What tire or tyre pressure do you all use on the 8th gen.

Sorry you feel like you being judged but I stand by what I said. Tires are probably the number one component of a motorcycle that is crucial to your safety. I’m sure if you were not confident in one of an airplanes components, you wouldn’t hop on it and fly...? How confident are you in them to perform an emergency stop? An evasive maneuver? In inclimate weather?

My point is, if you can’t trust your tires or if they don’t live up you your expectations, get rid of them. I’ve ridden with a few riders who learned the hard way that their tires weren’t up to snuff and some even stopped riding because they couldn’t get over the fear that their tires weren’t going to hold up, even after they replaced them. Like I said in an earlier post, I’ve taken off tires because I lost confidence in them or they weren’t up to my expectations, rather than riding on them I just replaced them earlier than I would have if I ran them through their lifespan, either way they would have to be replaced sooner or later, I chose sooner and was much happier with that choice.

To each their own but complaining about them doesn’t change how well they’ll work. If you want a new set, ride over to Anaheim and I’ll put on a set of Bridgestone T31s for you, they seem to be liked by quite a few here on the forum and are good match to the VFR. Not my first choice but if someone was giving them to me I’d take them. Sorry, offer is only good in person.

 

Well you can have the six pack but you just can’t drink it!

If all your tire sets seem to be cupping, perhaps your suspension is out of whack. Either damping/spring rate or alignment. No offense, but when you drop your bike ( You can admit that right?), you should make sure your forks are properly aligned. I had to “reset” the fork alignment on the Tiger 800 I borrowed as after I dropped it in the sand a few times, the front end was way out of whack! I also did this for a fellow VFR owner, as he was having weird wear patterns and a lot of shaking up front. After I realigned the front he said it helped but we ended up replacing the tire and all was good afterward.

 

Food for thought.

Drops were all while at a stop, and basically I guided it to the ground rather than re-injure my back trying to prevent it from going. Even after I had my suspension rebuilt and Ohlins put on the rear, the same thing happened. I have seen many bikes with cupping on the front. There probably is something that can be done to fix this issue but I just don;t know what it is. I am still getting far better mileage out of the front than I do out of the rears.

But thanks anyway. BTW. When you are not looking, I am going to drink the IPA

 

When you changed to the Ohlins, did you change the fork internals as well? Springs, valves, shims? Oil viscosity? I’ll assume that the tires are being properly balanced? In regards to the “tip overs”, any time the bars hit the ground has potential of getting things out of alignment. I know you’ve heard of Delboy’s Garage, he did a video showing how to align the forks.

In regards to reading tire wear, check out some of Dave Moss’ videos on YouTube. Dude can tell what you had for lunch just by looking at your tires!

 

I noticed my front tyre, Bridgestone Evo, had started cupping, so for the past few days I've been pushing it hard to try to get something to give me some feedback ....nothing

Today I was sent this by a buddy who still races and knows tyres backwards

"Cupping, which is more accurately described as scalloping, is a natural wear pattern on motorcycle tires and it will always follow the tread pattern. It is not a sign that you have bad suspension parts. It merely shows that your tire is indeed gripping the road when you make turns (thank you for that Mr. Tire!). This cupping develops within the side wear bands of a leaned motorcycle. The extreme forces that come in to play when the bike is leaned in a turn are what produce the effect and when the wear becomes sufficient, one will experience vibration and noise when one banks into a turn
Low tire pressure will exacerbate this wear pattern and you will lose many serviceable miles by running low. Improper balance has nothing to do with cupping on a motorcycle tire. Improper balance will merely cause your bike to vibrate within certain specific speed ranges. "

 

So who are we to believe?

 

Pretty sure Hunter S Thompson recommended 80 psi.
But this was for a Cadillac driven by a lunatic with a head full of acid on the way to Vegas.
So um, Ymmv.

 

I'm usually right at the factory spec or under by a single PSI. Still on factory rubber after almost 7,500 miles.