FRONT TIRE WEAR...EVER WONDER?
#1
12-01-2008, 04:53 PM
FRONT TIRE WEAR...EVER WONDER?
I PUT THIS IN GENERAL TECH TOO...
EVER WONDER WHY THE LEFT SIDE OF YOUR FRONT TIRE WEARS FASTER THAN THE RIGHT? I USED TO ALSO. I NOTICED THAT THE LEFT SIDE OF MY FRON TIRE ALWAYS USED TO WEAR MORE THAN THE RIGHT. ID THINK WHEEL ALIGNMENT AND SUSPENSION WERE OFF (WHICH CAN ALSO CAUSE THIS) BUT I KEEP MY BIKE IN GOOD SHAPE SO I LOOKED INTO IT.
THE CROWN IN THE ROAD DOES NOT PLAY A FACTOR, IF IT DOES, THEN ITS VERY LITTLE. BY CROWN I MEAN HOW THE ROAD IS SLOPED FROM THE MIDDLE TO THE SHOULDER. TYPICALLY DROPPING 1 INCH EVERY FOOT OR SO. WHEN YOU RIDE ON THE ROAD AND YOU GET INTO A LEFT BEND YOU ACTUALLY ARE GOING FASTER AROUND THAT BEND THAN IF YOU WERE TAKING A RIGHT. ON THE ROAD YOUR TIRE WILL TRAVEL FASTER AND A FARTHER DISTANCE BECAUSE YOU ARE TRAVELING THE OUTSIDE RADIUS OF THE TURN AS OPPOSED TO THE INSIDE OF A RIGHT TURN WHICH IS A SHORTER DISTANCE FOR THE WHEEL TO TRAVEL. SO IN ACTUALITY THE LEFT SIDE OF YOUR TIRE WILL HAVE MORE MILAGE THAN THE RIGHT. IN SOME CASES 2X MORE. IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ITS THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE TIRE CAUSE THEY DRIVE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE ROAD. SO THERE IT IS FOLKS, ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS, ASIDE FROM LOW TIRE PRESSURE AND SUSPENSION/ALIGNMENT. JUST THOUGHT ID SHARE THAT LITTLE PIECE OF INFO. MAKES SENSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT
EVER WONDER WHY THE LEFT SIDE OF YOUR FRONT TIRE WEARS FASTER THAN THE RIGHT? I USED TO ALSO. I NOTICED THAT THE LEFT SIDE OF MY FRON TIRE ALWAYS USED TO WEAR MORE THAN THE RIGHT. ID THINK WHEEL ALIGNMENT AND SUSPENSION WERE OFF (WHICH CAN ALSO CAUSE THIS) BUT I KEEP MY BIKE IN GOOD SHAPE SO I LOOKED INTO IT.
THE CROWN IN THE ROAD DOES NOT PLAY A FACTOR, IF IT DOES, THEN ITS VERY LITTLE. BY CROWN I MEAN HOW THE ROAD IS SLOPED FROM THE MIDDLE TO THE SHOULDER. TYPICALLY DROPPING 1 INCH EVERY FOOT OR SO. WHEN YOU RIDE ON THE ROAD AND YOU GET INTO A LEFT BEND YOU ACTUALLY ARE GOING FASTER AROUND THAT BEND THAN IF YOU WERE TAKING A RIGHT. ON THE ROAD YOUR TIRE WILL TRAVEL FASTER AND A FARTHER DISTANCE BECAUSE YOU ARE TRAVELING THE OUTSIDE RADIUS OF THE TURN AS OPPOSED TO THE INSIDE OF A RIGHT TURN WHICH IS A SHORTER DISTANCE FOR THE WHEEL TO TRAVEL. SO IN ACTUALITY THE LEFT SIDE OF YOUR TIRE WILL HAVE MORE MILAGE THAN THE RIGHT. IN SOME CASES 2X MORE. IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ITS THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE TIRE CAUSE THEY DRIVE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE ROAD. SO THERE IT IS FOLKS, ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS, ASIDE FROM LOW TIRE PRESSURE AND SUSPENSION/ALIGNMENT. JUST THOUGHT ID SHARE THAT LITTLE PIECE OF INFO. MAKES SENSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT
#4
12-01-2008, 05:25 PM
#5
12-01-2008, 08:56 PM
RE: FRONT TIRE WEAR...EVER WONDER?
If you are still not convinced that increased mileage is what causes one sided tire wear on the front tire of motorcycles, you'll have to come up with a theory that satisfies all of the evidentiary criteria. A) It will have to explain the fact that when riding upright, the tire's side wear bands do not contact the pavement (road crown, unbalanced/off center bike weight and even wheel misalignment won't work). B) It will have to reverse itself in countries where one rides on the left side of the road rather than the right (road crown still sounds plausible here but it was eliminated in "A" above).
