Are my tires no good? Do they go bad with age?

[Guest]

Yesterday I was looking over my tires on my bike. They look brand new, but they are dated 2003. That seems old to me? What are your guys thoughts?

[JEEPRUSTY]

They are due for replacement
I think the max is 5 yrs but even that would be too much for a cautious driver.

[Master077]

Sorry correction they are dated 2007. I think I will buy a new set.

[Octain]

Most say 5/6 years but if there is no tiny cracks in the treads you should be fine.

[eil]

2007, so they're going on 7 years old. General consensus is that most tires aren't to be trusted after 5 or 6 years. These tires might be good for another season or two. But then again, maybe not.

Being that it's the middle of winter... if it were my bike, I would just replace them so I could wipe my hands and not have to worry about it any further. A set of Shinkos is pretty cheap.

[tkent02]

I'm running 6 year old tires on my new 550 temporarily, just took off the original front and thirty year old rear. I had these tires/wheels around here so slapped them on. You can feel the difference. More slippery than new tires, the rubber is a little bit hardened. They squirm around on paint stripes and manhole covers. I am not going to push them in corners at all. Got to get the new ones on there.

I did ride around the block a couple times very slowly on the original tires, they were terrible.

[chef1366]

I'm running 6 year old tires on my new 550 temporarily, just took off the original front and thirty year old rear. I had these tires/wheels around here so slapped them on. You can feel the difference. More slippery than new tires, the rubber is a little bit hardened. They squirm around on paint stripes and manhole covers. I am not going to push them in corners at all. Got to get the new ones on there.

I did ride around the block a couple times very slowly on the original tires, they were terrible.

Running some Phantoms Tom?

[tkent02]

Running some Phantoms Tom?

Don't know the Phantoms. The original front and thirty year old rear were MagMopus, the six year old ones are Bridestone Spitfires, the new ones to go on are RoadRiders.

[markb]

what about new tires never mounted that are a few years old. its UV and heat that kill tires right. so say someone out on tires with a date code from 2010. are they already 3/4 years taken off the lifespan?

[tkent02]

Stored indoors in a cool dry place they will last longer. Sealed in plastic longer yet. I'd run them.

[themess]

Tires don't necessarily get bad just because they are old. It depends on how the tires were made and stored.

In 1997 I could no longer find the exact stock size of tire for my 1982 GS650G. I wrote US Suzuki a letter on this. They still had original Bridgestone Mag Mopus stock tires in their warehouse and advised me to buy those. So Suzuki was happy to recommend 15 year old tires.

Tires contain antiozonants and antioxidants. When garaged and protected from gasoline, tires should be fine for ten years or more. When I worked for Firestone, they would occassionally teall employees about tires still in service from before WWII. To be sure, those were either on fire trucks or front tires for tractors, easy service both. Still, 40 years is a long time.

If the rubber shows signs of hardening or has any weather checking, replace the tire. If the tire looks fine. you're probably better off to do other things for safety's sake.