Tire wear mystery

OK
Now I see what you guys are talking about
I guess that's from riding chip seal twisties
If you look around you can actually find some serpentine roads here in North Texas, believe it or not
 
Daboo said:
Just so I can appreciate what a serpentine road is, is this the Farm to Market Road FM455 that you're talking about?
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Chris
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Yes, But you have to ride it, and keep in mind, that we are talking about and comparing to West and North Texas. We are not even thinking about the Rockies or the Cascades. :eek: Everything is relevant:rofl1:
 
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Also FM 51 and FM 4 are pretty good "twisty" roads in Texas. Now the really good roads are down in the Hill Country. Remember every thing is relevant. After living in Wichita Falls for few years I began to appreciate what was available. I laughed about the Wichita Mountains is Oklahoma, when I first arrived from Colorado. However today, after 11 years living there, I have a special place in my motorcycle heart for the Wichita Mountains.
 
Daboo said:
Just so I can appreciate what a serpentine road is, is this the Farm to Market Road FM455 that you're talking about?
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Im talking about the portion from I35 EAST towards FM78...The part you didn't highlight
I didn't say it was rocky mountain twisted...just bendy enough
 
What you have to understand about google maps or any other app...
The map never shows just how many turns are in a road unless you zoom right in on it

When I was researching my trip to Spearfish, I planned a run up the Million $$ Hwy
On the map it doesn't look that impressive, but when you get there, you cant believe how it is.
Down here in Texas, a road that shows as dead straight on your computer can have many fun turns and bends, so you have to have a little faith and try things

Having said that, if you see a road on the map that from altitude already shows as being squiggly, you are in a for a treat
 
here is a pic with wheel removed. I guess something could hang in gap at bracket with shock eye
 
RedNigel said:
Having said that, if you see a road on the map that from altitude already shows as being squiggly, you are in a for a treat
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Here is a link showing a sign near Kooskia, ID. IIRC, at the end of the 99 miles, is another sign that said "Winding Road, Next 14 (or something) miles." The Idaho DOT could have just posted a sign at the beginning that said "Winding Road Next 113 Miles," I would have understood that it will be curvy until further notice.

Sorry if the link doesn't work, but I'm unable to attach pics??
 
As I recall, there is at least 25 mm gap between the tire's circumfrence and the bridge/shock mount on the NT. I asked this earlier and never received a response - are you using the standard size (150/70 x 17) rear tire? Fitting a taller tire to reduce RPM on the highway could lead to such problems.
 
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I hope this provides an additional clue to the tire streak mystery. When I first read this thread I went out and took a look at my PR3s, and found no sign of the offending circumferential "streak" on either tire. That was, what, about three weeks ago? I just ran a short errand and when I got back to the bike I noticed the same streak that has been shown in pictures on this thread on my rear tire. Then I checked the front tire, and it has one too! It's off-center to the right about eight mm, and just barely hits the edge of the center end of the major rain grooves. Both of these tires have about fourteen thousand miles on them, but plenty of tread left. When running a fingernail across either of these streaks I can't feel any depression, so I concur with others here that have suggested the streaks are from the interface between two different rubber compounds. I am still worried about the OPs report of actual rubber removal from them though. That could mean that the rubber compound formed by mixing at the interface is far weaker than the surrounding "pure" stuff. A real problem, if true.

The battery is dead on my camera, but I'll try to get some pictures in a couple of hours if I can get it to take a charge.

Edit: Just tried the camera, and battery won't take a charge. It's only about ten years old too!
 
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Thanx, Rick - -

As I said, I run my tire pressures on the high side: 38 front, 44 rear. That is a little above factory recommendations, but in the past, I've gotten better mileage that way. I'm not an aggressive rider, and like you, all I have is straight and flat roads here in deep south Texas.

Would you be willing to tell me what pressures you run? Anyone else mind, for that matter?
 
"antenna tread" ... did NOT see THAT coming ... Well done ... makes sense :D
 
Comanche said:
Would you be willing to tell me what pressures you run? Anyone else mind, for that matter?
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I don't know how you run at those high pressure. I went over by half a pound last week for an experiment and couldn't bear the roughness of the ride
I try to stay at 36/42 but sometimes I will run a half pound low for comfort and I feel more confident with not so firm a ride
 
My tire pressures stay stable for a lot longer than that. Usually they'll drop a couple pounds in a month, but not always. We get some pretty dramatic temperature changes too.

My car tires practically never change pressure. I've had them be the same 32psi after a year. But, in the last week I've had to patch two holes in the right rear tire. I also noticed when I was driving in the wet, slush snow we had on Thursday that they just didn't feel as planted as they did a year ago, so I've decided to replace them next week. These have been amazing tires. I got them from Big O when my car had about 40,000 miles on it and it's at 180,000 now. Just looking at tread depth, I'd guess they'd last another 40,000 miles. But they're about 11 years old so I guess I can console myself that I've gotten all the wear I need from them to justify replacement.

If I could find tires that work this well for the bike, I'd buy 'em. :)
 
I run my tire pressure just a little high most of the time. But I check them in the AM when they are cold. The issue is how cold. Rick, I suppose cold for you is about 50 degrees, and I don't want to know the temperatures on the pavement out there in the summer. For me cold can be in the 30s or in mid summer it can be in the 70s. That 40 degree difference in temp makes a readable difference in pressure. I try to guess at what a "normal cold" pressure would be compared to how cold it is at the time I check them. I don't mind if they are a little high, but I don't like them low.

The more often I ride the bike the better the tires hold air. They tend to leak down if the bike sits for a week or so. Whereas if I'm on a trip, riding every day, they hold air very well. Yet another good excuse to go ride more often.
 
found this in Motorcyclist magazine or motorcyclistonline.com , April 2014 edition story - Answers: Antenna Tread. About the center mark found on some tires, which I call the molding line.
Tire tread.jpg
don't know if you can enlarge this
edit: oh yes, click to make it bigger
 
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