Why does my front tire wear like this?

[SmokeX]

My first 60 hours on an AT-81 was still good. Even tread wear. Put on a 216AA fatty and has 75 hours on it. Even Steven on the the thread. But I stick to the dirt mostly.

[biglake]

Every knobby tire I've run on the front of my dual sports do this when riding on the road. Some do it worse than others, running them at high psi for road only trips helps a bit but sucks off road. Even the less aggressive 50/50 tires do it but not as fast as there's more knobs on the road at one time.

Aggressive mud tires do it on the front of trucks if you don't rotate them all the time, its just how aggressive off road tires wear on the road.

[Timothy Hibbard]

On 6/20/2019 at 6:47 PM, aaronlishman said:

I've gone through several sets of tires on my 2001 DRZ 400S. Pirellis mostly.  The front tires always wear like this, every other knob in the center is completely gone (down to the cord on this MOTO Z) but the rest are hardly worn. Can anyone explain, is this normal? My buddy said his Kawasaki did the same. 

Hey aaronlishman. I have the same problem with my Pirelli Scorpion Pro FIM tires front and rear. I ride hard but not on the front brake and I am having the same issue with my WR250Rs Pirellis. My front was worse than your tire in pic and I have only put 1,000 miles on it. I weight 120lbs so 130lbs with gear and they whore out this fast... my rear is doing great!... don't get it. My old man thinks it's a defective tire and I should get one from company for free. I cant believe the center lugs were that weak?

[Timothy Hibbard]

15 hours ago, CRF2eR said:

The DOT legal Pirelli Scorpion front tire on my street-legal CRF250x has done the exact same thing. None of the Dunlops I've run in the past have done this. I tend to think Pirelli has used a dual compound rubber for it's DOT legal dirtbike tires. Something like alternating Hard/soft on every other knob. Tire was very balanced and up to normal pressures when this occurred.

I'm having the same issue with the same tire on my tricked out WR250R.  I think if they all do this then Pirelli needs to make a recall a fix this. My bike vibrates 2X what it did when I first put them on. Do you have a Pirelli Scorpion Pro FIM rear as well? My rear looks even and I power slide and in it all day. Nothing like the front. And I weight 130lbs with gear. People keep saying stay off your front brake.... i barely use it; so that cant be it. My tire pressure is always higher than 15 so I thinks it's a defective design.

[I'm trying]

8 minutes ago, Timothy Hibbard said:

I'm having the same issue with the same tire on my tricked out WR250R.  I think if they all do this then Pirelli needs to make a recall a fix this. My bike vibrates 2X what it did when I first put them on. Do you have a Pirelli Scorpion Pro FIM rear as well? My rear looks even and I power slide and in it all day. Nothing like the front. And I weight 130lbs with gear. People keep saying stay off your front brake.... i barely use it; so that cant be it. My tire pressure is always higher than 15 so I thinks it's a defective design.

Have you checked the bearings in the wheel and steering head? They could be on the way out causing the vibration.

[Roy Kaplan]

19 hours ago, 84XR350 said:

Just stop using that damn front brake

Don't like this advice. you should be automatically using front brakes. In an emergency stop not using the front is bad news. I guess it's okay if your reflex uses them. 

[EmpireofDerp]

I'm having the same issue with the same tire on my tricked out WR250R.  I think if they all do this then Pirelli needs to make a recall a fix this. My bike vibrates 2X what it did when I first put them on. Do you have a Pirelli Scorpion Pro FIM rear as well? My rear looks even and I power slide and in it all day. Nothing like the front. And I weight 130lbs with gear. People keep saying stay off your front brake.... i barely use it; so that cant be it. My tire pressure is always higher than 15 so I thinks it's a defective design.

It's not defective. They all do it.

[EmpireofDerp]

Don't like this advice. you should be automatically using front brakes. In an emergency stop not using the front is bad news. I guess it's okay if your reflex uses them. 

Jfc, of course you use them in an emergency, the 99.9 percent id the time you're riding that's not an emergency, set your entry speed with engine braking and a touch of rear pedal. Your post is indescribably dense. Common sense is dead.

[Roy Kaplan]

3 minutes ago, HellzyaaBuddy said:

dense

Did you read the last sentence dude?WTF relax a bit will you.. either that or f off. Many people don't practice enough in quick stops and if you get used to using the back brake only that's what you going to do when you need to stop. 

