Thanks Miles!
I am running a Mitas E07+ Dakar on the front, at the moment, an E07 Dakar on the hack and pusher wheels.
I like the traction characteristics on the plus series almost enough to put up with the wear on the rear. However, their recent lack of availability anywhere I look for the 150/18 size, combined with a really good price on the "not plus" series at an ebay seller, means I will be running the not plus, Dakar series for a while, at least.
I hope for the double life of the last plus series rear tire that you mention, but am getting better at changing them, at least!
The concept of a street rig crosses my mind from time to time... a late Gen VMax would make for a lot of road fun! (With mobile gas station attached!)
Not "plus"
Plus
Not plus hack wheel at 26,000 miles: Probably will leave it until I see cords!
Plus mounted backwards on front, maybe 8,000 miles on it:
Ben Franklin, generally speaking, toe-in scrub wear is experienced solely by the sidecar tire. And since the sidecar tire is not heavily loaded during half your turns, not used for hard braking, not used for throttling up etc. it takes a long time to notice any unusual wear on the sidecar tire. In fact, I might go so far as to say that MOST wear on the sidecar tire is caused by scrub, and so it's pretty difficult to draw a line between unusual scrub wear and expected scrub wear.
In my opinion, then, in your case, your rear tire wear is being caused by PEBSAT.
Which is an issue for many of us.
PEBSAT -- Problem Exists Between Saddle And Throttle
And....if I may add to the observation noted by the eloquent @DRONE, given that the "saddle" on the bike in question is a RDL saddle, and given that the throttle on the bike in question is a Ride By Wire throttle, this offers further proof that the problem is the broken fuse between the saddle and the throttle, or...PEBSAT.
Two Million Mile Rider
Exploring the World in Comfort
Thanks Miles!
I am running a Mitas E07+ Dakar on the front, at the moment, an E07 Dakar on the hack and pusher wheels.
I like the traction characteristics on the plus series almost enough to put up with the wear on the rear. However, their recent lack of availability anywhere I look for the 150/18 size, combined with a really good price on the "not plus" series at an ebay seller, means I will be running the not plus, Dakar series for a while, at least.
I hope for the double life of the last plus series rear tire that you mention, but am getting better at changing them, at least!
The concept of a street rig crosses my mind from time to time... a late Gen VMax would make for a lot of road fun! (With mobile gas station attached!)
You DO realize that a 98 Royal Star is in many ways similar to a V-Max?
Illegitemi non carborundum est!
@thane-lewis 😆 😆 😆
They are a fine vehicle! However, I am allergic to carburetors, these days. I sneeze every time I walk by the 2004 Virago that snuck into my garage a few weeks ago.
@thane-lewis 😆 😆 😆
I sneeze every time I walk by the 2004 Virago that snuck into my garage a few weeks ago.
That's because of the 20 year old gas in the fuel tank on that half-a-Virago. Drain the fuel tank, put fresh fuel in the tank, and no more sneezing.
Oh, and Thane keeps fresh fuel in his Yamaha Royal Star V-4 fuel tank(s).
