I have an 02 ST and at 500 miles front tire wear, for my kind of riding is barely discernible. I suppose this is based on the brand and type of tires installed but I assume they are stock as delivered and should wear slower than a true sport tire. Is this wear better described as cupping, with high points at the trailing edge of the tread or is it truly off to one side? :-D

 

The BT57's that came with my '02 as stock fitment were garbage.
Within the first 500 miles the front started to cup. With a very light touch you could feel it shimmy and it got worse from there. The dealer rebalanced and all but no go. I burned them off as fast as I could and went with the Z6's. I wouldn't expect too much out of the stock tires.

Don

 

I would think it is more due to the pressures that may have been in the tire. The wear on the right side is due to the camber of the road and can be accelerated if overloaded or running improper pressures. Chip and seal roads are particularly tough on tires as well.

 

dolson, mine was delivered with BT010's so I have no experience with the BT57s, but I got 6000 miles out of them. Subsequently I replaced them with BT020's and again another 6000 miles. I just installed the BT021's but have not put many miles on them as of yet but so far they seem fine. I failed to mention the Michelins that only delivered 3000 miles or the Pirelli Diablo Corsas that vibrated like mad. I wonder what tires came stock on wrongways 06 Sprint? Wrongway, what's the stock tire on your bike?
:-D

 

The stock tire are BT020's. The issue I'm having is not cupping, but wear like I am in a constant lean. It doesn't seem to matter what road I'm on, or if I am riding on the right or left side (as to the issue of road camber). I have had many bikes and have been riding for over 18 years and thi is the first time I have seen this. I know there will be times when a tire will wear a little uneven, say when you do a 600-700 trip in the fast lane, but this is wearing this way every time I look at it. Also, the wearing would be indicative of riding in the slow lane, which I do very infrequently. 2 miles or 50, it's always the same. Just wanted to see if there is something I should be aware of in the Sprints.

[ This message was edited by: rongway on 2007-07-06 03:36 ]

 

rongway, do you ride with the saddlebags?
If yes, do you pay attention to reasonably balancing them?
I remember on a long trip I stuffed two water bottles into one side and rode off. It threw the bike off balance, especially around corners where your vertical g's increase on one side much greater than the other.

 

rongway, here is a link to a tire wear article with some interesting photos and comments. Good luck.

Bob

CLICKY HERE

[ This message was edited by: bobw3592 on 2007-07-06 07:20 ]

 

Bob, very informative article. I think it's spot on with the explanation. Like rongway says...(from the pilots position, not head on)) his left side is wearing more than the right.

So what we need to do is find a partner in a country that drives on the wrong side of the road and swap bikes so we can maximize our tire wear.
:idea:

 

Bob,

Thanks for the article. I had read a number of others, but never with this explanation. This makes total sense now.

~Andrew

 

Rongway, just a thought, could be that someone has already suggested this but here it is anyway. Have you checked the height of your front forks as they relate to the top of the triple tree. Is one sticking up higher than the other? Please, for all you pros hold back any laughter, like I said it's just a thought. Thanks!
:???:

 

Andrew,

Bridgestone front tyres are famous for this kinda wear.

I've seen them do this on Beemers for years. Many Beemer riders simply won't use 'stones because of this problem.

The rears don't seem to be a problem. :???:

 

Rongway, one other stupid question. What direction is the arrow on your front tire pointing? :???:

 

WardenRoss, man, I have been through several sets of Bridgestone tires and have never had such an odd wear pattern on the front tire, especially with only 500 miles on the thing. Cupping is the only wear pattern I have ever seen with these front tires on my 02 ST. I have ridden all over this country all kinds and types of roads. This is an odd condition, could be that it is road related, if you ride the same road all the time but it would take one heck of a crown in the road to cause one side of the tire wear that drastically or you ride with a side wind that keeps you in a constant lean. Got me on this one! The only thing I can think of is fork alignment causing the tire's contact patch to be more on one side. However the previous article seems to dispute that.

Wrongway, can you post a picture of your front tire? Just for grins.
:???:

[ This message was edited by: deller4210 on 2007-07-06 22:48 ]

 

On 2007-07-06 22:47, deller4210 wrote:
WardenRoss, man, I have been through several sets of Bridgestone tires and have never had such an odd wear pattern on the front tire, especially with only 500 miles on the thing.......
:???:

Andrew! Put the gun down...back away from the keyboard...take it easy man!

Here is a tip so that you can check your own wheel alignment. In a perfect situation, you should remove your tyres from the wheels and use this system and it would be more accurate. But this method will let you know if the rear wheel is not aligned with the front wheel and frame.

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[ This message was edited by: WardenRoss on 2007-07-07 12:23 ]

 

Hi Again All,

Thanks for the follow-ups. The alignment on the bike was checked when I first noticed the wear aptern (at about 75 miles). I have a friend who is a bike mechanic (not a triumph mechanic, unfortunately), but after I did my own check on the front forks at home, he was able to check the alignment and fork positioning more accurately in his shop. Everything checked out and is why I am so baffled. Everything is aligned, but still odd tread wear. The explanation of the roads and riding on the right side made the most sense of anything I had read to date. I have been thinking about swapping out the tire fairly soon, so hopefully that will help.

Again, thanks to all the posts and suggestions.

~Andrew

 

WardenRoss, interesting method of checking alignment. I will have to keep that one in mind.

 

Only had uneven tire wear on 2 occasions.

Riding across Wyoming for several hundred miles with a stiff side wind.

High banking of Daytona on a track day. The banking does most of the turning for you, but not all of it, so you end up
with some wear off center.

MD