Yamaha TRX850 Enthusiasts Forum

got a michelin pilot power 120x60x17 on front 34psi appears to be wearing a lot more on the right hand side. any reason for this. cheers brush.

Going around more right hand corners? The camber of the road versus the left hand side driving in australia?


There was a batch of Pilot Powers with a problem? Maybe checking if yours is part of that batch might be worthwhile... there's a free new tyre for you if it is....

The problem was with the 120/70ZR17s that were marked "Made in France" + a specific code on the side of the tyre. You'll notice that on the 120/60, it'll say "Made in Spain" (like mine does) and these are unaffected, so I believe.

Bob

Either your answer lies in the tyre problems with Michelin as listed above or you like the right handers over the twisties like I do.

All my rears wear the right side a little more than the left. Same with the hero knobs on my FJR, funny that!

brush wrote:got a michelin pilot power 120x60x17 on front 34psi appears to be wearing a lot more on the right hand side. any reason for this. cheers brush.

Straight roads and road camber. As much as we would like to think otherwise most of our travel is in a straight line.

For a front tyre its heaviest load and peak wear is under brakes and if you are doing it the way "the book" recommends then your hard braking happens before you tip into a corner. At close to max braking power most of the bikes weight is on the front tyre and the contact patch flattens out, so most of the wear happens in two bands about halfway between the tyre centreline and the outside edges of the tread. This is why fronts wear pointy, unlike rears that wear flat.

In most places in the world roads have a raised crown to help water drain off, the exception is places that need snowplows for the winter (Sweden for one) as the blade needs a flat surface to work.

So as you ride along the road is at a slight inclination to the front tyre. Apply the brake and not only do you distort the contact patch but it distorts more on the right hand side, and wears more on the right as well.

So its a normal wear pattern, and even though its usual for a front to have plenty of tread left when a rear is worn out they are usually worn enough to effect the steering at that stage so I tend to replace both.

DFH