| Author | Message | ||
     Kaese |
Speaking of the front tire, I have had a number of different bikes and noticed that the front tire starts to hop slightly when a little worn (lets say about 6500 miles or so). This condition can be especially felt under hard braking. I ride a daily commute of 80 miles Monday through Friday and the bike being parked is not a factor. The tread looks OK and looks as if another 4000 miles of usable mileage can be gotten out of the tire. From my experience, the only way I know to correct this problem is to replace the front tire. My question is: Would rebalancing correct this problem? Being the cheapskate that I am, is there anything I can do to extend the life of the front tire? | ||
| Dasxb9s |
Wheelies???? | ||
| Cyclonemick |
6,500 miles  What kind of bike are you riding? A Schwinn? I could never get 6,500 hundred miles out of my Tires! | ||
| Crusty |
I use my M2 for commuting and long distance riding, and I routinely get 12,000 miles out of D205 Dunlops. I keep my pressures at 36 PSI front and 40 PSI rear. I don't know if rebalancing will work, but it's worth a shot. If you do rebalance, let us know the results. | ||
| Dynarider |
Front tires last a minimum of 10,000 miles for me. The rears are a whole nother matter tho  | ||
| Newfie_buell |
Thats on that Dyna thingy I bet!!!!!!  My advice is to keep the front wheel off the ground for as much as possible.!!!!!! I have usually changed my front tire when the rear was toast despite the fact there was some tread left on it. This is usually about 10,000km with Dunlop D207s, This past summer I put a set of Bridgestone BT-010 (I think) on and I have almost 14,000km on those with about another 1000km-2000km being able to be squeezed out of them. After getting the bug for travelling by bike last summer (And its all the fault of this website) I will be replacing them with the same tire before I start out on a new adventure next summer. You have to realize that the only thing between you and the ground is the rubber we ride on. If you make two fists and put them flat on your desk thats generally about how much contact patch we have and of course this varies with road conditions, temp, cornering, etc, etc, etc. I have always liked having good front tread because of rain!!! If it looks worn or is acting funny replace it. | ||
| Firemanjim |
Well,I used to get about 1 front to 2 back tires on my S-2's,that is until I started riding with a bunch of reprobates from this place---Eek,Choptop,Snail,Ferris,Bob G,all bad people!!! The major problem I was having was the front tread started cupping at about the time the rear was ready.Unless you have a way to shave the tread a bit,its time for a new one. | ||
| Kaese |
No wheelies, conservative riding. Mostly freeway grind and lane splitting. This always seems to be the case for me on any street bike I've owned regardless of the tire. I usually replace the front when I do the rear. When I didn't I regretted it. Then it feels like a new bike. I will try rebalanceing and report back. If rebalancing doesn't work, I would be willing to try shaving, but have no experience. Maybe I should try to abuse the heck out of the front, to make sure I get my monies worth. | ||
| Bartimus |
Rebalance the tire, that should cure your problem | ||
| Fullpower |
kaese; order up a fresh pair of metzeler M1 sportecs, as soon as they arrive, go out and brutally flog the old rubber into oblivion. have pictures taken of the event, and then report back on how much better the metzelers feel. dean | ||
| Bykergeek |
Mine has the same problem and I don't think it is a balance issue. Bad balance should lead to constant vibration. Do you ride a lot of twisties and ride them aggressively with lots of front braking? My next tire will not have any circumferential groove like these BT020s. I will probably try Michelins or Metzelers | ||
| Buckinfubba |
kaese it more than likely is the cupping of the tire. the dunlops are notorious for this in my experience. hell they all are down here with all the twisties but I am cheap and just live with it. still trying as hard as I can to get 1 front to 2 rears. but it gets ugly sometimes BTW my fronts are usually toast and bald on the sides by 6 or 7k. edited by buckinfubba on December 20, 2003 | ||
| Bomber |
