Tire tread raised in the middle

[Christkou]

Hi all,

I got a new to me GSA1200 2018 with a new front tyre Bridgestone T32 from a BMW dealership. After 3 months and 4000 miles the front tyre has show signs of abnormal wear with a raised bump in the middle. The pictures don't show it very well but see the attached images. I don't over inflate my tyre and most of the times I have the susspension set to auto. Any ideas? Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[leadfarmer]

Looks like you’re trail braking into corners, my front tyres get worn into a V because of it

 

[Christkou]

Thanks for reply

Looks like you’re trail braking into corners, my front tyres get worn into a V because of it

Thanks for the reply. I've been trail breaking on the Norden 901 as well but I haven't seen this kind of wear before at least not on anakees or the TKC70s. Am in for a new tyre?

 

[Bem]

Looks like shoulder wear rather than centre raised.
Do you think it had a rear tyre fitted at the same time? If not then the wear characteristics of the rear will become imprinted on the front.
Make sure to fit new front and rears together so you can experience the full benefits, and report back after the next 4k miles.

 

[littleade]

The T32's are most likely dual compound and harder in the centre than the rest of the tyre so if you're trail braking you'll be doing that on the softer part of the tyre, hence the increased wear?

 

[Christkou]

Looks like shoulder wear rather than centre raised.
Do you think it had a rear tyre fitted at the same time? If not then the wear characteristics of the rear will become imprinted on the front.
Make sure to fit new front and rears together so you can experience the full benefits, and report back after the next 4k miles.

The pictures don’t tell the whole story. I actually fitted a new Bridgestone T32 about 2K miles ago.

It’s a bit of a shame, because I’d planned to swap to Anakees once these were worn, just for the occasional off-road day. A mate suggested I try some green lanes with the T32s still on, so I gave it a go the other day.

Of course, I wasn’t just putting along — I was kicking the rear out with power slides (or whatever the proper term is in the bike world). A few miles of sharp, stony tracks later and the rear is absolutely shredded.

 

[Spook1969]

I’d say it’s OEM tyre, especially if fitted by BMW dealer.
I’m convinced that tyres supplied by all bike manufacturers are a lower quality than tyres fitted aftermarket. Nearly all of the tyres I’ve had on new bikes have ‘flatted’ the rears quicker and ‘egged’ the fronts, yet when the tyres are replaced they then wear consistently and at a slower rate. If this is true then your dealer may have had some OEM supply tyres they’ve used on your bike.
My front tyre on my 2024 GSA was worse than yours after 2,500 miles.

 

[younger06]

I've seen that front tyre wear plenty of times on my GS's

I put it down to trail braking and telever front suspension.

Do you do a lot of mountain riding??

Xiaomi M14U

 

[Santa-2512]

Looks like the std wear pattern of a dual compound tyre ,

Some are more hard wearing on the centre which makes the soft side potions more visible so to speak

If when you ride the bike and lean into a corner, does the the bike drop in very quickly of roll in smoothly

if it drops in quickly you get a slight weave / wiggle as you compensate for the worn tyre,

Tyre type/ setup & riding style, all play a significant part , as do OEM new bike supplied tyres vs aftermarket OEM tyres

 

[Victor c]

I found the oem front Bridgestone A41 wore very similar on my previous r1250gsa. Normal UK road riding and one euro tour and it was shot at approx 4500 miles. Never had a front tyre wear out so fast. In contrast, the oem A41 rear still looked like it had several thousand miles left in it.

 

[Smartbazza]

Yep, my 1250 wore out the oem Bridgestones in the same way. Front needed replaced before the rear. If you divide a cross section of a tyre tread into 5 sections the wear typically appears on 2nd 5th and 4th 5th if that makes sense!

Barry

 

[Hann]

I found the oem front Bridgestone A41 wore very similar

Me too on the A41, perhaps it`s a Bridgestone thing.
Very cupuliar.

 

[Christkou]

Thanks, everyone. I don’t think BMW and Bridgestone would risk supplying lower-quality tyres, but I get where you’re coming from. I’ll probably swap them out soon—just after my little tour of Cornwall. Any suggestions for tyres with great on-road performance that can still handle some light gravel fun? Maybe the Anakees?

 

[Spook1969]

Michelin Annakee Adventure
Continental Trail Attack

 

[digby]

go for the michelins

Great mileage and great performance

 

[er-minio]

I've been trail breaking on the Norden 901 as well but I haven't seen this kind of wear before at least not on anakees or the TKC70s.

No telelever on those.

I have the bad habit of trailbraking (let's call it that) a bit too much sometimes. This was the front of one of my sets of TKC70s with fairly pronounced cupping towards end of life. Hexhead adventure:

Same set of tyres, ~50% into their life. You can see the cupping at the front. Front shock near servicing compounded the problem.

 

[er-minio]

Any suggestions for tyres with great on-road performance that can still handle some light gravel fun? Maybe the Anakees?

TCK 70. The tyre for the UK IMHO.

 

[Christkou]

Nice one. Thanks a lot guys.

 

[Neil W]

I’d say it’s OEM tyre, especially if fitted by BMW dealer.
I’m convinced that tyres supplied by all bike manufacturers are a lower quality than tyres fitted aftermarket. Nearly all of the tyres I’ve had on new bikes have ‘flatted’ the rears quicker and ‘egged’ the fronts, yet when the tyres are replaced they then wear consistently and at a slower rate. If this is true then your dealer may have had some OEM supply tyres they’ve used on your bike.
My front tyre on my 2024 GSA was worse than yours after 2,500 miles.

They will be of a comparable quality BUT the likes of BMW will approach a tyre manufacturer and have them quote for a contract for a production batch of a certain motorcycle (cheapest quote gets the business and a batch of tyres will be supplied to the factory ).
However, it could be that they are made of a stickier compound and do not wear as well
Explains why the first production runs of GSA's will have Metzeler Next 2's fitted and the next may have Bridgestone or Michelin or Dunlop .
Still better than the OEM fitment Bridgestone tyres fitted to certain Japanese bikes which were actually all cr*p