Should I Replace These Tires?

[Guest]

OK

I have had these on the bike since the mid '80's. (1985 I think)

They look fine to me. In climate controlled space for 30 years or so. No cracks and they are not brittle. Take a look. I would be interested in opinions.

https://goo.gl/photos/omgfe3gMXAJgxnoB6

https://goo.gl/photos/EdJLqrKFs8vaTfCG7

https://goo.gl/photos/yhEhC3QF7UkDnADy6

https://goo.gl/photos/9H5Y2P7zEboMyhEt7

https://goo.gl/photos/3fdg6qJuPa98Rj1DA

https://goo.gl/photos/xs567mTB5pqHEnDg7

If you think I should replace them. what do you recommend.

1980 GS550E

[Frank Z.]

Cool for rolling bike around. Definitely uncool to ride on. Replace at any cost man.

[fastbysuzuki]

OK

I have had these on the bike since the mid '80's. (1985 I think)

If you think I should replace them. what do you recommend.

1980 GS550E

if you value your life the answer is yes. Avon road riders my choice

[Brendan W]

If I didn't know the age of those tyres I would probably think they look Ok and perhaps make a big mistake.
As far as I know ( which is not much actually) cured rubber is not inert and keeps reacting all the while after it has been made into a tyre.
Co-incidentally yesterday I found some new parts I had put in a sealed tin in a safe place thirty years ago. The o-rings disintegrated in my fingers like dust.

[tkent02]

Absolutely replace them.

[Steve]

As the others have hinted, you don't really need to replace them ...


... unless you plan on riding the bike.


They have no value as museum pieces, as they are not original to the bike, so right now, they are only good for keeping the metal rims off the ground.

.

[mmattockx]

If I didn't know the age of those tyres I would probably think they look Ok and perhaps make a big mistake.

And this is the reason for date codes. Tires can look perfectly ok but be way past their best before date.

I just had an up close experience with this in the last couple weeks. My mom recently gave her 92 Mercury Topaz to my kids for their first car. She hasn't driven at all for several years and not much ever. She has owned the car since new and it had 17,200km on it when I brought it to my house. Because of the super low mileage it still had the original tires on it from 1992. Similar to OP, they had been in a garage all their lives, looked fine and seemed ok in every way. We have put about 1500km on the car since we got it. Last week the right rear tire delaminated and developed a huge bulge on the inner sidewall and vibrated enough in a couple of short trips on the highway that it developed play in the wheel bearing on that corner. Needless to say, the wheel bearing has been fixed and new rubber went on yesterday.

Old tires are a crap shoot at best. If I suffered a delamination like that at speed on a bike I expect the result would have been some pavement surfing or a trip into a ditch, with likely dire consequences for my health and well being.


OP, did you armor all those tires? Rubber isn't supposed to be shiny like that, especially on the tread surface.


Mark

[Brendan W]

Looking at the pictures more closely I'm not too sure about 'no cracks'.
Look at the third picture, the tread blocks above the O in the Dunlop logo.
Look at the fourth picture. The seem to be dozens of cracks all the way through the Continental logo and beyond.

[Mickeymoe]

I'm in the middle of replacing my tires also. They have great tread, the bike is mint but they are showing signs of dry-rot. The seller said as several posters here have "if you plan on riding the bike you should replace the tires". I'll be spending over 300 bucks before I'm done but considering the deductible on my health insurance is 2500, I'd rather use the money for tires as opposed to a hospital bed or a coffin.

[eil]

I'm in the middle of replacing my tires also. They have great tread, the bike is mint but they are showing signs of dry-rot. The seller said as several posters here have "if you plan on riding the bike you should replace the tires". I'll be spending over 300 bucks before I'm done but considering the deductible on my health insurance is 2500, I'd rather use the money for tires as opposed to a hospital bed or a coffin.

With car tires, you have a lot of margin for error. They last 10x longer than bike tires, they don't need to grip the road much at all (since there's twice as many and there's much more contact area) and if any one fails, you have three more to keep you out of trouble.

Bottom line: a motorcycle tire that shows any issues (or even suspected issues) whatsoever should be not be ridden on. Even if it's brand new. A tire that is beyond a certain age (rule of thumb is about 5 years) should be replaced regardless of appearance since it will not provide enough grip to keep you safe in the event of an emergency maneuver.

[stu78]

Its amazing how good old tires can look. I just purchased an 83 GS400E. It had been stored indoors for close to 10 years. The tires look pretty good, a few tiny cracks here and there but not bad looking. The rubber is so hard and brittle. I'm done worrying about my tires every time I sit on the bike to go riding. After reading alot on this forum about how important good tires are, I'm getting new ones put on after the long weekend. I'm only doing short trips in the city, but even that is pretty risky. Op, if you read back a few months, you will find tons of people continually repeating the same thing....get new tires if you don't know how old they are or show any signs of wear.

[robertbarr]

I recently bought a 2009 V-Strom. The tires looked near-perfect, but they were original. Too old. Replacing them was the first thing I did.

(And the new ones feel so nice....)

For tires that old, there's no question about what to do.

[tkent02]

....get new tires if you don't know how old they are or show any signs of wear.

They all have date codes. If it's too old to have a date code, it's over thirty years old.

[John Park]

With car tires, you have a lot of margin for error. They last 10x longer than bike tires, they don't need to grip the road much at all (since there's twice as many and there's much more contact area) and if any one fails, you have three more to keep you out of trouble.

Bottom line: a motorcycle tire that shows any issues (or even suspected issues) whatsoever should be not be ridden on. Even if it's brand new. A tire that is beyond a certain age (rule of thumb is about 5 years) should be replaced regardless of appearance since it will not provide enough grip to keep you safe in the event of an emergency maneuver.

Cars are also about eight times as heavy on only twice as many wheels. The actual load per surface area is pretty similar and is determined by the inflation pressure, so you'll have about thirty pounds per square inch of rubber whether it's a Honda 50 or an Escalade.

Next time you get in a panic stop in your four wheeler, tell me how much your tires 'don't need to grip the road much at all'. I apply the same rules to car tires - for the same reasons; you have more faith in a three wheeled car than I do.

[bwringer]

If the question is "Should I replace these tires...", the answer is always "YES".