Ducati Monster Forum

I came upon this tread...... er, thread. I know its refering to car tyres but I would guess that most of us would own a car so here it is  http://video-cdn.abcnews.com/080509_2020_ross_tires.flv (http://video-cdn.abcnews.com/080509_2020_ross_tires.flv)





                          Mmick

Hope that fixed it





                                  Mmick

Interesting isn't it.

Yeah. Wonder if there is any science to back it up. And if there is, do we have any use by date regulations here in Oz?  It's too damn warm here in front of fire so I can't be bothered going out to the shed to look at my tyres.

Yes I know I'm SOFT  ;D

meh sensational news article as usual  - didnt look at the BIG picture, only the scandalous fact of age....

problem is tyre shops buy stock from tyre makers, 6 months later that tyre is superseded or 'not in fashion' and the stock sits there as it cannot be returned to the manufacturer.  A good tyre shop will use the Just in Time method to keep stock rotating, thus reducing the risk of stock ageing or sitting on the floor.  Those shops they showed where all the big chains where they stock piled tyres for sales, didnt sell for one reason or another, so then the stock sits there.  All well and good saying tyres should not be used after 6 years, so who is going to compensate the tyre dealer for that old (or depreciated) stock?

What they didnt mention is the legality (here in Aus that is) - tyres have treadwear indicators and as long as those bars are not showing ie level with the surface of the tyre - then the tyre is still legal irrespective of age.  Thus why you can buy second hand tyres also.

The other thing they didnt mention about the tyres separating is whether they were inflated to the correct pressure or load conditions.  You can buy a tyre for a vehicle, doesn't mean it is suited.  I am sure a couple of the shots of tread were actually retreads off trucks - they do peel away eventually.

There are equally dangerous new tyres out there also - I have experience with a large tyre chain that had their own brand of tyre - colloquially known as out of rounders.  They caused vibration through the steering and the suspension, and were absolutely useless in wet weather conditions - but you get what you pay for......

ACA or TT or one of those other waste of 30 minutes after the news reported on this over a year ago - took the same journalistic sensationalism as opposed to presenting the full story.  Poor tyre shops are the big mean nasty guys - yeah right!

Thus ends my rant from a former tyre monkey!!   [cheeky]

Ya Big girl!! [thumbsup] [cheeky] [bow_down]

 light ages rubber real quick.if you are going to store tyres or even o rings keep them somewhere dark.
 besides the way mmick rides he destroys tires anyway.

Just thought it would be an interesting topic and I wonder what age does to motorcycle tyres, years ago (hear I go again) I felt my front tyre not working properly, through some damp corners and told a ride buddy that it felt as if the side grip was gone and I would probably drop off the pace a fair bit anyway, I dropped the bike through a long left hander, the thing is the tyre had plenty of tread left but just went off for some reason. I wonder after looking at the article whether the tyre was simply to old and I paid the price.






                                                  Mmick

as mentioned before, as soon as you get your tyre out in to the environment, and the protective coating has worn off, the tyre starts to age.  UV, as well as heat, and variance in temperatures is damaging to tyres - it is what makes them go off.  If you haven't ridden for a while the tyre will feel funny because it will have hardened, and no amount of riding will make the compound soft again.  The only way to help prevent that is to wrap the tyre in plastic and store it in the dark whilst not being used.  Not very practical I know.

Just to clarify some more, these were the days when it would be very, very rare that I would travel by car, in fact, I was on the bike seven days a week, to work ,touring, scratching, the lot. So it doesnt matter if the tyre is out in the environment and looses its protective coating, its how old the tyre is when you fit it to your bike. I know Bridgestone put the build date on the sidewall of their tyres now, dont know about the other brands. Interesting eh?





                                         Mmick

In that case mmick, it comes back to my point before, the tyre dealer.  Myself, I get my tyres from the same people that service my bike.  They dont keep stock on racks etc and I have the trust in them that they are putting tyres on that are safe, including age.  One of the few bike shops I have seen that actually put a warning sticker on your handlebars or head stem about new tyres being slippery, and they give a verbal as you head out the door! [moto]

Otherwise it just isn't worth reporting ... and like all things you have to look at it with a bit of common sense. Dare I suggest that most people would have forgotten about seeing that by the next time they buy tyres ... especially if they are being sold cheap.

