Tyre wear

[Alf]

Just had my 2 year old R18FE in for its 2nd service and have been issued a yellow warning for the front tyre being 50% worn at 2000mls!! Is anybody aware what the expected mileage is for the front tyre On the R18FE ?. It seems rather excessive to me.

 

[Ulrich]

Maybe you ride her too hard !!
but why is 50% a warning ... thats right in the middle of things ... my front has 7500 mi on it and it is starting to show some angles ... let me see if I can take pics ... I will post them as soon as I can.
... and how do they determine 50%? measure original height over wear-bars and then go from there? ... and yes 2000 miles would be excessive.

 

[Ulrich]

Here you go ... bit hard to see on the pic ... I can see it very much when I stand up on the pegs and look down on the front wheel when I ride


Still only 7500 miles .. I will leave that one on until at least the 10 000 mile tune up

 

[0hmerR18]

I'm at 6.4k miles on th Bridgestone H50 front 120/70 r19, rear 180/6 r16. Contact patch on both front and rear are done. Sides still have tread. I doubt these will wear much on the sides since the lean angle isn't that great.

I want to try something different. they did perform well for me. I rode it through most of winter with lots of rain and they behaved well.

 

[Alf]

Thanks guys for your input and information, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the tyre scrubs off! In all the Bm’s I have owned none of them have worn the front down so quickly. They are taking the measurement straight from the middle of the tyre, away from the sides. I have used my digital vernier ( calibrated!) and I cant get any lower than 3mm. I am a “butterfly” and only go out in the sun on this bike, am fully aware of the consequences of riding on worn tyres and wont take that risk…even in the dry.
Guess I will have to get my tyre cutter out and do a bit of tyre retreading

 

[nielsm]

Thanks guys for your input and information, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the tyre scrubs off! In all the Bm’s I have owned none of them have worn the front down so quickly. They are taking the measurement straight from the middle of the tyre, away from the sides. I have used my digital vernier ( calibrated!) and I cant get any lower than 3mm. I am a “butterfly” and only go out in the sun on this bike, am fully aware of the consequences of riding on worn tyres and wont take that risk…even in the dry.
Guess I will have to get my tyre cutter out and do a bit of tyre retreading

You should be able to see the wear indicator in the grooves. Once that is even with the surface of the rest of tire, you should schedule to replace. That still has some grooves for wet at that point, so it's not suddenly a racing slick, nor is it about to expose cords.

The #1 cause of premature tire wear is incorrect tire pressure. Check that first to ensure you aren't creating a wear condition. With the hard rubber on the OEM tires, you should get >10K on the rear & more on the front. If you are getting much less, it's probably poor pressure. I check mine on all my bikes at least bi-weekly & certainly before any long trip.

 

[Alf]

Thanks nielsm, this bike is only used on Sundays and high days. I always, always check tyre pressures, oil, lights etc BEFORE every trip.( my tyre inflator is calibrated each year) Being a retired aeronautical engineer I am a stickler for correct and prompt maintenance before and after each trip.
I’m afraid this particular tyre is not going to reach 4K for what ever reason.
The main dealer did state I would be lucky to achieve any thing over 5000 mls on the front With the R18.

 

[nielsm]

Thanks nielsm, this bike is only used on Sundays and high days. I always, always check tyre pressures, oil, lights etc BEFORE every trip.( my tyre inflator is calibrated each year) Being a retired aeronautical engineer I am a stickler for correct and prompt maintenance before and after each trip.
I’m afraid this particular tyre is not going to reach 4K for what ever reason.
The main dealer did state I would be lucky to achieve any thing over 5000 mls on the front With the R18.

I had studied a bit of aeronautical engineering in college (I'm a private pilot), so I can appreciate keeping on top of maintenance and "pre-flight" the bikes. There are others on this forum who had >13K miles on the Michelin OEM tires and they had >1/2 tread life remaining. One person had 7300 on the front & needed replacement, but they reached out to Michelin who agreed that was way short for it & replaced them.

I might suggest doing the same, as on all my bikes, it's at least 2X life on front vs rear. I just swapped the the TKC80 on my GSA with about 2K miles on them as I leave Thursday for a 2200 mile Backcountry Discovery Route, so wanted fresh knobbies. The front easily had another 3-4000 miles left on them while the rear was about 1K left, but knobbies wear much faster than cruiser tires. My normal knobbies which I added are Anakee Wilds & I typically get around 4000 miles on the rear & 8K on the fronts with those. If I only got 5K out of the front of cruiser tires, I'd be yelling at the manufacturer. It wouldn't be crazy to expect closer to 15-20K on the front.

 

[Alf]

Yes, in my experience I agree its normally 2X life on the front vs the rear. The original fit on this particular bike is Bridgestone, thank you for the comment re contacting the manufacturer. I will give that a try and see if what feed back I receive. The dealers already stated 5k is good going for the R18 on the front…….now if it was a full blown race bike like the S1000RR things might be different!

 

[nielsm]

Yes, in my experience I agree its normally 2X life on the front vs the rear. The original fit on this particular bike is Bridgestone, thank you for the comment re contacting the manufacturer. I will give that a try and see if what feed back I receive. The dealers already stated 5k is good going for the R18 on the front…….now if it was a full blown race bike like the S1000RR things might be different!

