Ref1200lt Tire Wear Compaired To 1100rt

[aardvark]

I Am Wanting To Purchase A 1200lt Soon, I Have An1100rt Now And My Tires Are Wearing Out On The Left Side 1st, Before The Middle Or Right Side. Has Anyone Out There Had This Same Situation On The 1200lt Model? And What Reason Can Anyone Give For This Happening To The Tires? Aardvark

[jdiaz]

Both my 1100RS and 1100RT wore tires heavily on the left side. Could be road crown, could be the fact that the bulk of the fuel load was carried on the right, who knows?

My 1200LT doesn't wear tires in any particular fashion, but it does scallop new rear tires after 5K miles or so, which will give a slight buzz through the footpegs when the bike gets leaned over.

[PUDGYPAINTGUY]

I was speaking with a couple of Gold wing guys over this past weekend and they were commenting on the same phenomenon too. We threw around some ideas while looking around the machines for suggestive causes and what seemed to make the most sense was the configuration of how suspension adjustments work on those bikes that may cause one side of the bike to sink a hair bit easier than the other side whilst riding etc.

Is it possible that the reason is similar on yours? After all the paralever is on the right, is it possible that there is nominal torque-twist in the rear, enough to wear the left? Or similar causes? Curious indeed.

[wndsrfr]

I'm thinking about the loading of my '92 K75RT and how I need to keep about 12-15 pounds in my left side saddlebag to get the bike to track straight "no hands" on a flat straight road. It was the same with a '99 R1100R as well and I believe it's due to the final drive and shock/spring weight on the right side. Soooo......if you're having to always keep one hand on the bars, or having to shift your butt 'way over to the left to keep the bike from veering off to the right it may cause that tire wear pattern. Try loading your bags so that the bike tracks dead straight with no hands and then watch tire wear.

[DarkCloud]

I Am Wanting To Purchase A 1200lt Soon, I Have An1100rt Now And My Tires Are Wearing Out On The Left Side 1st, Before The Middle Or Right Side. Has Anyone Out There Had This Same Situation On The 1200lt Model? And What Reason Can Anyone Give For This Happening To The Tires? Aardvark
The R1100RT is out of balance from left to right. Shift your weight to the left about 2-3 inches and notice the tire wear change. JON

[TourDawg]

Aardvark,
My R1100RS wore the tires like that but removing the 2mm rear wheel mounting shim virtually eliminated that wear with 10 K on a fresh set.
My K1200LT shows no sign of any lateral wear nor does my K1100LT either. I have 19,500 miles on my rear K1200LT tire (Bridgestone Battlax 020 Radial). The wear pattern is consistant with non-curve riding (mostly). Before anyone is startled remember the rear tire on a K12LT is a load range "C" tire, not the lighter duty "B". It is a Battlax 020 radial. I don't think any other tire can beat the all around grip in wet or dry and ease of balancing (do your own tire R & R) of the 020 radials.