Front tire cupped

[junglejim]

My (OEM) front tire is cupped and is making lots of noise. It rides OK and has plenty of tread depth. It is just bugging me. It sings at highway speed and signs louder in a turn. It also adds some vibration to the handlebars.
I just changed out the rear to the PR3 and I have a new front PR3 ready to put on. I just hate to waste that tread that is still left on the original. Front tire cupping is pretty common, but not all tires seem to do it. My Dunlops always cupped on my Concours and Versys. The Avon Storms didn't on either bike.

Do other riders change front tires or just put up with the noise and vibration?

 

[Lorien]

The OEM will cup most easily. Almost everyone has reported it to some extent. I scrounged 12k out of mine-both front and rear-and the front was cupped by 6k for what it is worth. My advice is go ahead and put the new PR on. I have never been a fan of unmatched sets of tires. Invites handling irregularities. Besides you will get lots of miles out of the PR anyway and both front and rear will probably wear out about the same time. The dual compounds are very good at extending tire life.

 

[Woodaddict]

I had same problem with my OEM tires. Cupped and some vibration, but I ride so many miles,I had to get as much life as possible. In a turn would make more noise, must be trapping air under those little pads - they wear backwards. I could feel and sense in a turn a little movement and not a good grip, like sliding out of the turn. I did manage to get 10,400 miles on the front, but was sure happy get it off. Right now have a BT 023 on front with at least 11,000 (wearing much better), with a PR3 on back. A PR3 will go on front next. The PR3 on back is wearing much better (a round type of wear) compared to the BT023 which wore in a flat center type. You could actually see the different compounds from center to outside, when it got ready to take off.

 

[EX Winger]

I just put on a new rear Pr-3, I got 12,500 out of it ,not complaining as it go ran quite hard wit a lot of weight onit and durring rather hot weatherin July and auust, I have some mnor cuping on the front PR 3 which went on with the rear, I believe I will get another 5-6,000 from the front. I could have probably squeezed anothe 2-3,000 out of the rear , but it was well intothe wear bars and I didn't feel it was worth chanching farther.
Eldon

 

[Phil Tarman]

Woodaddict, You've got to be commuting a pretty good distance to put as many miles on as you do! What's your total mileage on the bike now? I'll turn 50,000 this month. Gotta' get the NT-Owners Club 50,000 mile stickers made up when I get back from Wichita!

 

[Woodaddict]

Woodaddict, You've got to be commuting a pretty good distance to put as many miles on as you do! What's your total mileage on the bike now? I'll turn 50,000 this month. Gotta' get the NT-Owners Club 50,000 mile stickers made up when I get back from Wichita!

My total miles is 26,500 now, its almost 10 months old, 1 year will be 12-7-12. Average yearly miles are about 32,000 - 34,000 per year. My commute to work is 110 miles round trip each day, I have worked alot of Saturday's and 3 Sunday's so I get more miles on NT. Plus any fun trips and errands close to home. With last winter being sooo warm, I rode every day in DEC(first early days finished up with PC800 before NT), only had to drive truck about 2 or 3 days in JAN, FEB, MAR, then onto everyday from APR with NT.
So a almost early congradulations on achieving 50,000 miles(being first to report on NT-owners site) Phil,,,,,,at my rate I could hit 50,000 by next June 2013!!!!!!!!!
Doesn't that make me a target to get free gear or new model bikes to try out and test prove? NOW THAT WOULD BE FUN!!!!!

 

[Woodaddict]

I'm fastidious about keeping the suggested pressure in my tires, but I am starting to wonder if a few more pounds of air would retard the cupping? I can see the start of it on my 023 front after 6 or 7k miles.

I think its more from braking, all braking inertia makes the front dive, quashing the tire some. Depends on how hard the lever is pulled. But one thing I have noticed, a NT rear brake fluid brake is different from a mechanical linkage brake. I keep forgetting to press harder on the rear to help reduce front brake usage and dive. So watch out about reducing air pressure!

 

[rcase13]

My total miles is 26,500 now, its almost 10 months old, 1 year will be 12-7-12. Average yearly miles are about 32,000 - 34,000 per year. My commute to work is 110 miles round trip each day, I have worked alot of Saturday's and 3 Sunday's so I get more miles on NT.

My truck averages about 14mpg. I think we should trade and see how much gas the NT is saving you! I swear I think just starting the truck takes a gallon of gas. I try very hard to leave it parked unless we are towing! I use the bike for errands when I can.

With as many miles as you put on bikes I would think vendors would be lining up if the word got out. I think it safe to say you are our resident expert on tires.

My front tire is badly cupped but I have never had a bike without a cupped tire so I don't know what it's like. The NT is my first bike and the tire was cupped when I got it. It's an interesting theory that the braking could be causing the cupping. I am probably hard on the brakes. It comes from my pizza delivery days! The new PR3s are just sitting on the shelf. Everyday they call my name and ask to be put on. I am amazed at the number of miles people are getting out of the original tires. I will be lucky to get 6000.