5k still feels crazy for the front on an R18. I get about 3000 on the rear of my S1000R & about 6K on the front. I certainly would expect the R18 tires to last much longer than my sport bike.

I just checked my tires on the R18. I also have the Bridgestone & have about 1.5mm left till the wear bar on the front with 4800 miles. Could be the Bridgestone don't last as long as the Michelin.

 

[Alf]

I have just emailed the dealer to confirm their stance re wear on the R18, and have mentioned I am going to contact Bridgestone for their opinion and recommendation. I am thinking you are most certainly correct in your statement re Bridgestones don’t last as long as Michelin..I will of course pass over any further information that zooms my way.
Many thanks once again Niels for your input and assistance.

 

[nielsm]

I have just emailed the dealer to confirm their stance re wear on the R18, and have mentioned I am going to contact Bridgestone for their opinion and recommendation. I am thinking you are most certainly correct in your statement re Bridgestones don’t last as long as Michelin..I will of course pass over any further information that zooms my way.
Many thanks once again Niels for your input and assistance.

Now you made me research the H50s some more. Irony is Bridgestone marketed it as much better mileage with the Battlecruise H50.

“Best of all, Bridgestone claims the Battlecruise H50s will achieve a tread life of 18,000 to 20,000 miles. You don’t need a calculator to figure that’s pretty much double the typical offering of the competition.” - https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/bridgestone-battlecruise-h50-cruiser-tire-first-ride

Though Bridgestone didn’t release any numbers, it released some “wear-life index” data that shows the rear tire nearly doubling that of a competitor. This is due to a larger crown profile and updated tread design on the Battlecruise H50 that optimizes slip and adhesion on the road surface. Extended wear is a main concern for most American V-twin operators; expect somewhere around 19,000 miles from a rear tire, under optimal riding conditions. - https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2016/10/20/bridgestone-battlecruise-h50-tire-review-5-fast-facts/

If I assume the tires started with about 5mm of tread new & I’m down to 2.5mm after ~5K miles, I would be at the wear bar by 7500 miles on the front. If Bridgestone claims ~19K on the rear, I’d assume at least 25K on the front, not 7.5K, let alone the 4-5K you are on pace to get.

There is a review on Revzilla for the tires with someone on the OEM R18 tires saying they only got 6K from them. Another with a Triumph Thunderbird said they got 4300 miles. Another said they got half the expected mileage of manufacturer. Doesn’t bode well overall. I’ve always had good experience with Michelin, so I’ll switch to those sooner than I’d expected.

 

[BobW]

Some good info above and checking the threads where a couple tires were warrantied for reference to your situation may be helpful, but.... Comparing this bike to others being 2 to 1 fronts to rears, etc., really means little*. My R18 Classic is full figured girl weighing a good hundred pounds more than the already less than svelte K1600GT. R18 front tires do a lot of work if one does anything close to aggressive riding in both braking and where the long wheelbase makes "quick" transitions on the real twisty bits see the front tire taking the brunt of the work. Heat cycles of the tire, ambient temps, pavement "drag factor", weight of the loads carried and riders inputs, etc., all make for huge variables in wear.

*I have used the same model tires on the same bike(s) multiple times over the years and saw replacements due in 2-3 thousand miles with really aggressive mountain roads riding and then easily last 3X the mileage when touring so it really comes down to (outside of a defective tire), what a rider sees for results on his bike and with all his variables being able to be duplicated within reason on same-same sets or when comparing to a different tire model. Final subjective data point is for me and on my R18 with my riding, the front wear will be 2 fronts to 1 rear tire as I'm well into my second front with the rear still looking good at approximately 12,000 miles. Good luck!

 

[Alf]

A lot of really useful information guys, thank you. I will wait and see what the Bmw dealer and Bridgestone come back with.( if they bother) Just to clarify….I’m a 64 year old and I do not ride aggressively, those days are long gone.
When I first purchased the R18 I did ask what sort of mileage I could expect from the front/rear tyres under normal usage…thinking about it, all I got was a nervous cough in reply.
When the service advisor mentioned the wear, post my recent service I did show my astonishment and bewilderment.
Again when I broached the subject I was given a smile and they changed the subject.
All I want to know is that..is this normal on these tyres, if it’s yes then fair enough.
I will put it down to experience and move on.

 

[0hmerR18]

Adding some photos of thee H50 at about 6500 miles.




Replaced them with the Michi Commando 3. Took em cruising around LA today 70 miles. Wat better than my worn out H50s.... Hopefully Michelin will get the Commando 3 Cruisers outbsoon.... The tread pattern looks more aggressive.





I wanted some Pirelli Night Dragons but my BMW dealer couldn't get them at this time. My BMW dealer got me a good deal on the Michelin Commando 3 and I'm happy with them so far.

 

[Ulrich]

Damn!!! that tyre is roached ... I am stunned!

 

[Alf]

Ok, heard nothing back from Bridgestone re tyre wear….but I have managed to drill down with Bmw!
Bmw are stating for the Bridgestone H50 fitted to the front of a R18, depending on OAT, tyre pressure, riding style and which way the wind is blowing from. They would expect around 1mm wear per 1000mls. so considering the H50 comes out with 5mm from new that equates roughly to 5000mls before its considered unserviceable.
So mine is at 50% worn with 2000mls so I can live with that.
Bmw have suggested Michelin’s might be a better option for this bike in future.