Tyre (or Tire) wear.

[Cal Price]

My GSF 650 is three years old next week and has done about 16000 miles. After one year i changed both tyres (BT020) as they were pretty shot, the front was in worse condition than the rear. Today I have discovered that the front tyre will not pass M.O.T. (due next week) due to excessive wear on the sides.
I put the first set down to some hard riding on some mountain road is the Pyreneese, very steep inclines, harpins, hard breaking etc,. I always thought that rear tyres wore quicker than fronts, some people say a ratio of 2-to-1 so I am a bit mystified why i have done yet another front tyre whilst the rear is still OK - any suggestions?? Just as a matter of interest pretty much the same applies to my break pads.
If it's down to my riding style all I can say is that it was fun!

[gsJack]

Cal, I can remember 20-30 years ago when riders bought 3 tires at a time when ordering, 2 front and 1 rear.  The rears always outlasted the fronts.  But that was before supersport bikes and supersport radial tires came along.

My experience with radials on the GS500s has been similar to your Bandit experience, the fronts wore out much sooner than the rears.  My first 97 GS radials were the Z4/Z2 combo and the front bevels were worn out while the centers were still like new.  Got about 10k miles from the front and 14k from the rear.  I had similar experience with the Avon Azaro radials on my 02 GS.



Other than stiffer Progressive front springs I've not made any suspension mods to either of my GSs and I attribute much of this to the primitive non-adjustable front suspension of the GSs.  Most of my GS front tires have bevelled and cupped badly with the exception of the Metz Laser type front and now the Roadrider front which is almost as good as the Laser in this regard and has much greater life.

Solution for me was to run a bias Laser front with a Conti RoadAttack rear.  The front outlasted the rear and I still consider this the best handling combo I've tried on the GSs but expensive compared to the bias Roadriders that meet my current (old man) needs.   

In spite of the excellent tire life and more than adequate handling of my current Roadriders I'm considering trying a 140/80 Azaro radial rear with a Roadrider bias front when I replace my rear this summer, could be I just want to know how well it will work.  I have no idea how they might work on a Bandit though never having ridden one.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500tirelog.jpg

[Cal Price]

Thanks Jack, I'll see how this current BT021 (not 020 as i mistakenly said at first) lasts out and if everything runs true to form I should be due to replace both together next time and I will be much more selective and make good use of your advice and comments about "old man" as I too am in that club, cheers.