Rear tire wear

[exwinger]

Was out cleaning the spyder today and took a close look at the rear tire because it looked like it was low on pressure so I got the guage and checked it . I'm pretty religious at making sure the pressure hovers at 28 and it was. The center of the tire is really wearing , outside treads look brandnew .Is this the normal wear pattern ? I would think that the center would wear more if it's overinflated ?

[MidLifeCrisis]

There's been quite a bit of discussion on this same topic and most have recommended dropping to 24 psi. The 2 ply nature of the tire can't keep a flat tread at speeds, so the lower pressure seems to help even out the wear.

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[Bob Denman]

Think of it like this:
We all know that overinflating a tire will wear out the center of the tread first.
Under-inflating the OEM chicken skins also allows the center to wear first... the tire is so weak that it balloons at speed!

[johnnyrocket]

Was out cleaning the spyder today and took a close look at the rear tire because it looked like it was low on pressure so I got the guage and checked it . I'm pretty religious at making sure the pressure hovers at 28 and it was. The center of the tire is really wearing , outside treads look brandnew .Is this the normal wear pattern ? I would think that the center would wear more if it's overinflated ?

On my first tire I swapped out at 11500 using 28 psi. The 2nd tire I put 24 psi in and lasted for 19,200 miles. Both had wear in the middle a lot more than on the outside. My dealer said I need to run back up to 28 for a better ride.I couldn't tell much difference. Not sure what to do

[CyncySpyder]

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Not much you can do with the stock rear tire, as stated, the center is softer than the sides and no matter what pressure you run, its gonna wear more in the center. Too low, and you compromise ride comfort & safety, so the only solution we came up with was to switch out to a car tire, which is on its way

[spyryder]

20 PSI and it's wearing EVEN.

[Jeriatric]

Be nice to know at highway speeds for say - 30 minutes - on a ninety degree day - what the tire tempratures at different levels of pressure are.

Not sure I would run 20 psi for twisties, but it may be that it would work OK for touring on an interstate. just thinking out loud.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I usually ride one up, using a Kumho ecsta 225/50-15....22 PSI cold rides fine under all conditions and is wearing evenly across........and wearing very slowly compared to the Kenda.....Mike

[retired1]

When I traded my '09 GS for my '10 RT, it had 9500 miles on it and the rear tire had close to 50% of the tread left. At 11000 miles on my RT, the center of the tire was bald and had to be replaced.
I ran 28 lbs. in both and don't believe I changed my riding style that much. My thought is the extra weight of the rear of the RT was what made the difference. In my opinion, BRP was not aware of the difference the extra weight would make on their choice of tire for the RT.
JMO

[exwinger]

My tire has 10600 miles on it which I didn't mention and that seems to be close to the norm for lasting ? I love the way the spyder handles at 28 psi and have def noticed a difference on riding the twistys lately. I'm a pretty aggressive rider and the low tread is bothering me . I guess it's time I looked at getting a new tire before the grip is all gone. I just can't get over the differnce in tread. You can actually see the concave feature in the tire.

[SPYD3R]

dependent on your weight, and the way you ride... you need to set the PSI to fit... i'd bring it down to 20 PSI like others say, and watch from there.... when replacement is needed, look at the KUMHO AST... it's rated for 40,000 miles, and performs FARRRRRRRRRRR better than the Kenda.... i run my KUMHO at 32 PSI and the front KUMHO's at 22 PSI and all seem to be doing well... OH, i'm 260 lbs and ALWAYS ride alone...

[Pogo]

... when replacement is needed, look at the KUMHO AST... it's rated for 40,000 miles, and performs FARRRRRRRRRRR better than the Kenda.... i run my KUMHO at 32 PSI and the front KUMHO's at 22 PSI and all seem to be doing well... OH, i'm 260 lbs and ALWAYS ride alone...

There is a small problem with running the 15" car tyre. I first discovered it when fitting a car tyre to the back of my sidecar hauling Kawasaki. A 15" car tyre is 14.968" at the bead. A 15" motorcycle tyre is 15.08" at the bead. the difference is quite significant, over a tenth of an inch in imperial units. Some tyre fitting machines struggle to stretch the car tyre over the bike rim when fitting it, and it can be very difficult to remove. On the outfit I resolved this by having the rear rim turned down.

The Khumo ECSTA AST is not available here in the 225/50R 15 size, so I ran 3 Toyo Proxes on the rear of my Spyder. I was not convinced that they were better overall. They handled well once I got the pressure right, but they didn't wear as well as I expected (16000 km, 18000km and 13000 km, the last towing a trailer on a 12000 km ride), so last change I went back to the Kenda. The job took all day because the dealer had to cut the tyre off the rim!

I've got 7700 km on that now, and it is looking a bit worn in the centre, so I've dropped the pressure to see if it will even out. I know that it is a balancing act. There should be a point where the sides of the tread carry more load than stretched centre of the tread, but the wear rate may well be higher overall.

It will be worth one or two tyres to see what works best.

Pogo.

[WackyDan]

dependent on your weight, and the way you ride... you need to set the PSI to fit... i'd bring it down to 20 PSI like others say, and watch from there.... when replacement is needed, look at the KUMHO AST... it's rated for 40,000 miles, and performs FARRRRRRRRRRR better than the Kenda.... i run my KUMHO at 32 PSI and the front KUMHO's at 22 PSI and all seem to be doing well... OH, i'm 260 lbs and ALWAYS ride alone...

I also ran the Kuhmo... only worth about 1500 miles more and I ran it at 30 PSI on the rear... Greasier in the rain and hydroplanes easier than the stock Kenda... I ride pretty hard at times, but most of my miles are touring and rolling along. I'm also pushing 250 pounds plus the hard cases loaded up....So I don't know... I'm switching to a Toyo.

[Machinegunner]

Before I replaced my Kenda, I increased the air pressure to 35lbs and the center wear seemed to stop. The higher pressure keeps the sidewall stiffer and does not allow the center to grow at speed IMO. I now run the Kumho EXSTA AST at 40psi and the wear is flat across the tread.