Life expectancy of tires

"Richard Evans" <infodex.RemoveThis@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:l0kgh0d324957isgufa63dp54uf4p4jcqq@4ax.com...

 > Not in miles, but in years. I have a '99 Suzuki Intruder with the
 > original tires. You can guess I don't ride much, but that's another
 > story. The bike has been garaged. Should I be worried about the tires
 > deteriorating from sheer age?

Yes, you should. I'm sure others here will give better explanations than I
can, but here is what I know can happen.

First, look for cracks in the rubber. If it's been garaged, you might not
see many of those. But if you do, you have to get new tires.

Second, look for a kind of "hard" looking discoloration. I can't describe
it as accurately as I'm sure others here can, but I remember last year I
left a partially used front tire at my mechanic's (long story why I did
this), intending to put it back on w/the matching rear tire when the current
set wore out. Well, that took longer than anticipated, and when my mechanic
went to put the new rear and matching old front on, he decided that the
front had gotten too hard in the meantime for him to feel safe putting it on
my bike.

At first I thought he was just trying to sell me a new tire, but when he
showed me what he meant, I remember it did look different, and feel "harder"
or more brittle than it had before. It didn't look "sticky" at all. I
*could* have used it and probably things would have been OK, but I decided
to take his advice and get a new one anyhow. But that all happened in less
than a year--- as long as it took me to wear out a set of tires.

If your bike has been in the garage since '99, I'd say there's a good
chance the rubber isn't all that good anymore, although unless there's
obvious cracks it might still be safe enough to ride-- just not optimal. I
would take the bike to a mechanic or a friend who really knows what they're
doing, and ask their opinion.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires 

Richard Evans <infodex DeleteThis @mindspring.com> wrote:

:Not in miles, but in years. I have a '99 Suzuki Intruder with the
:original tires. You can guess I don't ride much, but that's another
:story. The bike has been garaged. Should I be worried about the tires
:deteriorating from sheer age?
:
:Dick Evans

Look for cracks. If the sidewalls aren't cracked, you are
probably OK.
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires 

"Holly" <fastred996 RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote:

 >"Richard Evans" <infodex RemoveThis @mindspring.com> wrote in message
 >news:l0kgh0d324957isgufa63dp54uf4p4jcqq@4ax.com...

 > If your bike has been in the garage since '99,

It's ridden with some regularity, just not many miles per year.

Disk<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires 

Richard ...
With so little between you and disaster, the last thing you wanna do is
take a chance on the safety/condition of those tires. If in doubt,
don't. Just replace 'em.




moto


A home without a Mother is not a real home.

It is a great place to bring girls tho.


'05 750 Spirit...
'02 750 Ace...
'01 750 Magna...
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires 

"Reassembler" <Reassembler.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1092129107.527350@ftp.mauigateway.com...
 >
 > Richard Evans <infodex.DeleteThis@mindspring.com> wrote in message
 > news:l0kgh0d324957isgufa63dp54uf4p4jcqq@4ax.com...
  > > Not in miles, but in years. I have a '99 Suzuki Intruder with the
  > > original tires. You can guess I don't ride much, but that's another
  > > story. The bike has been garaged. Should I be worried about the tires
  > > deteriorating from sheer age?
  > >
  > > Dick Evans
 >
 > Three years is the absolute limit. AFAIC

*Looks at the tires with a 1986 manufacture date* mounted on my gs-ratbike.

Eeep!

<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires 

Richard Evans <infodex.DeleteThis@mindspring.com> wrote in message news:<l0kgh0d324957isgufa63dp54uf4p4jcqq.DeleteThis@4ax.com>...
 > Not in miles, but in years. I have a '99 Suzuki Intruder with the
 > original tires. You can guess I don't ride much, but that's another
 > story. The bike has been garaged. Should I be worried about the tires
 > deteriorating from sheer age?
 >
 > Dick Evans

Considering we are talking about a '99 Suzuki Intruder and a rider
that doesn't ride much, I think it's fair to assume you wont be
hitting the back roads with your buddies on sport bikes. Ridden
conservativly there is no need to worry about the tires. The rubber
on normal street tires is less affected by age than the sticky rubber
used on most sport bikes. Of course that's partly because it starts
off with less stick in the first place. Even minor cracking is ok.
The tire is held together by the fabric inside, not the rubber on the
outside.

I'm sure I'll get flack over this post, but I call them as I see them.
I have ridden on old cracked tires many times without problems. As
long as you don't try pushing the limits of traction you should be
fine. I don't ever recall hearing about an old tire coming apart on
someone (though we probably will now <!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires 

Richard Evans wrote:

 > Not in miles, but in years. I have a '99 Suzuki Intruder with the
 > original tires. You can guess I don't ride much, but that's another
 > story. The bike has been garaged. Should I be worried about the tires
 > deteriorating from sheer age?
 >
 > Dick Evans

You can go to the mfgr's web site and verify each's recommendations. If
you don't ride the things they'll dry rot and your bike will rust apart
in place.

IIRC it's something like 3 to 5 years. Traction will start going and
you'll get cracking between the tread and in the sidewall. So even
though the tread is deep enough the tires are still dangerous to use.
Better to wear them out riding than let them age out from underneath you.

Since I go through 3 or more sets of tires a year, I look on the
sidewall at the code and make sure I never buy a "new" tire that's more
than 1 year old. I find that anything 2 years or more old is already
starting to lose enough traction that it's noticeable.

