Pilot Power wear patterns ...

[pseudo]

This is my third set. And on all of them thus far, my front tire gets a sorta sawtooth pattern after about 1500 miles.

It almost seems like the outer rubber is wearing too fast, not evenly with the center which appears to be about a quarter of an inch higher than the outside, giving this weird sawtooth like ridge.

So far, I haven't had any problems other than it seems to grab grooves in the road fairly often, giving the bike a squirrelly "the wind is blowing me from side to side" feel.

Is this normal? Or could I be missing something?

Maybe I should take a pic in the morning ...

 

[Charlesbusa]

Post a pic of the tire wear.

Powers can feel more "squirrely" due to the fact they have supposedly thinner sidewalls. I can say for sure that Powers are the lightest tires, you can tell just by holding them in your hand. Less weight equals better accel, braking and easier flicking.

I weigh 165, 180 wet, and I have no issues with them. The guys that seem to take an issue with the "squirrely" are the ones in the 200+ group.

 

[greyrocket]

i know my busa hit  25k today  

 3 fronts to   7 rears first blew up at 1.1k stupid cager. run bt56 at 6ft6" 260 i'am big if it helps i like my bt56 good for now

 

[ks-waterbug]

Sounds more like cupping.... Check your tire pressure on a regular basis, should help control this condition. Those Pilots are some pretty decent tires and considering the miles you can get out of a set I wouldn't chance this condition. If its not cupping maybe you can post up a pic so we can help diagnos what may be causing this condition....

 

[Tybalt71]

IMO , I ran last season PP and this year i am running PP HPX and i have noticed and i cannot confirm this, but i believe they are using 2 diff compounds in the tire, the sides and the centre to me. I notice now on my HPX softer sides and harder centres and the wear u can see 2 diff patterens, i t is interesting to see, but still IMO awesome tires.
Hard t osee in this pic, but keep in mind this set of tires has 25 kms on them, so u can see the outer(chicken strips, then a little faded strip next to the chicken strips then a little diff wear in the centre line:

 

[sccrvettel82]

MY front PP has cupped as well.

 

[BA BUSA]

(pseudo @ May 20 2007,22:19) This is my third set. And on all of them thus far, my front tire gets a sorta sawtooth pattern after about 1500 miles.

It almost seems like the outer rubber is wearing too fast, not evenly with the center which appears to be about a quarter of an inch higher than the outside, giving this weird sawtooth like ridge.

So far, I haven't had any problems other than it seems to grab grooves in the road fairly often, giving the bike a squirrelly  "the wind is blowing me from side to side" feel.

Is this normal? Or could I be missing something?

Maybe I should take a pic in the morning ...

How much do you weigh?
How many miles on your bike?
Have you ever had your suspension adjusted?
How much air pressure are you running?

 

[Professor]

(ks-waterbug @ May 21 2007,07:16) Sounds more like cupping.... Check your tire pressure on a regular basis, should help control this condition. Those Pilots are some pretty decent tires and considering the miles you can get out of a set I wouldn't chance this condition. If its not cupping maybe you can post up a pic so we can help diagnos what may be causing this condition....

+1 First thing I thought of

 

[DREW]

I run 41 f&r , no cupping issues. Pilot Powers rock.

 

[pseudo]

(BA BUSA @ May 21 2007,11:05)

(pseudo @ May 20 2007,22:19) This is my third set. And on all of them thus far, my front tire gets a sorta sawtooth pattern after about 1500 miles.

It almost seems like the outer rubber is wearing too fast, not evenly with the center which appears to be about a quarter of an inch higher than the outside, giving this weird sawtooth like ridge.

So far, I haven't had any problems other than it seems to grab grooves in the road fairly often, giving the bike a squirrelly "the wind is blowing me from side to side" feel.

Is this normal? Or could I be missing something?

Maybe I should take a pic in the morning ...

How much do you weigh?
How many miles on your bike?
Have you ever had your suspension adjusted?
How much air pressure are you running?

I weigh 360 lbs. and stock on everything, no adjustments. 14,000 miles, about 1500 on this set.

 

[Busa204]

Ive been running PPs on my bike for the last 15k miles. My PPs usually last around 3k-4k depending on how aggressive Im riding. I live in S. Florida so there is almost nothing but straight aways here. I have noticed that when the strip in the center wears down, that at higher speeds, it can feel a bit "squirrelly" at times. A few of my other buddies have said the same thing, one of them on a busa & the other on a R1.

 

[jjmetheny]

This was my last PP front after 5000 miles.

