Switching from an ‘18 Fatboy to a touring bike, one of the advantages I was glad to hear about was the fact that I’d get more than 7k miles out of a set of tires...WRONG ! I picked up a little friend somewhere along the way -see pic-Amazingly, my local H-D actually had my rear tire in stock (the front still looks practically new) and they just happened to be running a 20% off tire sale so I paid basically the same that I would have through an online retailer like Revzilla or Cycle Gear. I got the wheel off and up to the dealership yesterday evening, the service guy said they would have it done by Friday. Gonna cost about 325, the tire was 250 plus tax and the install is 50 with me taking the wheel off. I figured I’d at least get through this riding season on the original set, but nooooo.
Anyway, that’s really not the point of this thread I just wanted to bitch a little because this is the second time in the last year that I’ve run something over on an otherwise good tire (the first time I had only about 100 miles on a set of tires on the Fatboy when I ended up with a screw in my front tire.
The question I have is about whether the wear I had on the back tire of my ‘19 Street Glide was typical. I took measurements from the top and bottom of a tread on each side of the tire. I used a set of calipers to measure the depth from the surface of the tire to the top of the wear bar, and came up with .275 inches on the top and .200 inches on the bottom, and it was the same on both edges of the tire. It was also pretty consistent around the whole tire although I didn’t measure every groove. Does this kind of wear seem normal? I have been tweaking the shocks here and there, trying to get them set up properly for me, and think this might have something to do with it. I attached a pic of how I measured the tread depth, I hope what I’m describing is clear enough. Thanks in advance... btw the tires on mine are factory Dunlop’s, not sure if they’re American Elites, the rear just has Dunlop and D407 markings on it, I bought the bike with 2900 miles and it now has a little over 6k just for reference

What have we here ?

Little rat bastard

Measurements from surface of tire above the groove and below

 

Your wear is typical for a factory D407 tire, they also reportedly cup pretty bad about mid way through their life span. Not really a very good tire IMO. The AE's I'm running now seem are doing much better.

See those splits on the edge of the tread? That's where the 2 different compounds meet and it's delaminating. This also happened to my 19 SGS, and is the reason I put new tires on it. I got 14k out of it, so I can't complain, but there was still plenty of tread left.

 

Ok thanks for that 702, I wanted to make sure i address any problems that might cause premature wear on the new tire. I might look for alternatives when it’s time for the next set

 

The wear seems pretty normal for that tire. Mine was smoked at 10K. I have a pic somewhere.
I also have a '19, but my engine was a bit more than stock from day one, so I am sure that I helped it along. I am hoping to do better with the Dunlop AEs

 

I would find a new dealer. They should have changed while you waited. Its only 20 min. job.

 

The service guy said there is a two week wait on any kind of work right now (except for a tire install), they only had two mechanics working yesterday and only staff three and they might have it done before Friday. It’s a small dealership. I gotta work anyway and it’s only ten minutes from the my house so not a big deal

 

If you are not mathematically challenged, you can do this yourself. I won't bother changing to decimal equivalents, the inches are easy. A new rear tire typically comes with 11/32 tread depth and the wear bar is 1/32 tall giving you 10/32 usable tread depth. If you go 10,000 miles and have 6/32 tread depth remaining, (5/32 down to the wear bar) that is 1/2 of your available tread used in 10,000 miles. You should get around 20,000 total miles wear down to the wear bars. Each 32nd of tread depth is about 10% of the total mileage you should get. Cupping can be aggravated by under inflation. Tire flexing causes heat build up and that softens the rubber increasing wear. Heat is the enemy of tires so keeping them on the high side of the inflation range is better than even slightly too low. I have had great luck running at the max allowed tire pressure shown on the sidewall. Since tires or valves will always seep just a little, I actually run a bit above that figure and get good mileage and minimal cupping.

 

I have had great luck running at the max allowed tire pressure shown on the sidewall. Since tires or valves will always seep just a little, I actually run a bit above that figure and get good mileage and minimal cupping.[/QUOTE]

I was wondering about this, the service manual calls for 40 psi but the tire itself has a max of 42 psi

 

Pick one of these up, about $30. Best and simple fix for catching a nail. I have a plug in my rear tire now. Will run it until replacement (have done before using a plug)
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