Motorbike tyre failing advice appreciated.

[chunkolini]

Went into the garage this morning, saw white strip on the back tyre, had a close look and was not a happy bunny.
Bike is a BMW R1100RS,
Tyre is a Michelin Pilot Road 2, about 6000 miles old, maybe less.
The right side looks like this, in two places.




Left side looks fine, but has dodgy looking flaps of rubber on the edge of the lines in the tread.


Anybody got any ideas of what can have caused this, dodgy tyre? bad fitting?
I have not been doing doughnuts, skidding or lapping roundabouts, there is nothing that can be snagging the tyre. Do I get on to Michelin? Reluctant to replace the tyre with no idea as to what caused this to happen.

Your help or advice appreciated.

Chunko'.

 

[tigler]

I have been doing doughnuts, skidding or lapping roundabouts,Your help or advice appreciated.

Chunko'.

There's your answer m8 !!

 

[chunkolini]

Repeat after me
'I will not go doing doughnuts etc etc etc'
Luckily I spotted the missing 'not' before contacting Michelin.

Chunko'.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Tyre looks very well worn to me Chunko', as it's both sides i wouldn't say it was a dodgy tyre, possibly under-inflation?
What sort of mileage would you expect to get out of one?
Those flaps probably wouldn't be due to the tyre's construction as I wouldn't expect there to be any component joins in that high-stress area. The tread extends down over the sidewalls during construction and I'm not sure if there's a different 'wing' compound as there is in car tyres but if there is it's not a very wide strip and would be about 2/3 up the sidewall, not in the tread area as your pic shows.
Car tyres are my speciality, bike tyres I know very little about.

 

[Windy Miller]

Im no expert, but I wonder if your rear wheel is running out of line somewhat Chunko?

 

[chunkolini]

It is a two compound tyre, they are claimed to be a high milage touring tyre, the middle of the tread is not too bad, but for it to go like that all down one side is worrying.

Chunko'.

 

[Wozzaaah]

I see how they've done it now, middle strip will be a firmer compound and the edges are softer for better grip.

 

[tigler]

Well shaft drive would tend to eliminate an alignment issue unless the frame was bent, unlikely I think.
It could be a compound or delamination problem, although delam tends to cause lumps to be thrown off rather than the appearance in the pics.
Running under inflated could also cause it. How often do you check pressures ?
How often do you use the bike ?

 

[mike os]

my first thought is tyre pressure too low


and the very obvious... no longer safe to ride.

4-6k was about the limit for me on tyres...but is bike & rider dependant...

 

[overload]

6,000 miles!!!! Bloody hell!! I'm lucky to get half that on mine but then I'm quite hard on my tyres.
Don't be tight chunkolini!! Get a new set of tyres! lol

 

[busastars]

Just looks worn out to me, thing is we go around more right hand bends than left. Sounds strange but true. This is why alot of people can only get there knee down on right hand bends.

I did have a Rennsport like that on my old Mille, still was black rubber when I took it out and felt the back end dipping and letting go, pulled over and the material was showing through.

I would say maybe try a different set of tyres, I've not tried the Duel compounds like those, Love Pirelli, Metzler, dident mind Dunlop, Conti was ok, hated Avons AV46 etc on both the ZX12r & Busa.

 

[rockjock620]

6,000 miles!!!! Bloody hell!!
Don't be tight chunkolini!! Get a new set of tyres! lol

I was going to say the same thing - 6k miles is a very good figure, don't moan. And get some new ones. That damage must have been obvious several hundred miles ago - why the hell haven't you noticed drop off in performance before now? Oh yes and i would suspect worn/badly set rear shock or damaged subframe/swingarm - that wear pattern is serious.

 

[tigler]

Met a guy on the way back from Paul Ricard once, on a Fireplace, he'd had a new tyre fitted before he set off from London and it was shagged half way back through France !!
So he'd done about 1000 miles !!!
Some trackday loony's can get through a tyre in a day though !!

 

[rockjock620]

Tyre looks very well worn to me Chunko', as it's both sides i wouldn't say it was a dodgy tyre, possibly under-inflation?

Car tyres are my speciality, bike tyres I know very little about.

It's knackered completely and was prob "very well worn" about 2000 miles ago! Why would under inflation affect just one side of the tread? That statement doesn't make sense.

 

[overload]

Met a guy on the way back from Paul Ricard once, on a Fireplace, he'd had a new tyre fitted before he set off from London and it was shagged half way back through France !!
So he'd done about 1000 miles !!!
Some trackday loony's can get through a tyre in a day though !!

Wasn't a rear tyre was it? It can happen if the wheel is not lined up properly.
Thing to do is completely ignore the wheel alignment markings on the rear swingarm as they are not accurate and check it yourself.
A "Ronometer" from http://www.maxtonsuspension.co.uk/ is the sort of tool you need!

 

[shenion]

I had a Dunlap do something similar in the center on a 500-mile round highway trip. Had lots of tread when I got there, none when I got back. Back of bike covered in black specks.

Had about 4k miles. Sport tires only handle so many heat/cool cycles and the rubber is soft anyway.

I get about 5k on my rears, never used on a track. After the Dunlop failed and with their odd traction until warmed up, i switched to Michelins.

 

[tigler]

Wasn't a rear tyre was it? It can happen if the wheel is not lined up properly.
Thing to do is completely ignore the wheel alignment markings on the rear swingarm as they are not accurate and check it yourself.
A "Ronometer" from http://www.maxtonsuspension.co.uk/ is the sort of tool you need!

Was the rear but the wear was caused by just plain mentalism !!!

 

[john224]

tyres

It just shows you what improving the tyre does then don't it ! ,,
In the late 70's early 80's i had several different sports bikes 750's/1000's and i had avon road runners which i rode hard at track days and the bikes were every day bikes as well i used to get 15,000 + miles out of a set of tyres
in them days was doing 40,000+ miles a year for work and plesure ,, SO All in All tyre improvment has not gone the right way in my thoughts,,

 

[mike os]

dunno John..... grip, feel & feedback are miles better on sports compounds, "touring" comps seem to last forever, but never feel as secure as softer compounds

 

[rikrobson]

You need to obviously get a new tyre. then every time you use it check in the mirror when you remove your helmet.

If you are constantly greeted with a big grin in the mirror, you've found the source of the problem

6000 miles sound pretty reasonable to me