The Risk of Worn Tires | GTAMotorcycle.com

The Risk of Worn Tires

T

The Fixer

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I knew my tires were getting worn, and decided to replace them after my five day tour of Eastern Ontario, a trip I took this summer. My motivation was to get the most life out of my tires, and deferring the cost of replacement at little longer. What a dumb decision that was!

During the ride I crossed the centre line while rounding a curve. It was a downhill right curve, with a decreasing radius. Visibility of the whole curve was good and I was riding at a normal (prudent) speed. Rounding the curve should have been routine. So I was surprised to find myself crossing the centre line. I was even more surprised at the steering effort needed to change my line and get my *** back to safety. It was as though the bike didn’t want to turn. I was cussing at my bike as I struggled to push the inside bar and dig in deeper to get it back across the line. After the situation was under control - I wondered WTF happened.

Later it dawned on me. The slow tire wear and corresponding slow deterioration of the bike’s handling caught up to me. Little did I notice my bike had become a pig to handle. By this time my front tire had a wide flat on the bottom, and each side was flattened as well. My rear was not as bad, flat in the centre, but still with radius up the sidewalls.

I took it easy for the rest of the trip and parked the bike when I got home until I got new tires.

As I rode home from the shop with the new tires , I was astounded at how amazingly light and responsive the steering had become. I literally had to learn to steer the bike again. What had become my normal steering inputs would have sent me into the ditch!

Never again will I wear out a set of tires to the extent I did those ones. My life may depend on it.


Cheers,
Mark Benson
Suzuki Bandit 1250
(dancing with new Michelin Pilot Road 4s)
 
its a pain when you get the flat middle spot eh? I'm looking forward to new tires before a PA trip next year :)
 
Cruise the Kijiji ads, and you will see hundreds to bikes with various farkle upgrades that do nothing. People buy bikes, slap on a $600 slipon to make some more noise, but rarely change the OEM tires, which are typically crap. The difference is night and day on good tires.
Take OEM tires add wear and ageing, they are unsafe, even within spec tread depths.
 
CafeRay said:
Cruise the Kijiji ads, and you will see hundreds to bikes with various farkle upgrades that do nothing. People buy bikes, slap on a $600 slipon to make some more noise, but rarely change the OEM tires, which are typically crap. The difference is night and day on good tires.
Take OEM tires add wear and ageing, they are unsafe, even within spec tread depths.
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Holy ****. This has class action law suit written all over it!!!
 
my tires are totally squareing off but I chalk it up to my lack of experience and inability to lean..maybe they're just old hahaha. Nah i think its me!
 
Something doesn't seem right. You can't go from handling "ok" to running wide and wrestling the handlebar to submission. You were riding above what the tires could deliver at that stage of wear. People use car tires and ride accordingly(not recommended).
 
inreb said:
Something doesn't seem right. You can't go from handling "ok" to running wide and wrestling the handlebar to submission. You were riding above what the tires could deliver at that stage of wear. People use car tires and ride accordingly(not recommended).
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Bike tires typically wear into a square, with most wear in the middle, and little on the sides.
However, he didn't replace the old tires with the same, new tires, so he likely has a different profile which will change the feel of the bike.

For Gary: bikes wear middle sides replace same so different change feel.
 
CafeRay said:
Bike tires typically wear into a square, with most wear in the middle, and little on the sides.
However, he didn't replace the old tires with the same, new tires, so he likely has a different profile which will change the feel of the bike.
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Oh man the written word can be so confusing, it makes me wonder if legally binding contracts should be verbal only. Or post in legalese.
 
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Flat spotting the center of a tire is the norm here in Ontario. All of our roads are straight.
Initial turn may be a little slower but once leaned over you should be out of the flat spot and conor as usual.
Sounds like OP may have entered faster than expecting and had to lean farther than usual to get around.
I can't see a flat spot causing the OP to run wide.
 
Incorrect suspension setup can cause the running-wide and high-steering-effort situation, too. It's affected by front/rear sag and front/rear ride height ... and I'll juggle these a couple millimeters at a time to get the steering feel just right.

Worn tires can certainly do this ... it depends how far over it's worn. It's not necessarily just worn in the center.

Different tires have different profiles and stiffnesses. I've had a set of tires that were take-offs from my buddy's Yamaha R1 which he didn't like, which worked fine on my ZX9R. I've had another set that I could not get to turn in properly on a ZX10R. It's not necessarily that the tires are "bad", they just didn't agree with the chassis geometry and suspension setup.
 
were can you buy these tires... mine have tons of rubber in the middle and none on the sides :p what am i dooing wrong ? :blob6:

CafeRay said:
Bike tires typically wear into a square, with most wear in the middle, and little on the sides.
However, he didn't replace the old tires with the same, new tires, so he likely has a different profile which will change the feel of the bike.

For Gary: bikes wear middle sides replace same so different change feel.
Click to expand...
 
when i bought my bike I knew it needed tires,brought it home got my temp plate,rode around a day or 2 then took it in for safety,guy comes out tells me i need tires and a tail light,he says to me those tires are really bad i would not drive with them if I was you,I had no idea they where that bad ?,i knew they where old but dangerious,who knew.
 
Riceburner said:
forgot this part of the equation.....
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I did that on purpose. I wasn't aware that after market tire wear made for safe riding. According to Ray, only OEM worn out tires are unsafe.
I'm always happy to learn new **** every day. See happy face ----> :)

CafeRay said:
He reads every fourth word in my posts, I'm used to it.
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That's because 75% of any given post of yours is either "captain obvious" or utter bull ****. Take your pick.
 
I've a set of Conti Trail Attack2 that Competition Cycle spooned on for me in the spring, and after about 18,000 km they are square front and rear with a bit of meat left before the wear bars peek through, but tipping in and riding hard through a corner can't be done with confidence any longer, so I've ordered in a new set from Pete's, but the rear is on back order at the moment, so my riding style has changed quite a bit to compensate for the nasty turn in.

A discussion with some other riders seems to indicate that braking techniques can lead to premature wear of the front as well as suspension.

I'm one of those riders that needs a new front at the same time I do the rear.
 
Rotten_Ronnie said:
I've a set of Conti Trail Attack2 that Competition Cycle spooned on for me in the spring, and after about 18,000 km they are square front and rear with a bit of meat left before the wear bars peek through, but tipping in and riding hard through a corner can't be done with confidence any longer, so I've ordered in a new set from Pete's, but the rear is on back order at the moment, so my riding style has changed quite a bit to compensate for the nasty turn in.

A discussion with some other riders seems to indicate that braking techniques can lead to premature wear of the front as well as suspension.

I'm one of those riders that needs a new front at the same time I do the rear.
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18,000 KM out of a tire?! Holy smokes man, I only get 5 thousand K out of my Metzler's :(
 
I just put a bit over 20k on a set of Pilot Road 3s. Touring tires are a different animal but they're the way to go if you want some economy out of your tires. For what it's worth, I have yet to find their traction limits despite dragging hard parts on the VFR.
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