What causes this odd wear pattern on a front tyre?

I was wondering what was causing the leading edge of the tread block to
wear less than the trailing edge, there's a 1mm step between each block
The bikes a Deauville and the tyres are Michelin Macadam if that is
part of the answer.

 

Mo wrote

<waves>

Oo please miss, me miss, I know the answer to this one.

<squirms in seat>


--
steve auvache
750 VT Shadow (something for the weekend)
Bindit 600 (was lost and now is found)
GS500E (small but perfectly formed)
mongvan (dehydrated)

 

Incorrect tyre pressures.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Mo

Have you got it bolted down to a concrete base?

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets
and Ducati Race Engineer.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha GTS1000

 

Braking. It's particularly noticeable on big trailee tyres where the
larger gap between the tread blocks puts even more stress on the
leading edge. Increasing the front tyre pressure helps apparently.

 

Helps? Helps in what way? Helps to stop the front tyre working the way
it was designed to do, perhaps?

 

Pressure too low?

 

Or have you forgotton to restrain it with 5 tonne chain blocks?

 

A plod biker once told me this was braking too hard.

ALthough surely if you haven't fallen off you haven't braked too hard!

 

But do you know how many different answers will be given in total?

 

If the tyre is uffering so much deformation under braking at the correct
pressure for the weight of the vehicle and the type of surface, it
indicates that the tyre carcass isn't up to the job and should be replaced
with something better.

If a big trailee is doing this to a deep block tyre because it's getting
hard road use, then the user should consider using more road orientated
tyres or buying some better crash protection.

 

Ok, get rectangular type pencel eraser, stand it up on one of its ends
on a bit of paper. Grip it with your fingers keeping it upright, press
down and drag it across the surface of the paper its standing on.

You'll notice that it flexes, and that the front edge tends to tuck
under and wear more.

That's what it happening on your tyre. The leading edges of the tread
pattern tend to tuck under a tiny amount and wear at a faster rate than
the rear edges when the brakes are applied.

 

They're macadams, they come complete with their own concrete.

 

flash wrote

My estimate, based upon current data, is 17 by close of play this
evening.


--
steve auvache
750 VT Shadow (something for the weekend)
Bindit 600 (was lost and now is found)
GS500E (small but perfectly formed)
mongvan (dehydrated)

 

I reckon there's only a few more to come, lets say ten in total plus a
random reference to shaft drives.

 

Bollocks, frankly.

What about the case of a road bike, with the recommended tyres, inflated
to the correct pressure?

Perhaps I should phone up Bridgestone and tell them that their tyres
aren't suitable for hard road use?

 

tallbloke emerged from their own little world to say

I know a number of people who use Continental TKC80 on the R-GS. These are
an off-road biased dual purpose tyre. In fact BMW offer them as OE on the
Adventure. This type of wear is not uncommon but I've never heard anyone
complain about getting into difficulty as a consequence. In fact, a number
of people prefer the road handling of the TKC80s compared to other dual
purpose tyres like Metzeler Tourance. Their only gripe is the rapid wear
rate as they are a soft compound. From an economic point of view it makes
little difference as TKC80s are pretty much half the price of longer
lasting tyres.

Manufacturers make road only tyres for large trailies e.g. the BT020 is an
option. The general consensus is that these tyres don't offer much more, if
any, extra grip. They are just more durable for those who do more miles on
motorways. They cost more than dual purpose tyres so whether they are more
economic is another issue.

However, your contention that this type of wear presents a danger is
bollocks IMHO.

 

I haven't a clue - it's just what some people on the Tiger list have
reported. I don't worry myself as I don't pay for tyres, so when it's
'cupped' badly enough to cause vibration I just replace it.

 

flash wrote

You are forgetting the mention of floor pan and gear driven cams. Add
those and do a bit of perming and 17 could easily be a gross
underestimate.


--
steve auvache
750 VT Shadow (something for the weekend)
Bindit 600 (was lost and now is found)
GS500E (small but perfectly formed)
mongvan (dehydrated)

 

Ah but *you're* forgetting that, after a while, two posters will drag the
thread into a bitter and pointless argument over two opposing views.