cupping front tires

[Andy Cserny]

I am a newbie, 2014 RT, laser aligned at the last Spyderfest at around 5K miles, now at 12K miles I see some cupping on outside of right tire tread and somewhat less cupping on outside of left outside tire tread. Balanced wheel/tires myself they run smooth as glass. Where to from here??? rotate tires, realign with laser or just ignore. Currenntly 1500 miles from home on a two week trip, could stop by Pit Bull on the way home, Any suggestions.
Thanks,
Andy

[Pampurrs]

Andy, there are many people on this forum who know a lot more about tires than me, but from my experience, cupping is usually caused by the tire bouncing up and down as you go down the road. If you were in a car, I would advise you to check the struts and probably replace them with high performance struts. But I'm fairly new to the Spyder, so I don't know enough about the front end suspension to pinpoint where the problem is.
Also, I have always heard that cheap tires are more susceptible to cupping than premium tires. Again, I don't know if the fault may lie partially in the tires themselves.
I do know that scalloped (cupped) tires can be hazardous, so be careful. I hope you can get someone to take a look at this that knows more than I do.

Best regards

Pam

[garb55]

I had the same cupping on my 2014 RTL
Had laser alignment done
Balanced twice
still getting worse
At 17000 miles I had enough
installed Continental Conti-Pro 15/60R 15
Running 20 psi.
OEM tires always looked half flat
These look great
Only have one 300 mile ride on them but they handled great

[murphybrown]

I had the same cupping on my 2014 RTL
Had laser alignment done
Balanced twice
still getting worse
At 17000 miles I had enough
installed Continental Conti-Pro 15/60R 15
Running 20 psi.
OEM tires always looked half flat
These look great
Only have one 300 mile ride on them but they handled great

are you saying you got 17k on your front OEM's. If I read that right. I would be a happy person. As far as cupping. Definitely I encourage OP to stop by Pitbull. I had cupping on 2 sets OEMs. Laser aligned and still aligned. Pitbull put on 3 rd set OEM. What's diff. They used the glass balancing beads. 14k no cupping and have at least a couple K left on tread. Len said at the time that "jury was out" on if beads worked. For me based on results, when I replace I will use them again.

[retired1]

Andy; I would add a couple lbs. of air pressure to the tires to change the wear pattern and stop at Pitbull on the way home. JMO

[bmccaffrey]

Very common with Kenda tires

[garb55]

are you saying you got 17k on your front OEM's. If I read that right. I would be a happy person. As far as cupping. Definitely I encourage OP to stop by Pitbull. I had cupping on 2 sets OEMs. Laser aligned and still aligned. Pitbull put on 3 rd set OEM. What's diff. They used the glass balancing beads. 14k no cupping and have at least a couple K left on tread. Len said at the time that "jury was out" on if beads worked. For me based on results, when I replace I will use them again.

I did not have a problem with the mileage on the OEM tires.
They could still be run another maybe 5000 miles
But the noise they were making from the cupping was so bad I could not take it any longer
I was not about to buy another set of OEM tires and have the same thing
Like you said Pitbull put on 3 sets for you
Does that tell you something about Kenda quality control

[ARtraveler]

I usually get around 20K on the fronts. We had cupping on the 2011 tires at about 12K and replaced them. Had a dealer alignment also (non laser).

Had a laser alignment a couple months ago. The bike was off so much that Joe said it was one of the worst he had seen.

Tracks like it is on a rail now. Going on 22K and the 2nd set of tires is still looking good at 10K.

Also recommend stopping by Pitbull since you are going to be in the area.

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

cupping is more often suspension

[Andy Cserny]

since I am on the road I i WAS ONLY INADEQUATELY ABLE to check out the front suspension tried to get in touch with Len at Pit Bull so they could check it out on my way home from Colorado to Southern Illinois, but he never returned my calls, so I will ride it home and get a dealer closer to home to see if there is anything wrong the ssuspnension, if not then its the wonderful Kenda tires.
Thanks for all your responses.
Andy

[Motorcycledave]

Go to your local tire shop and have them balanced.

