Can low tyre pressure be this detrimental?

[SlowHand]

So, on me new boik, I've been lazy for the first 3000ks and not checked the air pressure. Front was down to 26psi. Now, just under 5000ks on these diablos, the right hand side of the front is looking quite sad.

Did my lazy arse do this? Or have I got setup issues? Left hand looks like the middle - enough tread for another 3000k or so

[Karma]

Yes. Ran low tyre pressures on a coro loop and virtually fucked the whole tyre

[madmal64]

Oh yes! Ive just found out the expensive way as well. Stuffed a set of Pilot Powers by not keeping them checked.

[Mental Trousers]

Low tyre pressures on something like a Diablo will definitely screw it. The wear on the right side is to do with how much further and faster it is around right hand turns than lefties. Nothing to do with the road camber as many will tell you.

[Blackbird]

Agree with everyone else. It's not only tyre pressures, but can be caused by the wrong choice of tyre too, especially with heavier bikes than yours. In the early days of Blackbird ownership, I had Dunlop D220's on it. The load on the front tyre during corning caused the casing to deflect and I got a horrible wear pattern up the sides of the tyres. This was completely eliminated when I switched to a tyre which was specifically designed for so-called hyperbikes like the 'busa and 'bird which had a much stronger carcass construction.

[SlowHand]

Oh arse, guess thats 1 lesson learnt. Still dont know why my rear's don't show similar wear patterns, just squiddly wear pattern on rear. I should mention taking it easy for first 3000ks too.

[HDTboy]

I agree with the tyre pressure mob.
When you're ready for new tyres, click the link in my signature

[JimO]

what should the diabolicals have in them psi wise

[riffer]

They're the same tyre as the Mezteler Z6 aren't they? (although I may be wrong - I can't quite remember)

I am an absolute pedant about tyre pressures on my RF. I learnt the hard way. One week on a too soft tyre cost me at least three months wear on my last tyre (a Z6).

And I get through tyres every 6-9 months.

I reckon depending on your riding style you should run at least 38psi front. And no more than 41.

[R6_kid:Me]

general tyre pressure for bikes is 34-36psi, but that varies depending on what you are doing/carrying etc.

[JimO]

general tyre pressure for bikes is 34-36psi, but that varies depending on what you are doing/carrying etc.

same front and back??

[Hitcher]

ST1300s are rated at 42:42. After extensive experimentation, I found that that was spot on.

I run 36:40 on the FJR.

[Jantar]

Oh arse, guess thats 1 lesson learnt. Still dont know why my rear's don't show similar wear patterns, just squiddly wear pattern on rear. I should mention taking it easy for first 3000ks too.

That's because the front tyres work hardest during cornering when the bike is leaned over, and the back tyres work hardest when accelerating, or cruising in a straight line. Front tyres will wear on the sides more (right more than left) and the rear tyre will wear in the centre more. There was a thread on here a year or two back with a link to an article that explained it all. I'll see if I can find it tomorrow.

[laRIKin]

When you are accelerating you put most of the weight on the back wheel (think wheel stand).
And with the accelerating you can get close to wheel spin and that tears at the tire as well.

When you are breaking hard a lot of the weight goes on to the front wheel, think stoppie.
Because it is a skinner tire it can take a bit of a hiding.

When you are going though a corner and you are on the throttle the weight of the bike goes to the back of the bike. (you could loss the rear end in a slide)
As you know you could pop a wheel stand mid corner.
Now if you could control it is another thing.

Now if you throttle off mid corner, you transfer a lot of the weight to the front wheel and that could be more than the skinnier of the two tires can handle and you can lose the front end.
And that is a bad thing.

So you are best to be always on the gas and accelerating (even a little bit) so you do not loss the front end.

You can control the weight ratio with the throttle and control which end could break free by getting most of the load and weight.

As Kenny Robert's once said " you will never loss the front end if you are accelerating".

When you are running low tire pressures you get more tire flex (which is hard on the tire) and that over heats you tires and that is why they do not last as long as they should.
And the rubber balls up and can look like you are really riding hard.

When I was racing we did not have flash rubber on our bikes, so we ran them at lower pressures to get heat in to them and get them to stick to the track.
I sometimes ran tire pressures so low that it scared me when I checked, but I never crash on them. (remember the tire probably had stiffer side walls)
I would not do this today with the better tires we now have, so don't do it.