ANOTHER REAR TIRE BITES IT

[SpyderAnn01]

if those are pictures of your current tire you have another 10,000 left on it...the wear bars are the lowest ones....:lecturef_smilie:

View attachment 152026 that triangle is in line with the wear bars...
View attachment 152027 This is what your tire looks like when you are on the wear bars....

I sure hope you didn't go far on that tire. :yikes:

 

[MikeT]

Thank you... That is better. I'm used to seeing manufacturer specific specs on things like light truck tires, large truck tires and trailer tires... Having searched car tires by make/brand I wasn't finding those.

Glad I could help.
If you want to compare the OEM Kenda, it is a 76 Load Rated tire. The OM states that the inflation pressure is 28 PSI +/- 2 PSI. Here is the data in that PSI range:
26 PSI-683 lbs
27 PSI-697 lbs
28 PSI-705 lbs
29 PSI-739 lbs
30 PSI-772 lbs
This data shows why when using a car tire, there are individuals advocating 18-20 PSI.

 

[Stumpy6Guns]

Stick a penny in the tread?

The handiest tire wear gauge around is probably in your pocket! Stick a penny in the tread (away from the wear bars) with the top of Lincoln's head down. If you can see the top of his head, the tread is worn below the limit.

There used to be PSAs on TV about this, but I haven't seen one in many years.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Our rear tire didn't look quite as good as yours on one side but if you spun it 180°, it was as smooth as a baby's butt! Totally devoid of any tread!

It was like the tread was not concentric with the tire bead. It was not a result of a flat spot from the wheel being locked up and skidded. There was no abrupt change in tread depth, just a gradual increase and decrease as you spun the tire. I've never seen anything like it.

On a side note, we just bought my wife a new bicycle yesterday. It has Kenda tires! I'll be keeping an eye on them for wear. What size and brand car tires should I replace them with? Should I replace them right away or just wait until they wear out?:roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:

Hey BoilerAnimal, that sort of wear is almost certainly due to a poorly constructed & out of round tire!! The 'different tread depth' thing is not quite so uncommon as you might think, but it is pretty rare to be clearly visible/measurable on one full half of the tire!! :shocked: Most often it appears as 'patches or sections' of tread that have different wear depths to the rest, but you can usually tell those tires are wearing that way due to the vibration, rotational thumping, & wobbling that occurs - I suspect that because so much of your tire was involved, that may have been a bit hard to feel because there would've been no 'regular' (or irregular) thumping as the high bits or lumps hit the road... you probably would've had more of a high velocity wave type undulation!! The Arachnid tires that some have tried only to have them rapidly wearing out just on one side of their tread is another example of how that type of tire construction issue might present! :sour:

As for the Kenda tire on your wife's bicycle, Kenda CAN & DO make some pretty reasonable tires.... just not those they sell to BRP for our Spyders!! :gaah:

As for the load/pressure info that you are looking for WaccyDan & MikeT, most manufacturers DO in fact have that sort of info buried somewhere in their tech info/specs for the different tire models/tread patterns that they produce. It's just that these days, they tend to only publish the minimum/basic info their target market is likely to want, simply because too many people got confused by the complete details & couldn't find their specific data requirements or understand how to apply it in their particular case!! I posted a link for a specific type & sized tire in one of my posts on this Site, a link that I acquired thru my industry/manufacturer contacts to one manufacturer's table for a specific tire; & both I & that particular manufacturer almost immediately got swamped with questions on how to apply that info to other tires in their range as well as to different makes & types of tires, so much so that the manufacturer moved the table at about the same time as I removed the link!! :sour:

However, if you dig far enough &/or ask nicely enough, the load/pressure info (& a heap more interesting stuff too) that you are after for most tires you might be considering running on your Spyders DOES exist, manufacturers are REQUIRED to have it in order to get their tires accredited for sale in your countries & mine, & it is usually available from them if you specifically ask (or ask the right person, not just the sales wally!) altho it still might not be something a particular manufacturer is prepared to let loose/make available to the entire public! Be aware tho, it is often somewhat different to the generic load/pressure info provided for the nominal load ratings (altho that's usually a good start) Still, most tires have specific info detailing their Max Load/Max Pressure info printed on their sidewall (if they don't, they may not be ratified for sale in your country - or anywhere else!) & it doesn't take a mathematical genius to 'reverse engineer' that info to work out what pressure that tire will need to carry the significantly lighter loads our Spyders impose - just remember to add the '4psi constant' to cater for the dynamics of a moving tire & loadings over a static load! :thumbup:

 

[wd8ajj]

When my tires look low on thread even not at the wear bars, I'd rather replace the tire than my life. All the talk about were the wear bars are show and millimeters are trivial to my well being. 70 bucks for a tire is cheaper than my hospital bills trying to push an extra 1k miles

 

[RTL1330]

We it more 10k miles

if those are pictures of your current tire you have another 10,000 left on it...the wear bars are the lowest ones....:lecturef_smilie:

View attachment 152026 that triangle is in line with the wear bars...
View attachment 152027 This is what your tire looks like when you are on the wear bars....[/QU


We followed above info as I changed first tire by centre bars. Then I saw this info and watched rear tire. I changed it at 20000 miles (30000 km here) and never lost traction in corners or take off and I'm a some wha frisky rider.

