How old is too old for tires?

[DC950]

this topic keeps coming up lately - how old is too old for tires?  Do they need to be tossed out after X years?

In my opinion, no.  This is based on real world experience.  If they aren't slick or cracked, ride them. 

What I mean by slick is the "oils" haven't obviously "leaked out" leaving the tires hard as a rock.  When or if this happens is clearly impacted by temperature and sunlight.  And keeping them inflated if they are on the bike.  Yeah, if you keep your bike on your front porch in southern New Mexico in 300 days of sunlight a year, you won't get as much life out of them if you had kept the bike in a cool garage without a refrigerator creating ozone. 

Charlie Cole told me back when I (poorly) roadraced against him that he didn't worry about how old tires were.  I thought he was full of it but he wasn't.  He said to wrap up unused ones and store them where it's cool and they'll be just fine.  Such as in the crawl space in your basement.  He was right and put his money where his mouth was on the track.

As I recently said in another post, I have 15 year old Dunlops on my Tuono.  They are scrubbed to within a quarter inch on the 190 rear.  I ride it and all of my bikes hard.  Not one hint of a slip, ever.

A week ago I swapped the worn front Michelin Anakee on my Stelvio for an Anakee Wild I've had for 3 years.  I bought it from the dealer for $50 when I got the bike.  It was 3 years old and it was on the discount rack because it was "too old to install".  $289 new.  I stored it properly, it went on just fine, and it rides wonderfully.  So much so that I'm trying to figure out how I can afford a new one in the future.  That tire was made in October of 2020.

Most of you are older than me.  I promise you that high quality, 10 year old properly stored tires are better than anything new that you rode on in the 70s and 80s.  The sport touring tires I had on my 2017 Dorsoduro are every bit as good as the race tires I used in the 90s and last far longer to boot.

Do what you will but ladies and gentlemen, tires have come a long, long way.  You are not going to automatically die because your in good shape tires are "old".

I'd encourage you to watch this:


Debunking The Tire Age Myth

[urlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwbLt8vZH5w][/url]

[TN Mark]

When the rider starts to question the tires for wear or age. That often means, for that rider, the tire needs to be replaced.

Some people feel the need to extract every 1/4 mile out of every tire. Me, not so much. I typically go through a rear tire once a year (16-18k miles) and a front tire (30k miles) about every two years.

[MikeP996]

Interesting Video.  TBH, if it was just some guy on the internet giving an opinion, I'd pay little attention.  In this case, I'm somewhat impressed because it's posted by a company who would like to sell you tires when you need them.  I would expect a typical salesman to "sell" customers on the idea that tires should be replaced every 5 (or whatever) years.  It's refreshing when a salesman tells you that you DON"T need to buy something! 

[Stretch]

I've seen this video before, and I've got to agree.

Some folks freak right out about tire age, but if it's
round, black, and not obviously defective, or dry-rotted,
it's probably going to be fine. Vintage tires from the 50s
might not be my first choice for a long tour in the rain, for
instance, whether or not they were dry-rotted.

I had an old Michelin on my SR500 at one point - it had to be over 20 years old -
and I never had a problem. The front on my K75 is at least a decade
old, and it works just fine. I'll probably replace it this year or next.

YMMV.

                                               -Stretch

[n3303j]

Retired a few years back and bought a class C camper. It came with six 7 year old mounted Goodyear tires. They were beautiful. Looked like less than 1,000 miles had been put on them since new. Black, round, smooth & supple. Everything a tire should be. 1,400 miles into a 4,000 mile trip the rig developed a shimmy.

Long story shortened: Brought it into a shop and he showed me the wheels hand spun on the balancer. Four out of six had delaminated internally and had up to half inch high humps in the tread. Guess 7 years was too old for those tires.

