Squared Off Tyres

[BlackBetty]

The majority of miles I do on my GSA is with pillion and full luggage, as the bike is used as a weekend getaway vehicle for my wife and I. This means that I am often faced with a begin and end journey down a long stretch of motorway or similar that with all the weight etc cause the tyres to very quickly square off. Quick jaunts around twisties and so on inbetween these trips isn't enough to redress the balance.

What harder or more durable or even multi compound tyres are there that I could try without sacrificing to much all weather grip?
BTW, although I would love to, I do not get to do much offroading so dual purpose tyres are not neccessary. My current tyres are OEM fitted Tourances'.

 

[richie]

Don't think it'll make much difference whichever tyres you use.

I similarily do a lot of autoroute work but on my own and no baggage and my tyres don't seem to square off. Have you inflated them in respect to the extra weight....

 

[judge]

I have this problem too, my 1150GS is my car and the best I've found longevity/wear is Tourance. I run pressures at maximum 36psi front, 42psi rear but they do square over time as did everything else I tried but the others were far worse, especially T66's

 

[Cheesy Mike]

At what sort of mileage are the tyres getting squared off?

I do quite a lot of straight fast highway work on mine, ride enthusiastically most of the time, and still get 7500 before my rear Tourance is squared off to such an extent that I change it. I accept that it is going to square off and I'm happy with the mileage that I get.

Mike

 

[garyfzs]

Hi
On my other bike ( Fazer 1000 ) i have metzler Z6 they may do sizes to fit like bridgestone , last rear lasted 7000 miles that included 5000 miles to Poland and back cruiseing speeds 100 mph plus 2 up with luggage, good wet whether grip
Regards
Gaz

 

[hops]

Tired?

Try Bridgestone 020's, they're dual compound.

 

[rdover]

020s are fantastic but on my TDM900 I could only get about 3,500 miles before the rear squared off.

7,500? Stop complaining and keep riding you could have a dragon corsa that goes after 1,500 miles!

 

[BlackBetty]

Thank you guys for the responses. I inflate the rear to 3000kPa and am getting about 1500 miles before the signs of squaring off begin to show. At about 3000miles it is obvious and at 5 it is throw away material. The front never seems to suffer this problem and lasts 10 - 12 000 miles before it needs replacing.
My riding style is very relaxed and all but the boys on Harleys overtake me.

 

[Tobers]

I'd worry more about the boys on Harleys overtaking you. Your squared off tyres are the least of your problems

 

[cookie]

i chuck my tyres when there's about 2mm tread left in the middle of the rear or on the sides of the front (which i wear out quicker than the middles).

in my experience, all rear bike tyres square off then they wiggle a bit when you cross a white line or similarly misbehave.

the cure: ignore it & open the throttle

 

[R Savage]

My rear Tourance is due for replacement now after 12,000 miles of two-up touring with luggage. I've been looking at the threads about tires wondering whether to fit a pair of BT 020's or just replace the rear Tourance (front is fine).

Seems that I'll stick with the Tourance.

Richard

 

[Finbarr]

One thing I've done to combat the squarting off of my tyres was to run them at slightly lower pressures - 34-36 psi and as the rear starts to square - punch in another 2 psi which rounds the tyre back out for another 1000 miles or so.

There's obviously a point where you have to stop doing this and simply replace the tyre as bimbling along the M1 at 90+ mph with a rear tyre at 75 psi is just asking for trouble

Cheers,
Fin.

PS: Actually I usually give up at about 40 psi as the ride gets too damn hard.

 

[cookie]

but 42 seems to be the recommended pressure