Interesting Vehicular Tyre 'wear'. Your thoughts?

I have a Vespa GT200 scooter and at the weekend I took the back wheel off to take it in for a new tyre, and noticed the treads of the tyre were stating to rip/peel off.
This would have been difficult/impossible to see this with the wheel on the bike, and I wouldn’t have been looking for it anyway. Yep, the tyre is worn and just illegal (Pic make it look worse) but even so I wouldn’t have expected that from a good quality Bridgestone.

Every other block, all the way round, on both sides of the tyre was peeling off:

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Untitled[/url] by PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr

I’m not overly bothered as it’s gone now, but I do keep thinking about it….

Hmmmmmm…

How old?

Well under a year old. Only bought the bike in March last year and I had those tyres fitted a couple of months after that.

Funny that, Bridgestones get a mention here for tyre de-lamination

Tyre chat link

Mid-life crisis scooter?

I’ve used Bridgestones on bikes for years and 10s of 1000s of miles and this is the first problem I’ve ever had…..

It’s got that nice ‘bluey’ tint which implies the tyre has ‘gone off’ and has hardenend and therefore will shred quite easily.

Happens when the tyre loses it’s moisture as the oils in the tyre evaporate due to exposure to sun, heat etc.

Tyre may not have been fitted long but it could have been hanging around for ages in the workshop or even stored incorrectly.

You can get chemicals to rejuvanate/soften tyres that are starting to go off as used by racing boys, but they’re expensive.

Mid-life crisis scooter?

😆

I’d say more of a ‘hot hatch embarraser’ scooter myself…. 8)

Tyre may not have been fitted long but it could have been hanging around for ages in the workshop or even stored incorrectly.

That has crossed my mind too.

Scooter rear tyres do get warm from the engine too, but it’s garaged and mostly only used on short trips to work and the shops, so I doubt that’s had much effect

I’d suspect overheating and excessive flexing caused by under inflation.

Drat. The Bridgestone site won’t work on my ancient and heavily locked down work PC, does anyone fancy seeing if there’s any notes or fitment guides for either a Bridgestone ML51 or a 2003 Vespa GT200 by any chance? 🙂

http://www.bridgestonebikersclub.co.uk/tyre/scooter.php

You been doing doughnuts too 😉

excessive flexing caused by under inflation

Yes, possible.

PeterPoddy – Member
I’d say more of a ‘hot hatch embarraser’ scooter myself….

Wanna race my Eunos?

Well, a BMW 325 can’t out accelerate it, so be my guest!

Was that a guilty looking, “er, might have”, possible. 😉
If it has been run at low pressure at some time, then I would say that is almost certainly the cause of it.
It’s a common failure of truck tyres where it’s easy for a driver to carry on driving, not knowing one of his 14 tyres has got a slow puncture.

I’d be more concerned about the embarrassment caused by the quite massive puffbands on that rubber …are there no bends or roundabouts on your commute?

I’d be more concerned about the embarrassment caused by the quite massive puffbands on that rubber …are there no bends or roundabouts on your commute?

It goes all the way over until the stands scrape on the floor, but yes, there’s more tyre available after that….. 🙂

Tee hee …scooters are rubbish round corners, even worse than your average Hardly Dangerous Ultraglide.

I once broke a scooter’s exhaust in half by getting 5ft of air to flat.

Under or over inflated would be my guess.

Tyre delamination in action – about 12 seconds in.

The data showed Nakano was doing 200mph when the rear tyre let go!

Under or over inflated would be my guess.

I think that’s probably it. The tyre had been loosing pressure slightly for a while. Not much and I’d been keeping an eye on it and pumping it up, but that must be the reason I guess.

Tee hee …scooters are rubbish round corners

Actually it’s not bad at all. It’s the 4th scooter I’ve had and by far the best handling. Very stable and neat in the bends. But they aren’t performance bikes for sure and the ground clearence is limited. My first scooter (Gilera Runner 180VXR) was higer up, but cornered in a very bouncy manner! Fast though…. There’s not many cars that can get past me off the lights. 🙂

It is a clear example of underinflated usage for me.
Not uncommon on modern scooters particularly the heavier / faster models.
The same issue that makes it difficult to see (packaging) makes it also difficult to inflate the tyre.
Does the wheel have a valve stem with a 90deg bend for accessibility?

Does the wheel have a valve stem with a 90deg bend for accessibility?

No. I can get to it OK with a track pump and I’m fairly good at checking it (weekly when in use) It was loosing maybe 5,6,7psi a week.

Ach, never mind, it’s all fixed now 🙂