What exactly is tire cupping? And how do you identify it? Anyone got a pic example?
Ride safe and thanks.

 

Cup you hand over your tire from one side to other then slid it front to back. If tire is not smooth but lumpy your tires cupped.
Sorry for the crude expenation but it's the only way I can come close.
And it will cause a lot of weird feeling on the bike.

 

Ah! Got it thanks! End of thread - short and sweet!

 

Here's an American Elite with 18,431 miles on it that exhibits some significant cupping off-center towards the edges of the tire. This is a rear off of my 2011 Limited.

 

The term "cupping" as it applies to tires means you have uneven wear on the tires surface. It is kind of a catch-all phrase because different things can cause different wear patterns on a tires surface. If the tire was out of balance that would be one wear pattern. If it was due to bad suspension or "toe in" or "toe out" that would be a different wear pattern.

 

My bike cupped it's rear tire pretty bad but not as bad as the pictures above. The bike was bought used and the tire was pretty new. When going straight the bike seemed fine, if the bike was leaned over at all it felt like a bad wheel bearing. In Long Sweeper turns the bike was very unsettling and unstable, had to go REAL slow as it literally felt like I was going to be bucked off.

Tire was an American Elite, I replaced with with a matching set of tires and close to 2k miles on it since and no issues.

 

When the rear tire gets cupped you can actually hear it whine while cornering. Prolonged low tire pressure can cause this also.

 

Thanks for all your input guys. I have just been out in the garage running my hands around my stock dunlop's with 5000m on them. They seem fine and have plenty of tread. I had heard that there was a cupping issue with the 09 models stock tires, but wasn't sure exactly what that meant.
HD forums - what a wealth of knowledge!

 

That has worn in an odd way, but looks like not enough pressure to me. I suggest you use a few more psi in your new tyre.

 

I have 15k (2011) on my rear Dunlop and been having the cupping issue since 2009. Its not my tire pressure either. Its just the way they wear. Lots of threads on this one.

I first noticed it when they first came out with this new super tire and sure is noisy in the turns. Gett-en ready to change it out but think I will stick with the same.