Tire rot

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Quick question about tire life. I have old tires on my bike, the front is a cheap china black wall and showing dry rot. The rear is a Dunlap 491 RWL G/T, not a 491 Elite ll, so I know it is old, I had the bike 7 years and it was on it when i bought it. It has good tread and shows no signs of dry rot at all. The MSRP on a new Elite ll is $300.00 and a china tire is $60.00. It is clear the Dunlap last alot longer, how long do you think it it safe to ride on

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Lon,

Even though the tire may not show dry rot, it is still old and dry hardened rubber! I had an Elite II on mine in '92 when it died, and when I rebuilt the topend in 2000, I left the rear on there. I rode it to a couple of rallies, but it didn't handle very well, would slip and slide when trying to negotiate the twisties while downgearing/braking! It did hold up for a thousand miles or so, but it went from about a 1/8" tread depth to chord showing with just a 400 mile trip to the mountains of northern Ga., had to go to the local bike shop a few hours before the Saturday Ride and have a new tire put on.

The difference in handling was night and day! SO....yeah, you may get some miles out of it, but it won't handle worth a crap, and will be very slippery in just the little bit of water or such.....easy to lay it down when you aren't planning to!

Dunlop is discontinuing their Elite II series, they have a newer Elite III but mostly in Black wall. Folks have reported getting some newer Cheng Shin or similar brand tires because Dunlops have changed their formula or such, because folks have reported NOT getting the same endurance from the same model/style of tire they had before....so it's now not worth the $ for the Dunlop....they can get the cheaper tires, get maybe 1/2 the mileage of the dunlop, but for 1/3 the price or so. A search for Tires should reveal the recent threads/discussions regarding the newer cheap tires!

T.C.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Rwl

Hey Lon,

Even though the tire may not show dry rot, it is still old and dry hardened rubber! I had an Elite II on mine in '92 when it died, and when I rebuilt the topend in 2000, I left the rear on there. I rode it to a couple of rallies, but it didn't handle very well, would slip and slide when trying to negotiate the twisties while downgearing/braking! It did hold up for a thousand miles or so, but it went from about a 1/8" tread depth to chord showing with just a 400 mile trip to the mountains of northern Ga., had to go to the local bike shop a few hours before the Saturday Ride and have a new tire put on.

The difference in handling was night and day! SO....yeah, you may get some miles out of it, but it won't handle worth a crap, and will be very slippery in just the little bit of water or such.....easy to lay it down when you aren't planning to!

Dunlop is discontinuing their Elite II series, they have a newer Elite III but mostly in Black wall. Folks have reported getting some newer Cheng Shin or similar brand tires because Dunlops have changed their formula or such, because folks have reported NOT getting the same endurance from the same model/style of tire they had before....so it's now not worth the $ for the Dunlop....they can get the cheaper tires, get maybe 1/2 the mileage of the dunlop, but for 1/3 the price or so. A search for Tires should reveal the recent threads/discussions regarding the newer cheap tires!

T.C.

Thanks T.C. I know you are right, I just love the RWL look and can't find any resonable priced one's. Was thinking of buying one front RWL Dunlap for $120.00 now and getting some miles / time out of the old rear till I had extra $$$ to get a new RWL Dunlap for the rear, cash is tight now. Know of any reasonable RWL tires?

[JeffH]

how long do you think it it safe to ride on

Lon,
+1 on what TC is saying. I'd Black Flag that bike till you get those tires updated. You may be OK on a cool, dry day riding to the corner for some Dunkin Donuts, but if you are blasting down I-75 in the brutal summertime south FLA heat then you are sure asking for big trouble.

Jeff

[bikerphil]

The Bridgestone S11 Spitfire comes in RWL, they are under $250 a set.

Edit: I used to run those (not RWL but blackwall) before I discovered the Shinkos.

[jetmechmarty]

130/90-16 RWL (67H) Bridgestone Spitfire S11 Rear Motorcycle Tire
Part# 1200300006

Our price: $115.99



Oh, and from that dealer, the shipping is free.

I went to the DUNLOP site and they don't have a recommended RWL tire for our bikes.