In the case of right side driving countries like the USA, one does indeed ride farther on the left side of the tire than on the right side of the tire. At a simple single lane intersection that is common in most residential neighborhoods, negotiating a left turn will have you traveling TWICE the distance that you do making a right hand turn. That's at a simple single lane intersection. A double lane will have you making four times the distance. But even when you are confronted with nothing more than a left curving road, the radius of that left turner will be larger than if you were coming the other way on the same road making a right around that same curve. If you don't believe this, check out the How Stuff Works web site about your car's DIFFERENTIAL and why it's called a differential (your shaft driven two wheeled motorcycle does not have a differential, it has instead a "final drive" which drives only one wheel). Also note that Olympic runners start in different locations because the outside runners must run farther to the finish line. ((click for reason Click for pic)
Besides the fact that the left radius is larger which means you will probably go faster causing more stress on your tire than you would going the other way, there is more visibility when making lefts than rights which will add to your tendency to make the turn faster as well. Failure to negotiate a left turn will have you going off the the road onto the shoulder or into a ditch. Failure to negotiate a right turn will have you crossing into opposing traffic. Though neither scenario is appealing, there is a subliminal advantage to left turns (riding shoulders and ditches is better than crashing into trucks head on) and this will have you going a bit faster on lefties too.
The increased radius on left turns means more distance is traveled turning left than turning right on the average riding day. That is plane geometry and plainly undeniable. Because of the natural tendency to make left turns faster (admittedly this is subjective and open to debate, but is plausible for reasons given) there will be more stress placed on your tires as they travel that longer left distance. Increased left side tire wear is evident, though, on both the front and rear tires but because the front tire shows less evidence of flat band center wear (which disguises the side wear bands on the rear tire), side wear is more evident to the eye up front and leaves you to wonder, "Why does the left side†of my front tire wear out first?" Now you know.
†Of course, if you live in Singapore, you'll say, "Why does the RIGHT side of my front tire wear out first?" And now you know as well!
In the case of right side driving countries like the USA, one does indeed ride farther on the left side of the tire than on the right side of the tire. At a simple single lane intersection that is common in most residential neighborhoods, negotiating a left turn will have you traveling TWICE the distance that you do making a right hand turn. That's at a simple single lane intersection. A double lane will have you making four times the distance. But even when you are confronted with nothing more than a left curving road, the radius of that left turner will be larger than if you were coming the other way on the same road making a right around that same curve. If you don't believe this, check out the How Stuff Works web site about your car's DIFFERENTIAL and why it's called a differential (your shaft driven two wheeled motorcycle does not have a differential, it has instead a "final drive" which drives only one wheel). Also note that Olympic runners start in different locations because the outside runners must run farther to the finish line. ((click for reason Click for pic)
Besides the fact that the left radius is larger which means you will probably go faster causing more stress on your tire than you would going the other way, there is more visibility when making lefts than rights which will add to your tendency to make the turn faster as well. Failure to negotiate a left turn will have you going off the the road onto the shoulder or into a ditch. Failure to negotiate a right turn will have you crossing into opposing traffic. Though neither scenario is appealing, there is a subliminal advantage to left turns (riding shoulders and ditches is better than crashing into trucks head on) and this will have you going a bit faster on lefties too.
The increased radius on left turns means more distance is traveled turning left than turning right on the average riding day. That is plane geometry and plainly undeniable. Because of the natural tendency to make left turns faster (admittedly this is subjective and open to debate, but is plausible for reasons given) there will be more stress placed on your tires as they travel that longer left distance. Increased left side tire wear is evident, though, on both the front and rear tires but because the front tire shows less evidence of flat band center wear (which disguises the side wear bands on the rear tire), side wear is more evident to the eye up front and leaves you to wonder, "Why does the left side†of my front tire wear out first?" Now you know.
†Of course, if you live in Singapore, you'll say, "Why does the RIGHT side of my front tire wear out first?" And now you know as well!
#7
12-01-2008, 09:25 PM
RE: FRONT TIRE WEAR...EVER WONDER?
really!? Well not everyone in this forum owns a 900rr and not everyone here checks out general tech as much as you probably do. Are you a forum troll? Just for you im gonna put it in every forum so everyone gains a little more insight into riding and machine QandA. BTW your punctuation sucks. Why are you putting quotation marks instead of an apostrophe? and its spelled **** homeboy.
#8
12-02-2008, 12:45 AM
RE: FRONT TIRE WEAR...EVER WONDER?
Good info petro. Generally I didn't find much difference on the front tire, its more obvious on my rear. I'm from a 'keep left' country, but I didn't find the radius of the inner or outer road makes difference for me. The only factor that contributes will be my easiness on taking curves. I find I can take a corner very much leaner on my left side while I'll slightly struggle on my right, hence the tire wears slight uneven as well.
#9
12-02-2008, 01:00 AM
RE: FRONT TIRE WEAR...EVER WONDER?
no prob dinez. that's right...I remember you saying you were somewhere in southeast asia was it? that was a while ago. anyway...here's the link to the site with the full article. im aware that the tests were done on a valkerie which is a behemoth but a bike is a bike, catch my drift? http://www.rattlebars.com/valkfaq/tirewear/
me and thrasher over in general tech are gonna send this one to mythbusters and let them have at it.haha. he says theory and I say fact....we'll let them figure it out.
me and thrasher over in general tech are gonna send this one to mythbusters and let them have at it.haha. he says theory and I say fact....we'll let them figure it out.
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