front tire cupping?

[wally_games]

Can someone please explain to me why a front tire wears out by "cupping"? At least that's what's happening to mine. I'm starting to see slight signs of it on my OE Bridgestones after 3,400 miles. Have to look hard to see it, but it's there.

 

[willyp]

From: Motorcycle Tire Wear

Cupping, which is more accurately described as scalloping (see pictures, but we will use the more common term "cupping" here), is a natural wear pattern on motorcycle tires and it will always follow the tread pattern. It is not a sign that you have bad suspension parts. It merely shows that your tire is indeed gripping the road when you make turns (thank you for that Mr. Tire!). This cupping develops within the side wear bands of a leaned motorcycle. The extreme forces that come in to play when the bike is leaned in a turn are what produce the effect and when the wear becomes sufficient, one will experience vibration and noise when one banks into a turn. Upon examination of the pictures at left of our sample rear Avon, our dusted front VTX Dunlop D256, and the picture of our chalked Dunlop D206 one can see how the cupping follows the tread pattern. The leading edge of the tread does not flex much as it grips the road and the rubber is scuffed off the tire in that area causing a depression. As the tire rotates, the pressure moves to the trailing edge of the tread pattern where the tread flexes more causing less scuffing so less material is ground off the tire. The more complex the tread pattern, the more complex the cupping pattern will be. The softer the compound of the tire, the sooner this cupping will develop. Radial tires are more prone to cupping than are bias ply because the compound of radials is softer. As one can see, the simple tread pattern of the Avon pictured produces a simpler scallop pattern while the more complex VTX D256 Dunlop is somewhat involved, though still easily seen in our photo. Cupping on the Valkyrie Dunlop D206 is very hard to photograph because of the complex tread pattern. Low tire pressure will exacerbate this wear pattern and you will lose many serviceable miles by running low. Improper balance has nothing to do with cupping on a motorcycle tire. Improper balance will merely cause your bike to vibrate within certain specific speed ranges. 

 

[C1xRider]

My OEM Brickstones were cupping badly at 1500 miles.  Sounds like yours are doing better than mine did, or you're not riding it hard enough. 

 

[wally_games]

My OEM Brickstones were cupping badly at 1500 miles.  Sounds like yours are doing better than mine did, or you're not riding it hard enough. 

Texas is big and flat in my part of the state. Better for going straight and fast!

There are some good roads for leaning it over and cranking the right wrist, but that's not really the norm. For me, there are probably five highway droning miles for every one with some fun built in.

Plus, not that impressed with the OEM Bridgestones' grip, so...

 

[killer]

My OEM Brickstones were cupping badly at 1500 miles.  Sounds like yours are doing better than mine did, or you're not riding it hard enough. 

So were mine. OEM Bridgestones are garbage!

 

[att2008vn]

ditto, my stock front tire started showing the sign of cupping at around 3,000miles, been living with it now at around 8,000miles, will change to Pirelly Angel soon.

at

 

[ddtmoto]

The OEM's are junk. Upgrade, you will thank the Michelin gods...anyway I do.  Another thing I did was go to Redline 10wt in my forks and the front tire wear seams to be a bit better...