strange tyre wear (pics attached)

[ausgs]

I went for a ride today for a couple of hours on winding country roads and straight away the bike felt weird.
I'm no expert so excuse my description, I filled the tank like always but the bike felt very top heavy in the corners and  kind of unstable.
It didnt flow through the corners like normal and was pretty unsettling to ride. Normally it handles fine on the twisties.
I forgot to check the tyre pressures before I left like I normally would and thought maybe the pressures were really low.
When I returned with the tyres hot the rear was 37psi and the front just over 30psi so I inflated it to 33psi like normal.
After inspecting the tyres I noticed this unusual wear pattern on the front tyre.
If any one could advise me whats happening it would be great as I am taking my daughter on a ride in 3 weeks but it wont happen until I can sort the handling problem.
The bike is 3 years old with 11,500 km's (7,000miles) on the original Bridgestones
Thanks,
John

[radodrill]

Looks like dry rot to me.  What's the manufacture date of the tires?

BTW, at the moment Sport Bike Track Gear has some great deals on the Pirelli Sport Demon tires and free shipping

[mister]

Change the tire. It has had it.

Check the manufacture date for your own curiosity. It'll be in an ovoid shape and should be four numbers. They represent the week and year the tire was made. Eg...



this was made in the 3rd week of 2004. If the date is 3 numbers long it was made before 2000.

I've just (yesterday) put my second Pirelli Sport Demon on the front. The OEM was changed at 29,300 for a SD. The tire was changed at 62,680. That's 33,380kms out of it - and I would have kept riding on it but it has a deep cut across it from, somewhere/someone. For the sake of a couple more thou I figured I'd change it now instead.

And now, get into the habit of, first stop on any ride being your nearest gas station to fill air as needed - check tire pressure at home first is ideal, but not everyone has a tire pressure gauge even though they're cheap as.

[ausgs]

radodrill, I just checked the rear says PAF 4708 and the front PAA 3704
I hope thats not the week and year of manufacture because the bike says 11/10 on the compliance plate

[mister]

radodrill, I just checked the rear says PAF 4708 and the front PAA 3704
I hope thats not the week and year of manufacture because the bike says 11/10 on the compliance plate

Unfortunately,  the year the bike was made is no indication of when the tire was made. In your case, the front tire was made in the 37th week of 2004. Nine+ year old front tire. Change that sucker 

[twinrat]

Agreed its nackered  ,next sign you get will be bubbles on the tire as it delaminates .Replace it before it dumps you.Looking at your photoe,s you have less than 2mm depth left..

[radodrill]

Tires sure can deteriorate a lot simply due to age.  Tire manufacturers make large production runs and distributors (or bike manufacturers) will place large orders at a time; then you don't know how long it'll sit in the distribution warehouse before it's ordered by a dealer (or mounted by a manufacturer) and it cal also sit at the dealer a while unless it was a special order.  So it can be a long time from the manufacture date till a tire is actually installed.

1-2 years on the shelf (for the rear) is maybe a little long, but somewhat understandable since it's not an overly popular size (unlike 180s on 600cc+ supersports); but 5-6 years for the front is way too long, that tire was basically shot when they built the bike.