Those black rubbery things

[SMOKEU]

Is it normal for the back tyre on a sports bike to become squared off with normal road use? The rear tyre on my bike was squared off really badly while the front tyre was worn evenly all round.

[onearmedbandit]

Depends on what you mean by 'normal road use'. Just commuting around town will square off the tyre, as you're riding on the centre of the tyre more often than not. if however you're mostly riding on the open road, hills etc then it's a sign you're not working the tyre to it's full use, either not leaning enough or waiting too long to get back on the power.

[blackdog]

those black rubbery things.

my wifes paua fritters?

[SMOKEU]

my wifes paua fritters?

I haven't had the pleasure of tasting them yet.

[Maha]

Depends on what you mean by 'normal road use'. Just commuting around town will square off the tyre, as you're riding on the centre of the tyre more often than not. if however you're mostly riding on the open road, hills etc then it's a sign you're not working the tyre to it's full use, either not leaning enough or waiting too long to get back on the power.

.....or, something as simple like low tyre pressure.

[tigertim20]

Is it normal for the back tyre on a sports bike to become squared off with normal road use? The rear tyre on my bike was squared off really badly while the front tyre was worn evenly all round.

nothing happens to your tyres for no reason.
rears will usually wear out faster that fronts on the street, because they have the stress from the engine put through them, where the front just sorta rolls.

If you are commuting, or doing a lot of city riding, the tyre will 'pancake' which is just a term to describe where the tyre sqaures off through the middle. having the correct tyre pressures all the time can help reduce pancaking significantly.

other things you can do, apart from the obvious taking it for a solid raping through some tight twisties and getting low regularly to keep it more round, is to look at what type of riding you do, and get tyres accordingly. no point getting the softest compound you can if your riding is 90% commuting. either look into a harder compound, tyre, or a dual compound tyre, which is harder through the middle of the tyre, and softer on the edges, something like a pilot road2 might be a worthwhile investment.

i made the mistake of buying a shinko a few months back, because money was really tight. it was only about 70-100 bucks cheaper than a really good tyre, and guess what, i destroyed that shinko in 2600km.
got pilot roads now, and have done more than double that, and they stil have plenty of life left in them, so tyre choice is important, spend a couple extra bucks, its worth it

[Corse1]

And if you had a larger capacity bike with more weight to push through the corners your front would be the opposite and look like an arrow with flats on the sides and still radiused nicely in the middle where it does very little work (breaking in a straight line).

But for the rear the same as above. A dual compound tyre is great. My Pilot road 2's are still beautifully radiused alll round the tyre at 6500kms :yes: but it is only used for highway roads.

And as advised above get out and cane it through the hills on the weekend. I hate changing rears if the side tread is still in good nick!!

[SMOKEU]

I've got Sport Demons on mine and they're quite good on my bike. The front tyre has been on my bike since before I bought it, 13000km later it's down to about 3mm tread.

[FJRider]

Is it normal for the back tyre on a sports bike to become squared off with normal road use? The rear tyre on my bike was squared off really badly while the front tyre was worn evenly all round.

Short answer ... YES ...

[Latte]

I've got Sport Demons on mine and they're quite good on my bike. The front tyre has been on my bike since before I bought it, 13000km later it's down to about 3mm tread.

Big bikes are similar wear, you'd be down to 3mm on the rear (on your 3rd, or possibly 4th tire). 2nd or 3rd on the front.

Or maybe thats just me?

[Ocean1]

And if you had a larger capacity bike with more weight to push through the corners your front would be the opposite and look like an arrow with flats on the sides and still radiused nicely in the middle where it does very little work (breaking in a straight line).

The Buell squares off the rears some and it's not very heavy. It's no so much the torque that does it, you tend to wind them on still tipped well over, it's the engine breaking. Simply shutting the throttle at 4000 rpm is enough to have the rear squirming around.


But for the rear the same as above. A dual compound tyre is great. My Pilot road 2's are still beautifully radiused alll round the tyre at 6500kms :yes: but it is only used for highway roads.

I like PP2s but I got to admit I should run PR2s 'cause they last much longer, they just squirm a bunch more.

[SMOKEU]

The Buell squares off the rears some and it's not very heavy. It's no so much the torque that does it, you tend to wind them on still tipped well over, it's the engine breaking. Simply shutting the throttle at 4000 rpm is enough to have the rear squirming around.



I like PP2s but I got to admit I should run PR2s 'cause they last much longer, they just squirm a bunch more.

And there I am doing 12,000RPM downshifts.

[Ocean1]

And there I am doing 12,000RPM downshifts.

I can not believe I wrote breaking. :facepalm:

But that'd be correct if I got anywhere near 12,000RPM. Peak torque 86lbsft @ around 5,000RPM iirc.

[gatch]

I can not believe I wrote breaking. :facepalm:

But that'd be correct if I got anywhere near 12,000RPM. Peak torque 86lbsft @ around 5,000RPM iirc.

You'll live mate.

Read some more Dune and go to the happy place.

[Genie]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Cz5Ie3TDL.jpg


interesting what one can do with rubber....:innocent:

[Ocean1]

interesting what one can do with rubber....:innocent:

And practice.

[vifferman]

The VFR is somewhat hard on front tyres, so finding a goodun is a mission. I have no real problems with squaring off the rear tyre, but do find that from too much communtering the front Storm develops a step, especially on the left side, where I'm not getting up enough speed/lean to wear it all the way across - only just as far as the bike leans on the tightest corner on my usual commuting route.
Plus some brands/models of tyre tend to end up very unevenly worn ('scalloped', and the Mrkns call it) on the VFR, as it loads the front end up badly.

I really need to do some weekend jaunts on twisty roads, or find a different front tyre.

[Banditbandit]

Is it normal for the back tyre on a sports bike to become squared off with normal road use? The rear tyre on my bike was squared off really badly while the front tyre was worn evenly all round.


I've got Sport Demons on mine and they're quite good on my bike. The front tyre has been on my bike since before I bought it, 13000km later it's down to about 3mm tread.


Depends on what you mean by 'normal road use'. Just commuting around town will square off the tyre, as you're riding on the centre of the tyre more often than not. if however you're mostly riding on the open road, hills etc then it's a sign you're not working the tyre to it's full use, either not leaning enough or waiting too long to get back on the power.


Onearmed is right ... you're not leaning enough .. or waiing too long to get the power back on ...

Or possibly standing on that back brake too much ... Tyres tell people a lot about the rider ...

13,000 on a front tyre !!!! Shit I'd be happy if the fronnts on my playbike did half that .. I'm lucky to get 6,000 out of them ... 3,000 and my rear is fucked .. fronts get not quite twce that ...

[Banditbandit]

Big bikes are similar wear, you'd be down to 3mm on the rear (on your 3rd, or possibly 4th tire). 2nd or 3rd on the front.

Or maybe thats just me?

On my 650 I'd be on my fifth back tyre in 13,000 klicks ... probably on 3rd or maybe fourth front tyre ...

On the 1250 I don't track it .. just change them when I need to ...

[Banditbandit]

And there I am doing 12,000RPM downshifts.

That won't matter so much on a lighter bike ... less pressure/weight on the rear rubber ... but it won't help either ...