Tires: Which tire wears out first ?

[et]

On all my motorcycles over the years.
(Honda CL350, Suzuki GS750, Honda CB400 Four, Honda Hurricane, '86 Suzuki GSXR-750RG, '00 Suzuki GSXR-750.)
Other than the year I experimented with Tomahawk tires; my front and rear tire have always worn out at the same time no matter the brand or model.
But I keep reading on here about other STN members needing to replace only one tire.

So which of your tires tends to wear out first; front, rear, or both equally ?
Which brand and model of tire do you use ?
What is your riding style; peg scrapping or well behaved ?
What type of roads do your ride most often ?
And what type of motorcycle do you have ?

--ET

[kevin_stevens]

Whichever is more tired.

KeS

[Computer Guy]

Rear tire wears out faster.  Pilot Roads on FJR1300 all types of roads, moderate riding.  

[birdrunner]

Super Blackbird,  Full Givi's, trailer, Wife, + prairies ..... not even close.  I my front lasts for 2.5 rear's.

[jfusaro]

I voted same time but the rear could have been changed about 200 miles sooner then the front, PR2's on a 08' Sprint St, both hit the wear bars real close mileage wise if I remember it was around 6000 miles.

[M.Brane]

 VFR800 Pilot Powers 2:1 ratio rears vs. fronts. I hang off a bit when railing twisties, but keep my butt in the seat otherwise. My old ZX600 would wear out fronts first, but that was because I carried more corner speed due to the fact it didn't have enough power to get a good drive out of corners plus the 16" wheels.

 Interesting aside though when I spoon on a fresh set for a track day the wear is pretty even at the end of the day. It's street riding that puts more wear on the rear.

 

[falcofred]

Even though my rear wears out before the front, I change them as a set.

• I like the way a fresh pair of tires feels
• The front will not last for two rears, so I'm constantly changing one or the other
  

[Mr.Black]

The tread on the rears goes quicker but the front usually cups causing it to need replacing.

[The Shepherd]

Riding the twisties here in Ontario, it was a 2:1 rear/front for my K1200S.

Riding the Blue Ridge, Gap, Snake and area for three weeks....I had to take the front off about 3000 km's before the rear. Those tight corners allow you to get into the corner harder, you could feel the front biting in more than in nice sweepers.

[jstark47]

With BT021's on a Trophy 1200, the front goes first.    7k miles and the front's cupped all to hell, but the back still has life in it, go figure.  I'm done with 'em, they stick nice when new, but I gotta try something else.    

[Desmo Demon]

When riding in the twisties, I tend to get 3 fronts to 4 rears or some ratio really close to that. I once wore out a front tire several thousands of miles prior to a rear on my Harley. Those tired lasted 22k+ miles. The last few years, I only used that bike for commuting, though....50-55 mpg.

[garry]

The rear wears out first for me even when I use a sport-touring tire on the rear and a sport tire on the front. Rear is always worn out in the middle first (not enough twisty riding) with good life left on the sides. This has been true on all my bikes over the last 8 years (Sprint RS, ZX6R, Wee Strom, 950 Supermoto).

I almost always replace them as a set because the front feels so bad when it nears end of life, so I pitch lots of fronts with a few thousand miles left in them. Fresh rubber front and back is a wonderful thing :-)

[maddjack]

The rear wears out first for me even when I use a sport-touring tire on the rear and a sport tire on the front. Rear is always worn out in the middle first (not enough twisty riding) with good life left on the sides. This has been true on all my bikes over the last 8 years (Sprint RS, ZX6R, Wee Strom, 950 Supermoto).

I almost always replace them as a set because the front feels so bad when it nears end of life, so I pitch lots of fronts with a few thousand miles left in them. Fresh rubber front and back is a wonderful thing :-)

+1

[Justin]

On the Busa, my front goes first (just by a bit). On my last bike, the XX, the rear went first. Most bikes before that the rear went first as well.

[jay547]

2:1, rear - front for me. commuting really flats the middle of the rear quickly.

[R Doug]

1)  On all of my previous bikes where I had matched tires front and rear, the rear always wore out first.   *(with one exception... see below)

2)  On all bikes where I used a sport-touring tire on the rear and a sport tire on the front, both wore fairly evenly.



* The ONE exception is my current set up on the 990 Adventure.  With Metzler Tourances on the front and rear, the front is wearing a much quicker pace than my rear.  That is a first for me and I am unable to explain it.  

[Kootenanny]

When my rear is shot, the front is always pretty much ready to go too, so I replace them as a set.

Buell Firebolt, mostly ridden on rural highways.  Tire wear front/rear has been consistent on all brands of tire I've used:  the oem Dunlops, Pirelli Diablos and Rossos, Conti RAs, Michelin PR2s.

[mxvet57]

I wear out the rear b/4 the front. To much horse power with the FJR.

[djacobsen5116]

'09 FJR purchased new May of '10.  Front tire was down to about 2/32" @ 7400 miles, replaced with a BT-023GT which has been great so far.  Rainy season starts this weekend in Seattle so I'll find out about commuting in the rain with it.  At 10500 miles now, rear tire is original stock BT-023 and still has another couple of thousand to go.  May replace early because of reduced traction in the rain.

Dennis

[CanadianBird]

I replace my tires as a set, one new set per riding year. '02 BlackBird. 023s at the moment. I don't commute and only tour or do day rides. 177,000 kms, almost. I never wear the same shoes twice.