Back tire is almost bald...front tire not even close.

[bunny]

I only have 2750 miles on Bonheur. Went on a scooter ride Sunday morning and someone mentioned my back tire looked bald. It is almost flush.

My front tire looks near brand new.

And no, I do not ride like an idiot on my back tire. I do not peel out or burn rubber. So chime in with your thoughts, please.

[jfrost2]

You should go several more thousand before the back tire is bald. Is it the stock maxxis tire that came on the bike when you bought it? Also, what if your average tire pressure, and when was the last time you checked?

[Lostmycage]

A top box and low air pressure can cause premature wearing. Are either of these conditions present?

[Skootz Kabootz]

I got 4000 mi out of my stock rear tire. Front still has lots of life left in it.

[Vic]

I got about 7500 miles on my back tire when I replaced it. I think it is common for scooter tires to have the back replaced far more frequently than the front, but not even 3k is pretty bad!

I have replaced 2 back tires on 2 scooters and not yet a front tire.

If you think about it, the back gets a lot more weight and stress than the front and if you have a windscreen I believe that is increased (I think I read that somewhere-dont ask me where though) because the force of the wind is on the scooter (instead of the rider's body) and this slightly lifts the front and transfers the weight to the back tire.

Anyway, I don't think there are any warranties on scooter tires, but now you know about the wear you are experiencing and you can plan for it, and keep an eye on your tires so it doesn't go that far next time.

Cheers,
-v

[bluebuddygirl]

Bunny,

I am assuming those are the white walls, as they seem to wear out faster, based on other posts. The fact that you are in Texas is a factor too, as it is rarely cool, and almost never cold there, so the rubber stays softer and wears out faster. Here in the north for our cars we have these things called "snow tires" , and they are made of softer rubber so that in the winter we have traction. I think you are having the opposite problem. I am sure you know already that the rear always wears faster than the front.

Other factors, tire pressure (as already mentioned), load on a rear rack, types or roads surfaces you ride on?

[Sailboat13]

I think I got nearly 4000 on my back tire. At 5000 my front tire looks new. I'm 257lb so that might cause my back tire to wear faster.

[jmazza]

My back tire on my 07 Italia (Shinko whitewall) got about 3500 miles on it before being dangerously low on tread. My front at the time looked near new. I did have a top box for most of those miles, and while I do ride quick (taking off from the line, mostly at 50mph), I didn't do anything extreme either.

I replaced both with Michelin S1s and I've got about 1500 miles on them and the back is wearing faster as well.

It's not abnormal for the drive tire to wear more for all the reasons already stated.

[bunny]

These are the stock whitewalls...I do have a top case, never really thought about it tire pressure wise...should i treat it as a 2up passenger and increase the tire pressure? I check air pressure about once a week, sometimes a week and a half. I keep it at 30/30...maybe 30/32? Luckily I need an inspection so I'll just get a new tire at the same time...

oh!

Should I get both new tires and save the old front as a spare? Or just keep the front until it wears down?

[broke]

If you change to a different tread, you will probably want to replace both tires. If you buy another copy of your worn out tire, then you probably don't need to do both. I've read that different tread between front and rear tires will make handling... "different".

I'll be due to replace the rear Shinko on my 2008 125 at 5,000 miles. This is a little lower than what others have gotten on the Shinkos, but I am fat _AND_ I have the biggest top-case known to man _AND_ the temperatures have been unusually HOT HOT HOT here this summer.

[Skootz Kabootz]

I'd just let the front tire ride (sorry about the pun) until it needs changing. Just replace the back (with the same model tire). Why spend money when it's not needed? Even if you keep the front tire as a spare, you'll still have additional costs when remounting it later.

[Tocsik]

I had to replace my rear stock Maxxis tubeless w/w at 3800 miles.
I have nearly 7000 miles now and it looks like I may only get another 1K out of this one.
The front still looks great.
I like the tires but may switch to Heidenau, Michelin S1's or Continental Zippy 1.

[Cheshire]

I was looking at my tires just a little bit ago. At a little less than 6,500 miles, my stock front tire is finally starting to show some wear, but it's still got a lot of life left. My rear tire is looking like it's going to need replacing soon (not sure how soon, gonna keep an eye on it), and this is the second rear tire for Puca. I went with a Pirelli 26 100/90 instead of stock when I replaced it. I've been carrying things on the rear rack, so that probably led to faster wear.

I'll probably replace both front and rear this time, but only because I'm going to get a higher speed rating...probably 75 mph. If I was going with another J rated tire, I'd keep the front until it needed it.

[broke]

Hey Cheshire. I just ordered a pair of Pirelli SL26 today! $80 installed. (My dealer quoted me $170 installed for a pair of Cont. Zippys they stock... sorry guys, I want to give you my $$$ but you are just too damn expensive.)

I'm hoping the motorcyle service place I found handles my scoot with care though. Sounds like 5K miles is what I can expect with the Pirellis... I know that Krusty put those on her scoot too... I wonder how many miles she's put on the SL26's?

[Lookin' To Scoot]

As we all know, the more load/stress you put on something the faster it will wear out. A scooter tire, since it is supporting a relatively lightweight vehicle will be particularly impacted by the weight and position of any loads being carried. All one needs to do is look at a scooter and it is pretty evident that the rear is carrying the bulk of the load. A 225 pound scooter with a loaded topcase and a heavywight rider is clearly going to wear out the rear tire faster than if it is piloted by a bantam weight. Still, unless there is something abnormal, that's about half the mileage you would expect the tire to last. Hope you have better luck with the new one.

[Kaos]

Hey Cheshire. I just ordered a pair of Pirelli SL26 today! $80 installed. (My dealer quoted me $170 installed for a pair of Cont. Zippys they stock... sorry guys, I want to give you my $$$ but you are just too damn expensive.)

I'm hoping the motorcyle service place I found handles my scoot with care though. Sounds like 5K miles is what I can expect with the Pirellis... I know that Krusty put those on her scoot too... I wonder how many miles she's put on the SL26's?

5k to 6k is about what mine are doing, I've done several brands. The Zippy's did the worst for tread at just shy of 4k. The Pirelli Diablo's I've got now are the longest lasting at 6.2k. But I need new ones bad

(And +1 on the worlds largest topcase Broke. You could fit a spare scooter in that thing!)

[DennisD]

I just ordered a front tire for my Helix. Its lasted through 2 rear tires but there are only two real choices out there in 110/100-12 so its another Pirelli for me. That size is getting hard to find. Rear tire is a 4.00-10.

My rear Buddy tire has 2k and looks great. That's 2k hauling my fat butt around.

[broke]

(And +1 on the worlds largest topcase Broke. You could fit a spare scooter in that thing!)

I know! right?

[gt1000]

Unless you do a whole lot of really hard braking, yes, your back tire will always wear out well before your front. And I mean really hard braking. The kind of braking that gets you noticed on public roads.

I've always worn through at least 2 rears to every front I've ever owned. Judging by current wear patterns, I'm guessing I'll get somewhere between 5-6000 miles on my Buddy's stock rear and close to 10K on my front. On my Hyper, I get 2500-4000 miles on my rear Diablos while the front shows next to no wear. I'll probably go through 3 rears before needing a whole new set.

[cadillaczac]

I go through rear tires every 1800 miles. So far had three rear tires and the front is probably not even a third of the way wore down (I'm guessing I am going to get about 8000 miles out of the front). I always run 30-31 PSI front and rear and don't ride too hard. Just seems the Maxxis whitewalls can't take th eheat, but they do ride and look nice.