[Aladinbama]

I realize I have an 03 400 and this could go in that section, but I figured the information may be helpful to others.

Rear specifically; At what pressure should you have your tires at for maximum mileage? My manual says 1-up 29 psi and 2-up 41 psi. Currently, I'm running 34 and eating up another tire.
History; 1st Bridgestone Hoop - 8500 and had a little left (maybe 500), but was old and rock hard so I changed it. 2nd Michelin City Grip - 7100, ran @40/41 psi and wore out the middle - I believe with lower pressure @34/35 or so it would have given another K - loved the grip of that tire (at 41 psi anyway). 3rd Michelin Pilot SC - 3300, ran it at 37/38 in the beginning and lowered it to 32/34 due to wearing quickly - wear didn't really change much after lowering - wear bars are close to being exposed.
I ride mostly, but not always solo and generally like a harder tire (i guess) - the City Grip at 41 psi stuck like no other and felt great.

What should I do to get more mileage out of my rear tire?
BTW, I've already ordered a Hoop to replace the Pilot SC - thought I would go back to original.
Also, I changed the front to a City Grip at 8500 (along with the rear) and it's currently about 40/50% worn - I run it at 28 psi.

Oh, and suspension is set in the middle and I'm 6'1" and about 190 lbs.

 

[Buffalo]

As soon as I post this someone else will post saying They get 10,000 or 13,000 or some other number from their rear tires but here goes.

I seem to see more people posting they get around 7,000 to 8,000 miles out of their rear tires than any other number so I think your mileage numbers are not out of line. I've tried running mine everywhere from 29 psi to 41 and the wear rate did not seem to vary much but it did tend to cup at more at the lower setting. I'm currently running 38 in the rear tire because that gives me the best combination of grip in hard cornering and resistance to cupping.

 

[Aladinbama]

When I run them on the lower pressures my bike feels spongy. I hate a spongy feeling going into a corner, but I also hate wearing out the middle of the tread.

 

[Buffalo]

Don't see how you are going to get around that unless you spend most of your time going around corners. The rounded profile of a bike tire causes it to wear more in the center than on the sides.

 

[Daboo]

As soon as I post this someone else will post saying They get 10,000 or 13,000 or some other number from their rear tires but here goes...

Gee, I waited 6 hours ... :roll:

I get about 15,000 miles or more from my rear tire. Part of it is the roads around here. Part might be ambient temperature...and the temperature of the roads as a result. (Monday and Tuesday will be the first days that are consecutively above 70F.) Part, might be because the circumference of my tire is more than yours. After awhile, it all adds up.

Part also might be because of the air pressure I use in my rear tire. I've found no hard and fast rule holds true all the time. My dealership put 40 psi in my first Pirelli Diablo. At first, I thought that was totally wrong, but found the tire was running much cooler. Cooler = less tire scrub. That tire lasted 14,500 miles and was changed early at the beginning of the rainy season. It could've lasted another 1000 miles easily if the timing had been a few months earlier in the summer months.

The next tire was an Avon Viper Stryke. Not because I was dissatisfied with the Pirelli, but just to try something different and perhaps pass on the results to others. To make a long story short, that tire ran cold. I frequently check the tire sidewall (not tread) for temperature. Not anything scientific, but just with my hand. If it is warm, I figure I'm in the right ballpark for tire inflation. If it is uncomfortably hot to the touch (like the Pirelli was at 29-33 psi), then the tire tread has to be very soft and is scrubbing off. Too cold equals poor traction, which you also don't want. I lowered the tire pressure all the way from 40 to 31 psi trying to find a pressure where the tire would warm up. I never did before changing the tire.

So my point is to try increasing your tire pressure to the max on the sidewall. Check to see how hot the sidewall feels and adjust from there. (I don't think that I'd ever go above 40 psi though.) And if you live in the same area as Craig (Buffalo), ask yourself when the last time was you encountered 70F for the daily high and thought it was warm. It might give you a clue for why your tires do, or don't, last.

Chris

 

[Ralph M]

As soon as I post this someone else will post saying They get 10,000 or 13,000 or some other number from their rear tires but here goes...

