Time for new tire(s)

[beatle]

I took a long ride this weekend (400+ miles round trip) and at a stop I noticed something on my rear tire (Pirelli Angel ST). I put my finger on it but it wouldn't come off. Then I looked closer...

Yep, that's cord. I'm surprised that it's so localized. Maybe I flatspotted the tire when I locked up my rear brake once?

The front tire looks like this. It's sort of near the wear bar, I think.

I'm leaning towards replacing both tires. I'm not sure of their overall mileage, but they were in pretty good shape when I purchased the bike a little under 2 years ago. I've put about 7k on them myself. Twisties are pretty far away from me so a lot of it is just slab riding. What do you say - replace both tires or just one?

 

[ChanceCoats123]

Never gotten new tires for a bike before, so I'm not an expert by any means, but it does look like the front is in need of it as well. 7k isn't bad on those tires, and sure you could probably get away with just the back, but then you'll have tires on different wear cycles and with all the work that the front tire does (you know, 80% of the braking), I just wouldn't leave it up to chance.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

As the front tire so close to needing replacement, I would likely replace it at the same time, with the same style tire. As most of your riding is slab riding, I'd be considering a good sport / touring tire (I prefer Michelin PR II's)

BTW, was the rear tire balanced?

If so, I suspect your probably right, someone had a hard stop and lost a little bit more rubber in that area...

But that rear should have been replaced a long time ago...

 

[beatle]

As far as I know the rear tire was balanced. They were on the bike when I bought it.

How do you check for wear on the rear tire? The wear bars are telling in the front, but I don't see an equivalent in the rear.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

As far as I know the rear tire was balanced. They were on the bike when I bought it.

How do you check for wear on the rear tire? The wear bars are telling in the front, but I don't see an equivalent in the rear.

Re the balance, there should (if it was initially, new, out of balance -they are probably 90% of the time), either stick on flatish weights stuck to the inside of the rim, or if OEM, clipped to the edge of the rim.

On that particular tire, I would pay close attention to how much tread is on towards off center vs the middle. Seeing and "feeling" for any cupping, on the edges of the tire is also a good way to check the condition of the tire..

Yours doesn't appear to have it, but a visable FLAT SPOT (from slab riding) in the middle is a big giveaway.

Once you get your new tires and if they need balancing, make note that it was balanced. During normal maintainance, if you find a weight later missing, you know it needs to be done again...

 

[Erci]

Replace both tires asap, if you can afford it. 1st picture obviously shows worn tire, but there is very clear dry rot in the 2nd picture. Both need to go.

 

[beatle]

Oh, yes of course the tire was balanced. For some reason I thought there might be some other way of telling aside from the wheel weights.

The tire is definitely squared off from lots of straight line riding. It has obviously gotten worse after riding lots of slab, but where are the wear indicators on the rear tire? On my car I've always replaced tires when they're getting close to the wear bars as they've heat cycled lots of grip out of them anyway, but the bike really took me by surprise as I couldn't tell how close I was to the cord.

I've got a couple Angel GTs on the way from Revzilla.

 

[Fishwiz4]

I agree. Replace both tires immediately. I have never heard of a person thinking about changing tires, and then to be told the tires are still good. Basically if you think your ties might be with or old, you should replace them.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

The tire is definitely squared off from lots of straight line riding. It has obviously gotten worse after riding lots of slab, but where are the wear indicators on the rear tire?

Its hard to see the squared off from that picture. Your wear marks may have been there and just worn away with the squaring wear.

If my tire is visably squared off, its time to start thinking about a new tire...

When in a lean and your on that angled part of the tire, your contact patch is smaller and the rear tends to wash out, especially under power.

A new tire is MUCH cheaper and easier than a low side on pavement.

As Erci noted, once the pic was blown up, the dry rot inside the treads are very obvious.

Glad you got new tires coming.

 

[Ohendo]

...where are the wear indicators on the rear tire?

Pretty sure I can make out your wear bars on that rear....a slight raised spot within the major tread pattern. It actually appears that you haven't quite reached the wear bar yet, but obviously the slab riding has given you it's own wear bar down the center.

Enjoy the Pirelli's!

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Pretty sure I can make out your wear bars on that rear....a slight raised spot within the major tread pattern. It actually appears that you haven't quite reached the wear bar yet, but obviously the slab riding has given you it's own wear bar down the center.

Yep, your right! About a third of the way down, off to the left. And yes there is just a little bit of wear bar left..