 

[BA BUSA]

(pseudo @ May 21 2007,11:53)

(BA BUSA @ May 21 2007,11:05)

(pseudo @ May 20 2007,22:19) This is my third set. And on all of them thus far, my front tire gets a sorta sawtooth pattern after about 1500 miles.

It almost seems like the outer rubber is wearing too fast, not evenly with the center which appears to be about a quarter of an inch higher than the outside, giving this weird sawtooth like ridge.

So far, I haven't had any problems other than it seems to grab grooves in the road fairly often, giving the bike a squirrelly  "the wind is blowing me from side to side" feel.

Is this normal? Or could I be missing something?

Maybe I should take a pic in the morning ...

How much do you weigh?
How many miles on your bike?
Have you ever had your suspension adjusted?
How much air pressure are you running?

I weigh 360 lbs. and stock on everything, no adjustments. 14,000 miles, about 1500 on this set.

Well if you're running at least 40 psi in the front tire, then the problem is that you need to adjust the front
suspension. The front springs from the factory are too soft for anyone over two hundred lbs.

You can have someone adjust the pre load, compression, and rebound settings...this will help...but you
need stiffer springs to really get the front end to work properly.

The stock springs are rated at .85 kg...with a 360 lb rider, Race Tech recommends a 1.219 kg spring...1.2 kg
is the stiffest that they list for a Busa. That's five sizes stiffer than stock.

The wear (cupping) is because your front end is acting like a pogo stick in the corners...the other sets of
tires didn't wear as bad because now the springs are wearing out and your fork oil is breaking down too.

Time to upgrade the springs, valve kits, and new fork oil  

 

[dadofthree]

 

[manatrader]

I have went through 4 sets of PP now, wear is always in the middle first, I have taken them down to the wire with no issues. Flat spot on the tire is the biggest problem, nothing a few miles of twisty stuff can't take care off.

Those tire pic's above look like not enough tire psi or something seriously wrong with the tire construction, bad batch or something!

 

[BA BUSA]

(manatrader @ May 21 2007,17:38) I have went through 4 sets of PP now, wear is always in the middle first, I have taken them down to the wire with no issues. Flat spot on the tire is the biggest problem, nothing a few miles of twisty stuff can't take care off.

Those tire pic's above look like not enough tire psi or something seriously wrong with the tire construction, bad batch or something!

Low tire pressure...probably a 200 lbs + rider...with the stock suspension settings too

 

[pseudo]

(BA BUSA @ May 21 2007,18:22)

(pseudo @ May 21 2007,11:53)

(BA BUSA @ May 21 2007,11:05)

(pseudo @ May 20 2007,22:19) This is my third set. And on all of them thus far, my front tire gets a sorta sawtooth pattern after about 1500 miles.

It almost seems like the outer rubber is wearing too fast, not evenly with the center which appears to be about a quarter of an inch higher than the outside, giving this weird sawtooth like ridge.

So far, I haven't had any problems other than it seems to grab grooves in the road fairly often, giving the bike a squirrelly "the wind is blowing me from side to side" feel.

Is this normal? Or could I be missing something?

Maybe I should take a pic in the morning ...

How much do you weigh?
How many miles on your bike?
Have you ever had your suspension adjusted?
How much air pressure are you running?

I weigh 360 lbs. and stock on everything, no adjustments. 14,000 miles, about 1500 on this set.

Well if you're running at least 40 psi in the front tire, then the problem is that you need to adjust the front
suspension. The front springs from the factory are too soft for anyone over two hundred lbs.

You can have someone adjust the pre load, compression, and rebound settings...this will help...but you
need stiffer springs to really get the front end to work properly.

The stock springs are rated at .85 kg...with a 360 lb rider, Race Tech recommends a 1.219 kg spring...1.2 kg
is the stiffest that they list for a Busa. That's five sizes stiffer than stock.

The wear (cupping) is because your front end is acting like a pogo stick in the corners...the other sets of
tires didn't wear as bad because now the springs are wearing out and your fork oil is breaking down too.

Time to upgrade the springs, valve kits, and new fork oil

Wow. That's sounds exactly like my problem. I have notice a bouncing sensation in the front in the corners just as you described. I just thought it was normal for the bike.

Sweet jesus I need to loose some weight. I'm very tall, so I've put up with it for some time, but it sounds like my bike is taking a beating because of it.

Any idea how much a spring job <s>would</s> should cost me?

 

[Charlesbusa]

Here's what the parts cost. This is just from one brand, there are many brands.

And labor for respringing and revalving will probably run $300-$400. Depends on your location, how much dissassembly you do, and who does it.