Interesting that in the lead story ... the tyres were bought when they were four years old - but they were still being used FIVE years after that! Consider that the tyres had been on the vehicle closer to the magic 6 years - less time than they were sitting on the shelf.

Then there is the 'evidence' seen everyday with the truck re-treads on the sides of highways. A bigger issue is probably that the 'museum of death' is full of SUVs ... besides the high centre of gravity ... overloading, incorrect tyre pressure - and age, were probably all factors.

But in Australia they would have been reported as speed related [cheeky]

Thanks for the info Mick, 'tis worth knowing.

Hmmm...  Just checked my tyres on my car (Michelin Pilot Precedas, as I recall $250 a corner when I bought them 18 months ago, so not particularly cheap tyres, and they're a very common size - 205/55R16).  Three are marked 0903, and the last is marked 0904.  So three of them had been sitting on the shelf for nearly six years.  That said, they're really good tyres.

My bike tyres, OTOH (Bridgestone Battlax BT056), are 0707 and 0807.  And while they had plenty of tread when I bought them, now they're both right on the 2mm wear limit that CSS requires.  Oh well, I can see a pair of lovely Michelin Pilot Powers going on in August odd :)

Hey, there's a group buy idea!

I used to get my Tires from my Ducati dealer for the simple fact that they ordered them in as they needed them.
one of the other local bike shops would order massive bulks lots that sat outside in racks, 24/7 for years at a time.
I went in there to get some tires for last bike (A Kwaka) and the tires sitting on the shelf he wanted to fit had
started to change colour and looked pretty sad.

No, I gave that a miss.
I went to a smaller dealer, he had to order them in, few more dollars, but at least the tires were in much better condition.

But I will agree with the fact that the majority of Tires fitted to vehicles are under inflated, I sit in traffic and have a
look at the cars around me, people on phones, people eating breakfast, and tires bulging from lack of air pressure.
I check my tires every 1000 to 1500k's they may have only dropped a few PSI, but it saves me money on fuel, helps
handling, and you get longer out of your tires also.

dont panick folks bike tyre,s are built different and its very rare for a tyre to  delaminate and have a higher speed rating than car tyres   

... and unfortunately from a cost perspective they don't seem to last anywhere near as long [roll]

I doubt you would ever get us all to agree on tyre brand, model and size being that they're such a personal thing. [roll]

have a look at this for those who wonder how there made
MICHELIN TIRE / How a tire is made (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K474RYse9P8&feature=related#lq-lq2-hq-vhq)

mate sorry to tell you this but that VIDEO is over 6 years old!!  [cheeky] [cheeky]

so whats changed

I agree Bazz, it is rare for a bike tyre to delaminate but it does happen. My point was that if a bike tyre has sat for some time does it loose its side grip?





                                      Mmick

Mmick, as I have been saying before, leave a tyre to sit for too long and it will harden  or 'go off' as they say - therefore your grip will be degraded, and that will depend on the type/brand of tyre.  You may be lucky to scrub it in again, but it will not feel the same as a tyre constantly ridden on.  If the bike has been sitting on the side stand it may even develop a flat spot where the tyre is in contact with the ground.  This can happen on both cars and bikes.

we had someone bring in a 600m i think at the old shop a few years ago that had done a few thousand km in its 10 or so year lifetime and he had us remove the original dunlop 205 because they'd been there so long.

the rear one is now on minnie, because i like 205 and don't go very fast and am a tightarse.  it's fine.  front i didn't use as i run a 70 series front.

whereas the rear pilot sport on my 851 had significant cracks in the sidewalls after sitting for two years.  it's been sitting for 5 now and still holding air, but they're scary to look at.

any rubber perishes after awhile - look at the maintenance regime for belts, they are meant to be replaced every two years..or so I have been told

Yes rubber does perish after a while and also the process speeds up if living close to the sea.
I say that because several years ago i put a front tyre on my old bike the same time as my bro inlaw on his. He lives right on the coast (you can see the sea from his front door) and I live about 10kms form the sea.
After about two years we had to replace the tyres due to road wear, and the tyre on my bro inlaws bike had started to perish and mine had no sign of it.

yes I know after seeing the above vid the tyres could have been different ages but I would think it would be much if none at all.

At the end of the day- buy the tyres you want, ride/ drive them as you want, give them a check every week, and if one goes, shit happens - buy another one.