tire pressures

[R Robbins]

can some one please help me with tire wear ./pressures
the rear tire calls for 41 psi front tire 36 psi on a 2003 gl1800 a.
I HAVE THE PRESSURES SET TO ABOVE PRESSURES AND THE REAR TIRE IS WEARING MORE IN THE CENTER AND NOT ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE THE IS THIS NORMAL ?
OR SHOULD I LOWER THE PRESSURES DOWN A BIT I NORMALLY DO NOT HAVE A RIDER WITH ME . I WEIGH 160 POUNDS. IF I TAKE MY WIFE SHE WEIGHS A BIT MORE.

[Andy Cote]

Unless you are a very aggressive rider on very twisty roads (like constantly dragging pegs) you will wear out the center first. Lower pressure on your OEM rear tire will adversely affect handling and/or cause premature failure. I run a different rear tire so I will leave ideal pressure to other readers.

The front though will wear out quickly, only on the left side, at that pressure. Majority of folks find better wear and handling around 40-42 psig on the front. Otherwise you will get extreme feathering on the left side, loud singing or whining and possibly vibration or wobble issues.

[R Robbins]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE INFO THANKS AGAIN

[tfdeputydawg]

Running 40/42 in the front tire will give you a harsh ride! Stay with the 36.
As far as saying it will wear on the left side:
http://www.rattlebars.com/tirewear/
"Why is this wear more evident on the left front in most cases? Actually, excessive side tire wear is only evident on the left front in countries where one rides on the right side of the road. Riding right means that the left side of your tire will have more (and likely faster) miles on it than the right side. Left hand turns have a larger radius than right hand turns in right side driving countries, hence you ride farther (and likely faster) turning left than turning right with subsequent increased side band wear on the tire's left side."

[R Robbins]

Thank you for the information.I will reset the tires pressures. Again thank you.

[C-dub]

Tires can be finicky little things. I've had several bikes. Look to the right under my avatar. However, I'm only on my second set with my Goldwing so far.

From what I've gathered here on this forum, many folks put the pressure on their tires a few pounds more than the recommended. When you increase the pressure on either tire it decreases the contact patch and you will see more wear in the center. You'll also see that if you do most of your riding on the highway since most of that is straight up and not leaning one way or the other.

Decreasing the pressure even by only a couple pounds, you should see more broad wear over the meat of the tread. It seems to be a fine balance between comfort, wear, and traction. Too little air and with a bike this heavy causes rapid and uneven wear and increased stress on the tire. Too much air and the contact patch is decreased thus also slightly decreasing the amount of traction, which probably wouldn't ever be noticed until getting into any twisty's. The comfort part is really subjective. I've had no major issues either way when at the recommended pressures of 36/41 or now that I'm running 38/43. What tire you're using can also be a factor. Currently, I have the Dunlop Elite-4's on and they are a little thinker in the center for longer wear. I'm at 11k miles on this set and measure the tread depth around each thousand miles. I expect to get another 5-6k before requiring replacement.

[R Robbins]

Thank you for the info

[Scooter363y]

I had a problem with the front tire wearing uneven. It had a high ridge in the center (like it had been run with low tire pressure) even though I had kept pressures right up to the recommended levels. After replacing the tires I increased pressure in both tires to 40 and the wear seems to be better now.

I replaced my tires at 4,000 miles with the Dunlop 4 series along with the centramatic balancers. A lot better ride and stability. I have 17,000 miles on the bike (13,000 on the tires) I will replace in about 1,000-2,000 miles. I think that the mileage out of these is amazing. I rember that when I worked at the BMW shop 10,000 miles on the rear was about what you could get out of them. It was about two rears to a front wear ratio.

I ride mostly straight up touring ( not too many curvy roads in central Ohio) so mine are wearing out flat across the center.

Ride safe
Scooter

[R Robbins]

Thank you very much for your information