Tyre wear question.

[SV Muppet]

My SV K6 has done just over 4300 miles on the original D220s (crap I know).

They're wearing more on the o/s, which I'd expect, but not to the extent that the front has worn considering all I really do is commute across Birmingham on the A38 and spend most of my time pretty much upright. I don't get any oportunities to corner hard!

The front is already very very close to the wear bars on the o/s but the centre hardly seems to have worn at all. At the moment it feels bloody awful on wet right handers.

This doesn't seem right for the mileage and I've never experienced tyre wear like this before. I expected to wear the rear out first.

Is this the norm for the D220s? Any thoughts gratefully received.
I've attached some photos of the front tyre and one of the rear.


2046

2047

2048

2049

2050

[YZEtc]

For a guy who just commutes pretty much upright, you don't have much of a chicken strip on either tyre. :D

To me, the front wear looks like what I've gotten out of many a' front, except my wear is biased on the left-hand side of the tire because I'm riding in the right-hand lane over here in the USA.

I believe this to be due to the road surface not being perfectly flat but curved (crown).
Imagine riding your SV down a length of giant pipe while trying to stay toward the left-hand side.
The right-hand side of the tyre tread will have more contact with the pipe.

All-in-all, it's just time to replace those sorry-ass D220s with something that feels like they were made after 1907. :D

[SV Muppet]

Thanks for the reply. I take your point about the crown of the road, although a lot of my riding is on dual-carriageways and I'm usually in lane two (right) anyway passing most of the traffic.
It's not the fact that the right side has worn more, it's the rate at which it's worn out.

I think I'm looking at a new set very soon.

[thefallenangel]

i got a similar problem but my tyres have done another 2.5k miles. My rear went at 5k on the D220 and i've got the pilot sport on there at the minute which was a big step up. So i'm hoping for the same on the front. If the front is illegal though just change it unless money is so tight. If so have a look for race scrubs.

[Blue_SV650S]

To be fair, 4,500miles out of a tyre is a fair bit ;)

I take it that is the 2nd rear to that front?

Tyres do wear like this, its due to the way the tyre 'spreads' when you brake.

That rear looks like it has either done a trackday or some proper 'scratching' ... most certainly not a simple/average commute ;)

[SV Muppet]

To be fair, 4,500miles out of a tyre is a fair bit ;)

I take it that is the 2nd rear to that front?

Tyres do wear like this, its due to the way the tyre 'spreads' when you brake.

That rear looks like it has either done a trackday or some proper 'scratching' ... most certainly not a simple/average commute ;)


It's still the original rear tyre. That's what's confused me really, the fact that the front is due for change so much earlier than the rear.
Thanks for all of your comments.

[Blue_SV650S]

It's still the original rear tyre. That's what's confused me really, the fact that the front is due for change so much earlier than the rear.
Thanks for all of your comments.

Especially if you take pillion often it is a bit bizarre the rear is holding up so well!! ... But to help alleviate some of your concerns, I don't see anything odd with that wear pattern on the front its done a fair few miles and you evidently like your brakes ;)

[Grinch]

Without looking close at it I would say 500 miles left in the front, and 1k in the rear... Though this is dependant on loads and weather... though I do tend to push the wear on my tyres. Got 9k out of the rear and about 12.5k out the front with Conti's.

[jambo]

To be fair, 4,500miles out of a tyre is a fair bit ;)


This would depend on the tyre type and use. I have had about 4,500 miles to a rear Avon Viper sport, and more than 10,500 miles to a set of Diablo Stradas. My original D207s were all out of ideas at 7,500 miles. For a tyre such as the D220 with normal use and regular checking of the tyre pressures I'd expect about 6-9k. If the pressures are allowed to run low the wear rate goes up a fair bit.

Put a new pair of sports touring tyres on, have a look in the tyres section of the forum, tons of good reviews on there :)

Jambo

[Blue_SV650S]

This would depend on the tyre type and use. I have had about 4,500 miles to a rear Avon Viper sport, and more than 10,500 miles to a set of Diablo Stradas. My original D207s were all out of ideas at 7,500 miles. For a tyre such as the D220 with normal use and regular checking of the tyre pressures I'd expect about 6-9k. If the pressures are allowed to run low the wear rate goes up a fair bit.

Put a new pair of sports touring tyres on, have a look in the tyres section of the forum, tons of good reviews on there :)

Jambo

Ah yes, obviously it depends on tyres. But I think 4.5k is quite a bit out of a tyre ... I couldn't imagine ever seeing 6+k out of a rear tyre in particular ... and I am not trying to say its ragging it doing it as its the commuting middle flat spot that does my tyres in eitehr that or a puncture :oops:

[dirtydog]

I couldn't imagine ever seeing 6+k out of a rear tyre in particular


That's about the most I get out of a rear sports touring tyre on the SV :oops:

[ThEGr33k]

Get some PR2's on it MILES better for all things. Ive got nearly 7K miles out of mine already and thats on a Falco... so on an SV you should get LOADS!!!!

That isnt normal no. Shows that bridgestone should spend more money and time on road tyres and not Motogp tyres. :(

[fizzwheel]

Shows that bridgestone should spend more money and time on road tyres and not Motogp tyres. :(

Whats the got to do with it when the original poster is running on OEM dunlops ?

[jambo]

Ah yes, obviously it depends on tyres. But I think 4.5k is quite a bit out of a tyre ... I couldn't imagine ever seeing 6+k out of a rear tyre in particular ... and I am not trying to say its ragging it doing it as its the commuting middle flat spot that does my tyres in eitehr that or a puncture :oops:

If I recall some of your previous posts, you seem to use mostly 2nd hand sports rubber, and are not terribly particular about pressures when on the road.

New sports touring rubber, at the manufacturer's recommended pressure should easily see 6K+ from the rear, even on a sports bike doing plenty of commuting miles. My ZX6R had over 10,500 on the rear diablo strada, and I commute plenty.

Jambo

[MiniMatt]

Only just replaced my D220s at bang on 5K miles. The front looked about the same as yours, the sides (both sides in my case - looked fairly even) seemed to suffer much more than the middle - those two god awful tramlines still had a bit of life left in them. The back looked much worse, a bit of puckering on the sides but the centre had squared badly.

[SV Muppet]

Ah good to know someone suffered similar wear.

I suppose I should be grateful really... it's an excuse to change to some decent rubber.

[Blue_SV650S]

If I recall some of your previous posts, you seem to use mostly 2nd hand sports rubber, and are not terribly particular about pressures when on the road.

New sports touring rubber, at the manufacturer's recommended pressure should easily see 6K+ from the rear, even on a sports bike doing plenty of commuting miles. My ZX6R had over 10,500 on the rear diablo strada, and I commute plenty.

Jambo

Yes the race rubber I doubt does 1000 road miles :D

But I have run lots of normal road tyres over the years. I still think 6k+ is impressive ...