Safe to Ride this tire?

[The ModFather]

I'm no expert but something tells me this tire on my 2005 620 looks like it needs replacing. Can someone tell me if its safe to ride this thing the 28 miles (half of which is highway) to my local Duc Shop (MCC Villa Park) or am I better off just getting a new tire put on at the Honda Cycle Shop 5 miles away?

 


IMG_3270 by ricknieto, on Flickr


IMG_3266 by ricknieto, on Flickr

[ducpainter]

You have 2 chances....

[Monsterlover]

I think I would stay off the slab with that thing. 

I wouldn't have a problem riding it to the Duc dealer but that's me (and I'd go slow)

Probably best to play it safe here and stop at Honda.

[muskrat]

weigh the options:
1. Hospital bills if things turn to shit - $5k +
2. Peace of mind is priceless IMO
3. You only have two wheels, I would not ride that thing more than 5 miles at 35 mph

[DRKWNG]

Probably best to play it safe here and stop at Honda.

Agreed.  I'd also strongly consider a sport touring tire as the replacement, as the sides of this one still look great while the center it toast.

[nikkimonster]

i would keep the tire ONLY if all i did was lean and not ride straight.

[Desmo Demon]

Can someone tell me if its safe to ride this thing the 28 miles (half of which is highway) to my local Duc Shop (MCC Villa Park) or am I better off just getting a new tire put on at the Honda Cycle Shop 5 miles away

I won't tell you it is "safe" and I won't tell you that you should ride to either dealership, but....

I wouldn't hesitate to ride to the shop that is 28 miles away, even if it was 100% straight superslab.



I currently have tires that are worse than yours on my ST2 and the GSXR-1100. I currently use both mainly for commuting, and I wouldn't have any issues riding either of them the 50+ miles round-trip; and probably will a few more times before changing them out.

[justinrhenry]

it should be changed, but if it were me i'd ride it that way the 28 miles.  of course, if there's a bike shop closer why the hell would you go 28 miles just to get a tire changed at a ducati shop?

[DRKWNG]

There's some real smart folk on here...

[Desmo Demon]

There's some real smart folk on here...

And some people believe the sky is falling because everyone else seems to think so. I am curious though, what is your first-hand, personal experience with riding on tires like this?

[DRKWNG]

Me personally?  None, because I haven't let my tires get that bad.  I have seen three different people's tires let go on them while riding though; all because they were sure they could go that much further on them. 

[Monsterlover]

I'll answer that question.

I pushed one rear tire farther than either of those pictured because I was broke and wanted to ride anyway.

I could see the cords showing here and there and figured it would hold for just a little longer.

I was on the slab on night coming home and the vibration started.  It got worse and worse.  Chunks of tire were pealing off from around the corded area and by the time I made it home (slowly) some of the cords had started to break.

I don't think it would have went two more miles.

[justinrhenry]

When my tire just barely starts to show the steel, like the OP's, is when I have mine changed.  I have no qualms about riding a bike with a tire like that, but I do ride gently and get a new tire asap. 

[Desmo Demon]

Me personally?  None,

My wife and I have run every tire to bald or to the cords (including the front) since 2006, which translates to more than 70 tires, and we've never had a problem with any of them failing. In 2009, we each ran on at least one bald/cords tire every month (ran through 28 tires that year). When wear bars are almost always hit in less than 2000 miles, and have been hit in under 1000 miles (my wife ran a new FRONT Pilot Race to bald in 890 miles once), we simply can't afford to change them as soon as a wear bar is hit when we can ride over 40k miles in a year.

As I stated, I don't really recommend that anyone ride on them or want anyone to think it is "safe", but due to my experiences of riding somewhere in the neighborhood of 15k+ miles on bald tires or with cords showing, I, personally, don't have any issues with riding on tires like this.

[DRKWNG]

I'm not advocating changing out tires as soon as a wear bar is hit.  I'm just saying that I would never let mine get to the point of showing that many cords.