Is this General Altimax ready for replacement

[AeroPilot]

I have been watching this rear tire and now that the snow is forecast for today, I am cleaning things up and doing some "winter" maintenance. Here is a pic of the tire next to a new one I've had at the ready...

What do you think? Also a picture of the rear brake pads while they're off..


When I rolled the tire I was a little surprised at how one side was wore substantially more than the other. Just like looking at one side of the brake pads, one side does not tell the whole story.

 

[Navydad]

The tire is finished. Mine wasn't that far gone, but the traction was getting bad. Just curious, how many miles did you get from that tire? I got 20,000 out of my Altimax. The brake pads should be changed since you have them out. I have seen worse, but the top used one is done. My rear pads were changed at 26,000 and I had one that was worn more than the other as well. I changed the fronts as well even though they were not as worn as the rear. The poor rear pads are stuck back there where they have to deal with all the dirt and grit kicked up by the bike and they get very little cooling air. Notice how dirty the rear wheel gets compared to the fronts. That affects the rear pads. My tire wore pretty evenly all the way around and pretty evenly across the tread.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I wouldn't trust any tire on a Spyder in the snow, not even an auto type Snow tire - period. Did you notice the " re-place warning " printed on the new Altimax tread ???? . I don't see it on the Worn tire, so get the PSI down to 17 and ride it awhile longer. Also there is only a slight wear difference from one side of the center to the other, ( this could be due to a higher than optimal rear psi. …. I'm pretty sure those are OEM brake pads, ( not EBC ) and the OEM pads have that cut-out on the Pad. This helps remove water, But is there to tell you when it is time to Re-place. It is essentially a depth gauge. When I re-placed mine with Ron's, I used my router to cut a line in my new pads. Using a router with a " thin cut " bit allows an accurate depth...… Mike hyea:......PS, that pad with the line missing is worn considerably more worn than the others …. something needs to done with that caliper to correct the issue ….. good luck

 

[Haikanko]

Wow the centre section is more worn than the outer edges!!! Over inflated?

 

[AeroPilot]

Thanks for the suggestion to use the thin cut bit for a flat groove on the pads. You are correct Mike that they are the OEM pads and I have the EBCs from BajaRon ready to put on. My wife got 57,000 out of her OEM pads - I guess she doesn't use the brakes much:sour: Ive cleaned up the caliper and looked it over, the only thing I notice is that the mass of the bracket and caliper frame is more than the floating piston side, so maybe the piston side floats more easily away from the rotor. The rotor was cleaned up and looks even both sides:2thumbs:

 

[AeroPilot]

Navydad, the wife got 22,500 on this Altimax, the same as her first one on this bike. I think overall weight and riding style has a little to do with it, as I have been getting 20-21,000 out of the Generals. I changed out my rear pads at 36,100 miles and Lamonster garage just changed out my fronts at 56,200 on my 15 RT. I think we've slowed down a bit on our riding agressively, but its just as fun.

You probably are right on the grit getting to the rear pads, as the rear wheel is always filthy and half my maintenance time is cleaning things up before going back together.

 

[KX5062]

The tire is done. When I tried the Altimax it performed well, but wore out quickly. In the Western deserts, the land of high heat and chip sealed roads, I only got about 15k out of it before it was done. (I moved onto to other brands, which I won't get into so the thread doesn't derail.)

The brake pads look okay to me, as in good to be replaced. (I know the wear pattern is not ideal, but it looks to me like they were just sticking a little.) Just give things a good clean and lube, and you're off.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Thanks for the suggestion to use the thin cut bit for a flat groove on the pads. You are correct Mike that they are the OEM pads and I have the EBCs from BajaRon ready to put on. My wife got 57,000 out of her OEM pads - I guess she doesn't use the brakes much:sour: Ive cleaned up the caliper and looked it over, the only thing I notice is that the mass of the bracket and caliper frame is more than the floating piston side, so maybe the piston side floats more easily away from the rotor. The rotor was cleaned up and looks even both sides:2thumbs:

What I did with my router, because I have the small accessory table, I set & locked the bit to the depth I wanted, then adjusted the guide so I would have a smooth straight line. Then I just pushed the brake pad across the bit at an angle. Easy peasey. If you don't have the table, you could put the router up-side down on the workbench, clamp a piece of wood or metal to the base of the router and use that as a guide. ….. good luck …. Mike

 

[jcthorne]

I have been watching this rear tire and now that the snow is forecast for today, I am cleaning things up and doing some "winter" maintenance. Here is a pic of the tire next to a new one I've had at the ready...

What do you think?View attachment 176745 Also a picture of the rear brake pads while they're off.. View attachment 176746


When I rolled the tire I was a little surprised at how one side was wore substantially more than the other. Just like looking at one side of the brake pads, one side does not tell the whole story. View attachment 176747

Your photo is not showing the tire worn more on one side than the other. Its showing a manufacturing defect where it was molded off set from the casing. IE the tread was deeper on one side than the other. We see this on Kenda tires all the time but its not normal for a top tier tire.

