[Lloyd]

I have had my NEW 2010 Gold Wing now for just over a month and have put 5,300 Km's on it. The bike is new, as in I bought it new..."first owner"... and now after just 5,300 Km's which in my books is nothing...I am already feeling tire cupping...WTF...is this all about...??? My 2004 VT750 Shadow would get this AFTER I have done like 18,000 Km's on it...that is when it would start to cup...!

At this rate...the way the front tire feels...I am going to have to change it at like 15,000 Km or there abouts. My VT750...well I would get 35,000 to 43,000 Km tire life out of my tires....so having tire cupping at 5,000 some Km's....well....I am pissed off to say the least...!

 

[detdrbuzzard]

if you just purchased the bike i would take it back to the dealerand show them the tire

 

[Hardshell]

Tire cupping is due most commonly to imbalance or low tire pressure.
This applies if the cupping is across the tire.
If the tire cupping is only on one side, then your steering head bearings are loose. (I doubt it on a new machine)

I suggest rechecking the tire pressure, installing 2 oz of Dyna Beads in each tire, and remove all weights. This should fix the problem.

Robert

 

[Lloyd]

Tire pressure is right on....that was the first think I checked. Rear tire if just fine...its only the front tire. When you run your hand over the tire...you can feel the cupping starting in. And yes its on the side...and you know what...I do not ride it hard or drop it into the twisties and so on....so I am little lost as to WHY its doing this.

 

[manxmann]

Tyres ?

Just as a point of interest, and not wanting to open another can of worms ..... What tyres are fitted to your bike ?

 

[Hardshell]

It's unusual that your steering head bearings are causing this at this low mileage. Normally, it happens at about the 14K - 15K range, like mine is now. As a solution to this, I'm having a dealer install a tapered roller bearing kit that's made exclusively to fix this problem.

Honda knows very well that this is a problem, and they also know that installing tapered roller bearings will fix it, but they refuse to warranty it unless new roller bearings are installed by the dealer, which guarantees the problem will occur again later on.

The kit is from All Balls, and costs $40.00. Here's the info.
http://wingstuff.com/pgroup_detail/195_All_Balls/21578_All_Balls_Steering_Bearings_GL1100_GL1200/?goto=/pgroup_list/gl1800/195_All_Balls/mfg/

This will fix your cupping provided it's installed correctly.
Mine will be installed by B&L Trikes in Des Moines, Iowa.

 

[Chopin]

We are all " pissed " with the performance of the tires on this bike. Many of us ride on crappy, albeit usable , tires for many miles after the cupping is evident. I have Metzelers ME880's on front and rear. Rear has about 10,000 + miles on it and front has about 4,000 miles. Needless to say the rear is ridable but cupped pretty badly. Coasting it in neutral down the driveway I can feel the bump! bump ! bump ! Little wonder that some of us are, and many have already done, looking into car tires for these bikes. It's a touring bike and it needs touring tires.

 

[Lloyd]

I have the stock tires it came with, the Bridge Stone G 702 or some such number like that on them. All I can say is....." I AM NOT IMPRESSED AT ALL...!!! ".

 

[Lloyd]

Honda knows very well that this is a problem, and they also know that installing tapered roller bearings will fix it, but they refuse to warranty it unless new roller bearings are installed by the dealer, which guarantees the problem will occur again later on.

Ok....if Honda knows about this....and KNOW that tapered bearings will fix this problem...then " WHY " are they refusing to warranty it....and just replace it with the same bearings....that are the "cause" of the problem in the first place.....?

Sound to me like a great case for a " class action law suit " to me...! I mean really...I dump this much $$$$$ on a bike...and I get this sort of crap. Something is really wrong with this picture.....would you not say..?

 

[Lloyd]

if you just purchased the bike i would take it back to the dealerand show them the tire

Its not major...however when I got the bike...it was to quite...now it HOWLS in corners....from the tires. And when you run your hand over it....its not smooth...you can feel the cupping on the front.

 

[Hardshell]

Lloyd,
When it is bad enough, Honda will warranty the bearings, but my point was that they will only authorize the dealer to install roller bearings, not tapered bearings. So if you want the job done and over with, you have to buy the kit yourself and have it installed. This is what I'm having done, I have the same issue. And it's not balance, I have Dyna Beads in both tires.

This issue started years ago. Dunlop has always been the OEM supplier of tires that came with the Wing. Owners started complaining about the tire cupping on the fronts, and just like someone said here, they went back to the dealer, thinking it was a tire issue.
So the dealers, unaware of the root cause of the problem, warrantied the tire for the customer. Dunlop, however, after receiving many of these tires under "warranty", investigated this with their engineers. It turned out that all the tires were fine, the root cause was loose roller bearings (excessive play) in the steering head. And as you may or may not know, roller bearings cannot be adjusted for preload to adjust for clearance.

