Crowned road in the north

[billsim]

Replaced my original tires last fall at about 10,000 miles. Went with the new Dunlop Elite 4's because they supposedly have better center wear. Have been happy so far but just noticed that my front tire is wearing excessively on the left side, while the rear looks good on center, left side and right side. Have put about 12,000 miles on these so far. So today I stopped at the dealer to question if they did something wrong when installing the tire last fall or if my forks were the trouble. The mechanic smiled and said that it is common on Goldwings and heavy bikes in the north. He pointed out that the roads up here are crowned pretty high and that causes the left side wear.
You guys probably already knew this but I never even thought about it.
Going to get a new set so that I have some traction this winter.
Just wanted to share.

[53driver]

Wow.
I know our training bike tires always wear more on the left because we turn more to the left during the course.
Never heard about it affecting "real-world" tires though....
Verrrrrrrry interesting...

[JGF6B]

Interesting. I ride in NH, VT, and MA all the time and my front tire always seems to wear on the left more than on the right. Noticed it on my F6B, FJR, and now on my F6C (with only 3k miles). I was always trying to figure out if I was taking more left turns; never considered road crown.

[jm21ddd15]

I have read about the left wear on the tire. Also, have read that in Europe, the right side shows more wear, as they drive in the other lane. The typical road crown, is 2", for a 12' wide lane. That is just for referrence, as different road builders, do it their own way.

[billsim]

Makes me want to turn the front tire around to wear out the other side......

[olegoat345]

Guess it's the "crown" in the roads.. not so much here in FL. no snow or salt to run off :).

[2wheelsforme]

Makes me want to turn the front tire around to wear out the other side......

It will work backwards. By mistake once put my front wheel on backwards and did not notice for several hundred miles. I never saw any adverse affects.

[oldxtreme]

I have the same front tire wear pattern on my VTX 1800. Heard all of the reasons such as road crown, turning speeds, fork issues, tire pressure, etc. Haven't noticed it on the F6B yet but only have about 12,000 miles on it with 8,000 put on flat roads going out west. Lot of twisties but not much road crown or turns, so maybe that is the reason of the wear pattern.

I notice that there is not much mention about the Metzler tires on this site. However, the Metz's are one of the preferred tire on the VTX. I have always run Metz's on the VTX and usually get about 20,000 miles from them. Granted, they are ready to change out when I do replace them. The front is always badly cupped when I finally pull it off.

Do the Metz's not preform well on the Goldwing? Weight is not that much different but the X does have a lower center of gravity than the F6.

[billsim]

I usually run low (36-38 PSI) air in the front to soften the ride a bit. I think I will up the pressure to center the wear a bit more.
Might be a contributing factor.....

[cueman]

Try 40-41psi. works for me. cueman

[billsim]

Try 40-41psi. works for me. cueman

Thanks.

[seventwenty]

I live in Iowa and also have the same "offset" wear pattern. I never thought about the crown in the road causing it. Does make sense in a way though. I also run 40-41 psi and it still happens. I've thought about dropping to 36 or so to see the result. I do have 13k on it and could a lot more if it wore evenly.




Thanks.


Try 40-41psi. works for me. cueman

[tenxxx]

I'v lived in northern Ohio all my life and never noticed the ware your talking about.
I suppose it depends on which side of the crown you like to ride on.
I use both sides of my lane depending on traffic .
But I do ride more on the left side of my lane to keep away from the DEEP ditches we have up here.
That would ware the right side of the tire more. But again, I haven't noticed it.
I'll keep an eye on it since my tires are newer.
One note:: The new Stones have a little over 2,000 miles and are starting to show the wavy pattern on each side just off center.

[Phantom]

Gentlemen,

The reason why your front tire wears more on the left then on the right is because you ride more on it then you do on the right side. It has nothing to do with the crown of the road. Many roads do not have crowns.

When you are making a left turn at intersections, you are leaning and accelerating AND traveling 50 to 80 feet on the left side of the tire before you are upright once again. When you are at a intersection and making a right turn, you are leaning and MILDLY accelerating AND traveling 15 to 20 feet on the right side of the tire before you are upright once again. The LONG left turn travel in conjunction with acceleration on the left side is the culprit. The same occurs in England to the right side of the tires, they have a long right side travel at intersections. If you ride mainly in city, this wear will occur faster.

You have a 900 lbs bike with an average passenger weight of 200lbs, 1100 lbs been applied on the side of tire while accelerating ... tires will wear.

If you have ever looked at the front tire of a Goldwing Trike ... you will see that it wears only on the center of the front tire because the Goldwing Trike does not lean.

Solution.... never make left turns and the tire will not wear on left side :cheers:

[2wheelsforme]

I have found that when putting my jeans on if I hang left side it will cause me to lean right more to compensate weight and help me to obtain more even tire wear. Yep! :)

[Phantom]

Gentlemen,

The reason why your front tire wears more on the left then on the right is because you ride more on it then you do on the right side. It has nothing to do with the crown of the road. Many roads do not have crowns.

