"93 K1100 rear tire wears left side more ?

Would anyone have a guess on what would cause the left side of the rear tire to wear alot faster than the right side? I know the crown in the road issue, but I've been riding that same route for years now, and this is new, so I am looking for something else. I had to remove the tire anyhow due to the center worn out, but the left side was a close 2nd? I did recently install a used Works Performance rear shock, and it seems to coincide, but I don't know how that would be........

Metzeler Roadtec Z6

From the picture, it looks like that tire is scoped out on either side of the center flat spot. What tire pressure are you running, and what kind of load (solo, two-up, etc.)?

I have been running 41 rear, 32 front.......... after reading about tire pressure and heat build up here I think. I believe the book says to use 36 rear. I ride solo, with an LT case mounted on this RS. Briefcase etc inside, and was doing that also before the "new" wear. I had not noticed any unusual bike handling, but this K, as I have heard others also, pulls right with hands off. I commute mostly, 100 round trip, mostly freeway, straight lines. I keep thinking I need to try a dual compound tire to quit throwing away good side walls,.... until now that is!

KCKBMOA said:

I have been running 41 rear, 32 front.......... after reading about tire pressure and heat build up here I think. I believe the book says to use 36 rear. I ride solo, with an LT case mounted on this RS. Briefcase etc inside, and was doing that also before the "new" wear. I had not noticed any unusual bike handling, but this K, as I have heard others also, pulls right with hands off. I commute mostly, 100 round trip, mostly freeway, straight lines. I keep thinking I need to try a dual compound tire to quit throwing away good side walls,.... until now that is!

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Humm...I've seen that scooped out wear pattern (flat in the center and scooped out on each side) from tires that were both not inflated enough and also run at sustained high speeds (don't ask how I found this out ). But, I would think 41psi more than enough.

Other than road conditions, I would look wheel alignment: rear drive bearings and swing arm bearings. Also, for a commute like that, personally, I would run the Metzeler ME880s. Much longer lasting tire! Not as fun in the twisties as the Z6 but still a competent handling tire.

Thanks for the ME880 recommendation. I actually have one of those on the front, trying to get longer wear, and it seems to be working! I'll probably try one on the back now.
As far as rear alignment... and bearings.......... Since hearing about Final Drive failures, mostly on later models I think, I've been checking the wheel for "shake" when checking tire pressures. My rear wheel has a Miniscule ammout of shake. Almost impossible to feel, unless you spend some time at it. This has not changed, and I check it often. I am wondering if you can actually feel swing arm and paralever bearing wear without removing the the shock spring load.
Are those swing arm / paralever bearings subject to frequent failure? I haven't seen that posted here, at least not lately.

KCKBMOA said:

Thanks for the ME880 recommendation. I actually have one of those on the front, trying to get longer wear, and it seems to be working! I'll probably try one on the back now.
As far as rear alignment... and bearings.......... Since hearing about Final Drive failures, mostly on later models I think, I've been checking the wheel for "shake" when checking tire pressures. My rear wheel has a Miniscule ammout of shake. Almost impossible to feel, unless you spend some time at it. This has not changed, and I check it often. I am wondering if you can actually feel swing arm and paralever bearing wear without removing the the shock spring load.
Are those swing arm / paralever bearings subject to frequent failure? I haven't seen that posted here, at least not lately.

Click to expand...

In my experience (and I'm sure others will chime in), the swing arm bearings last a *long* time. However, the paralever bushings could need replacement as soon as 35,000 to 40,000 miles. I'm not heard about them causing an alignment problem, but I suppose it's possible.

Try this for consideration.

In my ride to and from work I have like 3 left and 3 right corners each way along with 35 + miles of interstate. The left corners are generally taken without having to stop, so thus I have some lean and acceleration out of that corner. The right ones tend to have me coming to a stop and then move off with very little G force added to the tires for the corner. If you put a straight edge against the rear of the tire and then aligned it so it included the wear spot it is more than just a 1 to 2 degree difference. So I ponder if the wear isn't from us making more left hand corners at a slow to moderate riding speed verses tighter right hand corners where we stop or slow drastically to turn into a parking lot.

All that said, I did lower the amount mine wears to the left of center by noticing not all brands are created equal in that trait and by balancing the load on the bike to favor the left side a little.

Also, riding with the left hand off the bars gives a slight wind thrust to the right making you have a slight intuitive lean left to compensate for it.

Also, All my Metzlers wore out like that with a scoped out section to the left. At the point you are showing wear, the wear bars showed up maybe 500 miles ago I would think. It was at that point the tire should be replaced. Like it is, I have learned it is about 300 miles before the metal is showing.

See this thread of where I took pictures of the wear of the tire. Looks pretty much like the wear I showed. You can also see PR2s wore out differently.

http://www.i-bmw.com/showthread.php?t=21972

I have seen towns that have a huge amount of crown in the road, could that make them wear funny?

It could but not in my case. I ride most of the miles on the left or center left lane of the road which has a crown flowing water to the left.

Pretty common on most bikes, road crown, plus radius of LH turns is always longer and has better sight lines so you run faster and accelerate sooner when leaned over.

Go to this web page for an excellent explaination of tire wear.
http://www.rattlebars.com/tirewear/index.html

RIchard1

Great Tech info from NCStephen, Thanks!

Wow, I know there's been a ton of long threads on tires, and I actually hate to be the one to start something like that up again. Thanks to NCStephen for the link to a past thread that has alot of good info, and huge amount of pictures to illustrate. Most of the thread is tire wear, and left side wear is mentioned to be specific to my original post. I gather that Z6s all wear quick, and left side commonly.
So now I'm trying to decide on Michelin Pilot Road 2, or the Metzeler ME 880. Since I have a ME880 on the front at the moment, and it is wearing MUCH more even than the Z6s did, I am happy with it so far. The PR2 tire sure looks like a good choice also, from the thread NCStephen referred back to. As he mentioned, it's worth checking that thread out.

And also from Richard1........

Haven't made it completely through that link yet! It very interesting, and the LEFT wear seems to be something I thought I was only bugging ME, ..... NOT!!

Thanks Richard.

Just a quick note on the advisability of a dual compound....based on the wear I see in your photo, the dual compound would not be beneficial. The softer part begins farther out than your commute seems to be using up. At least that is what I see. I am on my second set of PR2CTs on my K13S and my commute is a weekly ride to Sacramento from Mendocino, all on SR-128 with maybe 15 miles of 101 and 80 thrown in. I am getting a benfit of the two ply, but your wear areas do not indicate it would be beneficial, just cost more. I agree with the higher mileage tire. For my 1200RS, I found the PR-Roads were an outstanding choice, and am not all that impressed with the MeZ6 I currently have on it for this same commute. Have not tried the dual compound on the RS. Since you noted the odd pattern emerged about the same time as the installation of your used shock, have you rechecked to see that it is aligned/installed and working properly? all washers, etc in the right place?