Tire Change? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Tire Change?

ddzc

ddzc

Well-known member
Hey all,

I attached a couple of pics. What indicators does one use when it's time to swap the tires out? I believe the rear tire only needs to be replaced, even though it's got some tread left. The front looks okay, but it's probably advisable to change them in pairs.

Thoughts?

Thanks
 

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In certain grooves, there's a tread wear indicator (seems you have one in the 2nd from bottom right hand groove)
wear-252-189.jpe


The closer the top of the tire is to the wear indicator in the groove, the closer to dying your tire is.

I got mine to being almost flush before i changed mine, but lets just say i took it easy in the last 1000km.

If it's flush, or further down, change asap.
 
Wear bars. I think I can see one in the pic and you're not on it yet. Easy way to find a wear bar is to look for little triangles on the sidewall of the tire, they will point to where the bar will be on the circumference of the tire. Other good reasons to replace a tire are if you see cracking, chunks are missing (usually happens near a groove), the tire is really square, tire feels off, tire has a difficult to repair puncture. Some people will continue riding the tire past the wear bars (if the tire is evenly worn) because you lose all the siping before you completely run out of tread. That means riding in the rain will be worse (though your tires don't have a lot of siping to begin with)
 
Also check the date code on the side of the tire. An old date would help justify replacing the front as well even if the tread depth and profile may be ok. The rubber gets harder as it ages.
 
Replacing worn out with used is false economy. Buy a new tire and you're good for a long time.
 
Better to replace as pairs.
Hard to tell with the pics. if they are down to the wear bars - replace them.
 
I replace mines when I can see the steel belt #yolo
 
Thanks for the responses!

You guys love to live on the edge huh
 
Last edited:
Just replaced mine. Still had about 1mm above wear line in back, and 2mm in front, but the rear was really squared off, and the front was scalloping quite a bit.The combined effect was somewhat unpredictable behaviour in corners, so i just switched them out.
 
Depends on if you ride in the rain. If you do, change when they hit the wear bars or square off. If they are still round and no/low tread, you have slicks. ;)
 
frekeyguy said:
Better to replace as pairs.
Hard to tell with the pics. if they are down to the wear bars - replace them.
Click to expand...
Why is it better to replace in pairs? I was under the impression that the rear wears faster than the front?

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Joe Bass said:
Why is it better to replace in pairs? I was under the impression that the rear wears faster than the front?

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Click to expand...

I can think of a couple of reasons, if the tires are old then do it in pairs even if the one is still good tread wise, or if you cannot match the one with the other so they are of same make and model, I am not a fan of mixed brands on a bike

.
 
GateKeeper said:
I can think of a couple of reasons, if the tires are old then do it in pairs even if the one is still good tread wise, or if you cannot match the one with the other so they are of same make and model, I am not a fan of mixed brands on a bike

.
Click to expand...
Makes sense.
I'm due to change them out for next season, as they are getting old, and they are different makes. (Dunlop front, Shinko rear).

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Joe Bass said:
Why is it better to replace in pairs? I was under the impression that the rear wears faster than the front?

Sent from my custom purple Joe Bass mobile device using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Some sets of modern rubber have center compounds that try to even out the wear rates... it's not gonna be exact, but close enough for me to change both without losing any sleep
 
Joe Bass said:
Why is it better to replace in pairs? I was under the impression that the rear wears faster than the front?

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Click to expand...

For me it's because there will be some form of tire wear on the front that will (likely) not allow the bike to handle as well as having 2 new shoes will. I have a 990 Superduke that literally eats the rears (OK, my right hand has something to do with that too). I went down to the cords (oops) on the rear 2 weeks ago but in looking at the front, while it had lots of rubber to go, that rubber was triangular. I spooned 2 new tires on and the bike is mint again.
 
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