When you are making a left turn at intersections, you are leaning and accelerating AND traveling 50 to 80 feet on the left side of the tire before you are upright once again. When you are at a intersection and making a right turn, you are leaning and MILDLY accelerating AND traveling 15 to 20 feet on the right side of the tire before you are upright once again. The LONG left turn travel in conjunction with acceleration on the left side is the culprit. The same occurs in England to the right side of the tires, they have a long right side travel at intersections. If you ride mainly in city, this wear will occur faster.

You have a 900 lbs bike with an average passenger weight of 200lbs, 1100 lbs been applied on the side of tire while accelerating ... tires will wear.

If you have ever looked at the front tire of a Goldwing Trike ... you will see that it wears only on the center of the front tire because the Goldwing Trike does not lean.

Solution.... never make left turns and the tire will not wear on left side :cheers:


I have found that when putting my jeans on if I hang left side it will cause me to lean right more to compensate weight and help me to obtain more even tire wear. Yep! :)

What are you talking about, our Florida roads are flat:icon_laugh::clap2:

[billsim]

I have found that when putting my jeans on if I hang left side it will cause me to lean right more to compensate weight and help me to obtain more even tire wear. Yep! :)

I tried that and I was scraping the pegs............................

[Allen Framen]

Gentlemen,

The reason why your front tire wears more on the left then on the right is because you ride more on it then you do on the right side. It has nothing to do with the crown of the road. Many roads do not have crowns.

When you are making a left turn at intersections, you are leaning and accelerating AND traveling 50 to 80 feet on the left side of the tire before you are upright once again. When you are at a intersection and making a right turn, you are leaning and MILDLY accelerating AND traveling 15 to 20 feet on the right side of the tire before you are upright once again. The LONG left turn travel in conjunction with acceleration on the left side is the culprit. The same occurs in England to the right side of the tires, they have a long right side travel at intersections. If you ride mainly in city, this wear will occur faster.

You have a 900 lbs bike with an average passenger weight of 200lbs, 1100 lbs been applied on the side of tire while accelerating ... tires will wear.


Bingo.

af

[JGF6B]

Bingo.

af

Ah haaaa..... This sounds better.

[53driver]

I have found that when putting my jeans on if I hang left side it will cause me to lean right more to compensate weight and help me to obtain more even tire wear. Yep! :)

Yeah, I put everything to the right when riding up North - the roads suck like a Dyson.

[billsim]

Accelerated wear may be due to the kickstand being on the left side. Bike does spend a lot of time leaning left. :cool:

[tenxxx]

It could be the rotation of the earth? Just sayin.

[BIGLRY]

Gentlemen,

The reason why your front tire wears more on the left then on the right is because you ride more on it then you do on the right side. It has nothing to do with the crown of the road. Many roads do not have crowns.

When you are making a left turn at intersections, you are leaning and accelerating AND traveling 50 to 80 feet on the left side of the tire before you are upright once again. When you are at a intersection and making a right turn, you are leaning and MILDLY accelerating AND traveling 15 to 20 feet on the right side of the tire before you are upright once again. The LONG left turn travel in conjunction with acceleration on the left side is the culprit. The same occurs in England to the right side of the tires, they have a long right side travel at intersections. If you ride mainly in city, this wear will occur faster.

You have a 900 lbs bike with an average passenger weight of 200lbs, 1100 lbs been applied on the side of tire while accelerating ... tires will wear.

If you have ever looked at the front tire of a Goldwing Trike ... you will see that it wears only on the center of the front tire because the Goldwing Trike does not lean.

Solution.... never make left turns and the tire will not wear on left side :cheers:
https://turbotax.intuit.com/handlebars/common/bower_components/modals/dist/images//icon-expert-approved-retina-guarantees.png

[grendl]

+ on the 40-41 pressure. It eliminated the front cupping on my bike ...

[jm21ddd15]

If you Google "how does road crown effect tire wear, there are dozens of articles about it. Yes, road crown does have an effect on tire wear. Car manufactures even set camber angles on some vehicles to offset this effect. No two roads are built the same, and no two tires will wear out exactly the same. Road crown is only one of several things that will cause a tire to wear out uneven, but it does play a partial role.

[billsim]

If you Google "how does road crown effect tire wear, there are dozens of articles about it. Yes, road crown does have an effect on tire wear. Car manufactures even set camber angles on some vehicles to offset this effect. No two roads are built the same, and no two tires will wear out exactly the same. Road crown is only one of several things that will cause a tire to wear out uneven, but it does play a partial role.

Agree that there are also other factors involved. I just thought it was interesting to add crowned roads to the equation. Never even crossed my mind before. Now that I am aware of it, I have noticed that the backroads I ride here in NE Ohio are crowned very high.