Ducati Monster Forum

Hey everyone,

I've got a fairly old rear tyre on my bike as current which I'm wearing down (bought the bike w/ the tyre 2nd hand). Now this might seem a stupid question, but I've always had this issue with all my bikes - when do I need to swap it out? As you can see in the pic below, it still has a bit of tread depth, and its not flattened down the middle or anything. When compared with a "fresher" version of the same tyre I guess it doesn't look too bad... I just wonder what you guys do in relation to switching tyres? How much further do you reckon that one will get me? I was planning a big 500k ride in the next couple of days but I'm not sure if the tyre is up for it. I hate the feeling of riding around with a worn tyre thats a ticking time bomb, it makes me paranoid its going to blow out at speed. I always check the pressures and keep them where they should be, but yea, I just wondered if you guys thought my tyre had seen its days or had a few thousand km's left?

Here's a pic of my tyre taken behind the monster:

(http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/6859/img4458small.jpg)


And here is a pic of the same tyre a little closer to new (to see the original tread pattern):

(http://www.limundo.com/slika-Bridgestone-170-60-zr17-72w-battlax-bt65r-1237821x640.jpg)


Look forward to any insight,

Cheers. Tom

Tomorrow would be good.

Pattern is already disrupted, so you probably should have changed it some time ago. Definitely not a few thousand km left.

Ride it until the cords show, UNLESS you need youre tire to perform corrrectly. A flat tire gives very unsteady feeling in the twistys and it sucks in the rain.

If you dont have any big plans to ride then i wouldnt really care until the cords show. Besides, once you get pass the treads, the wear is much faster. I am at some ridiuclous mileage on my tires and i keep tinking i have a few hundred miles left...taht was 4,000 miles ago. its flat as make the beast with two backs and its down right scary in the rian.

umm yeah.. personally i wouldnt listen to he man in this case. haha

This link should help you decide what to do

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=37327.msg658089;topicseen#msg658089 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=37327.msg658089;topicseen#msg658089)

Replace it, that tire is done.

like heman says, the deal is you can ride it more but you risk having the bike not handle properly and if you get caught in the rain it could be downright dangerous.

so you can see why a bunch of us are suggesting to err on the safe side and replace the tire, afterll you never know if you get caught in teh rain and riding a bike that feels comfortable and you are mentally confident on with the handling is more than worth the money you will spend on a new tire.

That tire is DONE...just like this one that I recently pulled off of my MH900e....

(http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc428/tscloninger/JohnBrooks7500mileservice022.jpg)

"I think he's dead, Jim."   ;D

So just out of curiosity, how many miles was on that tire?

Since I dont know you or your riding style, I would also say to err on the side of caution. But if that tire were on my bike, it would be on for another 1000 easy.

I'd toss it for two reasons.  First it looks to be worn out (not much tread left, profile likely all wacky by now).  Second, you say its old and I find tires typically go to crap after a couple of years regardless of tread depth. Nothing will make such a dramatic change in the feel or performance of the bike as a fresh set of rubber.  When in doubt spring for fresh rubber, its well worth the $$$.