I am a newbie, 2014 RT, laser aligned at the last Spyderfest at around 5K miles, now at 12K miles I see some cupping on outside of right tire tread and somewhat less cupping on outside of left outside tire tread. Balanced wheel/tires myself they run smooth as glass. Where to from here??? rotate tires, realign with laser or just ignore. Currenntly 1500 miles from home on a two week trip, could stop by Pit Bull on the way home, Any suggestions.
Thanks,
Andy

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

Go to your local tire shop and have them balanced.

i can't say this enough, road force balance, it is the only type of balance that can id a tire problem correctly

[finless]

18K miles now on stock front tires (2011 RTS). Front tires still look good and no cupping.
I know this doesn't help but just showing what you should get out of the fronts.

Bob

[Andy Cserny]

Made it home safely on Monday, didnt stop by at Pit Bull because they never returned my calls even though I expressed to the secretary my desire to stop there Tuesday and have them check out the front suspension and realign the wheels if needed. I did go to a nearby Spyder dealer where a BRP trained master mechanic checked out the front suspension and found NO discrepancy but determined that the front end , to quote him was "way out of alignment" and graciously suggested that perhaps the laser alignment might have been accidentally erroneous, such as the Pitman locking tool might have been inadvertently not applied, or someone bumped the handlebars accidentally during the process, or some other accidental mishap occurred during the alignment process.. The cupping is starting to make some tire noise but as of yet on perfectly sooth asphalt there is not the slightest hint of bounce or imbalance. Needless to say this set of tires is going to be worn out prematurely and not because they are Kendas. I am not defending Kendas since my first rear tire I replaced at less than 4K miles and I was not hotrodding it. A friend replaced his front Kendas at 27K miles when I thought I would have run those tires another 4 to 6 K miles and based on that I was expecting more life out of the front tires.
The scenery in Utah and Colorado was awesome as usual and the trip across East Colorado and Kansas was not the least bit boring if one is interested in farming, agriculture in general, the huge feedlots and the attendant perfumes therefrom in the 96 degree heat.
Andy

[Andy Cserny]

Had the laser alignment done on the front wheels by another vendor and they were within specs, my apologies for doubting that the alignment by Lamonster might have been off, a BRP trained mechanic checked out the front suspension and there was no problem there, so I must assume that the cupping is due to poor quality Kenda tires? I am curious to see if the next set of front tires will cup also.
Andy

[Dubliner]

Cupping is usually due to under inflation
http://www.freeasestudyguides.com/ti...-patterns.html

[jcthorne]

In this case, cupping is a sign of the crappy Kenda tires. The ones on Louise RT did the same by 9k miles. And the tire pressure was checked and matched right to left religiously.

So far her Federal tires are doing fine but will likely go with the name brand Continentals that several are now running next time.

[jaherbst]

Cupping is caused by low air pressure. 20# at least when COLD. I emphasize cold. When in use this will increase some. Do not check an inflate when tires are HOT as you will then cause under inflation! 30# in the rear tire when COLD.

[MikeT]

Cupping is caused by low air pressure. 20# at least when COLD. I emphasize cold. When in use this will increase some. Do not check an inflate when tires are HOT as you will then cause under inflation! 30# in the rear tire when COLD.

I ran 22# in my front tires for the first year. After having the my sway bar upgraded and getting Squared Away @Spyderfest 2016, I lowered the pressure to 20#. I've run 28# in my rear tire. Now @ 10K miles my fronts have irregular wear by running my hand over them(cupping???), and I have a vibration in the handlebars that starts @60mph. My rear tire is down to 5/32nds. I'll change it to a car tire @ the end of this riding season. I plan to go back to 22# in the fronts to see if that changes anything. It looks like I'll be researching front tires.
Mike

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I ran 22# in my front tires for the first year. After having the my sway bar upgraded and getting Squared Away @Spyderfest 2016, I lowered the pressure to 20#. I've run 28# in my rear tire. Now @ 10K miles my fronts have irregular wear by running my hand over them(cupping???), and I have a vibration in the handlebars that starts @60mph. My rear tire is down to 5/32nds. I'll change it to a car tire @ the end of this riding season. I plan to go back to 22# in the fronts to see if that changes anything. It looks like I'll be researching front tires.
Mike

I have the impression that you have the OEM Kenda tires ..... You will have better luck with Auto tires , they are stronger and much more consistently made, so is less likely hood of defective tires ..... On Auto tires I recommend 15 psi front and 17 psi rear ..... Auto tires DON"T need high psi to function properly, the sidewalls are much stronger ..... Mike

