Tire age

[Aches n Pains]

Folks,

Just bought a new project and am interested in what you guys think about tires. The numbers on these tires indicate they were made in early 2006.

Tread is great. I see no cracking in the sidewalls.





Thanks,

Aches n Pains

[motoman]

Wear im' out without getting to aggressive in corners.............

[crazy steve]

Take that 'tire age' recommendation thing with a grain of salt; some will say that any tire over a certain age is unsafe, but that number came out of a study done in Phoenix Arizona (the US city with the highest daily average temps) and represents a worst-case scenario, which of course all the lawyers seized on to CYA. Cooler climates and less sun exposure cause not only less damage, but slow the rate of damage. This was also mentioned in the study, but ignored in the final conclusions. If the tire looks good, chances are it is...

[natemoen]

I would agree with motoman here.

[lee_dutcher]

Good little piece of information there. thow that in my moto-safty friends who keep saying i need to change my front tire.

[cywelchjr]

Only thing to be aware of, is if you get in ANY accident, and the insurance co finds out the age of the tires, the WILL refuse to cover and will call it your fault. You just need to be aware of that, as insurance co's will do anything they can to make it your fault. I'm not saying don't wear them out, but be aware that from an insurance standpoint your taking a risk.

[tweeleft]

I'd run them. 06 wasn't the experation date was it?

[crazy steve]

Only thing to be aware of, is if you get in ANY accident, and the insurance co finds out the age of the tires, the WILL refuse to cover and will call it your fault..

That will only possibly come into play if a tire failure was the cause....

[Aches n Pains]

Thanks, guys. Generally supported my feelings.

Doug

[greatnw]

Just had this conversation with Metzler last year. Six years is their marker. I'm with everyone else here. They base all their warranty policies off of it. If you lived in the arid, high heat areas of the country I'd say put a new one on. In Reston, VA, don't worry about it. No checkering or splitting just keep an eye on it.

[Elevener]

I dont care how old it is, That tire looks hard and dry to me. Its your life and your bike.

[crazy steve]

There's a lot of info out there on tire aging... here's one report: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv.../07-0496-W.pdf

To me, the most telling part of this is these two paragraphs found on page two....

1. Agency data indicated that states with high average ambient temperatures have higher tire failure rates. Phoenix, AZ has an annual normal daily mean temperature of 23.4 Deg. C (74.2 Deg. F). [5] It also has a mean number of 169 days with a maximum temperature of 32.2 Deg. C (90 Deg. F) or higher. [6]
2. A study conducted by the Ford Motor Company of the rates of degradation of tire material properties in six U.S. cities [7] indicated that the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area had the highest degradation rates of the six cities studied. These results were attributed to the exponential increase in the rate of the degradative reaction with temperature occurring in the relatively high mean and maximum temperatures of the Phoenix area.
(emphasis added)

... so what I get out of this is if you live in Phoenix, yep, six years is probably the safe max on age as this was the data used by almost all the tire manufacturers to come up with their 'expiration dates'. Live in a cooler climate, don't expose the tire to as much UV, and the effects of aging are slowed by a bunch. If you go through and read the report, the vast majority of tire failures are in 'sunbelt' states and even then, they don't claim 'tire age' as a big factor but point to underinflation as the leading cause of failure.

So if you live in the southern half of the US (California, Texas, Nevada, Florida, etc), the recommendations are probably mostly accurate. But if you live in the northern half, IMO if you adhere blindly to those you're probably throwing away a perfectly good tire...

[slow mo]

old tires eventually don,t turn in corners they slide !! trust me ,,change your tires ,,ride safe ,,slow mo!

[cywelchjr]

That will only possibly come into play if a tire failure was the cause....

Well, yes and no. If the insurance co can in any way twist it to "you lost control because of old tires" they will and blame it on you. Had this happen to a family member, cause they WILL go looking for something they can use against you, ANYTHING they can use against you. You just need to be aware of it that's all. You may well be lucky, the odds are in your favor as I don't expect that the tires at that age would cause you to have an accident or to lose control, and depending on who the insurance companies involved it may or may not come into play. If you get involved in ANY way with 21st century insurance however, they will go over the vehicle with a fine tooth comb looking for something they can use to make it YOUR fault.

[James England]

I dont care how old it is, That tire looks hard and dry to me. Its your life and your bike.

Agreed. I would never trust a tyre on a bike I bought unless it was quite obviously nearly new. The tire in the pic looks hard, dry and shiny.Five years is a long time for a tyre to last.

Good quality XS1100 tyres cost under $60 here. I wouldn't risk my life... or worse... end up paraplegic...just to save that amount of money. These are large, heavy, old and powerful bikes with relatively small tire contact area on the road.

I would not ride that tire.