Gee, I waited 6 hours ... :roll:

The next tire was an Avon Viper Stryke. Not because I was dissatisfied with the Pirelli, but just to try something different and perhaps pass on the results to others. To make a long story short, that tire ran cold. I frequently check the tire sidewall (not tread) for temperature. Not anything scientific, but just with my hand. If it is warm, I figure I'm in the right ballpark for tire inflation. If it is uncomfortably hot to the touch (like the Pirelli was at 29-33 psi), then the tire tread has to be very soft and is scrubbing off. Too cold equals poor traction, which you also don't want. I lowered the tire pressure all the way from 40 to 31 psi trying to find a pressure where the tire would warm up. I never did before changing the tire.

, last.

Chris

I wounder what mileage you got out of the Avons? they are the cheapest by far in the UK I have 5000 miles on the org Bridgestone's but cant see them getting to 7000
Bridgestone do 2 versions at least for the newer 400's one for us the other for Silverwings I was told the Silverwing one the one without the G in the size lasted
longer I did see a spec sheet and it was very slightly wider and had 1mm deeper thread.

 

[Aladinbama]

And if you live in the same area as Craig (Buffalo), ask yourself when the last time was you encountered 70F for the daily high and thought it was warm. It might give you a clue for why your tires do, or don't, last.
Chris

We're close - it might be a couple of degrees warmer over here, but ...

It's been 84/86 for lows at night for the past 3 weeks or so with maybe a dip or two into the 70's. I guess hearing what you get out of your tires, along with the many others, I just thought I must have been pealing out from too many stop lights or something. I was just hoping there was a way to get them to last longer - other than moving to a cooler climate of course. Thanks for the comments!

 

[Daboo]

RalphM, I'd buy the Avon Viper Stryke with caution. They are supposedly a highly rated tire and all the hype on the manufacturers web site makes them sound fantastic. However, they were the only tires that slid out on me in wet weather...twice. I was planning on having the front tire replaced with an Avon as well, but it was visibly out of round. Don't buy them unless you have an inexpensive way to return a faulty tire.

Their dry weather traction was great. If lowered down to Suzuki's pressure recommendation of 29 psi, they would give you a softer ride. But it was unnerving to not know whether the rear tire was gripping, or not. I went back to the Pirelli Diablo for two tire changes after that.

Chris

 

[Scootereno]

I use the 2-up pressures and feel the tires stay cooler and last longer. Rear tires don't last on the Burgman or any other bike I've had. If you get 8000 miles or more things are normal (Unless you live in near Chris ). I guess tire wear is one of the big reasons the 650 riders are so interested in Darksiding. Me I will just accept the fact and buy the most cost effective quality tire that I can find. So far I am very happy with my Shinko rear tire for performance and durability and they were 1/2 the price of my other options.

 

[Aladinbama]

I guess you could call this my - keep track of my tire wear thread.

Anyway, the Michelin SC was showing wear bars (and less) and I'm getting into my commuting season again (school starts) and thought while I had time I would go ahead and change out the back tire (again).
Changes so far;
Original Hoop - @8500
Michelin City Grip - @15600 -
Michelin SC - @19200
Back to the Hoop - we'll see, running it at 35 psi for solo riding

The Michelin City Grip that I changed on the front looks @35-50%, still looks like it has plenty of life. I'm happy with its wear (for 10,700 mi.).

 

[Daboo]

I'm curious. You got around twice the tread life from the two Michelin tires, but are going back to the Hoop? Why?

Chris

 

[cliffyk]

Not meaning to answer for another, however there are many thing more important to some of us than how many miles tires last. For example I run Falken Azenis RT-615s (wear rating 180) on the rear of my Mustang. They last 10k to 12k miles but they also stick like "you-know-what" to a baby blanket on these slippery, lime rock aggregate, Florida roads. Up front I run 1.6° negative camber which wears the inner tread "excessively" according to the folks at the Goodyear store that does my alignments. It also greatly reduces plowing and understeer in turns--I tell them that if tread life were my primary concern I would drive a Corolla.

And, even though my K3 400 is far from a performance vehicle, within reason I would willingly trade tread life for improved grip and handling.

 

[Daboo]

Cliff, I understand what you're saying totally. With my cars, I do a lot of research...and my tires last a long long time. Subaru Outbacks and Toyota Camry's aren't known for their sports car feel like a Mustang, so I look for probably slightly different things than you do. :lol:

But my Burgman's tires don't last nearly as long, and I'm always looking for other choices in case there's something better out there than the Pirelli Diablo. In this case, I'd love to get the Michelin City Grip...but Michelin doesn't seem to want to sell to Burgman, Majesty, and Silverwing owners. However, the Michelin Pilot Sport SC is in my tire size...and it did extremely well for Aladinbama. And the ratings on that tire are quite high for dry and wet traction and comfort,etc.

