tire bulge . . . uhhh is this normal?

[rome_rome]

I am new to motorcycles, and turns out i have been riding on a pretty low tire for a little while, anyways, i filled the tires up and my rear tire bulges slightly in the middle, is this normal, it is a 150/70/17 and the manual said to put it to 36 PSI and i put it at about 35
thanks

[teddy]

It should be arched, but how big of a 'bulge' are you talking? Is the center tread worn pretty thin, causing the pressure to push out more there due to the lack of rubber maybe? A picture would help.

[rome_rome]

It should be arched, but how big of a 'bulge' are you talking? Is the center tread worn pretty thin, causing the pressure to push out more there due to the lack of rubber maybe? A picture would help.

pretty much, the center is much higher then the sides, the tire is pretty worn (got a new one ordered) so that makes sense to me that the center is pushing out more. I was just wondering if it was normal, i assumed not because it is like none of the tires i have seen (not that i have seen many up close).

[tmk7c9]

That sounds normal for a worn tire....However, I usually see this on tires that are very underinflated (35 psi would not be low enough, think more like 25 psi).


The low PSI lets the tires flex way too much, it builds way too much heat, the rubber breaks down. Very bad.

I guess thin rubber in the middle could do this too? My dads goldwing does this with dunlops...but his isn't worn either, and he has a tire pressure monitoring system, so they've never been low. It seems to be just a brand thing almost.

Whatever caused it, it's good you got replacements coming. most people run tires about 500 miles beyond what they should.

[ismatts]

My factory set of tires looked kinda like this \_/ I drove 100 miles per day for a few months. My tires were never under inflated. My commute was strictly interstate driving and absolutely minimal corners. the middle was wore very thin at the end of it's life. I got about 4k miles out of that tire.

[Slofuze]

I am new to motorcycles, and turns out i have been riding on a pretty low tire for a little while, anyways, i filled the tires up and my rear tire bulges slightly in the middle, is this normal, it is a 150/70/17 and the manual said to put it to 36 PSI and i put it at about 35
thanks

Bike tires are different from car tires. Properly inflated they should form a "rounded" appearance when viewed from behind. Check the treads for depth and cracks. Posting a pic would help.