G'day,

I have got an 07 FXSTC with a 21" Revolver mag front wheel fitted with the standard Dunlop tyre. I have done about 7000Km (4000m) so far and the right side of the front tyre is showing far greater wear than the left side; visibly half of thetyre is almost worn out whilst the left side looks like it is good for thousands of Kms of further use. The rear tyre is wearing even on both sides.Thesteeringtracks straight and when you takeboth hands of the bars it hasa very, veryslight movement to the left - consistent with road camber.

In Australia we ride on the left side of the road with the predominant road camber fromrightto left. Has anyone else experienced uneven front tyre wear? If it was a road camber issue it seems strange the same wear is not evident on the rear tyre.

Would anyone know if Harleys aresteering aligned (makes sense) for US market that ride on the opposite (sorry, I just cannot say the 'right' side- lol!) side of the road with the road camber going from left to right. Any ideas, suggestions or explanations would be appreciated.

cheers,

shep.

 

Hello Shep,

I ride an FXST here in the UK and the right (correct) side of the road is the left side for us too! I have the same tyre wear on the right side of the front tire. I thought it couldn't be as simple as the camber. I went into the local independent and asked the mechanic what might cause uneven tyre wear. I didn't mention which side, but he immediately said " is it on the right side of the tyre?" I said "yes" he said "roundabouts - they all wear like that" I still find it hard to believe, but I cannot find any other possible causes. I don't know if you have lots of roundabouts (or traffic islands) like we do here, but I suppose camber and too many tight right hand turns must be it.

 

I believe that your mecanic friend is probably correct thinking its the"roundabouts" that are a major contributing factor. Over here in the states where there is more room they try to avoid using them and where they dothey tend to be of a much larger diameter.
With a greater diameteryou don't have to lean over as far so there islessoffset wear and tear on the tires.
Unless the crown the roads a LOT more than over here I doubt it would have any serious effects on tire wear. Even if the roads had a higher crownthe offset wearwould still be more centered and far less obvious.

 

My front tyres wear the same, right side goes first due to roundabouts.

 

Hi,

Thanks for the info - didn't consider that[sm=confused06.gif]. Yes, we have lots ofroundabouts in the Land of Oz. I just don't recall it happening on other Harleys I have owned, but, then again, memory fades with age and abuse ...

cheers,

shep.

 

shep,
Funny thing is that one of the reasonsI though of the roudabouts is an old article I read some time ago where a bike writer from the UK took a Heratige on a trip from London to Paris, did a little sightseeing on it and returned.
His description of the bike and what he did with it were I though very funny. He called it something like a brut of a bike with the looks of a"tart's handbag" and called the leather bags "panners". That kind of description stuck in my mind as well as his last sentances being something to the tune of"beware of mad Englishman throwing sparks off the floorboard's" while passing sport bikes in roundabouts.

 

Hi Citorplus,

All poms are mad! - Warm beer, yorkshire pudding, lucas electrics ... funny buggers! Noel Coward had it right with 'only mad dogs and englishmen go out in the midday sun!' Ya got to love them; they reckon they speak 'english' - ever tried to understandcockney accent and slang? And, they reckon aussies sound weird!Australia and England are about to meet again in the Rugby World Cup - the old enemies on the battle field again! Us Aussies are still smarting from our loss to England in the last World Cup final ... revenge is approaching!

In Oz us older blokes are use to refering to 'solid' (fibreglass/plastic, etc)saddlebags as being 'panniers'. Panniers are generally refered to as the solid type touring 'bags', whereas, saddlebags were knownas theleather / fabric type bag. Panniers used to be only fitted to cop bikes and bmws.

Australia, being a former English colony, tends to use a lot of English expressions, phrases, spelling, jargon, etc. Something about us being the descendants of Convicts, the Royal NAVY and Marines. The rivally between the Poms andAussies, especially on the playing field (cricket, rugby, tennis, rowing, etc) goes back hundreds of years. The Poms, just like the Yanks I have met, there are no nicer people on earth.

cheers,

shep.

 

Shepo,

Yea, the USA used to be one of their colony's too.
But we didn't like the way they tried to tax us and kicked them out so we could do even worse to ourselves a couple of hundred years later.
Think they would take us back? Never mind, its probably too late for that kind of thing.
Besides I don't think it would be too practical having to chang over to driving on the other side of the street. I would hate having to learn how to shift with my left hand anyway.

As for the "pom" writer, I just though he used some really strange descriptions. The refernace to it looking like a "tart's handbag" because of all the chrome made me laugh. You would think they had never seen or heard of the stuff before a Harley showed up at their door. Maybe its their notoriously dull weather conditions. They think a bike should look dull too. Though they sent over a bunch of really nice looking Norton's, BSA's and Triumph's back when I was a lot younger. And the current Triumph Rocket III isn't any slouch in the chrome and glitter catagory. Even if it does look a little odd with its three port exhaust header on one side. There's no denying the sucker can really get up and go like hell.

 

Hey Citoriplus,

I followed one of those new Rocket 3s the other day. It was no slouch and it certainly had 'road presence'. Not really my style though.

Ah, in past years I had me a '68 Bonnie, '71 Bonnie, '73 Commando and the last of Triumph Tridents ('76). It is a little funny reading about new Harleycomplaints after owning early brit bikes! - Gawd, the Trident's engineblew up on the way home from the dealer on the dayIpurchased it new! If the internet was around then Iguess Triumph, Norton, BSA would have been out of business a hell of a lot sooner than they did. They all leaked oil, vibrated, broke down, electrics (huh, what lights?), but, when running they certainly went sweet and just to look at them - all was forgiven. A Bonneville has just got to be one of the best looking bikes ever. Besides, you could (and did) fix them beside the road and other riders would always stop and give you a hand (as you would do for others). Remember carrying a spare chain link in your jacket pocket, tools under the seat, a bit of fencing wire, puncture repair kit, etc? And, Brit bikes were a lot better than early Ducatis. Apart from WLAs, in my youth Harleys were rare in Australia due to their high cost. There were a lot of WLA choppers getting around then.

Anyway, I have got to stop this talk, besides hijacking my own thread, I am starting to feel old.

cheers,

shep.

 

Me too, see ya round, ride safe. [sm=biker2.gif]