OK, I know we all love our E-3s but where is the best spot to measure the tread depth? Mine don't have grooves at the center of the tire and seem to taper deeper towards the sides. I do have 9k miles on it but seems like I remember the tread was this way when new. I don't think I have worn out the center from over inflation as I run 40#s rear and 36#s front as recommended.

I like measuring tread depth in order to have an idea of how much longer I can run the tires. I'm planning on riding to Alaska this summer and want to keep an eye on my tire wear during the trip. Thanks.

 

Got a brand new one sitting beside me waiting to be installed. The tread is deeper at the center than the edges. Unless you ride in curves alot, the center will wear faster than the edges.

 

Thanks. Mine must be about half gone or more. The rear is 3/32 near the center and 6/32 at the edge. I really thought they were not as deep near the center. The grooves on mine are not cut all the way to the center. I run 40# in the rear all the time. Maybe I'll try 36 and see how it rides. I ride solo and sometimes with luggage.

 

I put my E3 on my 2010 FLSTC at 9,100 miles and then measured the tread depth at about 12,000 miles. at the rate of wear I was getting I figured that it will hit 2/32 at about 17,000 miles, or slightly less miles than I got with the original tire. I was hoping for more but . . . looks like not!
Strange, my BMW 1150 RT uses two front tires for every rear and the Harley uses two rear tires for every front.

 

I'm fixing to put my 3rd rear on for the same front. I only get 6 to 8k on a rear E3, and I run them til they're bald in the center. My rear needs to be changed now, but I'm having the bike dynoed again on Tuesday. The dyno will eat an E3 slap up, so I'm gonna wait til afterwards to change it.

 

Regarding general wear on E3's, read this thread that I started a few days ago. My front is wearing more toward the left-center, as expected considering the crown of the road. It is worn-out in that area but still has some tread in the center, so for the front I would measure in that area that wears the fastest. The rear seems to wear more in the center.

As I said in the above thread, my front is worn-out at 18k, which is much sooner than I would've liked. The rear, OTOH, is doing very well indeed. My braking technique is suspect, which may be why I'm seeing the abnormal wear on the front.

 

My E3's also have no tread in the middle of the rear tire. I belive this is why they track so bad. I can feel every little groove or "tar snake" I cross, while going straight. I still have good tread on them, but believe I'm going back to Metzlers because of the way they handle.

 

i just ordered E3's for my bike. im waiting to put them on since J&P sent me the wrong tire. i hope i can get some miles out of them. my HD dunlop that was installed last year is almost done and i my have 8,000 miles on it. we will see what happens

 

i have 06ultra with 57000 on it. put 14000 on a set of E3 its a great wearing but i thought there road a little hard. i still run a E3 on frount and a 402 on rear just my 2cents

 

Interesting, you're the first I've heard complain of this. I put E3s on front and rear a couple k ago and the first thing I noticed was not noticing the grooves and tar snakes like the 402s.