My rear tire of my 09 E Glide is showing signs of feathering after 8,000 miles. On a car this can be caused by misalignment. But the alignment of the rear tire is apparently not adjustable in this bike. The bike handles OK and I keep the pressures to spec. I find nothing in the shop manual about this. Has anyone else seen this, or is this normal wear on these? Thanks.

 

What do you mean by "feathering"? Let's see a pic,if possible.

 

Those Dunlops are well known for that problem. Do a search. Mine sounds like has knobbies in it when I go around bends. First it was the fronts now it is the rears. HD wont do anything about it. Neither will Dunlop.
Gary D.

 

Thanks for the posts. It's a pattern of uneven tire wear. In my case, the front portion of each tread block is wearing more than the rear portion. The tire is wearing evenly in the center, and the feathering is most noticeable near the outer edges.

I did try a search, and only came up with concerns about front tires on touring bikes. It does help to know that this could be specific to Dunlops. Never were my favorite tire. I'd still like to hear from anyone else who knows something about this problem.

About the picture, I can't get a picture now, but I found this diagram in a search. It might help. Thanks.

 

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...538-tires.html

 

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...r+tire+cupping

 

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...r+tire+cupping

 

Contact your local dealer. It is a known problem. Lowcountry HD just put a new one on my friends Ultra.....N/C

 

Thanks for the links, G money. I didn't search for "cupping", but those discussions about it could be about the same thing I'm seeing.

It's good to know some people are getting replacements. It amazes me. What some dealers acknowledge as a problem is considered normal wear for the new frame geometry by some customers.

I'll be at the dealer later this week, and see what he says.

 

I have the feathering (cupping) on front and rear. Saw the dealer today and he said this happens to almost all of these, and it has nothing to do with any kind of alignment problem. It's why the newer front tires' tread appears backward to the way they originally were mounted. Turning the tread around was an attempt by Dunlop/HD to solve this.

HD will replace my front under warranty, but not the rear. He says the rear will last a long time as is. I'm willing to give this plan a try..