Tire is getting near the wear bars!

Pulled my tire tonight for a final drive swap and was surprised to find that it is approaching the wear bars! the edges of the tire look like they have more tread than the center...

It's nowhere near bad yet, but closer to the bars than I expected (although I am approaching about 12K miles)...

just sayin....

Guess it's the 18" tire and 45 series? I'll have 19k on this 16" when I get home in the morning...it'll pass 30k without breaking much of a sweat.

But, the bigger question is how many miles did you get from the stock MC tires and I bet you could tell a handling diff as the tire wore out and can't really with this one.

18K on my toyo proxxes tpt4 and it is through. Wore out across the mille. These tires do wear out in the center more, unless you are lucky enough like SmokinJoe to live and ride all twisties.Cintrifigul force causes them to round out somewhat when up to speed. This naturally wears out the center of the tire for those of us that ride the majority of our miles running straight,

See you out there
Smokey

Found the same thing.....tire still wears in the middle!


....................bobby

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I have about 16000 on my GYTT and I'm wearing the out side 3 inches off each side, I run 42-44 lbs air, but right now for the last 2 years I run more curves then straights. I figure I've got about 5 to 10 thousand miles left. I've worn out the 2nd front tire so far, getting about 8000 to 10,000 miles to a front tire down from about 15000 to 16000 miles, way more traction in the corners off the rear tire, can actually push the front tire through the corners with too much throttle, couldn't before with an MC tire on the back, the rear tire would break loose first.

Doug

Leave it to ol' T Tex to bring out the stupid questions. What is a wear bar?

The reason I ask, is because yesterday I was analyzing my tread, and in the center, I noticed that occasionally there was a spot in the tread that was suddenly flush with the rest. I figured I had another 3K on the tire or so. If I do ... great ... if not ... wide side here I come!

think you found the wear bar, it;'s just there to let you know you are getting the tire worn in a little bit... now when the tread disappears, it's def time for a new tire!

Thanks for that! Another day goes by that I actually got smarter on! LOL.

You know ... when the tread disappears you still got time ... it's when you see the radial that it's time!

as long as your not in the rain or carving dirty corners!

Now your are talking Swampers.

Not that I've got any authority; my CT goes on my scoot next week, most likely. Wonder if the tire pressure has to do with "early" wearing of the car tire. After all, it needs about 28-30 psi to even up the tread for a quarter of a car say about 750 lbs? And most of you with your bikes weigh a little more than that, right? So, it seems it should need a little more psi.

And I know you've played with the pressure a bit, but since a lot of you are writing about running at 36-40 psi, maybe that's overinflating and leaving the tire too rounded up in the middle. Wouldn't that promote premature center wear? That's what happens on the car, when the pressure is too high - the center wears and when it's too low, the edges wear. On top of that, it seems that on a bike, the center gets worn ALL the time - both in the flats and when the tire rolls over a little in the curves, too.

I dunno; just a thought. Whaddayou think, guys?
m

that might be possible... I run mine close to 50psi... but the 18" rim is a different critter than the 16" rim and the larger sidewall/volume... If I go lower than 42 give or take the tire feels pretty squishy...

Moon, what PSI have you found that you like?

on a related note, I do a lot of to and from work and school everyday I can which does not involve a lot of "fun" twisty riding so the center wear could also be expected of that, IMO. This bike is a daily driver about 8 months out of the year, give or take a bit for weather or training requirements for work...

It's been my experience that most running this tire found it to perform and feel best around 46 to 52 PSI... yeah it could contribute, but I'd rather have some handling and a little less tread life I guess?

Addressing the above 2 replies. I checked the tread depth on my 165/80/15 when I reached 10k miles. I found the center of the tire had worn 2/32 of an inch more than the outside edges. At this time I was running 40-41psi in the tire. So, in fact it was causing the tire to wear in the middle more, just like a bike tire. I have since dropped the pressure by 4-5psi and am happy with it. As we have all stated on here, try different tire pressures and use what feels right to you.

Safe riding folks.

DB