So why would he go back to a tire that only lasted less than half the mileage? Inquiring minds wish to know!

Chris

 

[ajbecwar]

Those @###### are probably the odometer readings when the tire was swapped out, not the "miles per tire" readings... Just a guess based on sequence.

 

[cliffyk]

Those @###### are probably the odometer readings when the tire was swapped out, not the "miles per tire" readings... Just a guess based on sequence.

Good observation, I had missed the "@" as well...

 

[douge36843]

My experience regarding tires on my 400. OE Hoop, hot day (100-103) got flat in rear. Did not know for sure it was flat as it rode fine, it was just to hot to touch, but then so was the road surface. I rode another 200-300 miles that day (on a flat & at speeds around 80-85). Purchased an Avon and after 1400 miles got a flat, no question as it deflated and started squirming and trying to throw me & my Burgman to the ground. Very difficult to ride it the 40 miles or so home. Now have a new Hoop and hoping for no more flats, but the whole thing has made me aware that the lack of flex in the tire is very important if it does happen.

 

[okiew650]

+1 on the Hoops sidewall stiffness. I rode one about a mile with a hole in the tread the size of a nickle. Was pretty squirmy at the end, but still holding the scooter up. One of the gurus on another forum suggests that an indeal inflation pressure will cause a pressure difference of four pounds between cold and hot.

 

[ray nielsen]

The pressure change between cold and hot tire temps was usually described as about 8-10%. That was supposed to show the increase in pressure due to flexing of the tire and the subsequent increase in heat and pressure. If pressure increased more than 10% it indicated the cold pressure was too low, allowing excess flexing, where the opposite was supposedly true if pressure rose less than that.

That would translate to about a 4 PSI increase in the rear and maybe 3 PSI increase in the front after an hour riding at normal road speeds.

With radial tires the increase is often a bit less, maybe 5-6% due to the flexing nature of radial tires where the radial construction minimizes heat build up. This is coming from a phone call to Michelin a few years back when I ran Michelin radials on my Honda Nighthawk 750.

An exception for me was on a Honda Pacific Coast where the muffler was dumping heat onto the rear tire and causing pressure to rise from about 41 PSI cold to about 51 PSI hot. A couple of brass deflectors, riveted to the plastic fender dropped that back to normal and tire life seemed to increase also.

Ray Nielsen, in Minneapolis and going for a ride today, after I replace the rear tire - damned Shinkos.

 

[Aladinbama]

Those @###### are probably the odometer readings when the tire was swapped out, not the "miles per tire" readings... Just a guess based on sequence.

Sorry about that!
You are correct, those are odometer readings at the time of the changes.
Actually, I was VERY happy with the City Grip - even well worn it had great traction, even in the wet. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. The reason I went back to the Hoop was basically curiosity. Of the 8500 the original had on it when I changed it, 3500 were from previous owners and unknown "conditions". The tire was worn, but not worn out - the main reason I changed it was age (and it was hard as a rock - I didn't know Hoops were anyway) with the secondary reason wear. Given the City Grips performance (if the Hoop did similar) I would say I could have gotten another 1000 out of the original Hoop.

I've made a few runs back and forth to work already (@35 mi one way) and the Hoop feels pretty good. Of course there's nothing like riding on a new tire anyway.

Oh, and our average temperatures (according to my power bills) was 97 for the last 30 days and 96 for the previous 30 to those. I'd say that made for some toasty pavement. An 80 degree day is going to feel like "winter".

 

[Aladinbama]

Just thought I would add an update!
This last Rear Hoop - odometer - 25,945 - ran it at 38-41 psi.
I ordered a set of Power Pure SCs and it's about time for a change. The City Grip up front still has some tread on the sides as does the Hoop on the rear, but I think I'm on the wearbar (or really close anyway) on the rear and the front has been feeling funny (slick). I actually slid on the front on wet pavement a couple weeks ago.
Original Hoops F&R @8500
Michelin City Grips R only @15,500 = 7,000 miles
Michelin SC R Only @ 19,200 = 3,700
BS Hoop R / City Grip Fr - very soon (currently 25,945 R Hoop = 6,745 / Fr CG = 17,445) - might be a few more, but ...

If the PP SCs are as sticky as the City Grips and last as long I'll be happy. If not, I'll definitely be going back to the City Grips - that was an awesome tire!