Two Million Mile Rider
Exploring the World in Comfort
Had a good conversation with Mike about alignment on my last visit and tire wear.. I have been goofing with the alignment on the Overland, more to deal with a higher speed right pull than a tire wear issue. but I have wear in the back of my mind when playing with numbers.. I also can chew up a drive tire.. The Dakar + I tried lasted about the same as Ben's. My go to on the old rig the Heidenau K60 lasts a about 10 k Kilos if I push to the cords and my now new "Go to" tire the Dunlop TMM is @ 12 k and still going. Not bad in my books. I'll swap it out for my up coming trip to Oregon. I swapped out the front tire at about 20 k Kilos, a Michelin Anakee Adventure for an Anakee 3. It didn't last past 12k Kilos.? The Anakee Adventure on the hack has 35k kilos on it now but is cupping badly. Still has some life in it. I like the grip I get from the Adventures so put one on the front on my last big trip when the 3 wore out.. On the Alignment, it usually takes me a while to really feel a difference when I make a change. I think the Overland is really forgiving to any change I make. Originally, If I remember rightly it had about 0 lean out and a smidge less than a 1/2 inch of toe. I gave it a bit more lean out after a few trips, thinking the suspension was settling a bit. Still the pull existed at speed. This spring I gave it a bunch of toe 1 1/8 it turns out, and a smidge more lean out. The only change that I noticed was the front tire cupped. So I figure I had lots of scrub. Plus it was hard to push around. I then dropped toe and gave it more lean out. Pull persisted. At speed. but now I find it more uncomfortable on un-even ground due to the excess lean out. Maybe 3-4 degrees when seated and loaded.. Going back to minimal lean out and minimal toe and my bungie cord pull correction device will get installed again. LOL but with all this goofing I am curious as to why the front tire would have cupped, scrub obviously but shouldn't it sort of self centre irregardless of toe setting?? Or did the excess lean out create some of the scrub that I am not envisioning. The clean part of the front tire after a ride seems to be even across the tire. Same with the rear. So my two functioning brain cells are a tad puzzled
Just so you know and to not create a discussion on alignment technic , flat floor, car frame level, degree/angle gauge on rear rotor, two straight trammel bars, measured toe at rear axle and front axle. So my numbers remain consistent from time to time. Maybe just I need to get out the temperature probe and set alignment according to tire temps like we did with the race car 🙂
Brian, @mgv8, and Dane @Ben Franklin, it really sucks to be you guys, when it comes to tires.
Oh, the Humanity !
I realize that both of you use your sidecar rigs in the dirt more than I, and that changing the tires on your tugs is not a big deal to either of you, even if you have to change the rear tire every 3,000 miles or 5,000 kilometers.
Because I just installed brand new tires on the '06 Wing w/Champion Daytona 2+2 that I have tentatively SOLD to a fellow sidecarist here, I thought I would look up the maintenance records just to see how many miles were on the tires I removed....even though those tires were NOT worn down to the point of needing removal. I replaced them so that the new owner would have brand new tires on it, to start with.
The front tire, a Bridgestone BT-45....had 13,490 MILES on it, and could have easily been ridden to 17,000 Miles.
The rear tire, a Bridgestone Driveguard Run-Flat 195/55-16...had the same 13,490 MILES on it, and could have easily been driven to 16,000 miles.
I say...easily drive to...because depending on wear, and 100 other factors at the time, I may have chosen to take both tires to 20,000 miles, before changing them.
Yes, there is a difference in how a tire wears on the dirt, vs the street, but I do drive my rigs fast, take off fast, and stop on a dime, and all those things contribute to tire wear.
Brian, the cupping on your front tire is caused by you using too low of air pressure in that tire. I know, because I has NASA redirect a satellite to hone in on your place in Canoe, then we did a temperature reading of the tire, comparing that to the ambient air around your place, taking into consideration barometric readings...and....well, you know the rest of the story.
Two Million Mile Rider
Exploring the World in Comfort
+1 on air pressure being a major culprit to premature tire wear. I bought an 1150 GS with the AnakeeII on the front and ran it at the same 36 I had run on most other fronts. Cupping was spectacular modern art within 1000 miles. A little searching and I put it up to 42 psi and it never got any worse.
OTOH, rear and sidecar tires seem to wear much worse when using automotive tires under "normal" pressure (36psi) I droped both to 28 psi for the most recent changes and have seen no evidence of premature wear.
ETA: I do not have access to NSA satellite tomography.
Illegitemi non carborundum est!
Observed lesson from the posts so far:
If I don't like the tire, make sure to maintain the wrong pressure. 🤩
If I do like the tire, obsess over finding and maintaining the correct pressure for every condition. 🤔
Think I'll focus on the tires I don't like. 😎
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
@miles-ladue You're most likely right and I should know better.. Been running with the tires a tad soft. going to bump them up to 50 psi to overcompensate.. Kidding of course. 
When the new set goes on I will try 40ish instead of the 35 ish I have been running. Don't know about NASA but if you zero in with google earth you can see my new shed green roof. So relatively new scan as it's only been there a few years. Doing my part to green up the area to drop the area relative temperature..
