Uneven tire wear

[graybird78]

Can someone tell me why my tires are wearing uneven ?They are cupped all over the entire tread surface front and rear.I'm very religious about checking tire pressure. bike is full dress.Tires have 11k on them, and bout 40% tread left. Any help would be appreciated.

[sixtysix]

Could be a number of things:

Do you have nice evenly matched forks? Even in oil and air pessure all the time? Nice new rear shocks? Bike often 2 up and heavy? Heavy on brake or throttle? Got a fork brace? Ever check bearings? How old is the tire? Bent forks or other damage that causes front and rear tire not to track properly? Swing arm bushings?

The list could go on to include stuff like wrong tire type (radial) or compound or tread pattern. Mounted in right direction? Use a recently tested or calibrated tire gauge?

On my Triumph the factory BT54 wore evenly and lasted a long time, but they quit making them so I switched to a BT020 which was the factory recommended replacement. The rear is great but the front started cupping within 1000 miles, my riding style had not changed, only the tire. So I have to assume the actual tread pattern did not suit me and my riding style, a lot people had this same complaint on Bandits as well.

A rear tire that cups is fairly rare...maybe somebody else can point you the exact problem.

[graybird78]

hello sixtysix.

The tires in question are dunlop K491 elite ii.They were on the bike when i bought it. they are of correct size.I check tire and air fork pressure every 2 wks or so.Irun 10 psi in forks 36 psi in front 40psi in rear.Bike has full dress and I'm a big guy,6'4" 250lbs.according to my book and cycle shops Ihave spoke too this should be about right.I have located a fork brace locally will try to talk him out of it ,as it is on non running xs1100. Tires should be able to handle the load Iput on them.Have never had front forks checked for trueness.not sure about fork oil, but Iwould asume it was checked when I had it in for sevice,Idid ask for it to be checked.Talked to mechanic today he said its maybe due to the bike being so heavey in front with fairing and stereo he says he sees this on older bikes with fairings.I do remember my dad had a 77 KZ1000 that was full dress and he had similar problems. thanks for reply.

[captjerry]

Hey GB, At 11k you've gotten the better part of the EliteII's
on the XS IMHO.
Your pressures are correct, you might try a couple more psi in the front. Every set of Dunlops I've had have shown some cupping in the later stages of their life and howl when cornering.
I'm in Council Bluffs half the time, I work up here, I'd like to see your bike sometime. Had mine up here a couple weeks ago wish I'd known there was another around.
When I had my 79F I was changing tires at 10k.

[schpiff]

When I bought my bike it had about 11k on it (wasnt the original front tire) but it was worn and cupped on one side. I replaced the tire soon after getting it up and running.and front end still felt funny. The prob (I think) showed itself not too long after. The fork on that side had a bad seal, Only saw traces of a leak. (just a light ring of oil on upper fork...let it sit for a few days with the drain out and refilled that fork..needless to say most of that oil pretty much is on my floor/rim/tire/brake pads...etc.
I'm thinking.. aka.. pretty sure that the uneven dampening between the forks causes the uneven wear and alot of the wandery feeling cuz after refilling the leaky one I noticed a difference.
I will be replacing the seals in my forks as soon as time allows (its also racing season).
DOES ANY ONE REMEMBER THE FORKS THAT WERE ECCENTRIC? YOU COULD ALIGN THE FORKS BY TURNING THEM.
Dont remember xactly how it worked..it was a Kaw 650

[graybird78]

captjerry

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