Air Pressure Too High - Premature Tire Wear Through

[bs175dths]

A riding buddy mounted a new Continental on the rear of his Harley-Davidson Bagger (no trunk, just windscreen and saddlebags).
The tire was purchased from a Harley-Davidson dealership.
He and his group rode through the desert and and then some, putting a total of 3800 miles on the tire before the cords started to show. He was forced to get another tire (Dunlop) while on the road.
Needless to say - he is not too happy.
I am just throwing this out there:
What would cause a Continental to wear out so soon?
I can only think of having the wrong load range.
Too much air pressure when riding through the desert?
Does anyone lower their tire pressure when they ride through the desert to compensate for the added heat? I have never thought of doing this, yet it has been suggested by some in my riding group.
What else could have caused this wear?
He left the tire at the shop which changed it so we can't check the tire for load range or born date.
Thanks in advance guys and dolls.

-Ride On

[1060dsl]

Continental is not what I would call a quality tire I am surprised HD would carry it, I would say low air pressure would cause more damage than high pressure.

[Frank]

Even if he was running the recommended pressure, extra load and heat would take it's toll. You can't always go by the RECOMMENDED tire pressures on the sidewall. Being a farm boy we know that the bigger the load the more pressure you have to add to the tires. Even the tire manufactures say that. Sounds like he had too much weight for that tire and was running it too low on pressure. I've never met anyone who owns a bike that runs Continental tires???

[Keener]

I've been running Continental Milestones now for 3 years and have no complaints. Check the pressures each time before we go out. 37 front and 41 rear.

[wingandaprayer]

Keener you rebel - Continental bike tires - you almost talked me into them too...

Premature wear? V-twins have lots of low end torque, and are fun to romp on the throttle at low speed, like making the thunderous departure for the onlookers. Other than the racket the other thing that suffers is...the rear tire... a riding pal can use up his rear tire on his 1900cc V-Twin in 2000 miles - the bike will leave a nice blackie at 1/2 throttle...

According to a Wikipedia article Continental is the world's 4th largest tire manufacturer, after Bridgestone, Michelin, and Goodyear, in business since 1871 - it might be worth a call if a rider thought he had a faulty tire. One would think they would take an interest.

[bs175dths]

Thanks for the input.
I will pass on all this wonderful information.

[1060dsl]

Keener you rebel - Continental bike tires - you almost talked me into them too...

Premature wear? V-twins have lots of low end torque, and are fun to romp on the throttle at low speed, like making the thunderous departure for the onlookers. Other than the racket the other thing that suffers is...the rear tire... a riding pal can use up his rear tire on his 1900cc V-Twin in 2000 miles - the bike will leave a nice blackie at 1/2 throttle...

According to a Wikipedia article Continental is the world's 4th largest tire manufacturer, after Bridgestone, Michelin, and Goodyear, in business since 1871 - it might be worth a call if a rider thought he had a faulty tire. One would think they would take an interest.

Not surprised about being fourth - they are pretty inexpensive and many manufacturers use them as original equipment - my Passat came with Continentals, they didn't last long and the next set was Michelin. My (used) Gold-Wing came with Continental tires, wasn't awful but I changed it pretty quick because the front was starting to crack. (that may have been because the bike sat a long while before I bought it)
Tires are quirky I don't think any are bad or dangerous, Shinko is maybe the cheapest tire on the market but I can't say I have heard a single rider that did not like them. I have a new set of Pirelli's that I think are the best I have ridden on but I'm certain you will find guys that had bad experiences with them.

[Frank]

Very true