I think I will lie about my mileage just to get ahead of Woodaddict! It's the only way I can ever get to the top of the mileage chart!

 

[Phil Tarman]

Woodaddict, a 110 mile commute is going to keep you at the top of the chart for sure! I agree with you about braking being the cause of cupping front tires. The BT-020 was by far the worst of the four tires I've run. The Metzler ME-880 was next, and the PR3 barely shows any, although my mechanic said it was starting to show some. All I can say is that he's got better eyes than I do. I finally decided that there's a little cupping there, but at 10,000 miles it's nothing compared to what my BT-020 had at 6,000.

Before I got the PR3 I was concerned that the siping would increase cupping, but that sure hasn't beent the case.

The worst-cupping tire I've ever had was tht K700 front OEM tire on my first Concours. By the time it had 3,000 miles, the cupping made it almost unrideable on rain-grooved highway.

 

[junglejim]

The worst-cupping tire I've ever had was tht K700 front OEM tire on my first Concours. By the time it had 3,000 miles, the cupping made it almost unrideable on rain-grooved highway.

And the D205's weren't much better.

 

[Woodaddict]

My truck averages about 14mpg. I think we should trade and see how much gas the NT is saving you! I swear I think just starting the truck takes a gallon of gas. I try very hard to leave it parked unless we are towing! I use the bike for errands when I can.

With as many miles as you put on bikes I would think vendors would be lining up if the word got out. I think it safe to say you are our resident expert on tires.

My front tire is badly cupped but I have never had a bike without a cupped tire so I don't know what it's like. The NT is my first bike and the tire was cupped when I got it. It's an interesting theory that the braking could be causing the cupping. I am probably hard on the brakes. It comes from my pizza delivery days! The new PR3s are just sitting on the shelf. Everyday they call my name and ask to be put on. I am amazed at the number of miles people are getting out of the original tires. I will be lucky to get 6000.

I think I will lie about my mileage just to get ahead of Woodaddict! It's the only way I can ever get to the top of the mileage chart!

Yes I know I'm saving a ton of $, my truck gets 19MPG, that is what I have to drive in place of NT. I just really like the fuel injection, gets me great MPG, better than previous PC800.
I'll do a post about my experiance with BT020, BT023,PR3, after I get my front PR3 on front (maybe another 2 months) and my rear PR3 off (about another 5 months). Right now I think PR3's are the best. I just may try a Dunlop. I have used a K491(think its bias) which wore very good, I could get 16,000-19,000 on front, 14,000 - 16,000 on rear. But these Z radials just don't last as long. I'm only an expert on fast mileage, not an expert on tires, I like others tire posts better.
RCASE13.........if you lie about your mileage, you get smacked when you bring over your tire for changing!!!!!!!!!!!:Silver2:

 

[Phil Tarman]

Woodaddict, I used K491s on my Concours as long as Dunlop made them. Other people called it the Evil Bike Wrecking Tire and complained about its grip, especially in wet weather, but I never had any trouble with it. After I wore out the OEM K700/K701 tire combo on my first Concours, I never had another radial tire on it. I always ran one or another of the bias-belted tires for the GL1500 Goldwing. They only came in slightly larger front tire sizes, too, so they corrected the Connie's stock speedometer error.

I had had good luck with the ME-880s on the Connie, too, so I tried a set of them on the NT. The front was radial, the rear was bias-ply; they wore OK, but when I put BT-023s back on the bike, I could really tell a difference in handling and won't use another bias ply on the NT unless that's all I can find somewhere.

 

[ARKNT]

I once or twice tryed a method to reduce the noise/squirm on badly cupped front tire. I saw it somewhere in a magazine I think.
I took a surfoam type wood rasp to the tire edges as I turned it. That knocked off the top of the cupped areas and made it ride smoother. Only really working on the sides of the tread area. Of course this "fix" is very temporary and you are probably better off just fitting a new tire. Some of us just hate to throw away usable tread.

Brad

 

[Cameron]

I now have just over 10K on the bike in the year I've had it. The OEM tire is cupping and I figure to change it when I have the 10K checkup done at my local shop. I will ask if they can put on a PR3, though I don't know the maker of the tire so when they ask I'll just say "Well I read it on the internet" and they'll roll their eyes and wonder off. Luckily, I still have my PC800 to ride to work through new years until I get the NT back. Just trying to figure out what I should expect to pay for the checkup, but I'll look elsewhere on this site to see if there's a list of what gets done at regular intervals - including oil and fluid changes. I much prefer to ride it than work on it - at least in the wintertime since my garage is unheated and there is a PC800 and my sidecar in there to clog it up. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone!

 

[Phil Tarman]

Cameron, the PR3 is a Michelin Pilot Road 3. You can find it way cheaper online than you can at a dealer's.

As to the service, the factory calls for general checkover, valve adjustment, oil and filter and spark plug change at 8,000 mile intervals. I usually spend about $350 for that at my dealers. My dealer charges me $60 to R&R a tire.