Front tire cupping

[skydivr]

I think it was too, in retrospect would have saved me a lot of $$$ if I had thought of that first. Twobrothers has same problem so I'm hoping it fixes his also. What I'm really curious about is if it was causing the cupping or not.

[binx]

I bought bearings front and rear gonna put them in once they come in, dunlop warranted the front tire so gonna put em in when I get it put on. Wish I knew why. There cupped on both sides evenly. Im guessing the Busa is to heavy for them

[jphilipson]

What I'm really curious about is if it was causing the cupping or not.

Depends on who in this thread you ask

I don't think unless it was REALLY bad it would have contributed much to that. Cupping is the result of friction, i.e., braking and counter steering. Some tires just cup way worse than others.

On another forum I am on for the cbr1100xx, every member that posted about Dunlop tires reported cupping, regardless of suspension settings or wheel bearings etc. The heavier the bike, the more cupping. It is just what happens when you rub a rubber surface against a asphalt surface. Drag a pencil eraser upright against some 100 grit sandpaper - you will see the eraser cups as well on the leading edge - just like a block of rubber on a tire does.

[jellyrug]

Interesting thread.

I have BT016's and had no cupping until the bash. During the bash I was riding pretty hard, braking before the turns and accelerating out of them. They show exactly the same cupping as the first pictures now.

I agree with the Dunlop rep's version, this is normal for soft rubber on a heavy bike, looking at the thread pattern and how it affects rubber deflection.

The Michelin PP2's on my track bike are even worse, but with a lot more shredding.

[skydivr]

I run the same Q2 on my Gixxer 1K and I've never seen them cup...

I don't care, I'll still pick them over most any front tire because of the consistent grip.

[kairles]

After the last 2 years I think I've came to the conclusion that it is suspension related. I had my suspension set(preload, compression, rebound, front and rear, no springs) at about 5k miles. My first 3 sets of tires(stock 56's Conti sport attack, bt016) didnt cup. My last 3 sets(Conti road attack, Conti sport attack, Q2) all cupped. I change my fork fluid once every year. So after 42k miles and almost 6 years im finally adding springs and having my rear shock rebuilt. hopefully I dont cup any more tires

[MetalDisorder]

+1 on Heavy Bike (especially in the nose) rubber deflection at the tread cuts on front from braking.
Harder rubber less deflection
I look at tires like oil ... Change them often with the good stuff :-)