Uneaven wear on Conti Whitewall

[Granty]

Evening all -- I run conti whitewalls on my Li Special -- the rear tyre wears quickly as expected but evenly so that all tread blocks wear down at the same time. The front tyre wears less obviously but wears unevenly, it wears in the middle of the tyre but its like every alternate tread block is wearing worse than the others. Any ideas? Thanks for the help - Granty

[Storkfoot]

Have you uprated springs on that scoot? What dampers, if any?

[Granty]

Have you uprated springs on that scoot? What dampers, if any?

Standard springs & no dampers - handles great, just the usual vibration. Thankyou - G

[roli150lam]

What tyre pressure is in the front tyre.

[Jazzy b]

I would say incorrect tyre pressure

[Granty]

What tyre pressure is in the front tyre.

Morning - I try and run 20 on the front and 30 on the back when fully loaded for rally's which is most if not all my miles (& I'm no wee) -- as I say the rear tread wears equally all round the tyre but the front its different - Thanks for all the help, its appreciated - G

[davet]

Have had the same on zippy and twist. This Euro was the most uneven wear. I'm sending it of to Continental to see if they can explain it. Nothing wrong with tyres otherwise and have always used conti's for last 15 years. Will let you know what they say.

[Jazzy b]

I run 28 front 32 rear on my scoots they av white wall contis never ad probs

[Storkfoot]

My MOT man says it is too firm front suspension causing the front end to "skip". Your set up seems to disprove this. However, I suppose too much weight on the back would also cause skipping??

I have had this on a few different front tyres not just continental.

[Granty]

Have had the same on zippy and twist. This Euro was the most uneven wear. I'm sending it of to Continental to see if they can explain it. Nothing wrong with tyres otherwise and have always used conti's for last 15 years. Will let you know what they say.

Many thanks -- I'd be interested in that - G

[Granty]

My MOT man says it is too firm front suspension causing the front end to "skip". Your set up seems to disprove this. However, I suppose too much weight on the back would also cause skipping??

I have had this on a few different front tyres not just continental.

That could be it --- all of my miles are rally miles with the gubbins on the back and my fat hoop to be honest!

Thanks G

[Granty]

shared a photo on my fb page of the tyres - don't know how to post images on the forum - G

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater

[Rich Oswald]

I have had a thread up before about this and also a controvertial one on facebook. Nobody has come up with a suitable explanation for this apart from these tyres are crap. Oh and by the way it happened only on the front of mine when I used them, long , long ago. Someone even said they are like this from new which I think is total bollocks. These are pics from mine which I still have in the garage:-





Rich'

[Kev Fox]

I had this exact problem on the front with a Schwalbe Weatherman and assumed it was caused by low tyre pressure. I always check tyre pressures now .

[Wack]

Look at it this way, those tread blocks are moving about as they grip the road , heating up and distorting. I may be wrong but tyres such as Weathermans are exactly that, made to ride in extreme wet -not dry roads? Watch any bike racing where they start on "wets" and the track dries out. The tyres overheat and tear the tread blocks from the tyre. After using "race tread" type tyres on my scoots for years , if I ride a scoot with old style tread patterns now it feels like I am riding on marbles or gravel. To chew up across the whole tread then I can only suggest the pressure is too low or the tyre is overloaded. Just my thoughts.

[Rich Oswald]

I can see exactly what you are saying Wack however I am not naive to run tyres under inflated and I check pressures before every ride and definitely not overloaded as I am 11 stone and never carry a pillion. These tyres ( Contis ) have only done this on the front, I know of 3 this has happened to now, and I have used other block tread tyres, including Weathermans, and not had this. Ñobody can come up with a suitable explanation as far as I am concerned. Every time a tyre problem comes up, under inflation always gets the blame instead of the tyres themself.

[Captain Pugwash]

Block tread tyres wear the front edges off the block tread of the front tyre under breaking more than the rear of the blocks.

A front tyre doesn't carry the weight or riding stress of a rear tyre, but when the front brake is applied on any scooter with a better than standard brake the front of the blocks (as the front tyre contacts the road under breaking) will grip more than the rear of the block tread causing it to scrub off the front edge of the blocks when the trailing edge can't.

And better than average brakes exaggerate this wear.
Tyre pressures will Also contribute to this type of wear but it is not the sole cause.

I've always had this with block tread tyres whichever make I've fitted to the front wheel, my Dexters did the same so did the weatherman's, in my experience softer block tread wet weather tyres do this much more easily when ridden hard in the dry with a good front brake.

[peejay]

my Conti K62's do exactly as the Captain has said above, think this is perfectly normal for a block type tread.

[coaster]

Block tread tyres wear the front edges off the block tread of the front tyre under breaking more than the rear of the blocks.

A front tyre doesn't carry the weight or riding stress of a rear tyre, but when the front brake is applied on any scooter with a better than standard brake the front of the blocks (as the front tyre contacts the road under breaking) will grip more than the rear of the block tread causing it to scrub off the front edge of the blocks when the trailing edge can't.

And better than average brakes exaggerate this wear.
Tyre pressures will Also contribute to this type of wear but it is not the sole cause.

I've always had this with block tread tyres whichever make I've fitted to the front wheel, my Dexters did the same so did the weatherman's, in my experience softer block tread wet weather tyres do this much more easily when ridden hard in the dry with a good front brake.

That sounds spot on to me, I recently noticed that the blocks on the front tyre on my Jet are lower at the front than the back. It's a Sava MC 20 and I was wondering if I'd fitted it the wrong way round The Captains explanation fits with the fact that it has a very soft compound and an effective disk brake (anti-dive fitted.

[Granty]

I have had a thread up before about this and also a controvertial one on facebook. Nobody has come up with a suitable explanation for this apart from these tyres are crap. Oh and by the way it happened only on the front of mine when I used them, long , long ago. Someone even said they are like this from new which I think is total bollocks. These are pics from mine which I still have in the garage:-





Rich'

Rich -- Praise the Lord and pass the biscuits - that's exactly the same as mine.