91 Wing with Champion double car, Daytona 2+2
I have a radial car tire on the back and the sidecar and a 130/70/18 Battleaxe B45R Bridgestone rear M/C tire running as a front tire. The front tire is running reverse rotation.
We have been doing a lot of 75mph expressway driving lately
I have been running about 35 lbs of air in the front tire. I am getting cupping on one side. Pretty severe at present as it's .100 deep on the sidecar side, much less on the outboard side.
I bumped the air pressure to about 42 to see if that would help.
The bike has 1.0 KG springs in it and cartridge emulators. The sag on the fork isn't right yet. Been too busy fixing it and driving it. Had some issues with the bike itself so I haven't had the time to take the fork apart and put more preload on the springs.
I have some questions. What do you do to slow it down or stop it?
What causes it?
I have gone thru two BT45 tires (one lasted 18500, the second 14800) and both had severe cupping when I replaced them.
Opted for the Michelin Pilot Activ (same rear size). First tire lasted 29100 and second tire has 14600 so far with much less cupping.
Ken
2010 GL1800 / Hannigan GTL
What air pressure do you recommend?
I've been using the BT45's on my GW rig with good results. I might try the Michelin next.
40 psi
Ken
My experience has been that radials don't do well on my rig. I get cupping on my front tire well before they are worn out. The noise and vibration are very annoying and require that I replace the tire. I have been trying to find good bias ply tires. My current set are Dunlop (505's?) but they are noisy and my wife noticed the noise right away and wondered what was wrong. I know this isn't a "help me chose my tires" thread but you have touched on a need. I am considering the cheap brands. I hate having spent $130 to $160 on a tire and have it cup or be noisy or wear out quickly.
As you can see my rig is a wide car much like the rig with the cupping problem.
What size front tire are you running Will? I use the Metzler ME 888 Marathon on my GS rig and they last forever.
My front is 110/80V18. Is the ME888 a radial or bias?
Thanks for the info
They come in either. Click on the size and you will see what will work for you. These are made for big cruiser and touring bikes. Get the touring as I think they last longer.
This is the 880 that I used to use but I switched to the 888 and I think I like it a little better. 888 only comes in one 18 inch size if that will work for you.
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/6126/i/metzeler-me-880-marathon-touring-front-tire
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/57018/i/metzeler-me-888-marathon-ultra-front-tire
Looks good and the price isn't any worse than Dunlop.
They come in Gold Wing sizes for the OP also.
Cupping is usually caused by steering into the crown of the road.
So it you are in a right hand lane on an Interstate you tend to push the steering to the left to overcome the crown in the road.
If you are in the left hand lane you usually push the steering to the right to overcome the crown.
On my BMW's I can flip the wheel and tire every 3000 miles and the front tire seems to wear more evenly.
On the front I have been using Bridgestone BattleAx BT45, 130/70-18 @ 36-38 PSI. I used this on my prior GL1800 too without a sidecar, and a rear car tire also.
On the rear I use car tires. I like the 195/55R-16 Firestone Precision Touring @ 28 psi, I have also used the 195/55R Bridgestone Potenza G 019. I tried a winter Bridgestone tire but it wore out too fast. Prior to the sidecar days a winter car tire worked OK on the rear, but not with a sidecar attached. If I did a lot of riding in the snow I wouldn't mine it wearing out too early.