[Ncdan]

Personally my take is this.
If a bike was stored,  for whatever reason, in a climate controlled shelter, and had newer tires, then brought back into service, what conditions would warrant replacing the tires.
For me, here would be the questions that require answers.
-Was the tires in good shape when stored?
- are there any signs of cracking in the tread area or sidewalls?
- are they flat or near flat?
- is the riders going to expose the tires to excessive Preformance levels?
- and are the tires over 5 years old?
Rubber does loose its integrity over years.
One has to come to their on conclusions as to whether they want to trust their life on the tires they are riding on.
Personally, for if nothing else but peace of mind, if I didn’t have a positive answer to either of my inquiries, I’d replace the tires if….
- going  on a trip
- adding a passenger who’s life is in my trust
- am I going to be riding aggressively
If any of these inquiries are yes, then I would spend a few hundred bucks and replace the tires.
Disaster is simply not worth chancing, IMHO.

[Perazzimx14]

Tires are changed based on wear and overall condition not by a calendar.


 

[egschade]

I just purchased a 2016 Stornello with 94 miles on it and the tires still had the molding nibs. Going through a thorough servicing I found that all the fluids in the bike had oxidized and through they looked like new, the tires felt hard to the touch and I wouldn't trust them for road use (nor the tubes).

MAYBE they'd scrub in and be OK for casual riding but not for emergency braking or object avoidance. I'm not willing to trust injury or my life on it.

[blu guzz]

Yeah, old tires work great, until they don't. Why cheap out when your health or possibly life is at stake?

[Bulldog9]

Well first, there obviously IS a point where a tire is too old.

And as Clausewitz said, 'it depends'. It always depends on conditions, intended use, history of use, demand (expected use) and capability. Are we talking NEW never mounted? Or are we talking mounted and slightly used over time? Are we talking taking the old tire on twisty aggressive roads? Multi thousand mile trip? High Speeds? Or just push around the garage and poke around town?

There is a clear difference between a set of 10 year old 3K mile tires (or never mounted and stored properly) have been kept at proper pressure and stored in a climate controlled garage and those exposed to the elements. The harsher the elements, the more the tires will degrade. If the tires go flat, if subjected to freezing, if subjected to strong Sunlight, if someone used tire dressings, etc etc.

I have a set of 20+ year old tires on my old XS bikes. The 1100 has Dunlops (IIRC), the 750 has Avons. Both are tubeless, and will generally hold air. They have been stored in a garage and unridden the last 12-13 years. The tires are in great shape, little to no cracking in the sidewalls, and between the treads, and lots of treadlife. If/when I put them back on the road (long list of to-do's before I can even think about it), they are staying on initially for pokeabout and shake downs, but I if/when I decide I am going to put them back in full normal service, day trips, rallys, etc, I will change them out............

The tires on my 912 are 10 years old. I mounted them after the restoration in 2015, and they have 15K on them. The car is always garaged when not driving and pressures are maintained. There is no cracking between treads or in sidewall. I have no plan to change them.

For me, condition and use weigh heavier than age.  YMMV

[Dirk_S]

Long story shortened: Brought it into a shop and he showed me the wheels hand spun on the balancer. Four out of six had delaminated internally and had up to half inch high humps in the tread. Guess 7 years was too old for those tires.

This is the point that is often ignored—what’s happening on the inside. The 40 year old Soviet tire that I’m running on my 40 year old Soviet sidecar sure feels gummy bear smooth on the outside with no dry cracks, but who knows what’s happening underneath. AND I surely wouldn’t be running this tire on a single track motorcycle that needs leaning of the wheel in order to turn.

[kingoffleece]

I'll change them at 5 years.
But then again, I'm down to two bikes now.  If I had 8.................. ..............

[faffi]

I have bought new tires that had dangerously little grip, be that from poor storage in the shop or a fault during production, who knows. And I have had 10+ year old tires that worked terrific. On my car, the winter tires got hard enough to be replaced after just 3 seasons. While barely worn, they did not have sufficient grip anymore. So I am with the OP; if the tire looks and work fine, it probably is fine. If you find it/them lacking, replace it/them.

