Strange tire wear

[Jaguar Active]

I bought a 2023 R18 Classic new last October. It came shod with Bridgestone BattleCruise H50 tires front and rear. Shortly thereafter it was stored for the winter - Minnesota - what can one do?

This July I rode to Portland Oregon to join my nephews for a tour of Mt. Rainier and Glacier, then rode back from Portland, a little more than 6k miles in total.

When I took my bike for the 6k service, the dealer pointed out that the front tire is down to the wear bars. This seemed to me like too low a mileage for the tire to be gone, but even more mysteriously the rear still has 50% of its tread left.

The tire was at 38 lbs throughout the ride, and there is no cupping or strange wear to indicate bigger problems. Do R18s just do this because they are so heavy? Are the Bridgestones not very good? My dealer has a Metzeler 888 in stock and is suggesting that replacement. I’ve always had good luck with Metzeler, so this is making sense to me.

Any thoughts on this situation would be greatly appreciated. I have been riding oilhead Beemers since the 90s. I have around 200k miles on them. I’ve never run through a front before a rear, and I’ve never used up a front that fast. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[Rufus]

They are very heavy on tyres and if I remember correctly there’s not much tread (depth) on a brand new tyre to begin with. 6k miles is about right.

 

[Anibal]

My Bagger has 10,320mls on the odometer, my tyres are both the Batlecruise H-50 and the front tyre will need replacing soon (still legal)
I run 42psi at the front and 46psi at the back. The front tyre from what I gather, wears out a bit quicker than the rear, maybe because the weight at the front, especially when decelerating, plus steering friction.
Roads conditions and riding habits also plays a big role here.

 

[Mac]

I was looking at mine after I picked the bike up last week. The rear tire has a good tread depth 6mm to the wear bar, the front Battlecruise has only 3.5mm to the bar at best. What you have reported is therefore exactly what I am expecting, half the life of the rear at best. So nothing to worry about just a short life tyre.

 

[Jaguar Active]

Thanks for the responses. It makes me feel better to know that this is the norm. I’m going to switch to a harder touring compound (Metzeler 880s) and see if that helps.

 

[Petrus]

I run 42psi at the front and 46psi at the back.

is that indicated for your model?

For the (basic) R18 the manual states 32.6 front, 42.1 rear.
I found the front quite sensitive to the correct pressure and already tram lining when just under 40 psi.

In general, less tire pressure means more drift angle; the tire deforming/squirming more. At the front this in effect makes he bike more understeered i.e. less nervous. The effect on tram lining illustrates this.

On the wear issue, less will make the rubber deform less is heat less and theoretically wear less. The other effect is that less deformation keeps the tire more round meaning less rubber surface on the road meaning more load on that smaller contact patchwhich is detrimental on wear.

On a side note I find it interesting that BMW gives the same tire pressue with/without passenger. This probably because a passenger does not upset the heavy apple cart enough to make a difference.

 

[Anibal]

is that indicated for your model?

Indeed. Specially the front tyre, if the bar drops by an unit or two, she feels heavier to steer and sluggish on take off plus economy suffers drastically.

 

[Petrus]

Thanks.
The R18B is 15% heavier than the R18.
The TC nigh 25.
Should have looked that up before asking
Tire pressure shoúld differ for different tire/rim sizes and load differences.
Your´s getting more sluggush with softer front than spec is as expected. Same as mine tramlining when too hard.

As to the tire valves, the instruction is sound but not much for the R18. The bike is not nearly fast enough for centifugal force to push the valve off the seat against the relatively high pressure.
Mind, still good practice, just not a worry.

If the tire valve is fitted with a nut on top of the rim, then turn this up and use it as a lock nut for the metal cap.

p.s. what is the front tire pressure for the Classic? That has a different 130/90-B16 while being only marginally heavier (20 kg) than the R18. Wider/higher% vs less rim diameter should about even out to 2.5 bar. Too lazy to calculate