Tires after sitting for awhile

I'm sure that there isn't a *right* answer for this question but for anyone who has had their bike sitting for awhile what do you look for to determine the tires need replacing? There is no dry cracks on the sidewall and the tread is looking good.

Is there anything else that others have found that forces replacement? I do plan on swapping out the tires before a long road trip but I'm hoping to make it past tax season and maybe have enough from the tax return to do this right.

thx in advance,
bob

How old are they? Been stored indoors, away from the elements? Check the manufacture date code on the sidewalls. Seeing they appear to be in good shape, I would only be cautious riding on them until you replace them, if they were over 10 years old.

With all the tires I go through (one set every three to four months), I find that most of the older tires (I won't mount them if they are older than 7 - 8 years) I have mounted have worn out much sooner than their newer counter part.

As the rubber ages, (elements or not) it still hardens to some point and the harder a motorcycle tire is, it won't stick to the corners as well and wears faster.

So I would think that if you weren't cutting up through the mountains at high speed or taking any real long trips (where they will wear out on you during the trip), you could ride them until they wear out.

SupraSabre said:

As the rubber ages, (elements or not) it still hardens to some point and the harder a motorcycle tire is, it won't stick to the corners as well and wears faster.

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That's interesting, but I had exactly the opposite experience with a car though they do experience different forces. My car was used locally for 10 years and was very low mileage. The tires looked about 1/2 worn and otherwise ok, but they had very little traction especially in the wet. I think I could have gotten 80,000 miles out of them as I assumed the rubber hardened and was wearing slower. I replaced them for safety.

ddemair said:

That's interesting, but I had exactly the opposite experience with a car though they do experience different forces. My car was used locally for 10 years and was very low mileage. The tires looked about 1/2 worn and otherwise ok, but they had very little traction especially in the wet. I think I could have gotten 80,000 miles out of them as I assumed the rubber hardened and was wearing slower. I replaced them for safety.

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I bought some 80,000 mile tires for my truck a number of years ago. The :sun1: baked them quite well, they had cracks and I replaced without getting the 80K out of them. So, unless I'm commuting at 25K miles a year, I find it just isn't worth putting 80K tires on my cages.

I can only talk about my experiences on the bike tires, since I'm no "Tire Technical Expert", but from what I have experienced in the last 12+ years riding ST1300s for 325K miles, as the tire ages, you loose traction, even if there is lots of tread left, just because they are harder, than newer ones, and you don't have the tire patch a cage tire has.

Since most of my commute is freeway, I'm not as concerned at the age of a tire on my commuter bike, but I removed my 2012 tires with about 1,500 miles on them and put on new tires when I was taking a long trip on it. Those tires are sitting on my commuter bike ('04#2) and are close to being replaced soon. They aren't last all that long either, but they are 6 year old tires...or older...don't remember what the date is on them!

I bought a stored bike with 10yr old tires - they had deep tread. I road them for about 200 miles and replaced them immediately. Side walls looked fine but age of rubber beyond 6 years old doesn't rate well. Being a street bike vfr figured I better increase my survivability odds.


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Until I see cracks, age is just a number and not much use.

(Goes for me and the tires)

A descent summary of auto street tire aging and replacement can be found here:
Tire Aging Part #1
Tire Aging Part #2
(Motorcycle and auto tires are made of the same materials.)

I never saw an old tire I didnt ride until it was gone. Never had a problem. Im 62 this year.

My new to me ST had been parked up for 10 years when I bought it, on relatively unworn Continental tyres. I visually checked them, and rode gingerly at the start, then with increasing confidence. In the end I very happily wore those tyres out, they gave me no cause for concern.