Abnormal consumption of scooter 250 tyres

[NitroR/C]

Which of you is a motorcyclist or drives a scooter? I have had this anomalous wear of the rear tire of my 250 scooter for some time, as you can see from the photo, it deforms by creating steps on the sides of the tread. any advice or opinion on the problem?.. thanks

 

[Thvts_Nvte]

Thats Cupping - I've not had any motorcycle I've owned do this but I've seen plenty of cars do this.

There can be a few different causes for this problem, all of which can translate to a motorcycle. If your tire isn't aligned correctly it can cause scrubbing, which is fairly easy to mess up if you're not careful with aligning the rear tire when you take it off. And the most likely cause of the problem is blown suspension. When your shock blows out you have no dampening and rely only on the spring which will cause that axle to bounce up and down and not have a constant contact patch causing certain areas of the tire to get hot while other sections remain cold, causing this "cupping" issue where the tire has these bounces every so often.

It could also be from a slipped belt within the tire itself.

Source: Trust me bro. No, I kid I was a mechanic for a few years. Now I'm just a shadetree one and I mess with motorcycle's fairly frequently. I hope my explanation of the issue makes a bit of sense for you and lets you know where you can look at for the problem. This isn't necessarily a tire issue, it's a suspension issue that has caused excessive wear on the tire itself. Also, replace that tire.

 

[WickedFog]

My buddy had a Chevy truck with worn out ball joints that caused a very similar look to the outside tread. It almost looked like impossible wear, just like yours. Check your wheel bearings. Does the wheel wiggle if you lift it off the ground?

 

[NitroR/C]

Thank you very much for the valuable advice, the wheel no play or strange movements, at this point as mentioned, definitely the rear suspension to be overhauled--the bike is 1999 and only the front suspension has been overhauled. The scooter in question is a Malaguti Madison S 250