Tires to old?

[Parminio]

I believe there is a date code on every bike, car and commercial vehicle tyres here that makes it easy to catch the commercials out of date. I also believe it’s just round the corner for every vehicle to be checked for out of date tyres in the UK.

I wish we did that here.

Back when I first started driving in 1983, Georgia had a vehicle inspection you had to pass. I don't think it was as thorough as they are in the UK, but at least it checked to make sure your tires were OK, all your lights worked, etc.

They did away with it a few years later.

Now we have cars and trucks driving around with no front end, bald tires, no lights, missing bumpers and more. It's laughable how bad it is. It causes a great deal of accidents too, especially on the interstates in the rain and dark.

 

[DreamV4]

When I bought my (Barn Find.. ) 85 vmax earlier in the year, the owner told me the tires were still brand new. Didn't think nothing of it. They looked good from 6ft up. When I got it home and started to dissect it, I noticed small cracks all over them. Went to google and it told me how to date motorcycle tires. They turned out to be 5 years old. Bike was not stored properly and just sat in the back of a big warehouse uncovered for years. Full of thread and *******, but cracked all over.

Tell me how much you paid for yours and I will say how much I paid for mine...

 

[Screwloose]

I wish we did that here.

Back when I first started driving in 1983, Georgia had a vehicle inspection you had to pass. I don't think it was as thorough as they are in the UK, but at least it checked to make sure your tires were OK, all your lights worked, etc.

They did away with it a few years later.

Now we have cars and trucks driving around with no front end, bald tires, no lights, missing bumpers and more. It's laughable how bad it is. It causes a great deal of accidents too, especially on the interstates in the rain and dark.

i was in Arizona few years ago and drove up to the Chevy place at Winslow, and the amount of peoples relatives you hear of registering their cars at Winslow was incredible, and guess what there was no yearly test there. Some of the vehicles were hanging all over the place up there.

 

[Screwloose]

There is a date code in a oval on the side wall. If you look it up there are articles on motorcycle tires & 8 yrs. is replacement date.

I’ll need to check mine out, I like a bit of speed so getting worried now.

 

[Screwloose]

What about the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish?

Well spotted

 

[TheFleshRocket]

I'm far less concerned about blowouts and much more concerned about lack of grip in old tires. Lock up the front tire while braking hard, and your ass is on the pavement, instantly. (I've heard people imply that you can recover from a locked up front tire by just releasing the brake, but the three times I've braked hard enough to lock the front tire, I was on the ground before I even had a chance to react.)

That said, if you lock the rear tire, it's easy enough to recover from. But the greater risk from a worn-out rear tire is low-siding or high-siding from accelerating while leaned over.

In addition to age and UV light, cold temps also damage tires (unless they're all-season tires that are specifically designed to not be harmed by the cold). This is why I keep my garage heated to at least 50F over the winter, so that the summer car tires and motorcycle tires I have stored in there don't permanently lose grip because of the cold.

New tires are WAY cheaper than repair bills and hospital bills. When in doubt, replace them.

 

[patate657]

Tell me how much you paid for yours and I will say how much I paid for mine...

Traded a 1982 GL1100 for it. I had $2,300 invested in it when I was done with it.

 

[Screwloose]

Now that was interesting as it’s the first time I’ve got off my ar*se to check tyre codes.

Trigger‘s (photo) back tyre (photo) says 4915, and would be correct as I fitted it about early 2016. But I think there could be an anomaly here as 49th week 2015 would be the manufacturing code date, not fitting date. So a tyre could lie around waiting to be fitted for maybe a year or so. Maybe check date codes if your getting new tyres fitted then to ensure your getting your moneys worth.

The last photo is my Merc Sprinter van at 11 years old and is original as I bought the van new. 86k miles front Continental tyre with no cracks and even wear. The tracking must be perfect on that van. Plus good tyre manufacturers makes must make a difference for longevity. That tyre is heading for 100k miles, and maybe a bit more.

 

[Redrum]

I was told that heat and rotational speed on old tires cause the rubber to separate from the belts. While slight cracking indicates an old tire UV does not significantly impact a tires life as it falls apart within the tire.

When my RV tires blow, and I've had a lot of them blow, that is what I've seen, The outside looks to be in tack and the separation occurs within the tire. I've also seen "bulges" indicating the separation within right before they blow.

