Tire Wear

[SkiRideDrive]

Hi guys,

I was curious if you guys would mind taking a gander at my tire wear and letting me know what you think. The pictures are of my rear 190/55 Q2. I was running 34f/32r cold lapping tail of the dragon and then about 10 laps at VIR North during the charity lap event the other day. The bike is a 2010 Kawasaki Z1000 with stock suspension and properly set sag. I am getting some circumferential tears. My guess is too high pressure and not getting enough heat into the tire but I don't have much experience with motorcycle tires. Thanks a bunch.

Oh and incase your interested, here are videos of both....

Virginia International Raceway Charity Laps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2VWPOs_d_w

Tail of the Dragon/Deal's Gap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q2YirJb0ak

-Kevin

P.S. I should be getting all my track gear this week so I can start running track days soon.

 

[speedster_chris]

From your video of VIR-N, it looks like you should try letting your line arc out further while you're on the gas coming out of T1. You'll still be able to bring it back to the right before that left hander.

Also, try working on turning in later and faster for many of the corners.

Not sure what's causing your odd tire wear. Have you had this happen on this bike before when you were doing this type of riding? I'm wondering if this is a unique phenomenon that could disappear with a new tire. Either way, I would get the suspension guys at the track to bounce on your bike to set the clickers to a baseline, as that may be contributing to it. Bring your tire to where they change tires at trackday and get a tire guy to look at it.

Tire pressure for the Q2 on the track should be 32/32 cold, +/- 3 psi. Many ppl run more towards the -3 psi (like 29/29 cold).

 

[SkiRideDrive]

Thanks for the feedback. VIR North is a tricky track to learn in a few laps and appreciate your input. This is my first Q2 on this bike and my first day on the tire was on the dragon and this wear started popping up. In some areas the rubber is coming out in chunks. And yea I haven't touched the clickers yet. I'll be sure to try to get some setup advice at the track. Thanks.

 

[sheepofblue]

Have you checked clearance? A 190/55 is taller than stock and you might be getting some rubbing on something.

 

[SkiRideDrive]

I double checked the clearance and that isn't the issue. I took some better photos today. Maybe the damping settings are off or the stock suspension is just beating up the tire. It just doesn't look like anything I've seen in the Dave Moss videos.

 

[speedster_chris]

Perhaps you've used up all the rubber, and you just need new tires? Once you wear the rubber thin enough, it can start chunking. Just a thought.

 

[SkiRideDrive]

Yea, I'm not even to the wear bars though.

 

[R1Baby]

That is an usual wear pattern, wonder if the rebound is to slow allowing the tire to skip as it comes back in contact with the pavement?

 

[speedster_chris]

Last couple of ideas...
1) Are you closer to the wear bars on the shoulders of the tire? As in, the shredding isn't happening in the middle, just on the sides.
2) Until better ideas crop up, I would stick with getting a new tire and see if that doesn't cure it.
3) It looks like your rebound setting is off, due to the loss of tread on one side of the sipes coupled with a raised edge on the other side of the sipes. It's easier to see on the not-so-closeup pic on your second post. This is probably unrelated to the shredding, though.
Also, that setting will probably get fixed by your baseline set-up if/when you go see the Ohlins tent or the Performance Cycleworx tent at the next trackday.

 

[speedster_chris]

R1Baby;236750 wrote: That is an usual wear pattern, wonder if the rebound is to slow allowing the tire to skip as it comes back in contact with the pavement?

:agree: It's definitely worth pursuing!!!

 

[SkiRideDrive]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I ordered a new tire today from a different distributor, just incase the last one I got was from a bad batch. The rebound issue is definitely a possibility. Think I should try loosening up the rebound damping in the meantime before I get to the track?