Bubbin's right . . . .all the dunlops I've run on the MaDeuece (205s and 207s) have cupped excessively, despite damn-near religious pressure checking . . . . . that, and the fact that I've now had two rears display the mysterious split across the carcess, means I'm done with dunlops | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Pirelli is offering a deal starting next month...get a free front tire with the purchase of a rear. Its on the Diablos but hey it is worth looking into. I am waiting for the final details. | ||
| Kaese |
Cupping is most likely the problem. As I remember, it was always Dunlops that did it. No more Dunlops for me. My plan was to get some Metzler M-1 Sportech's. Pirelli owns Metzler, I'll look into the Diablos. | ||
| M1combat |
The Pirelli Diablo's and the Metzler sportec M1's are "supposedly" the same tire with different tread patterns... | ||
| Easyflier |
That's a deal too good to pass up. The personality of my XB drastically changed for the better when I installed Diablos almost 5k miles ago. | ||
| Chainsaw |
Wyckedflesh : That Pirelli deal would make my friggin day! Keep us posted! (10k, needs another rear tire, wants to try the Diablos!) edited by chainsaw on December 22, 2003 | ||
| Ray_maines |
My M2 was simply transformed when I replaced the stock Dunlop 205's (@ 10,000 miles) with Bridgestone BT 010's. My current bike was equally transformed when I replaced the stock BS BT 020's (@ 12,000 miles) with a set of Metzler M-1 Sportec's. After 8,000 miles, the Buell's Bridgestone tires were all but gone (I crashed and totaled my Y2K M2 so I don't know how much longer the tires might have lasted but it wouldn't have been long). After 5,000 miles the Metzlers still look almost new and I expect another 5,000 miles of good service. I don't know what any of this has to do with front tire cupping but I know this: 1) Overall, soft rubber tires are better than hard rubber tires, even on dry pavement but especially on wet roads and in the rain. And... 2) Metzler M-1 Sportec tires offer just as much grip and better wear than the highly reguarded Bridgestone BT 010's. I guess there is no one "all around best tire ever made (and I can prove it - C.C.)" but I'm happy with my Metzler Sportec M-1's and I plan to buy another set when these wear out. | ||
| Stubby |
At the Denver International M/C show last Sunday I spoke with the Avon Rep, and while I wouldn't have touched those tires on a bet before I spoke with him, they seem more attractive now. Anybody have any experience with the Avons? Stubb | ||
| Chainsaw |
Stubby: I've use the Avon's on my Sporty. Great mileage, good in the rain. My front 21" Dunlop 204 lasted 9000 miles. The Avon Venom-X I replace it with has 19,000 miles on it, and is almost down to the wear bars. My rear 204 lasted 13,100 miles. I replaced it with an Avon Roadranger which had about 12,000 miles on it when it's life was cut short by a long screw in Mobile, Alabama. I would recommend Avon's. (I want to try the Pirelli's though too) | ||
| Kaese |
I'll check with my tire guy today about the Diablo's. I have a set of Metzlers on the tuber, but ride the XB almost exclusively now. Put about 2500 miles on them and they still look new. I checked the Pirelli website, and no mention of the free front. Still have the promotion that ended 10/31/03. edited by kaese on December 23, 2003 | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
http://www.us.pirellimoto.com/riding/news/dettaglio.asp?ID=274 | ||
| Ray_maines |
My son put a set of Avon Azzaro tires on his S3 (that would be a Triumpeh Speed Triple, or Striple) and they didn't work well at all for him. He didn't like them the very first day he put them on and was glad to see the rear tire delaminate so he could be rid of them. He went back to Bridgestone BT 010's and loves them.  | ||
| Racerx1 |
Got great mileage out of my Michelin's, but they didn't do too well in the rain.  | ||
| Kaese |
Thanks, Mikel for the info! Turns out my tire person is one of the dealers through PartsUnlimited. I'm sure he'll be pushing the Diablo's the next month or two. | ||
| Kaese |
RacerX, I sincerely hope most of that extreme chord wear was from burnouts right in front of the tire dealer! | ||
| Racerx1 |
Actually, that was the result of Mr. Daytona himself, Scott Ru$$ell, on a Husky NOx supermotard bike in full on attack mode! Note nearly full tread depth in the center and cords showing through on the sides at full lean angles! He was litterally smoking that thing into and out of corners. Truly a sight to behold... | ||
| Kaese |
I thought I had ordered some Diablo's for the special front free deal. Somehow the rear tire came in and it was a Corsa with a no charge for the front. Now I have a set of Corsas to try out with the same deal. Guess I'll still have to use them. |
