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Tire Wear

ST13Fred

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In order to get more similar tire wear front and back I've started using front brake only; the rear also in emergency.
We always install both when the front will usually have a few thousand still available.
My Cub is ABS front, drum at rear.
 
My riding style is to not even use either of the brakes whenever possible. I just looked and my original front and rear pads are only half worn at 45,000 miles. It helps that I don't commute, and very rarely ride in cities or in urban environments.

If I changed both tires together, I'd be throwing away a lot of half worn front tires. My current front tire has over 14,000 miles on it and still going but I have never gotten that from a rear tire on an NC.

To your point though, my front tire is wearing the edges faster from cornering, than the center is wearing from braking.
 
I use front and rear brake on every stop. One of my other bikes has linked brakes.

On both .......My tire wear is consistent with two rear tires to one front..........+/- 20% dependent on the tire brand
 
On both .......My tire wear is consistent with two rear tires to one front..........+/- 20% dependent on the tire brand

That's the case on most bikes. However my cruiser on Avon Cobras seems to get even wear on both, they are usually shot around 11k miles.

To the op, I wouldn't worry about it and just replace the rear when needed. Nothing says you have to replace both at the same time....

That being said, you should be using your front brake more anyways. Except for when there is loose debris on the road, front brake will stop you more quickly and precisely, and less likely to lock up and slide like the rear if mashed hard in an emergency.
 
My riding style is to not even use either of the brakes whenever possible.
Running mountain roads in GA/NC/TN w/buddies I would touch the front rotors @ pit stops. Many times theirs' were too hot to touch. Mine............?
Coming down from Suches Ga a buddy on a PC800 w/wife said to me 'you don't brake in turns'. Thank You.
 
That's the case on most bikes. However my cruiser on Avon Cobras seems to get even wear on both, they are usually shot around 11k miles.

To the op, I wouldn't worry about it and just replace the rear when needed. Nothing says you have to replace both at the same time....

That being said, you should be using your front brake more anyways. Except for when there is loose debris on the road, front brake will stop you more quickly and precisely, and less likely to lock up and slide like the rear if mashed hard in an emergency.

I agree........my point on braking, if the rider states ........“I only use the front brake“ that is your normal habit ...........when it hits the fan: when you really need to stop, your would NOT use all the braking avail because your habit( muscle memory) will over ride the use of front and rear brakes. Same for the rider that says I never use the front brake. Those guys are the one‘s that in the emergency stop grab a foot full of rear brake lock the rear tire and slide into the intersection, hit the deer or rear of the car in front that stopped “for no reason”.
 
I agree........my point on braking, if the rider states ........“I only use the front brake“ that is your normal habit ...........when it hits the fan: when you really need to stop, your would NOT use all the braking avail because your habit( muscle memory) will over ride the use of front and rear brakes. Same for the rider that says I never use the front brake. Those guys are the one‘s that in the emergency stop grab a foot full of rear brake lock the rear tire and slide into the intersection, hit the deer or rear of the car in front that stopped “for no reason”.
Agree. Stomping on the rear brake also helps “lay her down” right before you hit the car. ;):D
 
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Agree. Stomping on the rear brake also helps “lay her down” right before you hit the car. ;):D

Gave me a chuckle.
When riding buddies used to say, "I had to lay it down", I would reply, No you didnt, you just wrecked !
The only reason to lay it down might be if you rounded a curve to find a tractor trailer sideways across your lane. Maybe do an Tom Cruise/James Bond stunt and slide under.
:cool:
 
would NOT use all the braking avail because your habit( muscle memory) will over ride the use of front and rear brakes. Same for the rider that says I never use the front brake. grab a foot full of rear brake lock the rear tire
I agree to a point regarding the memory habit but when that danger starts getting real close I hope my foot would instinctively be all over the foot lever also.
My Cub is ABS front only. Hitting a lot of rear on it is going to lock it up and do more harm than good.
 
I agree to a point regarding the memory habit but when that danger starts getting real close I hope my foot would instinctively be all over the foot lever also.
My Cub is ABS front only. Hitting a lot of rear on it is going to lock it up and do more harm than good.

