BMW F800 Forum banner

Fresh vs Stale tires

2K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  ssssusanq 
#1 ·
#2 ·
After 17K miles on the front Shinko, it had gone stale. The rear had 1K to go but I'm going on a 2K ride so it went too. New tires feel so good.
I know a lot of folks that have numerous vehicles and they have the opinion that if it has tread, it's OK. Regardless of the fact that the tires may be 20 years old.
Cheap buggers that take one or two of their collection out for a ride every few years. Collectors that are in reality hoarders. Stupid too.
Some one otta ask Leno how often he changes tires on his vast collection.
 
#7 ·
I know a lot of folks that have numerous vehicles and they have the opinion that if it has tread, it's OK. Regardless of the fact that the tires may be 20 years old.
Cheap buggers that take one or two of their collection out for a ride every few years. Collectors that are in reality hoarders. Stupid too.
There are some forum posts that note how successful driving down to the cords has been and that replacing a tire with any remaining tread is wasteful. I doubt there is changing the minds of these people. (Until, of course, reality and/or natural selection introduces itself to these folks.)
 
#3 ·
I am a tire designer for a large manufacturer. I work on passenger car and light truck tires, but I can tell you with certainty that no tire more than 6 years old will be on my car and nothing more than 4 years old on my motorcycles. Rubber compounds evolve over time and performances as well. Wet grip is usually the one that changes most after a few years. Ozone and oxidation damage are big contributors. I also run nitrogen in my motorcycle tires. It is less permeable and not reactive with any volatile compounds in the tire materials. For cars it is also good, but not for some ridiculous charge like some tire stores want to hit you with. There is a Michelin "Inflation Station" near me, so my nitrogen fills are DIY at no charge.
 
#4 ·
Having had a 10 year old tyre fitted to my caravan with very low mileage blow while travelling at speed on a crowded dual carriageway, I so agree! Tyre manufacturers tell us we should change 5 year old tyres and it isn't just a sales pitch. That is one reason the date of manufacture is on every tyre. (I bought a low mileage car with very old tyres, new tyres transformed its handling in the wet!)
 
#5 ·
I replaced the original Firestone (I think) tires on my 20 year old Saturn after 15 years and almost 20,000 miles with Uniroyal Tiger Paw tires. I really can't tell the difference between the new and the original tires. :confused:
 
#12 ·
Back to motorcycle content.... Last year, I bought a 2011 F800GS with 3200 miles. It came with bigblock mounted tires and a set of "original" Anakee2 tires. Well, I wore off the big blocks and had the Anakees mounted about last Oct.? Nov.? Rationalized, the cost of mount and balance out weighed the cost of new tires + mount & balance. Big mistake!!! Had some rides and miles gone before winter set in in NJ. Last week ran 100 miles enjoying a spring-like March day. Yesterday, I went out for a ride on my day off... and holy shit! Had a look at my tires and found them dry rotten and cracked in ways I won't chance my life with further riding! So much for "old" tires that still have good tread! I will always prefer new tires and wearing them out by riding them 9 or 10 K!!! Lesson learned.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top