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GL1800 abnormal tire wear

4.5K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  markalward  
#1 ·
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First off, I just bought my first Wing on March 11, finally got it registered on Friday, and put about 230 miles on it since then. It is a 2007 Level 1, 20k miles, is in show room condition. Absolutely love it. Truck has not moved since I bought it. I was checking out the tires this weekend and noticed the left was wearing much more than the right. I checked again tonight and the tire is now worn down to the tread indicators on the left, but the right is still looking great. On a car I would say there is an alignment problem. What would you say is causing it to wear some much more on the one side? I have a new set of Metzeler 880's on order. I was planning to pull the wheels off and take them to a shop to mount the new tires. But now I am wondering if I should take the bike in for them to check it out...???
Thanks! Paul
 
#2 ·
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Too much NASCAR! You need more Formula 1!
Hey congradts on the wing. Tire Pressure needs to be kept very close watch, 1 week max.
 
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#3 ·
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Wow, that was a quick response. The guy I bought it from said he kept 42psi in the rear, 41 psi in the front. I checked them this weekend and it was pretty close to 42 still. I guess I need to get a digital tire gauge. For an E3, does 42 psi sound right?
 
#4 ·
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Look for oil on left fork at wiper seal and on left frt brake. The anti dive valve goes out on the 1800s. Do you have the extended warrenty? How big was the PO?
Honda designed the front springs for a 150lb rider only, (per goldwing tech at local shop here, he puts in Racetech valves and springs in the ones he fixes) so they are weak at best. Upgade the front end for a much better ride and tire wear.
 
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#5 ·
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Backyard alignment check is to wet down concrete. Drive in a straight line through the puddle. The track should be one line. Not two parallel lines.
 
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#6 ·
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time2goride wrote:
Wow, that was a quick response. The guy I bought it from said he kept 42psi in the rear, 41 psi in the front. I checked them this weekend and it was pretty close to 42 still. I guess I need to get a digital tire gauge. For an E3, does 42 psi sound right?
Thats good for a light weight, if bigger or 2 up riding bump up to 42Frt/44-45 rear The 1800 are notorious for eating tires.

I put Ride-on in my tires this time around and felt the difference in the ride right away as I put on @900 miles in the next couple days after. And I have noticed less cupping of the tires since Nov when the Ride-on was put in. I also haven't lost any air pressure since then and still check it every 1-2 weeks. Do a goggle searh on it. Well worth the $32 for both tires out of my pocket, plus it'll seal upto 1/4" puctures and it ballances the tires as you drive much better than the wheel weights ever did, even when I did my own ballanceing years ago. So much smoother now.
 
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#7 ·
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Congratulations Paul. The tyres could just be past their best. 20000 miles means your Wing is probably well into it's second set of tyres.
 
#9 ·
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95 Red Wing wrote:
I was always told that excessleft side tire wear is normal for motorcycles because of faster wider left hand turns. This article explains it pretty well.

http://www.rattlebars.com/tirewear/index.html



Ride Safe!



Tom
That's why Nascar goes counterclockwise :raspberry:
 
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#10 ·
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Are your roads crowned in the center?

Most riders take their left turns much faster than their right turns on the roads too.

Also check to see that the right saddlebag is not heavily loaded with the left bag empty.
 
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#11 ·
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I'm with unionjk, I've heard this issue before on roads that are more crowned rather than flat.
 
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#12 ·
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The majority of the roads I have been riding on either new and/or have been recently resurfaced, so little or now crowns.

I think the most likely culprit is left hand turns... Gotta do like the big brown truck and just do right hand turns till it evens out...
 
#13 ·
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In Great Britain and Ireland, where they drive on the left side of the road, I have been told that it's the right side of the tire that wears faster.

But really if you get more than 12,000 miles on a set of tires (other than Dunlops which increase wear with harder rubber and worse handling) then you are doing well. Of course I replace the front when I replace the rear, even though the fronts are probably good for a few thousand more.

The people who brag about massive mileage on GL1800 tires are sacrificing handling, grip and sometimes even safety. Just because the tire is not quite to the wear bars doesn't mean they aren't already worn out.
 
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#14 ·
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Welcome and congrats ., you dont specify if both or only one tire is wearing ? This is important to answere your question. If both then 95 RedWing probably has it down.
If front or rear only ... i would have the bike checked out.
 
#15 ·
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Add on ... Many moons ago i bought a used 750 Honda that was mint to look at and seemed to ride just fine .
A buddy of mine watched me leave on the bike one day and called me later to advise me that the bike looked " off center " as i rode away. Turned out the front frame was bent at the stearing stem from a previous minor accident.
It took some doing to get it straight again.
You might call that po and ask if he rode a regular route with many left turns etc.? Could be that is why the tires are doing what they are doing.???
 
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