So tire covers do nothing is the moral of the story.

I bought a new old stock tire from a dealer in George and it was like 10 years old, no cracks stored in the dealer's warehouse. He gave me a decent price on it (I was desperate for a 16.5" tire for my RV to make it to FL). He told me it would get me to Florida but not much farther. He was spot on! It made it 400 miles and then blew. He said keep the speed at 55 mph. I tried

Anyway, this could be BS. I don't really know anything, just what I've experienced.

 

[Parminio]

Traded a 1982 GL1100 for it. I had $2,300 invested in it when I was done with it.
View attachment 81529

What a gorgeous piece of machinery.

i was in Arizona few years ago and drove up to the Chevy place at Winslow, and the amount of peoples relatives you hear of registering their cars at Winslow was incredible, and guess what there was no yearly test there. Some of the vehicles were hanging all over the place up there.

To this day, some people do the same thing with emissions here in Georgia. Only cars registered in the metro Atlanta area have to pass emissions testing and only those that are more than 3 years old and less than 25 years old have to do it.

So right now if you're car is a 1997 or older car which is probably polluting THE HELL out of the air, you don't have to pass emissions at all.

But what most people do is use a friend or relatives address outside the metro area to register their cars at and they don't have to pass emissions either.

Which is, of course, why Atlanta has the absolute worst air quality by far in the southeastern United States.

 

[DreamV4]

Traded a 1982 GL1100 for it. I had $2,300 invested in it when I was done with it.
View attachment 81529

I love naked GoldWings!!!! Why does the engine look like brand new? Did you paint or polish it? Super!!!

 

[Screwloose]

When my RV tires blow, and I've had a lot of them blow, that is what I've seen, The outside looks to be in tack and the separation occurs within the tire. I've also seen "bulges" indicating the separation within right before they blow.

Anyway, this could be BS. I don't really know anything, just what I've experienced.

I thought it was interesting as I do not know any better. Maybe some more posts on that particular subject would be a good thing.

 

[patate657]

What a gorgeous piece of machinery.


To this day, some people do the same thing with emissions here in Georgia. Only cars registered in the metro Atlanta area have to pass emissions testing and only those that are more than 3 years old and less than 25 years old have to do it.

So right now if you're car is a 1997 or older car which is probably polluting THE HELL out of the air, you don't have to pass emissions at all.

But what most people do is use a friend or relatives address outside the metro area to register their cars at and they don't have to pass emissions either.

Which is, of course, why Atlanta has the absolute worst air quality by far in the southeastern United States.

They start giving me any trouble over here, I'll just tie a 20ft electric cord to the spare in the trunk and drag it behind the car, like if I left the charging station to quickly. Some of the small town cops around here aren't the brightest....

 

[patate657]

I love naked GoldWings!!!! Why does the engine look like brand new? Did you paint or polish it? Super!!!

Found the Bike in Austin Texas. Made a few changes.

 

[DreamV4]

Nice changes!!!! Fairings have lots of wires inside, it always scared me. Looks like it didn't scare you!.
First thing I was doing with my Wings: removing top trunk and installing very short wind screen (Lexan from homeDepot)

 

[Radioguylogs]

I was told that heat and rotational speed on old tires cause the rubber to separate from the belts. While slight cracking indicates an old tire UV does not significantly impact a tires life as it falls apart within the tire.

When my RV tires blow, and I've had a lot of them blow, that is what I've seen, The outside looks to be in tack and the separation occurs within the tire. I've also seen "bulges" indicating the separation within right before they blow.

So tire covers do nothing is the moral of the story.

I bought a new old stock tire from a dealer in George and it was like 10 years old, no cracks stored in the dealer's warehouse. He gave me a decent price on it (I was desperate for a 16.5" tire for my RV to make it to FL). He told me it would get me to Florida but not much farther. He was spot on! It made it 400 miles and then blew. He said keep the speed at 55 mph. I tried

Anyway, this could be BS. I don't really know anything, just what I've experienced.

I've never heard anyone explain it like this, but this is exactly the same as my experiences.

I have several bikes, a motorhome, two boats, a utility trailer, and three cars. I quit using the tire covers for UV protection. I have had old tires that looked good, but they blow out after driving several hours at 75MPH.

 

[Screwloose]

I've never heard anyone explain it like this, but this is exactly the same as my experiences.

