New Guy... Rear Tire Question....and help PLEASE.

[H.L.Spyder Guy]

First the basics: I have a 2012 RSS with just a little over 9200 very much enjoyed miles, as of this morning. :clap: (Only 4 months old) I have noticed that the rear tire is cupping and wearing out the center part of the tire tread, evenly all around the tire. Both of the outside edges of the tire tread, look brand new. I have been religous about maintaining 27 - 28 PSI in the rear tire. According to the manual it's 26 PSI min and 30 Max. I called the dealer and they said that is normal for this to happen and it usually happens alot to the Gold Wing crowd quite a bit because the bike is so heavy. He also mentioned that they only expect the rear tire to last between 9000-14000 miles. I have not owned a motorcycle or spyder before, but I would think it would last at least a little more than that. I understand it's not a car or truck tire but at my current enthusiasm level I forsee myself going through two tires a year!! :clap::hun: Is this normal for a rear tire? Am I being fed a line? Are there any other tire options that I should look at? Any help would greatly be appreciated.......

[Kratos]

That's normal for the stock tire. Kinda sucks I know. But some are switching to aftermarket tires to get longer wear time.

[Bob Denman]

The sad fact... is that it seems to be normal for these tires! :gaah: The Kenda is just built too light for what is actually needed here.
Reason for this line of thinking:
Well-known fact that an over-inlfated tire will wear out the center section and an underinflated one wears out the outers...
The Kenda is built so light, that at speed it balloons and STILL wears out the center! :shocked:
So if you put more air in it to help, it makes the situation compound itself...
I put a Falken ZE 192 on my Spyder and it's working great! Other folks have talked a lot about Kumho as a real good replacement.

So there you have it... :thumbup:

[Kratos]

The sad fact... is that it seems to be normal for these tires! :gaah: The Kenda is just built too light for what is actually needed here.
Reason for this line of thinking:
Well-known fact that an over-inlfated tire will wear out the center section and an underinflated one wears out the outers...
The Kenda is built so light, that at speed it balloons and STILL wears out the center! :shocked:
So if you put more air in it to help, it makes the situation compound itself...
I put a Falken ZE 192 on my Spyder and it's working great! Other folks have talked a lot about Kumho as a real good replacement.

So there you have it... :thumbup:


Good point about the "ballooning". That clears everything right up. :thumbup:

[spyryder]

The Kenda is built so light, that at speed it balloons and STILL wears out the center! :shocked:

I've been running mine at around 20 psi and the center is NOT wearing out. I do more city than highway riding however. ;)

[NancysToy]

I am a bit confused. You mention "cupping", but then say the wear in the center is even. Cupping is not even wear, so is there additional, uneven wear elsewhere, or is the wear even, with the center just wearing more? The latter is pretty normal for these thin tires. 9K-14K would be pretty normal tire life...a standard motorcycle tire generally gets less. My BMW gets 5K-6K per rear tire...and cosst more. This isn't an automobile or an automobile tire. There are different forces going on, and the tire construction is different. Even if you subsitstute an automotive tire, you will not see automotive mileages in most cases. If you do have actual cupping in the rear, it is either grossly underinflated or it is defective.

[Littlebadwolf]

I hit a pothole on the way to SITA in Syracuse and it threw my front end alignment off by 1.25 inches...My right tire got chewed up in less than 100 miles..from the middle of the tire towing in from the inside...It chewed my tire all to hell, down to baldness..Thank God I was close to Roberts Powersports who was hosting SITA and they set me up with a set of front tires and aligned my front end. It was especially important because I was hauling a trailer and 800 miles from home. I've discovered that most dealers don't know how to align the front end properly which is a major issue when it comes to tire wear. I think Scotty or Lamont put up a post on how to set up alignment for our machines and the homemade tools they made to do so. I went back and started researching what they put out and now building a tool of my own to do the alignment. Just like changing my own oil...Saves a lot of money and I feel more secure in the fact that the job was done right...Think I may have gotten a little off course from the topic, just wanted to acknowledge that I learn a hella of a lot from this forum and it makes me feel a lot more secure in owning one and traveling on the road...We need more CowTowns and Len, more Roberts Powersports who service SITA, Lamont, Scotty, all the other..The common interest here is as important as the tool that brought us together...The Spyper......

[H.L.Spyder Guy]

I am a bit confused. You mention "cupping", but then say the wear in the center is even. Cupping is not even wear, so is there additional, uneven wear elsewhere, or is the wear even, with the center just wearing more?

Maybe Cupping is not the right terminology, but what do you call it when your rear tire looks like it was chucked in a lathe and you dished out the center of the tire tread surface? I'd just like to know what the technical phrase for this type of tire wear is called. The rear tire ballooning makes alot of sense to me. Thank you all for the help!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I don't like Kenda's so take what I say from that perspective.....the OEM tire (kenda) has a 2 ply tread so it does balloon when it wears if you keep pressure at anything above 23 lbs.......your wear is probably normal for this tire.....I highly recommend a car tire for the rear when you change......they are all 4 ply tread and will wear more evenly for that reason alone.....you have two size choices stock 225/50-15 or 215/60-15 ....I would stick with these sizes, they are known to work on our spyders without upsetting the " Nanny "....The best price I have found is at discount tires direct .com-----they ship for free, and that is a big saving.....Good luck....Mike....PS, If you can't do the tire change yourself I would go to a MTC shop and have it done there...Your "dealers" comment about the Gold Wing, makes me very nervous.....I'm not sure how bright he is ??????......:thumbup:

[boborgera]

9k on the stock tire is on the lower side but not by much, As far as Motorcycle tires go in 40 years of riding 6k was all i would expect to get,.

[NancysToy]

Maybe Cupping is not the right terminology, but what do you call it when your rear tire looks like it was chucked in a lathe and you dished out the center of the tire tread surface? I'd just like to know what the technical phrase for this type of tire wear is called. The rear tire ballooning makes alot of sense to me. Thank you all for the help!
If the wear is even around the circumference, it is just center tread wear. It is usually called uneven tread wear (in the center). It is pretty typical for this type (construction) of tire, and the amount of difference is generally dependent on the speeds you usually ride, as much as the tire pressure. Some have found less center wear at higher pressures (stiffens up the tread) and some have found less at lower than recommended pressures (allows tread to be somewhat concave). Motorcyclists are used to the center wearing more than the edges (on rounded profile tires) so this doesn't seem unusual to us. As was said, this kind of tire life is actually better than most motorcycles, but worse than autos. That is pretty much to be expected in a vehicle that is neither fish nor fowl.