Both FRont Tires Wearing Inside Bad.

[captainryder]

:yikes: Okay here's the problem. I just noticed that the inside of both my front tires has tread wear.... It's definitely out of alignment... Is it toe-in or toe-out or caster or camber ? I don't know what you call it. But it is significant.

In fact, the wear has occurred just in the last 1000 miles to such an extent that.... well the tires are ruined...... Calling the dealer for an appointment this week.

But want somebody to help me explain what happened. I have one idea how it happened. Here is what I have been doing to store my Spyder in the garage. I drive it inside towards the back of the garage. Then I steer it by turing it till the front tire(s) are parallel to the back wall. ( get the picture?) then I literally pull or drag the rear of the bike by the passenger handrails up against the back wall. The front tires are so close to the back wall that they cannot turn, just the back end is dragged till the Spyder is somewhat now parallel to the back wall.

I did not think that this movement would affect the front steering because it looks like it freely is pivoting as the back end gets moved closer to the back wall. But now I am not so sure I have not been taking the front end out of aligntment.

For the sake of argument, I have parked the bike this way and taken it out by pulling the rear end back out from the wall then when able steering the Spyder out of the garage. I have parked sometimes with left wheel against the back wall and sometimes with the right wheel....

Could I have ruined the alignment? Please advise. Regardless, new tires are now required. But just want some expert advice as to if I've done this or has something failed on the front end to cause aligntment to go out.

P.S. When I take my hands off the bike at about 40mph she drives completely straight down the road, doesn't seem like there is an alignment problem?

Everyone chime in please.:yikes:

 

[Lamonster]

I have a hard time seeing how that would hurt anything.
Check this out.

http://www.familycar.com/alignment.htm

 

[captainryder]

It definitely looks like camber problems, not toe-in or toe-out based on the wear. There is a very noticeable rounding or curve of trear wear towards the inside of each tire, not cupping.

And I am glad that my shoving and draggin the rear end around is not the problem.

But....

Here is another scenario.... I ride constantly with my wife. Together we hit 350+ lbs on the bike. Could I have the tires improperly inflated and the load changing the camber? :dontknow:

 

[NancysToy]

It definitely looks like camber problems, not toe-in or toe-out based on the wear. There is a very noticeable rounding or curve of trear wear towards the inside of each tire, not cupping.

And I am glad that my shoving and draggin the rear end around is not the problem.

But....

Here is another scenario.... I ride constantly with my wife. Together we hit 350+ lbs on the bike. Could I have the tires improperly inflated and the load changing the camber? :dontknow:

If a load within the design limits changes the camber, there is a design flaw or a component failure. A vehicle should not do this if properly designed, with no bad suspension parts. Improper tire pressures can accelerate tire wear, but will not change the steering geometry, itself. Your dealer needs to look at this...and Deb's too.
-Scotty

 

[Jimmy Neutron]

how many miles on the tires all together. You stated that the last 1000 miles you noticed this but if you have x amount of miles this could just be a wear pattern maybe.

 

[Lamonster]

Here is another scenario.... I ride constantly with my wife. Together we hit 350+ lbs on the bike. Could I have the tires improperly inflated and the load changing the camber? :dontknow:

Load will effect tire wear. I run 20 lbs in the front and 30 lbs in the rear. The factory say a max of 17 I think but 20 seems to work well for me. After 25,000 miles on my fronts they still look great.

Here's the pics at 20K http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=45901&postcount=10

 

[Roaddog2]

If a load within the design limits changes the camber, there is a design flaw or a component failure. A vehicle should not do this if properly designed, with no bad suspension parts. Improper tire pressures can accelerate tire wear, but will not change the steering geometry, itself. Your dealer needs to look at this...and Deb's too.
-Scotty

:agree:I know my dealer checks alignment and ajust every service :spyder:

 

[captainryder]

I don't remember any problems or noticeable wear at 3500 miles when I had the 3000 mile service. I just passed 4990 miles yesterday when SSG Bean broght this to my attention.

It really is noticeable....

I do remember that when I bought the Spyder I asked for the spring tensions to be set higher. The dealer roadtested the bike after setting tensions on the front and got some fault codes, so he sent returned the bike to original specs and checked alighnment. No faults after about 150 miles of roadtesting before I took possession.

My service dealer is checking on tire availability before scheduling an appt. But I'm now concerned after reading article Lamonster posted, that the camber problems might be structural damage. I will try inflating the tires a little more.

I don't remember hitting anything ( except for that 12 foot python that was slitering across the road one night... :clap Seriously, no accidents or bumping, or hits have ever occurred. Pot holes ???? It's also weird that both tires are wearing, as if the camber is negative on both sides..... That might mean a structural problem on both wheels... hard to imagine that!

 

[sabunim5]

[
I do remember that when I bought the Spyder I asked for the spring tensions to be set higher. The dealer roadtested the bike after setting tensions on the front and got some fault codes, so he sent returned the bike to original specs and checked alighnment. No faults after about 150 miles of roadtesting before I took possession.

