How old is too old in regards to tires.

Streebek · July 02, 2011, 03:43:53 PM

Soooo I was randomly thinking about my GS today and recalled that the previous owner told me that it hadn't been plated in almost 10 yrs when I bought it. I had gone over the tires before, and had a professional go over the bike too. The tires didn't have any dry rot or noticeable cracks at the time and there was a decent amount of tread left. Anyways, to get to my point, I decided to go over my tires today and noticed some small hairline cracks on the sidewalls and decided to take it a step further and see if there was a way to determine the age of the tires. So I researched and read about the serial #/manufacturing code stamped on the sidewalls. Then I freaked.

Assuming my translation is correct (how hard could it be? there are 3 numbers...), my front tire was manufactured on the 2nd week of 1999 (praying its 99 and not 89) and my rear the 43rd week of 1994. I immediately starting pricing new tires. But I am very curious as to what you guys (and girls!) think is the age limit on tires you would ride on. And now I am skeptical of any really good deals on tires online because I am concerned they are gonna ship me some old back stock.

Twisted · July 02, 2011, 03:48:44 PM

5 years is recommended

crzydood17 · July 02, 2011, 04:34:24 PM

just got a new shinko front and its nice, will have pics and a review up after i break her in next week... bike already feels like new... (they did a chain adjustment and rear wheel alignment while they were at it so i solved my clicking chain problem...

grab some cheap skins if your broke or some nice radials if your not...

Streebek · July 02, 2011, 04:39:08 PM

I'm thinking some Pirellis. Front and rear $220 shipped.

sledge · July 02, 2011, 07:24:34 PM

Taken from the Metzeler site.....

The mere passage of time (age) does not cause tires to deteriorate. Exposure to outside forces causes tires to deteriorate. Such outside forces can include road hazards, punctures, improper repairs, misalignment, under-inflated operation, over-deflected operation, excessive heat caused by over-deflected operation, excessive exposure to ozone (such as storage near electric motors), improper storage conditions, etc. Tire companies can only have impact on a few of these exposures. Tire companies add anti-ozinants and anti-oxidants (anti-degradation compounds) to minimize degradation and carbon black is known to have excellent anti-degradant properties. Metzeler believes that since there is no way to predict what outside forces a tire will be exposed to there is no scientifically supportable age limit that can be set for tires. Some tires may be perfectly serviceable after 10 years while other tires should not be in service after only 2 years.
marking are only for racing or off road purposes cannot be used on public roads

If you do some digging you will find pretty much every other volume manufacture shares the same sentiment, so the answer to your question is....`it depends`

Dont wait to be told by someone else.......Its your ass, if you aint happy with the hoops get some new ones.

slipperymongoose · July 02, 2011, 07:34:51 PM

Quote from: Twisted on July 02, 2011, 03:48:44 PM
5 years is recommended

I agree more than five and it's risky once you get to 8 yrs n older it's down right dangerous. Tyre places told me if u have a new spare in your car that hasn't been driven on it can be older than ten years no worries but I don't trust them.

crzydood17 · July 02, 2011, 07:53:44 PM

when its a safety question... I generally ask myself, "would I be okay with my wife/child riding/using this" If I say no then its probably time to change it no matter who is using it...

Streebek · July 02, 2011, 08:55:08 PM

Well in my scenario I have very little knowledge as to what kind of weathering these tires have been exposed to and I would definitely like the peace of mind.

slipperymongoose · July 02, 2011, 08:56:53 PM

Can't argue with that!

dam · July 02, 2011, 11:42:05 PM

Quote from: Streebek on July 02, 2011, 08:55:08 PM
Well in my scenario I have very little knowledge as to what kind of weathering these tires have been exposed to and I would definitely like the peace of mind.

In that case change them

I rode on some tires older than 10 but I new what they were exposed to and storage conditions. They didn't let me down but I got new tires before the season was over. They did start to show their age with some small cracks in the tread grooves. I definitely felt safer with the new rubber.

Dale

yamahonkawazuki · July 03, 2011, 01:54:29 AM

Quote from: Streebek on July 02, 2011, 04:39:08 PM
I'm thinking some Pirellis. Front and rear $220 shipped.

and many times you save ALOT of labor by removing both wheels. and bringing those into shop. btw ive heard some shops wont install mail ordered tires. keep this in mind

redhawkdancing · July 05, 2011, 06:20:03 AM

My tires were 5 years old this season. They were no where near worn down enough, but I never got warm fuzzies about their ability to stick to the street. Swapped them out with some new Avon roadriders. Glad I did.

Streebek · July 05, 2011, 07:04:17 AM

Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on July 03, 2011, 01:54:29 AM
Quote from: Streebek on July 02, 2011, 04:39:08 PM
I'm thinking some Pirellis. Front and rear $220 shipped.
and many times you save ALOT of labor by removing both wheels. and bringing those into shop. btw ive heard some shops wont install mail ordered tires. keep this in mind

I had planned on taking them to a guy down the road from me that runs his own business out of his garage. He is a really nice guy and gets a LOT of business from the locals. I am not too surprised though, because our local motorcycle "superstore" has ridiculous mark ups and labor costs. Hell, they wanted to charge me almost $370 to order the same tires. I guess they feel like they can over charge because of the lack of another bike store in the area and because they hire the my sssslllluuuuttiest (but still pretty hot

) girls in town to work the apparel/gear sections.

Streebek · July 05, 2011, 07:07:21 AM

Oh! And does anyone have a good suggestion about where I can order some new fork springs (progressives maybe?) and seals? THAT store wants $40 to order the seals...sooooo I want to shop around.

The Buddha · July 05, 2011, 09:46:12 AM

I have used tars that had dry rot and cracked side walls till they were bald.
They do wear faster so it helps it a bit, but also remember I ride like an old man, am never in any real danger cos I commute to work through good neighborhoods mainly, a whopping 13 mile 1 way @ the maximum and I have a pickup truck to mount a mid ride rescue. I stand to lose a lot more tossing an old tar than if I rode it and it died on the way.
Cool.
Buddha.

xunedeinx · July 05, 2011, 10:12:13 AM

Worried about tire mounting costs?

buy some tire spoons, and do it yourself. Its easy...

I lined the dot up with the valve stem, checked the balance to the wheel weights that were on there before, and it was perfect. So, didn't even need weights.

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How old is too old in regards to tires.