tire age

[outlook]

I have a 2004 bike with original tires. There's only about 5000km's on them with 50% or so tread left. My question is, are they safe to ride on being 8 years old?

[fastar1]

IMO as long as there is no visible cracking of the tread then they'll be safe. Because they're old they won't have as much grip as when they were new, but they won't be any more likely to suffer catastrophic failure either.

[ShaqX7]

Hmm, I would inspect them thoroughly before riding on them. Any flat spots, discolouration, cuts, punctures, would make me reconsider. Tires are the only thing keeping you from kissing the pavement, so be mindful of that.


Sent from my calculator, using skills.

[smergy]

throw them out, anything more than 5 years is not worth riding on. Since the tires are not new, they've been heat cycled many times. Time + heat cycles will harden a tire. The technology has also improved over time. A crash can be significantly more catastrophic than the cost of a set of new tires. Ask yourself this, if you do crash and the result turns out to be compromised grip/old tires, how sorry will you be that you didn't spend the $350 on a new set? Certain things aren't a big deal, tires, brakes and chains are. Weight the upside benefit on 50% of an old tire that will go to waste vs. the downside of crashing on crappy tires.

this is the same reason I always tell people "don't buy seatbelts at a yardsale"

[dr_sarcasm]

throw them out, anything more than 5 years is not worth riding on.

Damned if I could find that study, BUT, there was a show on this very thing a few years back (not sure if it was 60 Minutes, 20/20 or something similar) which was spurred from an incident of a father lending his minivan to his son and friends.

What happened is that they drove this minivan from somewhere in the US and came into Ontario, where the van had a tire failure and the the boy and his group of friends perished (I believe there were no survivors) somewhere on the 401 near Windsor (or London?). The show focused their investigation on the tires and why they failed, including how to tell when a tire was made via what was stamped on the sidewall (a series of numbers that tells you what week of what year the tires was made). What they found is that the tires were original and had failed due to age.

Essentially, as a result of this investigation, the "safe" lifespan of a tire is suggested at 6 years - anything over this you run the risk of catastrophic failure due to drying out of the compound, internal stresses, etc.

I'm in the same boat as the OP here; my 'Stang has her original rubber from 2004 (made in the 42nd week), with a total of 37,000 km on them. I need to change them out or accept the risks that under the right (wrong?) driving circumstances they may blow out as they are not the tires they once were...

In short, throw out those tires and get yourself some new rubber.

[slowbird]

I have a 2004 bike with original tires. There's only about 5000km's on them with 50% or so tread left. My question is, are they safe to ride on being 8 years old?

The bike might still be "safe" to ride on, but the ride, handling, and your piece of mind will benefit greatly from a new set of rubbers.

If I was in your position and I was able to afford it I would get a new set of tire.

[dr_sarcasm]

If you do a search on the 'Net, you'll see there's a consensus on the 6-year old limitation (this page I found quoted what I think was the original investigation done on ABC News regarding the accident I alluded to: http://gatorgrad2001.hubpages.com/hu...Driving-Safety).

If you go to the link, it gets into more detailed specifics as to why tires fail after a certain age (video at the end does a review as well). Also, it appears as though England has standards for this sort of thing (surprise surprise, North American not willing to take the leap on such mandates...).

[AF4iK]

Agree with all the recommendations above to replace tires. Based on what I've read, the standard recommendation is to
throw out tires if they're more than 5 years old due to outgassing which changes the composition of your tires in the long run.

You can determine their age by looking for a 4 digit date code on the sidewall (3 digits on older tires). The first 2 digits indicate the week of manufacture and the last 2 indicate the year. Here's an example:



Personally, I think the 5 year recommendation is conservative. I'd be willing to stretch my car tires longer if they appeared to be in good condition but, on my bike, I choose to err on the side of caution.

[jay-d]

I bought my 2006 last year with OEM tires and they only had 5,500km.

The only riding I did was to the gas station and back, no more than 2km. I would never trust a hockey puck tire because that's essentially what you're riding on.

Think about that!

[TwistedKestrel]

Is that a 999 you're talking about? You're going to want new tires.

Adding to what everyone has said already, take a close look at the sidewall. Even if they look fine now, I can pretty much guarantee you once you put a teeny bit of mileage on the tires the sidewalls will start cracking badly.

[outlook]

Thanks for all the advice! I'm definitely going to get some new tires asap. Was looking at the pilot pures 190/55 rear. The factory calls for 190/50 but I've read the 55's have a better contact patch while turning?

[AF4iK]

The factory calls for 190/50 but I've read the 55's have a better contact patch while turning?

Hmmm that's an interesting question. I don't know. 55 would be a taller sidewall but does that necessarily mean increased contact patch? Things I'd question are:

Does this change or affect the tire's profile?
Does the slightly added height give the impression to the rider that he/she is leaning further?
Does the higher sidewall change the flex of the tire and, if so, how does that alter the handling of the bike?
If any of the above are true, are the gains/losses appreciable or negligible?

lol maybe not the response you're looking for... just pondering aloud.

[GSXMAER]

the PURE is your best choice

55 tires are designed for HEAVIER bikes ( busa & ZX14 )

run Pures at 34 psi front 32 back OR 36 psi front 34 back..... try each for 2 weeks....see what works for you.

in stock at Riders Choice