 

[PinkRosePetal]

Your tyre is on the wear bars and pretty well done, in summer you could squeeze a div more life out of it if you had a mind but if you winter ride fit the new one.

You caliper needs a service, it's not sliding freely. Don't put a groove in the pad. Different makes use different bonding techniques and you may compromise the strength of the pad and its bond to the steel back plate.

 

[Wildrice]

I have been watching this rear tire and now that the snow is forecast for today, I am cleaning things up and doing some "winter" maintenance. Here is a pic of the tire next to a new one I've had at the ready...

What do you think?View attachment 176745 Also a picture of the rear brake pads while they're off.. View attachment 176746


When I rolled the tire I was a little surprised at how one side was wore substantially more than the other. Just like looking at one side of the brake pads, one side does not tell the whole story. View attachment 176747

Caliper slides need to be clean with a touch of lube so both sides contact when the caliper piston extends.
Darrell

 

[AeroPilot]

quote "Its showing a manufacturing defect where it was molded off set from the casing. IE the tread was deeper on one side than the other. We see this on Kenda tires all the time but its not normal for a top tier tire. "

I agree JC that the molding was probably not concentric with the bead on this particular tire. I have another General on my 15 RT that is wearing uneven as well although not as bad.

But I'm happy with the life and roll as these have served well for the $100 I have in them and continued to roll well through their life- Maybe Lamonsters centramatic disks helped as I didnt add any weights to these rear tires....

 

[Motorcycledave]

Out of round

That is a good sign of an out of round tire, easy way to see if the tire is out of round is to
put it on the spyder, jack up that wheel and spin it with your hand and look at it, if yo see any
movement up and down or side to side you should pull it off and deflate it turn the tire 1/2 way
around on the wheel and re inflate it and check it again. be sure to have it rebalanced...
( Used to own a Tire and Auto store )
Ride safe
Dave

 

[PW2013STL]

Per Ron's instructions that come with the pads I also cut groves in each pad, but I used a thin cut off wheel attached to my air grinder making sure not to go all the way through (into the metal back plate). This is to help dissipate water and dust.

 

[SpyderAnn01]

The Altimax tells you when it is ready for replacement. In 3 places, on the center of the tire, the words Replacement Tire Monitor is written and when the tread is worn out it says Replace Tire, no need to guess.

 

[Deanna777]

The Altimax tells you when it is ready for replacement. In 3 places, on the center of the tire, the words Replacement Tire Monitor is written and when the tread is worn out it says Replace Tire, no need to guess.

:agree:

I was wondering when someone was going post the info. Thanks SpyderAnn01.
Deanna

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

:agree:

I was wondering when someone was going post the info. Thanks SpyderAnn01.
Deanna

Read post ….. #3. ….. Mike

 

[ChicagoSpyder]

I have been watching this rear tire and now that the snow is forecast for today, I am cleaning things up and doing some "winter" maintenance. Here is a pic of the tire next to a new one I've had at the ready...

What do you think?View attachment 176745 Also a picture of the rear brake pads while they're off.. View attachment 176746


When I rolled the tire I was a little surprised at how one side was wore substantially more than the other. Just like looking at one side of the brake pads, one side does not tell the whole story. View attachment 176747

That tire is clapped out, and you have a sticky caliper.

 

[AeroPilot]

I agree that both this tire and brake pads were past their useful life. I posted to make the point that one side may not tell the full story. When looking at the General Altimax their handy Tire Replacement Monitor is very handy to show when substantial wear has occurred. This is especially useful when using a car tire on a three wheel application.

Since I like numbers and data to quantify what is 'substantial' and 'wore out' , I measured the new tread depth, depth to the TWI ribs (there are 7 TWI indicators) and tried to insert my depth caliper into the Monitor indicator to see what General is selling as their replacement depth. I also include pictures of one of the Generals when I had 18,500 miles gone and the 'ReplaceTire' was showing.

The General starts witn about 0.345 inch of tread depth or 11/32" - the 'Replace Tire' seems to be at a depth of .230-.170 depth of 7 to 5/32 tread left, and most car tire recommendations are to replace at 4/32" left. The seven TWI indicator ribs are at .17 or 5/32" left.

General at 18,500 miles

TWI location - 5/32 rib

Penny edge to Lincolns head - .122 or 4/32"

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

issues

The " imbedded tire worn " message is less than what is optimum, probably because someone is not going to stop using the tire Immediately. They will have to get a re-placement tire and then have it mounted etc.. Pretty much the same as your Speedo reading and what the actual speed is. The speedo is going to read higher than actual speed ……. Mike hyea: