, unless you want to replace it on the road.  I typically pull it off, put a new one on, take the trip, then put the tire back on and finish wearing it out.   Helps to have your own tire mounter.

[Mallett]

Thanks guys, I checked my tire pressure & it's 32 lbs. What should I be running in it? Fritz The Cat, I'm thinking about going to a CT but love the ride of the Avon Cobra..can let go of the handlebars at 85 & she tracks right on down the road.......MarkT, my first serious ride looked a lot like yours...

[Jess from VA]

You've got a lot of miles left.  32 is wrong, try 42-45.

[..]

This a Avon Cobra with about 5000 miles on it...obvious from the pic most of my riding is on the interstate...How many more safe miles can I expect from this tire?? Most of my riding is solo...I weigh about 180 lbs...

Stick a penny in your crack.

[Oss]

32 holy cow Mallett  and that other tire of Mark's I could not imagine risking my life on that bald tire showing cords

I ran 44-45 in my rear tire going solo  Mine looked like that around 10k and got maybe 3k more

I would take a long trip 2-3000 miles on that tire with the right pressure in it but I would have ride-on in that tire as well but that is just me

Looks like about an eighth of an inch at the center still legal but keep checking tire pressure BEFORE you ride  only way to tell is to check it

Now I am running the 200 battleaxe and lovin the tire YMMV

[steve 3054]

I run the Avon Cobras on my Rune and went to the CT and love it...really can not tell it is a car tire!!!

[BF]

Thanks guys, I checked my tire pressure & it's 32 lbs. What should I be running in it? Fritz The Cat, I'm thinking about going to a CT but love the ride of the Avon Cobra..can let go of the handlebars at 85 & she tracks right on down the road.......MarkT, my first serious ride looked a lot like yours...

Running that mc tire at that pressure should have given you a good feel for how a car tire will handle.      

[Mallett]

Thanks guys, I checked my tire pressure & it's 32 lbs. What should I be running in it? Fritz The Cat, I'm thinking about going to a CT but love the ride of the Avon Cobra..can let go of the handlebars at 85 & she tracks right on down the road.......MarkT, my first serious ride looked a lot like yours...

Running that mc tire at that pressure should have given you a good feel for how a car tire will handle.      

If it felt any better...I couldn't stand it, BF... for sure going to CT....

[Tropic traveler]

You must have some very abrasive road surfaces up there. Your tire looks about the same shape as the 16,000 mile Avon Cobra that is on the back of Kim's Valk. 
Either that or we got the super long treadwear version.     

[cookiedough]

If properly inflated rear at 42-46 psi, you should easily get 10K, maybe even 12-13K, out of a rear tire and front tire around 38-42 psi should yield 12-15K, but this is a rough estimate is all.

With the tire already flattened due to only 32 psi, way too low,  I still think at 5K you might if you pump it up to 44-45 psi get 8-9K pushing 10K miles. 

If I drove say 8K per year instead of only 3-4K, I would seriously consider a rear car tire.  But, with say 3-4K per year, I can get about 4 years out of a set of tires which is about time anyways to check the splines and lube them up again. 

[Jabba]

So much depends on HOW you ride man...

I was getting about 8,000 out of my rear metzelers.  And 12K out of a front.  I have gone Non-Motorcycle Specific on both my valks now... and 12K is still about right for a front.  I have NO idea how far the backs will go.  I got 12K on one, and about 8K on the other... and neither shows a LICK of wear.

Jabba

[Tropic traveler]

You must have some very abrasive road surfaces up there. Your tire looks about the same shape as the 16,000 mile Avon Cobra that is on the back of Kim's Valk. 
Either that or we got the super long treadwear version.     

BTW, 40 psi checked on a fairly regular basis since new. Might have something to do with the longevity.

[bg]

gone through 3 sets of avons.
about 14-16K for each set.
i normally run 44 psi in the rear and 42 in the front.

[Mallett]

Thanks guys, I checked my tire pressure & it's 32 lbs. What should I be running in it? Fritz The Cat, I'm thinking about going to a CT but love the ride of the Avon Cobra..can let go of the handlebars at 85 & she tracks right on down the road.......MarkT, my first serious ride looked a lot like yours...

MarkT, Here's a pic of the tire with 1800 more miles on it....I bumped the tire pressure up to 40, didn't like it...got it at 36, I like the ride there...Where are we meeting for that beer?...

[cookiedough]

How much do you weigh?  I put 45-46 psi in the rear and see no difference in handling as 40 psi.  I bet I could go 48 psi no problems if I wanted to if it meant more mileage out of the rear tire, especially riding 2-up me at 275 and wife at 200.  If you are running anything below 40 psi in the rear tire besides a car tire then the psi is way too low, my .02 cents.   Now, as far as front tire is concerned,  most will run 40-42 psi but personally, I find it too harsh a ride and prefer 38-40 psi tops. 

[J.Mencalice]

Don't like Avons. I don't think that they hold up over the long haul like Dunlops or Metzlers or Contis.
Just one man's opinion.

[Hoser]

I ride about 20k a year, get new tires annually.  Last set and new set below.  Hoser

[BigAl]

WHen it sits on the Rim post it again.

Or the wear bars are a better reminder to look at and the tire egineers would agree.

But bring up science here is like telling the Pope we came from Monkeys.

Does not mean a thing to this board.

Physics and such are poppy rooster and boulder dash. Here.

Car tires on the back and motorcycle tires on the front.

Ain't for me.

I have seen a few of those car tire guys swapping and slapping handle bar stops in front of me, Head SHake Maximus.


It ain't pretty, but does that stop them, hell no.

JMO and MIne ALone, It is still a free country. For now.

[alph]

i was able to get exactly 10,313 miles out of my rear Avon when they did this (you can tell in the third picture i still had some tread left on 'em);

i loved 'em until that point, kept the presure at 42psi, i honestly believe that the tire went low on the last couple hundred miles and that's what excellerated the delamination.  had i checked my presure when i "felt" something odd, i'd probably would have gotten another 1000 miles off of 'em.  i also use Dyna-Beads for balancing. there is a posibility that i had hit something in the road since there was a cut going completly across the tire (not shown in any of my photo's)

by the way Hoser, what brand rear tire is that?

[PhredValk]

Mallett; I run a Falken CT, and once a year I ride at least 4 miles without touching the bars, just to see that I can. Sort of a balance and wear test. I do it on strait concrete slab, with no other traffic around, and hands set to grab, so safe enough.
Fred.