[outlawearl]

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Ok this tire is on a 1981 GL1100I. It was purchased just a few months ago & has around 3,000 miles on it. Why is it wearing so fast? On spots it is almost to the cord & other spots it still has a little bit of tread left. The bearings were replaced about a month ago & the tire looked good then. We put it up on the center stand today & moved the tire back & forth & there is no play. Could it be something with the shocks? We put a board under & lifted the tire up & it looked like one of the bottom bolts goes up & down inside the shock hole. The other side does not move. Any help is appreciated to find the trouble before spending big bucks on a new tire again.

Thanks

 

[outlawearl]

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here is another pic.

 

[exavid]

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That's some pretty impressive wear for 3000 miles. Do a lot of burnout or donuts? (Kinda kidding) How does the front tire look? Does the bike handle normally? If the shocks are in bad enough condition to allow the tire to hop enough to skid or slip a little under acceleration and deceleration it could be a factor. When you say the lower bolt is loose in the shock is it the bolt or the shock bushing that'ts worn out? I would investigate the shocks carefully, seems to me they might be a major part of the problem. The only other possibility I can think of would be a grabby brake but I'd expect that to be noticeable when riding.

 

[GLester]

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First question I have is what brand tire? Some of the lower quality tires won't last more than 3 thousand miles on a heavy bike such as a Goldwing. My friend who has worked on Hondas for over 20 years told me that some tires have too soft of tread for good traction, but the disadvantage is that tires with soft tread wear out faster. If the tire has a max load, fast speeds, and a lot of stop and go, it will wear out pretty fast. And motorcycle tires are not noted for lasting a long time anyway.:X

Gene:waving::11red::11red::11red::thumpingmad:

 

[stormintba]

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The pics earl posted where takin of the back of my bike this afternoon while over at his place working on the charging system.. thank god got that fixed.. now back to the tire thing...... The tire that was on it before this tire.. wore much the same way.. it was a AVON....... the tire i put on it this time is a dunlop... The part i dont understand.. is you look at like the pics the tread in the center is gone ...... you turn the tire half a turn and there is maybe at tops 1/3 of the tread left.. but you can see tread.. it isnt wore down there......... how or why can a tire wear that way?? with the tire going around and around it should wear even from one half to the other shouldnt it?? got me buffaloed thats fer sure.. but that dont take much lol

 

[GLester]

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What your looking at is considered a flat spot. It can be caused by brake lockup, or a bad mold of the tire. Some tires when they are being molded are not molded even around the caseing. But by looking at your tire, it looks like IMHO like a heavy use of the rear brakes.

Gene:waving::11red::11red::11red::byebye:

 

[stormintba]

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I would say out of them 3000 miles that hmmm 2500 to 2700 where hi way miles... and as far as the rear brake or well front on as far as that goes.. dont use them unless i have to... downshift more then anything.. would say i use the rear brake less then the front one.. even in slow riding with the way i got my hi way pegs set up.. even in first gear or whatever my feet are on the pegs most of the time so cant get to the rear brake...

 

[exavid]

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That's too fast for Dunlops to wear out. I sold an 86 1200, I don't know how many miles the Dunlops had before I got it but I put on 7500 miles and they still looked and ran okay. If the front is wearing normally it kind of lessens the possibility of tracking problems, I'd still investigate the rear shocks.

What kind of gasmileage are you getting?

 

[stormintba]

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Gas millage wise i would say...... last time i checked anyway.. mid 30's depending on the wind.. gets windy as hell out here.. been times with tail wind i have got in the low 40s..

 

[Silicon Sam]

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I echo the way too fast wear. My Dunlop Elite II rear has almost 14K on it, and still has plenty of tread left. And it's wearing evenly. It would be hard to diagnose a problem at this point, but when you get the new tire on, have someone follow you, beside you, looking for any odd wheel travel. The bolts holes in the shock problem need to be looked at for sure. Looks like in your case, there was excessive travel in those bolts, and a slightly out of balance tire just got worse and worse without your knowing it.

Raymond

 

[GLester]

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Well, I've been doing some checking, Dunlop 404s though a good low price tire (thats what is on mine too) have an average life of about 4000 miles on Goldwings according to the local bike shop and also confirmed by the local Honda mechanic. Now this applies to 80 - 81 GW Interstates and Aspys. I was told that Continintal tires last longer on these bikes for the rear tire. I guess we will see since when I bought mine it had new dunlops on it.

Gene:waving::11red::11red::11red::cooler:

 

[exavid]

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You might make REDWING happy and take a look at Bridgestones.

 

[axelwik]

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How much pressure do you run? If the tires have too much pressure for the weight they're supporting, theycan wear very fast in the middle.

Use the pressure that your manual specifies... don't fill to the sidewall maximum rating!

 

[GLester]

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I think the biggest problem to early GWs is they used a too narrow rear wheel (2.5" rim) and small width tire for the size of the bike. In 82 they went to a wider rim (3.0") and a wider tire 140 versus 130 and went from a 17 inch rim to a more common 16 inch. This corrected tire wear problems and as time went on better tires were produced for the more popular rim size. The later models didn't really weigh any more, but the tires could handle the weight and size of the bike better.

Gene:waving::11red::11red::11red::cooler:

 

[Tonys96]

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The '81's had a fairly smallish back tie 130/70/17 if I remember right, so if you're riding two up or heavy, it might be all the wear you're gonna get.

Is that a Dunlop 491 ?

You may want to try a different brand tire. When I had my '81 choices were slim and tires hadn't advanced to where they are today. I had good luck with Metzler Marathon tires, but the ME880's are even better.

 

[stormintba]

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I beleive the tire is a 404........ as far as presure we checked it again today and it had 35 psi in it...... I would accept the idea of it only being good with 3000 miles on it with 2 up.. no biggie.. but dont accept the way it wore.. the uneven ness of the wear.. i dont understand that.... as far as having someone follow me and watching will do that to.. we did that when i put the other tire on and everything looked fine.. beats the hell outta me.. guess will put a different tire on it.. and see if it gets chewed up..... try and keep a eye on it........ got a road trip coming up here in a couple of weeks.......... yep going north for the big one..

 

[Silicon Sam]

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Fix that shock bolt or bushing too...

Raymond