[Yahooie]

Noticed on my inspection that my rear tire is wearing horribly uneven. The left side of the center is really worn, much more so than the right or middle. Anyone know what the heck is going on?

 

[Scooter_Maniac]

You're running in circles? :toothy7:

 

[TheReaper]

I don't know where you live so I can't comment on your roads . All roads have a slight crown in them for drainage , just for that reason alone your left side should wear slightly more than the right . Add to that an improperly balanced tire maybe a bad wheel bearing and bad roads ? Also , what brand of tire and how old ?

TheReaper!

 

[shark88]

It is not unusual to see more wear on the left side of a tire. Left turns are made to the far lane, at a higher speed and more lean. A right turn is made to the handy lane at a lower speed and with less lean than left turns.

 

[Yahooie]

From what I was told the tire was close to new maybe 1k-2k on it. The wear is pretty considerable on the left compared to the right. I do live in South Florida and the pavement does get hot, but never had this happen. I put 25k miles on a Silverwing down here and never had a problem like that. The middle strip of the tire is in great condition with plenty of tread. I am worried about the side wear. Its a Pirelli so it isnt a cheap tire and right now no threads showing but I need to keep an eye on it.

 

[TheReaper]

From what I was told the tire was close to new maybe 1k-2k on it. The wear is pretty considerable on the left compared to the right. I do live in South Florida and the pavement does get hot, but never had this happen. I put 25k miles on a Silverwing down here and never had a problem like that. The middle strip of the tire is in great condition with plenty of tread. I am worried about the side wear. Its a Pirelli so it isnt a cheap tire and right now no threads showing but I need to keep an eye on it.

Well I think we found your problem , Florida and Pirelli . Buy some Bridgestone tires and leave town . Next question ?

TheReaper!

 

[Buffalo]

The Pirelli is known to be a fast wearing tire on the 650.

That being said, excessive wear on one side could be an issue. I would check to see that the alignment of the frame and wheels is straight. If I remember correctly you bought this bike used. There is always the possibility the former owner did something that knocked the frame out of alignment.

 

[John Holbrook]

Could you upload a picture of the tire so we can see how severe the wear is? It is possible a previous owner wrecked it or somehow got the frame out of alignment, or put the tire on and got it out of center. (Just some guessing on my part)

 

[John Holbrook]

Have you checked your tire pressure?

 

[Flywheel]

If you run a 650, check the preload adjusters on the rear shocks. While I didn't notice right away, my rear tire was pretty lopsided when I bought the scoot. One was two clicks more than the other.

 

[GK13]

i had gotten the pirellies on mine too when i got it used. they wear really weird i guess. also very fast. I traded to Michelin city grips. love them. have put many thousand miles on them and keep air pressure very religiously. very little wear.

 

[Chappy]

Is the tire mounted the correct direction?

 

[Yahooie]

Hey all thanks to everyone for the feedback. Tire pressure was a little low at 32. Bike says 41 that is where it is at now. Shocks are correct. It is mounted the right way. I am not running in circles. South Florida roads are sloped for drainage but almost all the miles I rack up are on the highway and in the fast lane which is sloped toward the middle so it would wear on the other side. I do ride it a bit hard but have been backing off, trying to stay more upright on my left turns with less lean. I ride it like I rode my Silverwing, not trying to compare them but never had this problem with Pirelli on that bike. Not sure if it is balance properly or if it has a bad bearing or if the frame and wheel are straight. Those will be corrected soon when I get a new tire. Right now don’t have the $200 for the tire and mounting. Not used to the cost for these tires as they are twice as much as I was paying on the other bike. I have attached a photo, not the best but I circled in Red the excessive wear. I think you can see the almost straight line that is circled. Its like a 45 degree angle. In green is the center line of the tire. The right side in the shade is also a little bit worn but that looks normal. The left side is tore up.

 

[John Holbrook]

Maybe it was just a bad tire from the factory. The wear seems abnormal to me/

 

[speedandstyle]

I wouldn't ride on it anymore until it gets changed! I would say it is probably a factory flaw of some sort - side wall stiffer on one side?

 

[Buffalo]

That is definitely not a normal wear pattern.

 

[QuantumRift]

It's sort of hard to see due to the shadow on the right side of the tire, however, as was said, roads are crowned in the middle and since we generally ride in the right lane, and make wider turns to the left, more wear DOES occur 'left of center' on our tires. In the UK, Japan, India they have just the opposite, tires wear a bit more 'right of center'.

However, that does appear to much more than I'd expect. As I have Pirelli Diablos on my 06 as well, and my rear tire has worn out as of today with just over 6K miles, I'd wager to say that the rubber compound on that part of the carcass is a bit softer and thus wearing unevenly (unless you do lots of steep banking to the left). I would continue to use the tire until it becomes unserviceable (which, if my tire is any indication, won't be much longer, LOL) as it does not represent any real danger. I called the local Suzuki Dealer and it's $123 for the THO1-M Battlax and that's what I'm going back to.

 

[stingray]

I faced the same problem.
It is because of the tire pressure.
Do not rely on factory recommended tire pressure data on 650...
Basically if you are riding with passenger...
You need to inflate little over 41 psi...

The reason of this failure is, because the motorcycle is too heavy, the pressure inside does not have enough power to carry the bike and the center part to the tire pushes inside.
Therefore the sides of the tire which are much less duty than the center part touches the ground more than it should be... Basically on steady riding this situation occurs.

You cannot fix this tire anymore but keep in mind that for your next tire set, inflate little over than factory recommendation...
This tweak applies for Metzeller Fellfree Wintec, Pirelli Diablo, Michelin Pilot Sport tires...
Bridgestone has much harder rubber structure and it does not need over inflation....