How long for tire rot to occur?

[Juan1]

The bike I recently purchased has dry rot on the front tire, especially in the tire's grooves.  The tire has quite a bit of tread on it, indicating that the bike hasn't been ridden much lately.  Does anyone know how long dry rot typically takes?  I'm trying to get a ball park estimate on how long the bike has been sitting. 

To pre-empt a tire safety lecture, I'm stating that I'lll replace the tires in a couple of weeks. 

[Dom]

Rotting tires aren't a great way to tell how long a bike's been sitting.  I bought some Ansen Sprint wheels/tires off fleabay that had been sitting in a garage since the early 80's and the 20 year old rubber on the tires is in phenomenal condition.  I think the best way to tell is by doing a big burnout in front of your house.

[dgyver]

All tires have manufactured dates on them. Look for a 4 digit code. The first two numbers are the week and the last two are the year.

[Juan1]

Thanks dgyver!  That's exactly the type of info I've wanted.

For more info on this including a picture of what the date code looks like, see this link:  http://www.tuninglinx.com/html/car-tire-date-code.html

[Revere2]

I've had my GS500 since new for 8 years and 4 months. No tire changes and no dry rot showing yet. It has 2001.2 miles on it and is kept in a small shed/building. It's always there "in case I need it".