Dunlop Elite 3's are Done

[Mikealiasmike]

One of your questions was alternative tires. I'm replacing my rear tire with a Pirelli Route66 150/90 15. Motorcycle superstore 96.99 free shipping. 2nd one I've bought. Got close to 15000 miles out of it. Never felt more sure footed then with that tire. Good luck with your quest. God Bless. Mike

 

PS Last tire was a Dunlop D404 6500 miles and it's toast.

[stroker ace]

One of your questions was alternative tires. I'm replacing my rear tire with a Pirelli Route66 150/90 15. Motorcycle superstore 96.99 free shipping. 2nd one I've bought. Got close to 15000 miles out of it. Never felt more sure footed then with that tire. Good luck with your quest. God Bless. Mike

 

PS Last tire was a Dunlop D404 6500 miles and it's toast.

 

 

Never asked about alternative tires but commented on how some are getting the high mileage out of them ( I can't ). I know the answer riding style, a friend has the elite 3's on his and has around 10,000 miles and not half worn. Thanks for all the responses.

[Cowboy]

I had the same wear issue and found that the dealer had installed the rear axle spacer on the kickstand side was installed wrong. Could not belive that I let the dealer change my tires. Never again! Just got lazy! I can't belive that I did not notice by the way it would ride, However I did not notice anything diffrent except for the tire wear. Wish I would of posted pictures like you did. Mine looked exactly like yours. I ride the curves just as much as you do it sounds and if I am not draging the pegs I am not riding. I just mounted the Avons and hope I found the issue. Also double check your brake calipers to make sure one is not sticking. Polish all four and twist with your fingers to make sure they are free!

Just my thoughts!

[1BigDog]

It seems that we all get different tire mileage figures. Some get really great numbers while others get pretty lousy ones. Makes me wonder if the different types of road surfaces around the country have an affect on tire wear. Some surfaces use a ground glass mixture, vs concrete, vs...you get the point. I've averaged about 13-14k on my rears. Maybe 20k on the front.

[Jethroish]

No expert, but...

Different road surfaces will eat up a tire fast: chip stone, grooved highways.

Aggressive riding also shortens tire life.

Both of those I am sure you are aware of.

One thing I have not seen in this thread, what pressures do you have in the suspension?

 

I got 19,000 out of my last set of E3s. Unlike you, my riding is 60% solo. Tires are kept at 40 psi. Forks have 3psi each and rear shock has 35psi. I do get aggressive occasionally, but not often.

 

There are a lot of factors to tire wear. We have all discussed them here over the years.

Road crown, right turns, left turns, jack rabbit starts...

 

Regardless, I would have expected 12,000 out of those tires riding 2 up.

[YamaDuck]

Yes always ride the Triangle the same way mostly right handers. What would I be looking for in a problem. The bike still handle's great ( not at the moment ). The tires are just worn out mileage was not as expected on my part from them. I spend more time leaning in the curves than riding straight line and more right hand curves than left.

If you always ride in the same direction and there are more right turns than left and you ride it a lot I would think that maybe that is the reason the right side is more worn. I am assuming you ride that route a lot so try riding the other direction about 50% of the time on your new tires and see if they wear evenly. Just a suggestion.

[stroker ace]

No expert, but...

Different road surfaces will eat up a tire fast: chip stone, grooved highways.

Aggressive riding also shortens tire life.

Both of those I am sure you are aware of.

One thing I have not seen in this thread, what pressures do you have in the suspension?

 

I got 19,000 out of my last set of E3s. Unlike you, my riding is 60% solo. Tires are kept at 40 psi. Forks have 3psi each and rear shock has 35psi. I do get aggressive occasionally, but not often.

 

There are a lot of factors to tire wear. We have all discussed them here over the years.

Road crown, right turns, left turns, jack rabbit starts...

 

Regardless, I would have expected 12,000 out of those tires riding 2 up.

 

 

I run 3 in the forks and 40-45 (depends if luggage) in the rear. I do ride aggressive a lot of jack rabbits and a lot of hard cornering. I expected in the 10,000 to 12,000 mile range not what I got. I going to try a commander and try to get the rest of the year out of it. Will put a matched set of something come next spring.

[LilBeaver]

I'm not sure how to answer all the questions but here goes. Bike history bought it with 803 miles on it. The guy had knee trouble and could no longer hold it up. He bought a Goldwing trike and parked this one.

 

...

 

I ride aggressive. Nothing wrong with the bike that's been found. The stock Dunlops's made it around 4,500 miles. I put a set of Metzeler"s Me 880s in '09 ran them 12,000 miles no issues down to the wear bar front and rear very even wear. Heard all the rage about the new elite 3 put them on I haven't liked them since day one but thought if they would wear for more miles I would learn to like them.

...

 

Okay - so you say you haven't liked the E3s since day 1. Have you taken the time to carefully inspect the bead and the tires them selves to see if it is, in fact, an issue with not being mounted properly?

Have you checked to make sure that the rear axle spacer is in the correct place? (as suggested)