[68victor]

I would look at your shock settings, particularly the rebound is to fast or the compression is too low. Your spring rate might be too stiff. Have you ever had them serviced or set up to your riding style? 

[EmpireofDerp]

Did you read the last sentence dude?WTF relax a bit will you.. either that or f off. Many people don't practice enough in quick stops and if you get used to using the back brake only that's what you going to do when you need to stop. 

I guess it's okay if your reflex uses them.

 

What does this even mean? Did you mean, "it's ok if you reflexively use them"? I have trouble deciphering writing of this caliber. Also, if you're not braking 100% at the end of every straight when off pavement, why even ride a motorcycle. I guess I take it for granted that folks ride wfo and use brakes accordingly.

 

[RichieGoatGruff]

1 hour ago, HellzyaaBuddy said:

I guess it's okay if your reflex uses them.

 

What does this even mean? Did you mean, "it's ok if you reflexively use them"? I have trouble deciphering writing of this caliber. Also, if you're not braking 100% at the end of every straight when off pavement, why even ride a motorcycle. I guess I take it for granted that folks ride wfo and use brakes accordingly.

 

Remember, school's out for the summer...

[Beta300REcat]

17 hours ago, Desifire911 said:

Forks soft?

Like maybe too much compression and not enough rebound?

[84XR350]

4 hours ago, Roy Kaplan said:

Don't like this advice. you should be automatically using front brakes. In an emergency stop not using the front is bad news. I guess it's okay if your reflex uses them. 

Ii was just being facetious boys and girls. Just my way of saying its front brake use that causes the cupping...

[PAUL ZANIS]

Front tire scalloping and rear tire scalloping is caused by two different forces with the same outcome. It's a flexing of the carcass of the tire or a wave that gets set up ahead of the tire before it strikes the ground as the tire rolls down the road. The rear tire with all the weight and engine torque applied to it can make it much more pronounced. It is not caused by out of balance. I'm trying to keep it simple. Adjust your tire pressure!

 

[PAUL ZANIS]

Front tire scalloping and rear tire scalloping is caused by two different forces with the same outcome. It's a flexing of the carcass of the tire or a wave that gets set up ahead of the tire before it strikes the ground as the tire rolls down the road. The rear tire with all the weight and engine torque applied to it can make it much more pronounced. It is not caused by out of balance. I'm trying to keep it simple. Adjust your tire pressure!

 

[seer]

Guys that ride dual sports say its normal. Change your tires more often. 

  Guys that ride dirt say adjust your suspension,air pressure,tire choice...

 Dont use the front brake and ride like harley goons?  Im still shaking my head on that. 

 

[CRF2eR]

I went through 5 or 6 non DOT legal front dunlops on my street legal crf250x and not one of them showed the odd "every other knob worn down" pattern. Then, with all my riding being the same, I installed the pirelli and it wore exactly like the OP's pirelli did. I still think its a dual compound tire. Maybe I'll send a picture to pirelli tech support and ask them what's up with this tire, to put this to rest...

[riverat]

I just changed the tire on my XR650L and it looked like that. I used to have a KLR650, and I never noticed it being quite as bad. Using same tires Kenda K270 front and back on both bikes. Anyway, I've never balanced a dual sport tire in my life but decided to try it see if that was the cause. I can tell you alot of the squirrely vibration is gone if nothing else happens. We'll see how it helps wear. I too go through about 3 backs before 1 front, and I get 3K out of one back. If you find a fix be sure and share. 

[biglake]

On 6/22/2019 at 9:30 AM, Timothy Hibbard said:

I'm having the same issue with the same tire on my tricked out WR250R.  I think if they all do this then Pirelli needs to make a recall a fix this. My bike vibrates 2X what it did when I first put them on. Do you have a Pirelli Scorpion Pro FIM rear as well? My rear looks even and I power slide and in it all day. Nothing like the front. And I weight 130lbs with gear. People keep saying stay off your front brake.... i barely use it; so that cant be it. My tire pressure is always higher than 15 so I thinks it's a defective design.

It's not a defective design, it's a no compromise off road race tire that happens to be DOT approved.

The Pirelli rally front doesn't scallop much at all, due to the tread pattern, bigger knobs and stiffer carcass, if you want a Pirelli get that one, they designed it for pavement as well as offroading.