Why You should Check your Tires

ShawnKing · Jun 2, 2009

I wrote this story for my web site but thought you guys might be interested, too.

I'd never worn out a tire like that before.

Full story:

Why You should Check your Tires

wheatonFJR · Jun 2, 2009

Yep. Checking tire pressure and treads are part of normal operation of a vehicle you depend on for your life.

SouthernCruizer · Jun 2, 2009

I wouldn't unload my boat in the lake without walking around completely and checking for plug, etc.....I wouldnt jump in an airplane without doing a complete pre-flight inspection, and I sure as hell wouldnt jump on a bike for a ride without looking at the tires! How could you let it get that worn and not notice??? SCAREY!! :huh:

SkooterG · Jun 2, 2009

Pfffft!

That tire has got another 1000 miles on it.

wheatonFJR · Jun 2, 2009

SkooterG said:
Pfffft!
That tire has got another 1000 miles on it.

Shoot...I gotta coupla cast-offs for you then. $25 bucks apiece and they're yours. You wanna me hold 'em for yer next time thru Wheaton?

ShawnKing · Jun 2, 2009

SouthernCruizer said:
How could you let it get that worn and not notice??? SCAREY!! :huh:

I KNOW! I'm a *complete* *****.

Being a (fairly) new rider, I had never seen what a worn tire looked like. I had noticed "black lines" running the circumference of the tire and a friend said they were wearing out. So I called my dealership and asked them to order new rubber. I also asked how much longer I would have once the lines started showing and they said I'd be OK for a while. Problem is, I didn't know *when* the lines appeared....

I assume seeing the black lines is a Bad Thing, right?

But you're right - check the tires *before* you get on the bike!

Bounce · Jun 2, 2009

T-CLOCK!

https://micapeak.com/info/T-CLOCK.html

FJR-Voltron · Jun 2, 2009

Wow!!

I guess it's I must be pretty anal from all of the years of flying choppers, but I check EVERYTHING on my bike prior to a ride. I usually spend at least 5 minutes do a pre-flight of my bike.

happyPuppy · Jun 2, 2009

Shawn, it looks like it is good to get you to the end of the driveway. Are they the OEM tires? How many miles did you get out of them? My BT rear is wearing well but the front has the horrible triangle wear pattern. I have around 500 left on the front I suspect , and I will replace both of mine.

SouthernCruizer · Jun 2, 2009

FJR-Voltron said:
Wow!! I guess it's I must be pretty anal from all of the years of flying choppers, but I check EVERYTHING on my bike prior to a ride. I usually spend at least 5 minutes do a pre-flight of my bike.

*****************************************************

Ya know, I've been a private fixed wing and ppc pilot for a number of years, and the one thing that I've learned about flying is that helicopters CAN'T fly.....

.....they are so ugly, the earth just REPELS them!!

:yahoo:

Deacon51 · Jun 2, 2009

ShawnKing said:
SouthernCruizer said:

How could you let it get that worn and not notice??? SCAREY!! :huh:

Click to expand...

I KNOW! I'm a *complete* *****.

Being a (fairly) new rider, I had never seen what a worn tire looked like. I had noticed "black lines" running the circumference of the tire and a friend said they were wearing out. So I called my dealership and asked them to order new rubber. I also asked how much longer I would have once the lines started showing and they said I'd be OK for a while. Problem is, I didn't know *when* the lines appeared....

I assume seeing the black lines is a Bad Thing, right?

But you're right - check the tires *before* you get on the bike!

When the ware bars start to show, the tires are done. You may get an extra 100 or 200 miles out of them, but I wouldn't risk it.

BwanaDik · Jun 2, 2009

SouthernCruizer said:
FJR-Voltron said:

Wow!! I guess it's I must be pretty anal from all of the years of flying choppers, but I check EVERYTHING on my bike prior to a ride. I usually spend at least 5 minutes do a pre-flight of my bike.

Click to expand...

*****************************************************

Ya know, I've been a private fixed wing and ppc pilot for a number of years, and the one thing that I've learned about flying is that helicopters CAN'T fly.....

.....they are so ugly, the earth just REPELS them!!