[650mark]

riding on old tires

fwiw, any tire more than 5 years old should be replaced regardless of how much tread is left on it. as has been already stated, as they age they become harder and less pliable. since they are the only contact your bike has with the road surface they will become less able to maintain traction and it could be a severe problem under some circumstances. new tires are the best and cheapest insurance against unforseen, and sometimes unavoidable, road disasters. old tires on a car can be an inconvenience, on a bike they could kill you. i was in the tire business for quite a while and have seen the ugly results of guys trying to not buy tires until they absolutely had to. not good. even a cheap new tire is better than a worn out, really old premium one. please get some new ones as soon as you can. fwiw(again), i bought new shinko 712's for my '80 xs1100 special and they have been great now for 3,000 miles. paid about $250 installed for both. good luck.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

+1

+1 all, I know great tires last alot longer then cheap tires, but no tires last forever Here is the one's i am thinking about, correct size / fit?

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com...ront-Tire.aspx

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com...Rear-Tire.aspx

[crazy steve]

Ok, I'll be the contrarian on this.....

'Tire expiration' has been a hotly-debated subject here a few times. Six years is the most-often recommended time frame, but what's rarely mentioned is where that recommendation came from. This all came out of the Ford Explorer/Firestone debacle of the early 90s. The NHTSA did a study (drawing on studies also done by Ford and several tire makers) and came up with this. Bottom line is, if you live in the sunbelt, yes the six-year time frame is pretty accurate. This was based on tire degradation in the Phoenix AZ area, which has the highest average daily temps of any major US city; in other words, a worst-case scenario. One part of this study that was rarely mentioned is that the effects of temp/UV exposure aren't linear, but exponential. So a 10% increase in temps can cause a 20% or more increase in tire failures (unfortunately, they didn't offer much info on this, but the key word here is 'exponential').

So if you don't live in the sunbelt, you can be throwing away a perfectly good tire at six years. It can be a judgement call, so where you come down on this is up to you. But a tire in Florida or California will go bad much quicker than if you live in Michigan, Washington state, or Canada.

Florida or Arizona? Yeah, after six+ years, you need new tires. But I don't even start worrying about tire age until they're ten years old or older, living in the much-more-temperate NW.

[jetmechmarty]

Yes, Steve. I think they last pretty well in an air conditioned environment under a cover, too.

Lon,

You are going in the direction I go on the XS 11. I went with the Metzeler ME 880, but I'm sure the E3 is comparable. I've had good luck with the GT 501. I still run them on a different bike.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

C.s.

Thanks C.S. that explanes alot, my bike was from the mid-west and garaged it's whole life. Then when I bought it was garaged most of the time I have had it. It has spent a couple of years under a cover and out of the UV all of it's life the rear tire is still soft and round and rides great, but due to safty, I will replace it soon, thanks to all for input and the recomendations

[DGXSER]

As they say, Opinions are like...well...you know the saying. Here is mine, I have expereinced the issues TC mentioned on tires on a bike that lived its entire life here in the cool northern midwest. And they were only 6 years old or so. I immediately noticed the difference when I swapped out the tires.

Yep, the tires are pricey these days. Me, I have a Dunlop 404 on the front and a Dunlop GT501 on the rear. Both have been very comfortable and handle well in all weather. However, one trip to the ER and your wallet will feel much less of a pinch over the tires.

As always, YMMV, just an opinion, like all the others posted here.

[crazy steve]

'Cool' midwest? LOL! While you get harsher winters than I do, you also get much hotter summers...

Another thing to remember is not all tires are created equal. Depending on the rubber formulation, some will 'age' different from others. I recall some Avons I had in the early 80s that started weather-checking after only two years (in my climate), so I shudder to think what they would have done elsewhere....

As to price vs mileage, that's a call you have to make. But my experience is the more expensive tires rarely return the same $-to-miles ratio as some of the lower-priced ones, but you do have to replace more often. If you're paying to have that done, the price difference may be a wash but a DIYer can definitely save some $$...

[haywardguy929]

Wasn't there a thread about radials vs standard tires and the bikes handled better with the older standard types?

[jetmechmarty]

New radial Continental tyres for your classic tested

New radial Continental tyres for your classic tested

Knee down on your classic

ContiClassicAttack Not available in XS1100 size.....yet.