 

[bigdog9191999]

about what the bt23's looked like on ours. did them both, now done and dont have to worry!

 

[Motogiro]

I just put a Bridgstone T-30 sport touring tire on the back of the SV. Might get to scrub it in this week. A few of us on the forum are trying the combination of BT-016 pro or S-20 Hypersport type tires on the front with the T-30 on the rear. The profiles are the same and the front usually last me 2 times the mileage of the rear BT-016 pro. The S-20 on the rear gave me 3,000 miles! :disapprove::spank:

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Not to get off topic, but that's one of the things I love about the FZ6 vs the larger (last big bike was the FJR) bigger displacment bikes.

The tires (front SP2 and SP3), easily last 2-3x's longer. I have about 13,000 miles on the front(probably 2/3 worn), the rear, I can't say. I usually pick up crap in the rear too bad to fix..

My tire guy rarely see's me anymore, short of picking up oil, misc parts, stop in for a visit, etc...

IMO, the dual compound tire is about the best thing to come to the MC world..

 

[Erci]

Not to get off topic, but that's one of the things I love about the FZ6 vs the larger (last big bike was the FJR) bigger dsiplacment bikes.

The tires (front SP2 and SP3), easily last 2-3x's longer. I have about 13,000 miles on the front(probably 2/3 worn), the rear, I can't say. I usually pick up crap in the rear too bad to fix..

My tire guy rarely see's me anymore, short of picking up oil, misc parts, stop in for a visit, etc...

IMO, the dual compound tire is about the best thing to come to the MC world..

+1 to dual compound! I guess I'm pretty easy on my street bike. I got over 12k miles out of PR2s on my FZ1. I'm happy with that number.

Interestingly, front was down to wear bars, but the rear was still good :don'tknow:

I could've squeezed more out of them, but I was doing a track day and experienced track rider ( [MENTION=1191]Hellgate[/MENTION] ) convinced me that it wasn't a good idea to be on mostly used up tires on the track. (Glad I listened!)

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Agreed, wether it be the track or street, the consequences of a borderline tire are just not worth it. Plastic, parts, co-pays are more than a tire..

I've also found that a tire, near the end of its life, is much more susceptible to flats as the rubber is literally that much thinner.

I've plucked things out of newish tires that would have gone thru much thinner (worn tires).

Besides, once scrubbed in, a new tire feels so good!!!!

 

[Red Wazp]

+1 Pilot Road 2. Loved them for years on 4 different bikes, new set in the garage waiting to replace the current set on my 990

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

+1 Pilot Road 2. Loved them for years on 4 different bikes, new set in the garage waiting to replace the current set on my 990

My next set will be PR2's.

I only went with the PR3 on the rear as that's all they had in stock...

There's a lot more treads on the PR3 than the PR2(great for rain), a bit harder checking for small nails, etc and more treads means more cupping at towards the end of it's life. My old, ft Bridgestone on my FJR at the end, was like a knobby, cupped really, really bad...

I'd order now but it might be a year or two before they get mounted and will be that much older. My local, private shop, goes thru literally, truck loads of tires, so I should end up with a newish/fresh tire when due.

 

[beatle]

Since I had not hit the wear bars, I thought I was still good for a while, though I've now been told "that rear should have been replaced a long time ago." How would you know if you're not at the wear bars? Is this just a limitation of the tread pattern on this tire?

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Since I had not hit the wear bars, I thought I was still good for a while, though I've now been told "that rear should have been replaced a long time ago." How would you know if you're not at the wear bars? Is this just a limitation of the tread pattern on this tire?

Were you running the tire at the Max pressure listed on the tire?

That would make the middle wear out faster (tire is staying with a "rounder profile", if you would) and that wear bar is off to the side a little bit.

If not, my old PR2, as I recall has a similar pattern with no wear marks dead center.

In that case, I'll keep an eye on the side wear bars and treads. Specifically, how much thicker is the side treads vs towards the middle where most of the wear is.

Also, if just running around town, you can keep a closer eye on the tire (short trips) vs a 400 miles road trip (where your running a lot more, hotter temps, probably higher, steady speeds).

As you noted previously, that wear area is NOT all the way around. I agree, its very possible/likely that a lock up on that tire as some time, removed a bunch of rubber in that spot.

A tire developing a noticable flat edge in the middle is telling you its about time for replacement in any case..

IMO, if the tires are close to needing replacment, ESPECIALLY before a road trip, replace it..