You can spin this any way you want..............it been discussed here and every other forum, tested, studied in depth ( HURT REPORT). Not using the rear brake is a HUGE mistake. That HURT report goes in-depth on rear brakes in accident reconstruction....... “had to lay it down“, over use and under use of the rear brake.

One reason manufacturers used linked braking is to “force the rider“ to use both brakes In an attempt to make the bike safer in an emergency stop situation.
 
We are deviating from the original posting.
Changing the use of brake use WILL NOT affect tire wear to the point of thousands of miles or wear.
The rear wears faster because that is the tire with the driving force.
The same way the front tires on your car wear faster than the rear, and why you need to rotate them.
You can replace both tires at the same time if you wish, but then you are paying extra, since that front tire might just last two rear tires.
So just replace the tires as they wear.
No way you're going to increase the wear of the front to match the rear.
 
I agree just change tires as needed but it feels so nice having a fresh set.
(I disagree however that not using rear brake as a HUGE mistake. On an unlinked brake it takes very little to be too much.)
I will continue front only and do a followup post when i'm at the wear indicators on either or both.
The cub tires have delta arrows around the sidewalls pointing to a smooth section of the contact patch. A 'mark' appearing will be the indicator.
 
Let's see, what did I get out of my last Avon Trailrider front before I swapped out to a fresh Trailrider. The old one still had usable tread depth, 2 to 3 millimeters on the braking edges in the center, and more toward the sidewalls... 24,776 miles. That was 2.4 to 3 rear tires for me, often on coarse pavement and worse. Think I'll stick to using both my brakes in varying amounts in ways that enhance both the riding pleasure and the safety. It's not like the brake pads suffered: I got 46,041 miles out of them with the rear still not quite into the wear indicators and the front just biting through them. Should I not take advantage of the capabilities of both tires and brakes to deal with whatever comes my way and have some fun doing it? I think I'm on the right track...

I'm way past riding for great mileage too. I twist the mutha and still get acceptable fuel consumption.

Read up on rear brake use: it's not just for stopping power.
 
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I use brakes as required. My rear pads wear faster than my front. I just replace them as needed. They are a wear item and I accept that.

I replace tires as needed too. I’ll run the front to the wear bars or until it cups and gets too noisy.
Rears wear faster than fronts. Replace as needed.

Going on a long trip? I’ll replace both tires if it isn’t obvious there’s enough tread left to make the trip. My vacation time is more valuable to me than a half-used tire. I don’t want the worry or the hassle of replacing a tire on a vacation trip.

JT
 
I agree just change tires as needed but it feels so nice having a fresh set.
(I disagree however that not using rear brake as a HUGE mistake. On an unlinked brake it takes very little to be too much.)
I will continue front only and do a followup post when i'm at the wear indicators on either or both.
The cub tires have delta arrows around the sidewalls pointing to a smooth section of the contact patch. A 'mark' appearing will be the indicator.
With your DCT not having a user controlled clutch to modulate for low speed control, I would think the rear brake would come into play more heavily when doing low speed tight turn maneuvers. Not that occasional low speed rear brake use would cause much wear, but you still want to stay in the habit of using the rear brake when it is beneficial.

If you ride in loose sand/gravel or get on a slimy water crossing, the front brake is not your friend.
 
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I can't imagine not having two separate brake controls for either off the pavement or on it. Or I don't want to anyway. Too many functions they can perform, both for safety and for better riding experiences.
 
I can't imagine not having two separate brake controls for either off the pavement or on it. Or I don't want to anyway. Too many functions they can perform, both for safety and for better riding experiences.
Honda’s linked brake systems, the ones I’ve had anyway, are pretty well engineered and virtually transparent in use. Depending on the situation and reason(s) to use one brake or the other you can still can use either brake as if it’s not linked.

I probably wouldn’t want linked brakes on a pure off-road bike but for street use Honda does a good job. I’ve had close to 30 bikes of both stripes and didn’t or wouldn’t rule out any bike because it was or wasn’t linked.
 
Yeah, linked brakes work. Of course they do. Especially in motorcycles that get driven more like cars than sports bikes or dirt bikes.
 
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