[sonic635]

So I am walking up to my bike from behind and I notice these scratches in the rear tire. Is this something that is normal from road debris or is this caused from bottoming out? I have put a Dunlop Elite 3 240 on the back but have not lowered it. I should mention we finally got some decent weather here on the Canadian prairies but there is tons of gravel from winter still on the roads.

 

[Skwerlee]

How much do you weigh? Ride with a passenger? There are a couple of very small tabs that hang down on the underside of the subframe that can touch the tire under full compression. I ran into this with my Avon 240 lowered 2.25" and it looked just like what you have pictures. I took a small grinder and ground them smooth so no more problems

 

[sonic635]

I saw your post earlier about that, so I pulled of the fender on Saturday to grind down the tabs. But the scratches were on the opposite side of the tire, the tabs being on the left hand side and the scratches on the right hand side. They are close the the fender mount bolts but is it possible to bottom on one side and avoid the tabs on the other. Any ways, I tightened the spring adjuster by one and should take it up a couple more. I was hoping to lower the bike by an inch but I guess I will have to wait to see how this works out. By the way I only weigh 175 at the doctor and haven't done any two up riding yet.

 

[Skwerlee]

I saw your post earlier about that, so I pulled of the fender on Saturday to grind down the tabs. But the scratches were on the opposite side of the tire, the tabs being on the left hand side and the scratches on the right hand side. They are close the the fender mount bolts but is it possible to bottom on one side and avoid the tabs on the other. Any ways, I tightened the spring adjuster by one and should take it up a couple more. I was hoping to lower the bike by an inch but I guess I will have to wait to see how this works out. By the way I only weigh 175 at the doctor and haven't done any two up riding yet.

The tire most definitely rubbed the sub-frame at some point...probably while going over a large bump or dip at speed.

 

[sonic635]

So I figured out what caused the scratches in the tread. Two bolts on the side of the plastic license plate rear brake light holder worked lose. These two bolts attached attach to the fender sub frame. This allowed the license plate to vibrate like crazy. One of the two screws that hold the metal license plate mount stuck out far enough to catch the tire. Tightened the bracket, put a couple of washers on the screw so it wouldn't stick out. Problem solved. Got two keep an eye on those side mounting screws until I get some loc-tite on them.

 

[Skwerlee]

So I figured out what caused the scratches in the tread. Two bolts on the side of the plastic license plate rear brake light holder worked lose. These two bolts attached attach to the fender sub frame. This allowed the license plate to vibrate like crazy. One of the two screws that hold the metal license plate mount stuck out far enough to catch the tire. Tightened the bracket, put a couple of washers on the screw so it wouldn't stick out. Problem solved. Got two keep an eye on those side mounting screws until I get some loc-tite on them.

glad you figured it out!

 

[wyntress]

So I figured out what caused the scratches in the tread. Two bolts on the side of the plastic license plate rear brake light holder worked lose. These two bolts attached attach to the fender sub frame. This allowed the license plate to vibrate like crazy. One of the two screws that hold the metal license plate mount stuck out far enough to catch the tire. Tightened the bracket, put a couple of washers on the screw so it wouldn't stick out. Problem solved. Got two keep an eye on those side mounting screws until I get some loc-tite on them.

The old plate holder was not stable on mine either, so I just cut the plate holder down, replaced the rear brake light, and switched it to a side mount vertical plate.