 

[BoilerAnimal]

Hey BoilerAnimal, that sort of wear is almost certainly due to a poorly constructed & out of round tire!! The 'different tread depth' thing is not quite so uncommon as you might think, but it is pretty rare to be clearly visible/measurable on one full half of the tire!! :shocked: Most often it appears as 'patches or sections' of tread that have different wear depths to the rest, but you can usually tell those tires are wearing that way due to the vibration, rotational thumping, & wobbling that occurs - I suspect that because so much of your tire was involved, that may have been a bit hard to feel because there would've been no 'regular' (or irregular) thumping as the high bits or lumps hit the road... you probably would've had more of a high velocity wave type undulation!! The Arachnid tires that some have tried only to have them rapidly wearing out just on one side of their tread is another example of how that type of tire construction issue might present! :sour:

We bought our Spyder used with about 6400 miles on it and replaced the rear tire at 11500 miles.I couldn't believe how bad that tire was! I imagine that it had to ride very poorly when new or else they ground the tire to make it concentric to the bead.

Either way, when we bought it the rear tire ran smoothly with very little vibration........that was the puzzling part!

 

[irvin48]

Hey BoilerAnimal, that sort of wear is almost certainly due to a poorly constructed & out of round tire!! The 'different tread depth' thing is not quite so uncommon as you might think, but it is pretty rare to be clearly visible/measurable on one full half of the tire!! :shocked: Most often it appears as 'patches or sections' of tread that have different wear depths to the rest, but you can usually tell those tires are wearing that way due to the vibration, rotational thumping, & wobbling that occurs - I suspect that because so much of your tire was involved, that may have been a bit hard to feel because there would've been no 'regular' (or irregular) thumping as the high bits or lumps hit the road... you probably would've had more of a high velocity wave type undulation!! The Arachnid tires that some have tried only to have them rapidly wearing out just on one side of their tread is another example of how that type of tire construction issue might present! :sour:

As for the Kenda tire on your wife's bicycle, Kenda CAN & DO make some pretty reasonable tires.... just not those they sell to BRP for our Spyders!! :gaah:

As for the load/pressure info that you are looking for WaccyDan & MikeT, most manufacturers DO in fact have that sort of info buried somewhere in their tech info/specs for the different tire models/tread patterns that they produce. It's just that these days, they tend to only publish the minimum/basic info their target market is likely to want, simply because too many people got confused by the complete details & couldn't find their specific data requirements or understand how to apply it in their particular case!! I posted a link for a specific type & sized tire in one of my posts on this Site, a link that I acquired thru my industry/manufacturer contacts to one manufacturer's table for a specific tire; & both I & that particular manufacturer almost immediately got swamped with questions on how to apply that info to other tires in their range as well as to different makes & types of tires, so much so that the manufacturer moved the table at about the same time as I removed the link!! :sour:

However, if you dig far enough &/or ask nicely enough, the load/pressure info (& a heap more interesting stuff too) that you are after for most tires you might be considering running on your Spyders DOES exist, manufacturers are REQUIRED to have it in order to get their tires accredited for sale in your countries & mine, & it is usually available from them if you specifically ask (or ask the right person, not just the sales wally!) altho it still might not be something a particular manufacturer is prepared to let loose/make available to the entire public! Be aware tho, it is often somewhat different to the generic load/pressure info provided for the nominal load ratings (altho that's usually a good start) Still, most tires have specific info detailing their Max Load/Max Pressure info printed on their sidewall (if they don't, they may not be ratified for sale in your country - or anywhere else!) & it doesn't take a mathematical genius to 'reverse engineer' that info to work out what pressure that tire will need to carry the significantly lighter loads our Spyders impose - just remember to add the '4psi constant' to cater for the dynamics of a moving tire & loadings over a static load! :thumbup:

i peter, love your insights on the forum. maybe you have said before , but what do you run for tires on your rt?
h

 

[irvin48]

when i picked up my bike yesterday there was a blue rt waiting to get a car tire.
his had 6500 miles and had LOTS more tread. fellow was changing it cause he was
going riding out west and wanted no probs while he was out the. compared to mine,
his tire was new. didnt ask what brand they were putting on.

 

[Wildrice]

Tire inflation

cleaning tires and wheels sat and glanced at the rear center. whoa!
there goes my high mileage tire story. did just get to 10,000 . not trying
for more. the altimax goes on wed. gonna start at 20 #. 2 up we are about 380#.
from what i read ,should be a good starting point? on the other hand[end],
the fronts are doing fine.i have a set of fomozas waiting too. thanks for all
the info posted by everyone. :bowdown:--irv tomsView attachment 152025View attachment 152024

It appears to me that most riders prefer over tire inflation which has the highest wear in the center. Proper inflation would cause an even wear pattern across the tire. Under inflation would have a greater wear on the outer sides of the tire tread.
Darrell

 

[irvin48]

not the greatest of indicators, but i took a straight edge to the tire
and it hjust the slightest cup IN. hmmm.

