Regaining Confidence

EDIT... ok, never seen one with seriously assymetric wear after road use... Lots of track use?

"Shouldered" is usually (at least in my experience) used for a front that has plenty of tread left in the middle, but is worn out on the sides towards the edge of the tread.

"Squared off" is what happens to the rear if you do a lot of motorway (tho I have seen fronts squared off too in Las Vegas where the nearest bend is 50 miles away) where the middle of the tread disappears.

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"Force has no place where there is need of skill" Herodotus 450BC

No its not been near a track.... pretty sure its the effect of camber on the road in my opinion... nothing else could have caused this type of wear... the tyres done circa 5k too so not complaining ... its a Michelin Pilot Power 2CT....

good going if you can wear the edges out on a tyre before the middle! love to find the roads to ride where you can do that!

have seen fronts squared off as well as rears.... maybe not quite as noticeable but there all the same...

I've heard this idea that it's the camber before... but I'm not convinced tbh... still, I've no evidence other than my own tyres which don't wear out this way, and I certainly do as many right handers as left.

I've got a piccy of one of my front tyres somewhere which shows the shouldered effect... I took it for some Americans who couldn't believe you could wear out the sides of the front before the cent[er] line. I still had about 3mm tread in the centre groove, about halfway out to the edge of the grooves the tread was down to the wear indicator.

That was when I was despatching from Kent, all across the S of England.

The current front is a Conti Motion, which is around 13k at the moment, and this has worn quite evenly all round - at least partly because the bike's been used mostly for instructing which means fairly gentle lean angles and speeds, and also quite a bit of motorway this year (unfortunately). The rear was doing well until 400+ miles of motorway in France squared it off a bit.

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"Force has no place where there is need of skill" Herodotus 450BC

In your summation that my post can only be bait and not furthering the discussion of cornering techniques. Way to go.

And which as I say, if done properly as if done properly you are not increasing speed just maintaining it from turn in to max lean and from max lean to corner exit you WANT the bike to sit up.

So the point that following advice to apply power in the bend was incorrect was, well, incorrect. Done the right way it IS the correct thing to do.


You are quite welcome to come and watch me throttle HARD from the apex and not run wide some time.

Agreed.

I am hard on the throttle from the max lean point on practically every corner. You telling me they are all decreasing radius turns?

I'm convinced.




It's sod all to do with camber.
The camber on a RH bend generally works against both available grip and the riders head which tends to lead to most people taking it slightly easier.
That certainly won't account for more wear on the RHS.

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Sorry if I didnt make it clear but am not trying to suggest its anything to do with camber in the corner that has caused the different wear .... I reckon its caused by the camber when riding in a straight line and the bike is in effect leant a few degrees against the camber to maintain upright position....

I still think you are wrong. Everyone's tyres would wear on the right then, and it only a few mm off centre.
They don't.

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Adam think the wear on this particular tyre has also been affected by the handling issues I had with the Ducati which was effectively set up way too hard at the front (posted on separate thread).... the difference from right side to left though is quite noticeable when you look and the guys at Pro Twins picked up on it too when road testing some suspension changes... they also didnt seem to think this was the first time they had seen this and I have seen comment before on camber wear...

May well be more machine/tyre/roads ridden specific than I thought though but I do believe it happens... as ever its only my opinion!

Do you sit off-centre on that bike?

Serious Q, as I've seen many riders sitting 'crooked' which must lead to the bike being very slightly off-vertical.

Worst was a bloke on a GT750 'kettle' I used to see on the way to work. I wondered why, until one day when he was ahead of me, the lights changed to red, and he rode over to the kerb and just managed to get his toe down to support the bike . . .

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Certainly never been mentioned by any of the guys I ride with but this is more pronounced wear than just slight shift off centre TBH

Will try and find time and take some pics of the tyre profile to post up....