Something is not right here. Changing your shock settings should not throw any codes or error messages. :yikes: Your dealer should know that. :banghead: I don't personally know if riding two up with low shock settings could cause your tire wear problems. I do know that my front shocks are set to the stiffest setting and have been for about 9K miles. I ryde two up a lot and when I'm by myself I prefer the stiffer setting. I have no apparent wear on my fronts. What many of our dealers may not know much about is the Spyder front end. It is really a car suspension. The average motorcycle shop has no experience with those. If they have been selling ATV's too they may have some knowledge. I hope for your sake that you have other dealer options as what you have told us indicates your dealer is a little slow on Spyder workings. Good Luck with your tire wear dilema :2thumbs:
Ryde Safe and Enjoy:thumbup:
sabunim5:spyder:

 

[spyryder]

You can get a pretty good idea of the problem by checking the camber with a carpenter's level....just put it against the sides of the wheels to check for vertical. For toe in/out a laser level can be used horizontally. Shoot a line in front of and behind the machine on both sides and measure the difference in width. Ideally the measurement should be the same or slightly toe'd in.

 

[dltang]

:yikes: Okay here's the problem. I just noticed that the inside of both my front tires has tread wear.... It's definitely out of alignment... Is it toe-in or toe-out or caster or camber ? I don't know what you call it. But it is significant.

In fact, the wear has occurred just in the last 1000 miles to such an extent that.... well the tires are ruined...... Calling the dealer for an appointment this week.

But want somebody to help me explain what happened. I have one idea how it happened. Here is what I have been doing to store my Spyder in the garage. I drive it inside towards the back of the garage. Then I steer it by turing it till the front tire(s) are parallel to the back wall. ( get the picture?) then I literally pull or drag the rear of the bike by the passenger handrails up against the back wall. The front tires are so close to the back wall that they cannot turn, just the back end is dragged till the Spyder is somewhat now parallel to the back wall.

I did not think that this movement would affect the front steering because it looks like it freely is pivoting as the back end gets moved closer to the back wall. But now I am not so sure I have not been taking the front end out of aligntment.

For the sake of argument, I have parked the bike this way and taken it out by pulling the rear end back out from the wall then when able steering the Spyder out of the garage. I have parked sometimes with left wheel against the back wall and sometimes with the right wheel....

Could I have ruined the alignment? Please advise. Regardless, new tires are now required. But just want some expert advice as to if I've done this or has something failed on the front end to cause aligntment to go out.

P.S. When I take my hands off the bike at about 40mph she drives completely straight down the road, doesn't seem like there is an alignment problem?

Everyone chime in please.:yikes:

See my post under Tires...Again, I have the same problem with my fronts and my husband believes it is camber problems. I haven't gotten to my dealer yet as I am trying to do everything in one trip and he ordered new gaskets which are not there yet. As soon as I can get mine in, I will keep everyone informed as to what they say. I want spyder in tip top shape before I start my touring.

 

[Extracool]

Front tire wear

My front tires are tilted in at top and out at the bottom, dealer says there is no adjustment for this, can not beleive anyone would anything without this adjustment,only BRP:dontknow:

 

[captainryder]

Here's the update......

My dealer says that one wheel was perfectly aligned, no camber problems, no toe-in or out. But the other wheel was way off specs in toe-out. This combination was causing the bike to want to pull to one side, but the other wheel was wanting to make it go straight. The resulting forces seemed to drag one wheel on the inside, ( causing wear ) and the other was being pushed straight when it wanted to turn ( causing wear ).

Seems like my original assembly of the bike had installed or damaged linkage / tie rods when they put on the front end, or at least that's what probably happened. Since there is no damage or evidence that I ever damaged the steering in a collision, etc. ( AND I HAVE NOT! ) The dealer is submitting the work as warranty work.

If you remember, I bought the bike from a Colorado dealer, ( Only one close to my Kansas City home at the time). But I want to say hats off to Rick service manager at Reno's Yamaha and Powersports in Kansas City for finding a problem and getting it fixed. :clap::clap::clap::clap:

Never being on a Spyder, I'm sure there are many of us that just got used to the steering and feel of the Spyder not knowing there ever was a problem until it becomes obvious.... That's what happened here. Can't wait to see how well the Spyder is supposed to steer and feel now that the problem is being corrected.

I did notice that when one of the wheels seemed to leave the ground on a bump, the Spyder wanted to dart to the left. Guess that was because of the problem explained above..... And I was not so sure that the traction was good in wet roads.... That could have been because of the bike when it could wanting to pull to one side. I never noticed it on dry road as enough traction on the good aligned wheel kept the bike straight.

Glad it's being fixed and looks like BRP is doing it right!:2thumbs:

 

[NancysToy]

Glad you found the problem. The ryde should be great from here on.
-Scotty

 

[Lamonster]

Glad they found the problem :thumbup: