Tread depth reports, safe depth?

[Bonz]

Hey guys,

What is considered a good rule of thumb for minimum safe tread depth on our tires?

FWIW, this is what lead me to ask the question...

I've put a few new tires on my bikes over the winter, and while in the garage this morning took some tread measurements.

80SG: Rear K491 Elite II, 4.5 mm with 7500 miles use
Front D404, 2.5 mm with 7000 miles use. .

80G: Rear D404 5 mm depth, unknown miles (came with the bike).
Front Shinko 230 Tourmaster: 5.5 mm (just mounted, 35 miles on it).

2001 ZRX 1200: Rear Shinko 011 Verge 7-7.5mm, new.
Front Shinko 009 Raven, 4.5 mm, 8500 miles use.

I just replaced the 009 Raven on the rear of the ZRX, and I got 10,600 miles almost to the wear bars. DANG good tire life for that beast.

Not really happy with the D404 tread life on the front of the 80SG. The 2.5mm of depth remaining in the center appears close the end of the line to my eye, so maybe I've answered my question? Or do I have some safe mileage to get out of that tire yet?

Already ordered another Shinko 230 Tourmaster for the 80SG, ready to mount at a moments notice...

I'm finding myself really happy with Shinko tires ovearll, especially with the great performance and mileage on the rear 009 on my ZRX.

Anyway, I did searches but honestly couldn't find anything specific to a measurement in terms of safe tread depth.

[motoman]

Hey guys,

What is considered a good rule of thumb for minimum safe tread depth on our tires?

FWIW, this is what lead me to ask the question...

I've put a few new tires on my bikes over the winter, and while in the garage this morning took some tread measurements.

80SG: Rear K491 Elite II, 4.5 mm with 7500 miles use
Front D404, 2.5 mm with 7000 miles use. .

80G: Rear D404 5 mm depth, unknown miles (came with the bike).
Front Shinko 230 Tourmaster: 5.5 mm (just mounted, 35 miles on it).

2001 ZRX 1200: Rear Shinko 011 Verge 7-7.5mm, new.
Front Shinko 009 Raven, 4.5 mm, 8500 miles use.

I just replaced the 009 Raven on the rear of the ZRX, and I got 10,600 miles almost to the wear bars. DANG good tire life for that beast.

Not really happy with the D404 tread life on the front of the 80SG. The 2.5mm of depth remaining in the center appears close the end of the line to my eye, so maybe I've answered my question? Or do I have some safe mileage to get out of that tire yet?

Already ordered another Shinko 230 Tourmaster for the 80SG, ready to mount at a moments notice...

I'm finding myself really happy with Shinko tires ovearll, especially with the great performance and mileage on the rear 009 on my ZRX.

Anyway, I did searches but honestly couldn't find anything specific to a measurement in terms of safe tread depth.

...........pretty much answered yourself.............at the wear bars, just depends on the road suraces, how far and if that's gonna be run on at 'slab' speeds as to how far you wanna push the risk of failure. Remember, 404Dunflops are their BOTTOM of the line tire too, and at the wear bar the front-end handleing goes south in a hurry. For as little as you ride it, that nice ole' Special ought to be wearing Metzler ME888 Marathon Ultra's both ends, .......JMHO.

[Bonz]

I've put about 7000 miles on the 80SG since getting it 4 years ago (april 2009), so the D404 up front went on when I got the bike. Yeah, it's their bottom tire and a new D404 was going to run $80-$85, vs $58 for a Shinko 230 Tourmaster, so the choice was easy to order the Shinko instead of the D404. Especially with the superb tire life I got with their Raven 009 which is much more of a sport/sport touring tire.

Correct me if I'm wrong, to me it makes sense to run tires that don't have as much tread life and be changing them out every 4-5 years. If I have tires that wear like iron then I'm running 7+ year old rubber on the SG because the tire hasn't worn out it's tread, no matter what tire it is. Thoughts?

[trbig]

Most any decent front tire should get you 20k miles down the road. Momma told me that if I had nothing nice to say, to keep my mouth shut, so we won't discuss the D404 tires.

Shinko bought out Yokohama, so that's basically the tires they have.. same molds and recipes from what I've read. At 1/3 the price. I haven't tried the one you've got but have had good luck with the 712's, though the rears don't last too long.. which keeps the rubber fresh, right? Plus, they're cheap enough to where it wouldn't hurt as bad to throw out a half used one VS an Elite 3 or Metzler if it got old. I go on lots of trips, and always leave on a long distance ride on fresh rubber, so I've got several pretty good used rears I'm still trying to use up on local-ish rides. At the cost, and since I mount/balance my own, it's not too painful. With the Elite 3's I used to run, it would hurt.

Whether you change out tires due to age or mileage, I'd still get what performs well that you can afford. Some will argue not to spare anything on tires, but I'm just not convinced that price necessarily means a better tire. And as many as I go through with multiple bikes, cost is a factor to me.

As to your original question.. Would I ride a bike around town on a tire at the wear bars? Sure. Would I leave out on a long trip like that like JW Hughes? Nope..

[Bonz]

I have never gotten 20,000 miles out of a front tire, but 14,000 miles is an easy thing I've done once on a V strom 1000.