Tire age?

[zxme]

So only have 1134 miles on my DRZ but they are 6 years old and seem hard.
Besides mileage how long date wise do you recommend changing them?
I have always just bought tires every 2-3 years but that’s because they wore out.

[Paul_E_D]

It depends. What tires are they? How worn do they look?

[Paul_E_D]

But to answer your question, I have used some old, dry tires on the road sometimes. I literally just removed some 6 year old tires from my hyperstrada. They were like rocks. I was aware tough, and rode pretty tame on it last season or 2.

[boosten lebaron]

Because I have so many motorcycles I tend to let most sit rather than ride so my tires end up like yours, old but with low miles. For knobby tires I don't really care about age, when it's time for them to go they just spit off the lugs and I'm forced to replace them. On my street tires I tend to start worrying after 5 years. You can feel that the rubber is getting harder if you poke at them. Depending on the bike I either replace or take extra care. Gsxr = replace, Harley = extra care.

[zxme]

Because I have so many motorcycles I tend to let most sit rather than ride so my tires end up like yours, old but with low miles. For knobby tires I don't really care about age, when it's time for them to go they just spit off the lugs and I'm forced to replace them. On my street tires I tend to start worrying after 5 years. You can feel that the rubber is getting harder if you poke at them. Depending on the bike I either replace or take extra care. Gsxr = replace, Harley = extra care.

I have an SM so only street I use it for. They are not worn at all but like I said they are kinda hard and I know car tires have a 10 year life span usually.

Maybe I’ll hit Seacoast since I hear good things about them

[boosten lebaron]

Are they cracking or anything? If your just riding normal ish on the 400 i wouldnt worry much about the age of the tires, you can really overwhelm even old ones doing simple things. Now if i was scrapping pegs at every corner then i would be thinking about buying a new tire, but only thinking since its still just a 400.

[PurplePackage]

use some tire sealant if you are going to push age. hard is ok. small cracks are ok if they're tubed tires.

[FriskyDingo]

quick read: https://www.revzilla.com/common-trea...-tire-age-myth

The truth about tire age


Tires can be deemed unfit not only due to wear or damage, but also age. Those first two criteria are easy to understand; bald tread or a gaping tear obviously warrant tire replacement. But age?

Yup, and the entire time I’ve been riding, folks have always cited five years as the expiration date. I’ve parroted it too: Once your buns hit 60 months, you should replace them regardless of their appearance because the rubber will have hardened and will have less traction.

And yet, when I tried to substantiate the five-year rule of thumb, I couldn’t find any evidence for it outside the rider forums and word of mouth. Avon is the closest with a recommendation of seven years, but Bridgestone, Michelin, Dunlop, Continental and others actually list 10 years as the allowable service life for a properly maintained set of tires, which I have to admit, was a shock. I mean, a decade? Really!?.......

[zxme]

quick read: https://www.revzilla.com/common-trea...-tire-age-myth

Thanks for that. I definitely will be keeping them a few more years. I store the bike in a heated basement that’s 64° with no sunlight.

[golden chicken]

Dave Moss suggested the thumbnail test: drive your thumb nail into the rubber fairly hard and if the imprint comes out after a few seconds, the tire is GTG.

[OneCheekRider]

for me, it depends on how and where I'm using the bike. If not riding spiritedly and/or in the rain, I have no problems running older tires up to 10 years old. In fact, I'm no stranger to using up friends' old tires for my commute. After 5 or 6 years I do notice a noticeable lack of adhesion in the wet.

[Billy]

When I had a single bike, I used to burn through a set of tires within 2-3 riding seasons so age was never an issue. With multiple bikes, tire age has become a concern I keep an eye on. I used to use Pilot Power 2CTs on my bikes. From what I found online, Michelin does not recommend going beyond 10 years. Now I'm a Pirelli guy but haven't found out what their age limit is. I've seen 5-6 years mentioned online.

[Vovchandr]

On something like a car where the risk is fairly minimal it's one thing.

On a motorcycle the cost benefit analysis skews the math VERY STRONGLY into replacing tires out of caution.

One small incident due to a tire will absolutely have astronomical costs associated with it between mechanical and visual damage to the bike, to your gear, risk of your health and life long damages done to your body, loss of time due to time out of work, hitting other objects or cars etc.

On the other side if you were to scrap the tires now, the downsides are you get to ride on brand new tires with no fear without getting most utility out of your old ones.

Seems like a very simple choice to make.

This was a lesson I learned with my own $$$ by trying to cheap out on tires in some ways or others. Never again.