Front tire wear

[Goman]

Just returned from a road trip and noticed that the front tire (Dunlop Road Smart) has a LOT of wear on the left side. I noticed a couple of other BMW's had similar wear on their front tires as well. One of them had low pressure but mine and the other had propper pressure. Any ideas? Distance covered was 1500 miles and the roads were a mix of twisties and highway. The tires have about 4K on them. The rear is fine.

[MikeCam]

Well known matter. Front tires wear more on the left, especially for high mileage riders. All brands, all suspensions, all pressures. There are numerous discussions but the one I like best is that left turns require more distance traveled than right. If true, then left drive countries would experience opposite effect. I can't speak to that.

[sweatmark]

My experience with 5 Telelever BMW oilheads is that front tires suffer considerable wear, with cupping and one-sided wear patterns similar to yours. Compared to conventional forks, the Telelever is much rougher on tires, regardless of manufacture/compound/profile. I don't know why this is.

There are two reasons to be happy about the front tire wear:
(1) unlike many bikes that prematurely wear down rear tire long before the need for front tire replacement, the Telelever BMWs conveniently shred front & rear tires together, demanding replacement of the set; and
(2) the Telelever works well for touring bike use to stabilize a (relatively) heavy machine, and riders are happy to forfeit tire life for gains in overall performance... or at least that's how I feel about the trade-off.

[johno]

In Australia, we have the opposite side wear, so it has to do with the side of the road you ride on. Camber of the road etc.

[boxermania]

Also remember that in the US most highways have a slight grade towards the side of the road to aid with water drainage. This will expose a tiny bit more of the left side of the tire to the road surface.....in the case we are spliting hairs.

[MattPie]

Also remember that in the US most highways have a slight grade towards the side of the road to aid with water drainage. This will expose a tiny bit more of the left side of the tire to the road surface.....in the case we are spliting hairs.

I like the explanation that you tend to tip more into left-handers (in RHD countries) because you have better sight lines and are encouraged to ride a little faster than right-handers.