I have been noticing in turns lately like I am rolling off something and the bike feels funny. I have Avon Cobras and I understand this can be a problem. I don't know exactly what cupping is. I've Googled and the pics seem similar. Down the center of the rear tire is a slightly discolored band. I've sort of marked the edges in case the band didn't show in the pic. The band is flat til you hit the edges then it falls off round as the tire should. If the tire needs replacing how soon? They are practically new. only a few thousand on them. Also if they need replacing is the stock rear tire size the best or is slightly bigger better?
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Tire Cupping?
CaliPhil
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I have been noticing in turns lately like I am rolling off something and the bike feels funny. I have Avon Cobras and I understand this can be a problem. I don't know exactly what cupping is. I've Googled and the pics seem similar. Down the center of the rear tire is a slightly discolored band. I've sort of marked the edges in case the band didn't show in the pic. The band is flat til you hit the edges then it falls off round as the tire should. If the tire needs replacing how soon? They are practically new. only a few thousand on them. Also if they need replacing is the stock rear tire size the best or is slightly bigger better?
![Image]()
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Sounds like normal wear to me
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Yeah, from what we can see, everything looks to be wearing normally. Every motorcycle tire i've seen with the cupping issue always has the obvious high and low spots - and it's usually the front tire that gets it in my experience. But if it's bulging out more than the picture is doing justice, you're not going to want to stay on them. What kind of riding are you doing? If you're 90% of the time running fast speeds on mostly straight freeways and highways, "a few thousand miles" isn't all that new. Make sure they're fully inflated.
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184 Posts
You don't have cupping on that tire. I just copied this so you can see why the tread in the center is that way after several miles. It is not anything to be real concerned about in my opinion, it is just the way most cruiser tires are built now.
2012 Touring & Sport-Touring Tire Buyers Guide
Basic Tire Tech
Depending upon how you ride, you may notice that the center of your tires' tread wears out while there's still plenty left on the shoulders. This is common on touring bikes, as tourers usually spend the majority of their time riding straight up. Also, you may not go haring around in the corners because your tires feel uncertain in terms of grip when leaned over and pushed. To deal with this, most tire manufacturers offer dual- or even triple-compound tires that have a harder rubber compound and construction in their center portion for greater wear resistance, and a softer compound on their shoulders for better grip. Many tire manufacturers also have a circumferential belt that is wound tighter in the center, and less so on the edges, for the same reason.
2012 Touring & Sport-Touring Tire Buyers Guide
Basic Tire Tech
Depending upon how you ride, you may notice that the center of your tires' tread wears out while there's still plenty left on the shoulders. This is common on touring bikes, as tourers usually spend the majority of their time riding straight up. Also, you may not go haring around in the corners because your tires feel uncertain in terms of grip when leaned over and pushed. To deal with this, most tire manufacturers offer dual- or even triple-compound tires that have a harder rubber compound and construction in their center portion for greater wear resistance, and a softer compound on their shoulders for better grip. Many tire manufacturers also have a circumferential belt that is wound tighter in the center, and less so on the edges, for the same reason.
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76 Posts
I had a Cobra front that cupped really bad on my CCT. I rarely checked tire pressure, so I attribute the cupping in my case to my own fault. It looked a lot more like the picture CPT Pyro posted, Ordinarily, my tires (rear especially) look a lot like the picture you posted, from riding thousands of highway miles on straight roads. If that's also your situation, I think it's just normal wear, as the center of the tire will be the only part of rubber in contact with the highway when you're straight up. It's hard to tell from the photo where the wear bars are worn down to, but if you don't feel comfortable or confident on it, replace it and make sure your air pressure is always good.
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@CaliPhil , the wear you are experiencing is normal. The Avon Cobra is a soft tire and very sticky. Looks like you ride a lot of highway or are rather hard on the launch. Either will wear a center strip in your tire. The feathering you feel on the sides is also semi normal. If you push this tire in the corners what you experience is a shearing on the rear tire. I have run several sets on my XCT lowest mileage recorded was 4500 as I wore the shoulders to the cords. This was a lot of hard technical riding.
Tires ( any Brand) wear the most in the first few thousand miles, after that they cure and become a bit harder. It is important to run some heat cycles thru your tires when new short hops but long enough to heat the tire up then let it cool. when you put them on also has a lot to do with mileage. in the heat of the summer the road surface is much hotter than Air temp, the tire will wear faster than installing new in the cooler months.
Dreaded Air pressure bit, keep a good check on air pressure, even a pound or two will make a difference in these tires. you will get more abnormal wear from reduced or over inflated tires than anything else. Check then first thing in the morning ( cool) you will get the most accurate pressure.
Rear tire wear, two things are working against you here: 1) you own a big Vee Twin, the engine is hard on tires. You accelerate and decelerate a lot each tearing at the rubber. I venture a guess that you ride like most of us using engine braking to slow and downshifting to slow to a stop more than the brakes. 2) you have a lot of lean angle with a Victory and it is a heavy bike. Sport bikes in the 300-400# a Vic in the 500-800# range. this combined with heavy torque will tend to shear the rear tire in hard turns and extreme lean angles.
If you are getting feathering in a few thousand miles (?) How many? you either need to keep a better eye on tire pressure or are really having fun in the technical stuff.
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853 Posts
I launch hard and do engine brake. Need to go back and see what was on the bike when I got it to tell you miles. I would guess like 4-5k. Thank you all for putting to ease my fear. Who doesn't love rolling the throttle on these thunder machines?
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3,524 Posts
So on a good day you will get 9000 out of a rear Avon Cobra. If you drive like you stole it then the tires will not wear as long. I managed to put on in the dumpster in as little as 4500 miles.
The Plus side you have some great grip in the corners and rain.
Tip, go a little more gentle on the throttle and you will be surprised how may more miles you can get out of a Avon.
The Plus side you have some great grip in the corners and rain.
Tip, go a little more gentle on the throttle and you will be surprised how may more miles you can get out of a Avon.
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