--

Mark Johnson, Ft Worth; IBA#288; CM#1; EOB, DoD#2021; LPR#50
2003 FJR1300 "E²"; <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.bikes-n-spikes.org" target="_blank">http://www.bikes-n-spikes.org</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires 

Bownse wrote:
 >
 > Richard Evans wrote:
 >
  > > Not in miles, but in years. I have a '99 Suzuki Intruder with the
  > > original tires. You can guess I don't ride much, but that's another
  > > story. The bike has been garaged. Should I be worried about the tires
  > > deteriorating from sheer age?
  > >
  > > Dick Evans
 >
 > You can go to the mfgr's web site and verify each's recommendations. If
 > you don't ride the things they'll dry rot and your bike will rust apart
 > in place.
 >
 > IIRC it's something like 3 to 5 years. Traction will start going and
 > you'll get cracking between the tread and in the sidewall. So even
 > though the tread is deep enough the tires are still dangerous to use.
 > Better to wear them out riding than let them age out from underneath you.
 >
 > Since I go through 3 or more sets of tires a year, I look on the
 > sidewall at the code and make sure I never buy a "new" tire that's more
 > than 1 year old. I find that anything 2 years or more old is already
 > starting to lose enough traction that it's noticeable.

You got that right! Those oem tires on my '81 Honda CM400E that I bought last
year were hard as rocks! I thought I'd NEVER wear them out. Otoh, they did
make GREAT skid marks while testing out brake adjustments.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires 

Steve T wrote:

 > Richard Evans <infodex.RemoveThis@mindspring.com> wrote:
 >
 > :Not in miles, but in years. I have a '99 Suzuki Intruder with the
 > :original tires. You can guess I don't ride much, but that's another
 > :story. The bike has been garaged. Should I be worried about the tires
 > :deteriorating from sheer age?
 > :
 > :Dick Evans
 >
 > Look for cracks. If the sidewalls aren't cracked, you are
 > probably OK.

I disagree. If you're not riding the bike, then the carcass may not have
been flexing enough for cracking to show up in spite of the tire being
too old.

I'd go with the 3 years myself. Use the sucker or sell it.

--

Mark Johnson, Ft Worth; IBA#288; CM#1; EOB, DoD#2021; LPR#50
2003 FJR1300 "E²"; <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.bikes-n-spikes.org" target="_blank">http://www.bikes-n-spikes.org</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires 

Bownse <bownse RemoveThis @swbell.net> wrote:

:> Look for cracks. If the sidewalls aren't cracked, you are
:> probably OK.
:
:I disagree. If you're not riding the bike, then the carcass may not have
:been flexing enough for cracking to show up in spite of the tire being
:too old.
:
:I'd go with the 3 years myself. Use the sucker or sell it.

He said he rode it often but not very far.
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires 

Steve T wrote:

 > Bownse <bownse.RemoveThis@swbell.net> wrote:
 >
 > :> Look for cracks. If the sidewalls aren't cracked, you are
 > :> probably OK.
 > :
 > :I disagree. If you're not riding the bike, then the carcass may not have
 > :been flexing enough for cracking to show up in spite of the tire being
 > :too old.
 > :
 > :I'd go with the 3 years myself. Use the sucker or sell it.
 >
 > He said he rode it often but not very far.

So he's not riding the bike. Either way, miles ain't getting done. Short
hop riding never gets the motor up to operating temps and can cause
their own set of problems. As for tires, they rot if left on the bike
too long without being used (up).

--

Mark Johnson, Ft Worth; IBA#288; CM#1; EOB, DoD#2021; LPR#50
2003 FJR1300 "E²"; <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.bikes-n-spikes.org" target="_blank">http://www.bikes-n-spikes.org</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires 

Tim Morrow wrote:
  >>IIRC it's something like 3 to 5 years. Traction will start going and
  >>you'll get cracking between the tread and in the sidewall. So even
  >>though the tread is deep enough the tires are still dangerous to use.
  >>Better to wear them out riding than let them age out from underneath you.
  >>
  >>Since I go through 3 or more sets of tires a year, I look on the
  >>sidewall at the code and make sure I never buy a "new" tire that's more
  >>than 1 year old. I find that anything 2 years or more old is already
  >>starting to lose enough traction that it's noticeable.
 >
 >
 > You got that right! Those oem tires on my '81 Honda CM400E that I bought last
 > year were hard as rocks! I thought I'd NEVER wear them out. Otoh, they did
 > make GREAT skid marks while testing out brake adjustments.

[slaps forehead] ugh!<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires 

Dave Slavik <valgar.RemoveThis@NOSPAMcorecomm.net> wrote in message
news:lpjSc.112$O72.59@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
 >
 > "Reassembler" <Reassembler.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
 > news:1092129107.527350@ftp.mauigateway.com...
  > >
  > > Richard Evans <infodex.RemoveThis@mindspring.com> wrote in message
  > > news:l0kgh0d324957isgufa63dp54uf4p4jcqq@4ax.com...
   > > > Not in miles, but in years. I have a '99 Suzuki Intruder with the
   > > > original tires. You can guess I don't ride much, but that's another
   > > > story. The bike has been garaged. Should I be worried about the tires
   > > > deteriorating from sheer age?
   > > >
   > > > Dick Evans
  > >
  > > Three years is the absolute limit. AFAIC
 >
 > *Looks at the tires with a 1986 manufacture date* mounted on my gs-ratbike.
 >
 > Eeep!
 >
 >

Rear tire slides can be fun. GS-ratbikes need Avon 20/21 combo.

Reassembler<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Life expectancy of tires