I have several bikes, a motorhome, two boats, a utility trailer, and three cars. I quit using the tire covers for UV protection. I have had old tires that looked good, but they blow out after driving several hours at 75MPH.

I've been having a scan on the internet for relevant info on tyre degradation. Some interesting stuff came out (link below) as most info points toward UV, under-use and generally the stuff that people have been posting above. I get tyre degradation problems on my many vehicles as they sit unused sometimes even 3 years at a time, my van tyres never degrade, but they sit sometimes 6 months without moving. Just to add we get virtually no sun here. My car was stored indoors for 3 years and all the new tyres cracked badly (Pirelli P Zero's). So the info above and pasted will make a difference, but I was still stumped as some of my tyres degrade and some don't, although I'm not considering aging from inside out as I would need to remove them.

Many years ago I was friendly with a Firestone tyre guy that told me to store tyres at half pressure, he could not explain why, and after reading the link below it makes sense that degredation from the inside out can happen because the air we put in a tyre is pressurising outwards, hence pushing air eventually through the rubber and causing oxydisation. But obviously not using the tyre does not lubricate the inner rubber/beads. So if I have a tyre off a vehicle I've always stored it at half pressure as directed by the Firestone guy, and maybe it's the best option over time. You can also buy tyre shaped curved supports to rest your vehicle on and I might head to that also.

So to sum up; in my opinion (for what it is worth) UV might not do much harm, it's mainly the pressure from inside to outside pushing that horrible stuff called air (that degrades tyres) through the rubber. There is another link below that mentions Nitrogen and I might head there as it appears to be an answer to leaving tyres sitting still for periods of time inflated/half inflated.

I'm all ears if anyone has anything further to consider. But it's an interesting subject that I cannot see any website bringing to a full conclusion.

https://www.liveabout.com/the-science-of-tire-aging-3234377
https://tyres.cardekho.com/news/nitrogen-inflated-tyres-advantages-and-disadvantages

 

[patate657]

I love naked GoldWings!!!! Why does the engine look like brand new? Did you paint or polish it? Super!!!

That's the way it looked when I bought it.

 

[Redrum]

Like everything some tires are just better than others. Your van probably has better constructed tires than say the ones I bought for my RV.

Plus RV tires usually run at high pressure (80 PSI for mine) and are under high loads (I have 15k LB's of RV on 4 tires) that generate a lot of heat. Also no one buys expensive tires for their RV or trailer so the cheapest manufacture gets the money. Sitting for months at a time don't help the flat spots. I had an RV that would shake badly until the tires warmed up and the flat spots lessened. And the tires were new, but junk!

Motorcycles on the other hand usually run at lower pressures and have a low load. Plus the sidewalls have a stronger thicker construction. I think that contributes to the fact that motorcycles do not have as many blow outs. Lawsuits also keep the quality up. Bad for business if you kill your customers by making tires that blow out.

I wish they would have a "life expectancy" rating on tires.

There are a lot of conflicting views out there on tires. So again I may be full of it.

I also think nitrogen is a scam, just me

 

[Screwloose]

Like everything some tires are just better than others. Your van probably has better constructed tires than say the ones I bought for my RV.

Plus RV tires usually run at high pressure (80 PSI for mine) and are under high loads (I have 15k LB's of RV on 4 tires) that generate a lot of heat. Also no one buys expensive tires for their RV or trailer so the cheapest manufacture gets the money. Sitting for months at a time don't help the flat spots. I had an RV that would shake badly until the tires warmed up and the flat spots lessened. And the tires were new, but junk!

Motorcycles on the other hand usually run at lower pressures and have a low load. Plus the sidewalls have a stronger thicker construction. I think that contributes to the fact that motorcycles do not have as many blow outs. Lawsuits also keep the quality up. Bad for business if you kill your customers by making tires that blow out.

I wish they would have a "life expectancy" rating on tires.

There are a lot of conflicting views out there on tires. So again I may be full of it.

I also think nitrogen is a scam, just me

My van is only 55 lbs loaded (45 lbs unloaded) so a big difference to your RV.

When looking up nitrogen it appears the molecules are larger so less seepage thru the tyre rubber, and no oxidisation. I think it could be interesting, but top up with air and your back to square one as the air we breath is a mixture of these, and more.