So Dunlop notified their dealers that should a customer come in with tires cupping on one side, that this WAS NOT a tire issue. Dunlop themselves produced a kit that contained the proper tapered roller bearings and instructions for installation that would fix the problem. I am not positive, but I believe that the dealer had to tell the customer that they had a fix, but the customer would have to pay for it. If the customer would not do this, Dunlop would not authorize the tire replacement under warranty.

This is how Honda became aware of the issue, but their stance on this is unusual, in that the proper solution has been identified and proven to be correct, but they refuse to authorize the dealers to install anything other than new roller bearings, which essentially guarantees this same issue popping up in 14K to 15K (normally) down the road.

At this point, I believe that Dunlop no longer produces the kits, but the cause and effect remain the same. If you want it fixed, then you have to purchase the kit and have the dealer install it.

I'm having mine done this coming Tuesday at B&L Trikes in Des Moine. I'm going to take a look at this just out of curiosity so I understand it completely from a mechanical standpoint. I also want to see what the suggested preload has to be, because later on, they may have to be tightened up again, although that probably won't be necessary if it's done right the first time and the bearing quality is good. Timken is the long standing originator of the tapered roller bearing, but I'm sure that now it's an offshore brand.

 

[Lloyd]

Just wanted to give a little update on a what is now a old thread. The tires the bike came with was Dunlop D250's. More like DUNFLOP...! Worst set of tires I have ever had on a bike, and I have had many tires in my day with all sorts of bikes...this one I think rates in my books as the all time worst of them all.

Anyways, those were replaces with Met's ME880's and WOW what a difference that made...! I no longer have a bike that feels like a oil tanker to ride but more like a over grown sport bike.

Since then I have worn out one set of Met's ME880's and I am now on my second set. I got something in the order or 42,000 Km out of those and that was even with my trip to Alaska, Yukon and NWT riding on dirt and gravel roads they call a highway up there. I did some 3,000 Km's on roads like that and even with that I got great life out of them. I think its going to be Met's ME880's from here on in.

 

[calcliff]

Really, check out Dyna Beads or Centramatics (Dyna Beads=less $). My tires are doing much better w/Centramatics. And I have a friend using Beads with great wear on his 'Stones.

 

[Fatwing Chris]

Only had my 1800 for a couple of months,but I've decided to go to the Darkside when the E3 is done.

 

[William Reber]

How much do you use the front brake ? A heavy hand on the front brake will cup a front tire fast , We who ride a triked wing have a trick to long life front tires we use a Mitch. Pilot Active which is a rear tire for a sport bike they are the best for a trike , not sure about how they would do on a two wheeler ?

 

[calcliff]

Only had my 1800 for a couple of months,but I've decided to go to the Darkside when the E3 is done.

I am happy with my decision to go Darkside. And right now my Bridgestone is doing fine up front but when that goes...will seriously consider Double Darkside.

 

[budoka]

2010 Cdn models are equipped with the TPMS system. As a dealer I would suggest that anyone do NOT use balance beads in a TPMS equipped bike. My Dunlops lasted ove 20,000 km but the front one did cup early, but not dangerously so, just made them noisier.
All the things we do to our bikes after we buy them could very well be done during production when Honda builds them yes. And we'd all end up spending a comparable amount to an Ultra CVO when we lay down the cash. Doubt that would please too many of us.

 

[Airforce95]

2010 Cdn models are equipped with the TPMS system. As a dealer I would suggest that anyone do NOT use balance beads in a TPMS equipped bike. My Dunlops lasted ove 20,000 km but the front one did cup early, but not dangerously so, just made them noisier.
All the things we do to our bikes after we buy them could very well be done during production when Honda builds them yes. And we'd all end up spending a comparable amount to an Ultra CVO when we lay down the cash. Doubt that would please too many of us.

Being that you are a dealer what is your take on the tapered bearing replacement kits?

 

[budoka]

If I ever need to redo the steering head bearings, it will be with All Balls tapered bearings. As I mentioned above, Honda could do lots of the things we do over time, but it'll cost us on the sticker price.

 

[carbco]

Front tires on Wings

LLoyd, Had the same problem with the Dunflop 250 on the front of my CSC Trike. It was shot at 4,000 miles. Replaced it with a Bridgstone Excedra and got 9,000 miles out of that tire which was twice what the Dunlop ran. Now I've installed a Michelin Pilot Activ Goldwing rear tire in reverse on the front of my trike. All reports on the internet give this tire a 20 to 25,000 mile life. I've also installed centramatic balancers on the front wheel and without any weights on the wheel it's smooth at all speeds. Try the Pilot activ tire and I think you'll be happy with the results. I finally found by reading all the reports on these websites that a trike needs a bias ply tire on the front. They have a much stronger sidewall than a radial. I think if you keep reading all the forums that you'll find the answer you're seeking. Best of luck and riding. The size is 130/70/18 Pilot Activ Cost was $104 and $20 to mount. This tire as you might know, having a stiffer sidewall is a harder riding tire than the radial. I run 40lbs in the front and 24 lbs in my rear tires. Smooth!!!!