Uneven front tire wear

[E Zurcher]

What causes the front tire to wear unevenly? Will be replacing mine soon cause the left side of the tire is worn down much more than the right. It can be seen and felt. Could there be some kind of alignment issue or is this normal? Is my tire defective? I have 13300 miles on the front tire and have replaced the back tire twice. I got 8000 miles on my stock back tire, then 1000 on the replacement before I took a nail so this one only has 4000 miles on it. It is still in real good shape and I will probably replace it at the end of the summer.

 

[lil charlie]

This is usually caused by the "crown" in the road. The center of the road is at a higher elevation than the outer portions so the water drains off to the side of the road. This causes you to put slightly more pressure on the left half of your tire. Make sure to keep up on your tire pressure. It the tire is low (even a few pounds) it will increase the amount of tire wear. You could always ride down the street the wrong way to even it out 13,000 miles is pretty dang good if you ask me.

 

[E Zurcher]

Thanks, I do keep it at a factory recommended 42 PSI. I do commute 60 miles a day total but most of that is on the freeway. Seems like a logical explanation though. Now to break it too the wife I need a new tire.

 

[Josh]

It's actually caused by the fact that we ride on the right side of the road. Left turns will have longer radii, so you have more miles on the left side than the right. The crown doesn't have very much to do with it. TMYK.

 

[Tufbusa]

You don't suppose it has something to do with the fact you may favor left hand turns, do you?

 

[Deuce_C15s]

You don't suppose it has something to do with the fact you may favor left hand turns, do you?

I actually have this same problem but more with the rear tire! I actually believe it is this reason and the fact that here in Colorado they have all these traffic loops or circles and all of your turns are to the left!

 

[kml]

Motorcycle Tire Wear

 

[Wag]

Just noticed, you're in Rio Rancho. We need to get together for some riding! After I get mine back together, that is!

My tires don't have that problem. What tires are you using? I would also check to be sure your forks aren't leaking or anything. If one side of your forks are damaged, it can cause unevenness in your tire wear.

--Wag--

 

[twotonevert]

Tire pressue, fork alignment, balancing are all issues that could affect tire wear. I had a BT021 that wore strange and cupped bad. No other tire did that on my 05.

 

[Wag]

All good points.

--Wag--

 

[E Zurcher]

Thanks kml for the great read! It is all clear now.

 

[E Zurcher]

Just noticed, you're in Rio Rancho. We need to get together for some riding! After I get mine back together, that is!

My tires don't have that problem. What tires are you using? I would also check to be sure your forks aren't leaking or anything. If one side of your forks are damaged, it can cause unevenness in your tire wear.

--Wag--

Any time! Always up for a ride.