 

[Bruiser37]

2016 F3-T Tires

cleaning tires and wheels sat and glanced at the rear center. whoa!
there goes my high mileage tire story. did just get to 10,000 . not trying
for more. the altimax goes on wed. gonna start at 20 #. 2 up we are about 380#.
from what i read ,should be a good starting point? on the other hand[end],
the fronts are doing fine.i have a set of fomozas waiting too. thanks for all

the info posted by everyone. :bowdown:--irv tomsView attachment 152025View attachment 152024

HO,HO,HO look at those predicted replies makes me feel bad to add this to list. My 2016 F3-T has 12 K miles, front and back tire wear bars look great. I expect to go at least 18K on them. Have to admit I don't peel rubber. :2thumbs:

 

[grieppc]

Sturgis

Last Wednesday I had to set aside my trailer shopping and start shopping for a tire for the spider my local dealer wouldn't put anything on but factory tires and another shop I talked to wanted to work on dirt bikes and gold wings not having any luck in town started calling Rapid City tire shops dropped off the spider Thursday afternoon and went biking in Sturgis Thursday afternoon and Friday picked up the spider with new tire on the back Kendra and took off back to the house 600 miles home I think we got 15,000 off the factory tire

 

[Peter Aawen]

i peter, love your insights on the forum. maybe you have said before , but what do you run for tires on your rt?
h

Thanks for the kind words irvin. :thumbup:

Atm, I'm running Kumho KH17's in 175/60R15 at 16 psi up front, & a Kumho Ecsta at 16-18 psi in 225/60R15 on the rear. The front tires are pushing about 45000km so far, and still 'look' almost new - can't give you tread depth right now cos I'm away from the Spyder, but last time I looked the tread depth was still just above 1/2 worn. I got about 35,000km out of my KH17 rear before changing it with 1.5-2.0mm of tread remaining above the wear bars, but winter was upon us & I had a longish ryde looming! The Ecsta has been on the rear for just over 10,000km so far & it still had over 5.5mm of tread left last time I looked.

Note Well: I chose to run slightly larger & harder compound 'Sport Touring' tires due to the amount of long distance ryding I do on marginal roads, choosing to sacrifice some traction & ultimate performance to get better long distance ryding & wear, but running lower pressures to maintain optimum traction - you might want to choose a softer compound tire for better traction at the risk of less tire life. In addition, I do use & recommend others use the '4psi rule' or something similar to confirm their tire pressures are correct for the ryding they've just done/are doing now; and I have seen one similar tire normally run at 18psi that wore rapidly in the middle (like the Kendas) because he was ryding long distances on hot roads in 42+ degree C heat, distances & high ambient temps that really warrant a tad 'higher than normal pressure' to stop too much heat increase due to the extra carcass flex, but he stuck to the 18 instead of adding a couple of psi for the higher than normal temps & the longer ryding time, & as a result paid the penalty in excess tread wear appearing in the centre of the tread!! While I doubt that too many people ryding in the northern states of the US will often get to ryde in temps much over 100 degrees F for too long, those who ryde down south more often might bear in mind that 18psi could be too low for hot weather &/or long distance ryding & use the 4psi rule to check - more than a 4psi increase from your cold start pressures after an hours ryding suggests that your cold/start pressures should be a touch higher; less than 4psi increase means your cold start pressure was too high!!

I am closely following another RT that is running Bridgestone Turanzas in similar sizes at similar pressures to mine, & so far, it's getting much the same wear rate, altho possibly a little less traction (or he isn't quite as 'committed' a ryder as I am! )

PS: that 'slight cup in' on the rear tire does sorta suggest that either you are spinning up the tire too much/too often or your cold start pressure is a bit too high! :lecturef_smilie:

 

[timeless]

Compared to

the rear tire I replaced at 8500 miles that rear looks brand new!!!!!!!!

cleaning tires and wheels sat and glanced at the rear center. whoa!
there goes my high mileage tire story. did just get to 10,000 . not trying
for more. the altimax goes on wed. gonna start at 20 #. 2 up we are about 380#.
from what i read ,should be a good starting point? on the other hand[end],
the fronts are doing fine.i have a set of fomozas waiting too. thanks for all
the info posted by everyone. :bowdown:--irv tomsView attachment 152025View attachment 152024

 

[timeless]

MINE was

even balder than this at 8500 miles!!!!!

if those are pictures of your current tire you have another 10,000 left on it...the wear bars are the lowest ones....:lecturef_smilie:

View attachment 152026 that triangle is in line with the wear bars...
View attachment 152027 This is what your tire looks like when you are on the wear bars....