[teninospyder]

I have the impression that you have the OEM Kenda tires ..... You will have better luck with Auto tires , they are stronger and much more consistently made, so is less likely hood of defective tires ..... On Auto tires I recommend 15 psi front and 17 psi rear ..... Auto tires DON"T need high psi to function properly, the sidewalls are much stronger ..... Mike

Blueknight911 I always take your input seriously and yes I'm shifting to car tires "when the time is right", but let me just say this please and it is NOT with the intent of adding fuel to the ongoing volcano eruptions here over tires in general. As you type a lot, this is IMHO This is more for "new" people who may read all the other posts as "get off your current tires as fast as you can" .

My front Kendas on our 2014 RTL SE6 now have 22,000 miles on them and around half the useful tread left. They appear by measurement to be wearing evenly across the tread, with the right one having "slight" cupping visible at the lighting right angle. The cupping hasn't gotten any worse that I can tell over the last 5,000 miles. Tires and wheels have not been rebalanced since new. The original rear tire was replaced at 12,000 and the current one has approx. half of it's tread left also. It DOES show some sign of center wear more than sides, but not really that much different.

With respect to pressures I usually run 16 psi cold in the fronts, which I settled on after checking for flat wear pattern many times. The rear is 26 psi cold, and anything more I believe will balloon the tire more and wear the center out faster.

I consider myself an "average" spyder rider meaning no aggressive cornering, speeding or hard stops if not necessary. We always ride 2 up. So far I have not noticed anything indicating a potential problem that would cause us issues like tires breaking the bead or such.

In closing - Again, I'm just giving my observations on maybe getting the most out of what we bought, before changing to something else. Of course changing anything is the owners right always. Feel free to add something to your coffee anytime.

[mrfixit]

Andy; I would add a couple lbs. of air pressure to the tires to change the wear pattern and stop at Pitbull on the way home. JMO

Air Pressure is the magic words.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Blueknight911 I always take your input seriously and yes I'm shifting to car tires "when the time is right", but let me just say this please and it is NOT with the intent of adding fuel to the ongoing volcano eruptions here over tires in general. As you type a lot, this is IMHO This is more for "new" people who may read all the other posts as "get off your current tires as fast as you can" .

My front Kendas on our 2014 RTL SE6 now have 22,000 miles on them and around half the useful tread left. They appear by measurement to be wearing evenly across the tread, with the right one having "slight" cupping visible at the lighting right angle. The cupping hasn't gotten any worse that I can tell over the last 5,000 miles. Tires and wheels have not been rebalanced since new. The original rear tire was replaced at 12,000 and the current one has approx. half of it's tread left also. It DOES show some sign of center wear more than sides, but not really that much different.

With respect to pressures I usually run 16 psi cold in the fronts, which I settled on after checking for flat wear pattern many times. The rear is 26 psi cold, and anything more I believe will balloon the tire more and wear the center out faster.

I consider myself an "average" spyder rider meaning no aggressive cornering, speeding or hard stops if not necessary. We always ride 2 up. So far I have not noticed anything indicating a potential problem that would cause us issues like tires breaking the bead or such.

In closing - Again, I'm just giving my observations on maybe getting the most out of what we bought, before changing to something else. Of course changing anything is the owners right always. Feel free to add something to your coffee anytime.

.... Ray - I've addressed everything you've said , asked , pondered above ....... DOZENS of times ..... You aren't a Newbie here .... Here's something I have NEVER said ...... " Everyone who isn't using the tires I recommend Must get them and mount them , or are they will die soon " .......... However I have said " run what you have until it's no longer serviceable " ...............................Mike

[trikermutha]

Now that I will not agree with if you don't change your tires you will Die. REALLY!

I am sure if that was the case BRP would have pulled the tires many years ago.

JMO.

[teninospyder]

.... Ray - I've addressed everything you've said , asked , pondered above ....... DOZENS of times ..... You aren't a Newbie here .... Here's something I have NEVER said ...... " Everyone who isn't using the tires I recommend Must get them and mount them , or are they will die soon " .......... However I have said " run what you have until it's no longer serviceable " ...............................Mike

Sincerely - Peace and the force be with you