:yahoo:

Airplanes fly, helicopters beat the air into submission :lol:

HotRodZilla · Jun 2, 2009

Shawn,

Was that a BT021? If it was, I bet I could have gotten another 700 out of the set I just replaced on my bike. Mine was not near that bad.

Fred W · Jun 2, 2009

Deacon51 said:
When the ware bars start to show, the tires are done. You may get an extra 100 or 200 miles out of them, but I wouldn't risk it.

No. The ware (sic) bars show that you have the minimum tread depth allowable by law (in the area of the indicator). You can get a lot more wear out of your tires after that, but they won't pass inspection.

The problem is that on some tires the wear bars are not located anywhere near the point of maximum tire wear. For many (most?) riders, that would be the center of the tire, much like Shawn's.

For other riders that don't do much straight line cruizing, and don't goose the throttle a lot in a straight line, maximum wear may be off to the sides of the tire somewhere.

How's a tire maker to know how you'll use their tire? If there is no tread in the center of the tire, how are they supposed to show you the wear? If I were a tire maker, I'd figure a way to change the color of the rubber in that last few mm's to alert the rider that doom is approaching. Maybe some safety green dye or something. That'd catch your eye.

ShawnKing · Jun 2, 2009

FJR-Voltron said:
but I check EVERYTHING on my bike prior to a ride. I usually spend at least 5 minutes do a pre-flight of my bike.

I will usually do a minor look over but, as I wrote in the story, my head really wasn't in the ride to begin with.

happyPuppy said:
Shawn, it looks like it is good to get you to the end of the driveway.

LOL No kidding.

Are they the OEM tires? How many miles did you get out of them?

No Pilot Power Road 2's. I got about 8K+ miles out of them.

Deacon51 said:
When the ware bars start to show, the tires are done. You may get an extra 100 or 200 miles out of them, but I wouldn't risk it.

Is that what the black lines were - the wear bars? See, I thought they were something on the side of the tire, not something embedded *in* the tire....

Toecutter · Jun 2, 2009

Fred W said:
Deacon51 said:

When the ware bars start to show, the tires are done. You may get an extra 100 or 200 miles out of them, but I wouldn't risk it.

Click to expand...

No. The ware (sic) bars show that you have the minimum tread depth allowable by law (in the area of the indicator). You can get a lot more wear out of your tires after that, but they won't pass inspection.

Whew! I hit mine last week, and I have a 300 mile gig tomorrow. I'm definitely looking them over more often, and I'm gonna wring that PR2 for all it's got (over 10k so far!). PR2 FTW!!!

wfooshee · Jun 2, 2009

happyPuppy said:
Shawn, it looks like it is good to get you to the end of the driveway. Are they the OEM tires? How many miles did you get out of them? My BT rear is wearing well but the front has the horrible triangle wear pattern. I have around 500 left on the front I suspect , and I will replace both of mine.

If that's the -021 set, no reason to replace both of them. The fronts are good for half the mileage of the rears on the FJR. Folks been getting 300, maybe 4000 on a front, and 8 easily on a back. I got 11000 on a rear, but it looked like Shawn's at the end. At least I knew it looked like that and didn't go anywhere significant till the new tire came.

bikerkash · Jun 2, 2009

Tires are probably the most important safety item on your bike. Running the last fews miles of wear isn't worth the risk. A tire with low tread depth really puts you at risk in the rain. Tread depth is what make a tire work in the rain, why take the risk with your body. If you ever crash and lay in the hospital for awhile this will become cleared to you, I know this first hand. I personally inspect my tires after each ride, it's not that much work. I use a white grease pen to mark the tire so I know for sure when I've make one round I also make sure the valve stem is in the proper location to check the air pressure the following day. Tire pressures should to be checked when the tire is cold and that will take over night. I only ride one up and have set my tire pressures to 36 & 38 and have got good wear. I've also added a tire pressure monitoring system it gives you a lot of comfort when you moving along 80+mph that all is good with the tires and that's a very good feeling.

dcarver · Jun 2, 2009

SkooterG said:
Pfffft!
That tire has got another 1000 miles on it.

I'll see your 1000 and raise you 275 with a bubble to boot! NeeenerNeener!

Why You should Check your Tires

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