Lessons Learned

[trbig]

When I bought this XJ a few months ago, it appeared to have nearly new tires. I have done some hot-rodding, test riding, and even a decent road trip on it. Well.. yesterday, the front brake was building pressure again, so I just decided to open the bleeder valve on it for now since I was late for work. I had my 32 ounce cup of coffee between my legs, and off I went. I pulled out onto the highway, got going 65 or 70, and had an instant blowout on the rear... no warning at all. With the back-end fish tailing around... of course my coffee dumps! As coffee pours down my tank and onto my hot exhaust.. I am completely enveloped in a steam bath! Windshield sucks all the steam forward.. swirling... fogs my helmet..windshield... can't see a &^$%^ thing! I am so tempted to pick the coffee cup up (Burning "things" not wanting to get burned)... but fighting the bike... decided.. ya know... heck with the coffee!.. lol. So anyway... I have no front brake... I have no back brake, and riding blind. Finally got it shut down on the shoulder in the grass... and I will swear under oath that the mess in the seat was COFFEE! lol.
I had the tire changed today, and looked at the date stamp on the old one. It turns out that this "New" looking tire I had been riding on, was stamped 1389... meaning... was made on the 13th week of 1989! It is nearly 17 years old! On close inspection.. you could see cracks all over the outside of the tire that were down in the grooves of the tread. With these bikes getting the age they are, just another thing to watch out for. I got lucky it was a rear tire, and not the front... or that I wasn't on a curve. Some people only ride a few hundred miles a year, and could have this problem. Hopefully somebody will learn from MY mistake. Take care.

Tod

[chevy45412001]

glad not hurt

glad to hear your ok. I have even bought new tires for my new tires before. Though i've heard on this site people praise the chinshing barracuda tire you could not pay me to own another one front or rear.though the tread held up great after one season of riding the weather cracks were so bad i was affraid to even think about riding on it the next season.even though they were dirt cheap wasn't worth it for me.Are you sure that wasn't just lumpy cooffee

[prometheus578]

Getting 'tired' of this.

Just put new tires on my 850 and one of my 1100's yesterday. All tires looked good, great tread, but I had no ideer how old they were. Really didn't give two sh*ts. (Bikes had sat for years and had developed flat spots, as well) Replaced the 25 year old bearings filled with 25 year old grease, too. Even the $30 rear wheel bearings.
I'm thick skinned... but the skin on me arse ain't! Glad you didn't have to go slidin', TRBIG!
(Damned shame to hear about the coffee... you bought some more later, didn't ya?)

[trbig]

Not everybody has Love's stores around, but the cup was from there... good drink through lids... only spilled about half, so sat and drank the other half waiting on my kid and trailer, while everybody drove by not offering to help.. bastages.. lol. I was good and awake, so didn't really even need that. I think I may have got a good contact buzz from skin absorbtion since my pants and crotch got soaked... from the coffee
Tod

[Winterhawk]

Tires are only good for about 3 years. Ozone and consistently getting hot and cold makes them hard. A good rule of thumb is the fingernail test. If your nail pushes in easy then it's probably OK.

[trbig]

Now what? If the nail in your tire pushes into your finger.. it's ok?? OK.. got it!

Tod

[Czekus21]

I was taught by an 'old timer' tire guru that, even with the best tire/rubber compounds made. That the max life of a tire is about 4 years. Regardless if it's a bike, car, truck, etc. With this in mind, I change my tires every two years. Doesn't matter how much tread is left. You only have two tires between you and the road. Take care of them and they'll take care of you. Of coarse before changing the tires, Ya gotta have a little fun. Harley burn out contests contestants use a little bit of water to help get em spinnin. I use XS power. Don't worry,, The bike stops hobbling around after the tire heats up. AND for all you married folks out in XS land.. When doing the " Wasting of a tire burn out ", Make sure SWMBO's not around. Seems she doen't like that very much.

[84xj1100]

TRBIG,

Obviously quite the harrowing experience, I believe however that adrenaline is brown (same as the coffee???). I too am glad to hear that you are all right and would like to thank you for posting your experience. If just one person gets something out of your experience, I'm sure you would agree that sharing it is worth it.

As a Chief Instructor for Canadas' equivilant of the MSF, I am forever preaching to new and experienced riders alike about how critical tires are, escpecially on motorcycles.

A blowout on a car is often no more than an incovienience, on a bike it can be catastophic. Depending on the type of tire (harder/softer rubber - designed for say touring as opposed to hard leaning), I've seen tires last for less than a season. I would also echo the sentiment of 3-4 yrs max. for any tire.

As the Sgt on the old "Hills Street Blues" series used to say "Hey, hey, let's be careful out there shall we".