[John A]

That Studebaker in the museum at the Elkader city park, home of the Iowa rally, has the original tires on it. I don’t remember the cars year, maybe 1909. I think they held air but l wouldn’t take it on the freeway 

[Joliet Jim]

If I let it I'm sure the Metz 880 on the back of the 1100 Stone will easily last a second decade.

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

I have a set of tires from 1962 on one of my bikes. New tubes, a little shoe polish, and they're good to go. Learned from Burt Munro.



Acceptable risk to me on a low speed vintage bike that doesn't get ridden hard. That said, I've run ~30 year old tubed tires on other vintage bikes and rode them hard on those factory tires.
Wouldn't dream of it on a tubeless tire, I get uneasy about the slight cracks from UV exposure that I find on many tubeless tires within the first year. Luckily the tubeless bikes tend to rack up more highway miles so the tires don't last long enough to get too old.

[MikeP996]

As long as tread depth/tire shape is OK (rear not "squared off), I "evaluate" an old tire by pressing a fingernail into the rubber.   If I can't press my nail in, I buy new tires.  I bought a '76 Honda CB400F two years ago that I couldn't press my nail into the tires at all.  The shop had a difficult time getting the tires off the rims - said it was like they were made of wood. 

OTOH, I had ridden the bike around 30 miles locally and then rode the bike 20 miles over curvy back roads to the shop.  I didn't try to do any serious peg-dragging, but I didn't ride sedately, winding the little four to redline at every chance and going through the curves "briskly."  It felt perfectly OK with the old tires...

[Motormike]

Long story shortened: Brought it into a shop and he showed me the wheels hand spun on the balancer. Four out of six had delaminated internally and had up to half inch high humps in the tread. Guess 7 years was too old for those tires.

Then again, maybe they were just poor quality tires to begin with?

[n3303j]

Brand name product. Load range E. Truck duty. They ran fine for the first 1,000 miles of the trip.

[Stretch]

I've had belts shift in brandy-new car tires before. Shop was really good about it and
gave me a new set for free. 3 out of the 4 were bad.

Ya know, this thread has the potential to end up like an oil thread. 

Just sayin'..... 

                                                   -Stretch

[DC950]

I've had belts shift in brandy-new car tires before. Shop was really good about it and
gave me a new set for free. 3 out of the 4 were bad.
...

Same here.  Firestone 721's.  One came apart completely on I85.

[DoubleGuzzi]

"brandy-new"

DUI?
Just sayin'..... 

We've also had an instance of a brand new tyre with a manufacturing flaw. Quickly remedied thankfully with no mishap.

P.S. I thought all truckers were used to delaminated tyres, given that carcasses lying along motorway verges/kerbs. 
(Fortunately haven't seen as many in the past few decades and likely they are mostly retreads.)
 

[faffi]

P.S. I thought all truckers were used to delaminated tyres, given that carcasses lying along motorway verges/kerbs. 
(Fortunately haven't seen as many in the past few decades and likely they are mostly retreads.)

My brother came really close to being hit by a truck tire as it delaminated just before they passed each other on the road. If the tire had come apart 20 yards later, his helmet and leathers would likely not be enough to save my brother.

[DoubleGuzzi]

My brother ..

Yikes! 

[wirespokes]

I've also ridden on old tires. Even when they weren't in the best condition. I think the fear of old tires comes from an earlier time when tires weren't as good. I talked to an old timer who raced close to 100 years ago. He said a lot of bike accidents back then were due to tire problems.

If you're really concerned, you can get a durometer and check how hard your tires have become.

As for the truck tires delaminating, I've been told that tires made in the US don't have a certain compound that helps with aging. Tires made elsewhere are required to have this compound and they don't deteriorate like they do here. Seven or eight years is what I remember.

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

DUI?
Just sayin'..... 

We've also had an instance of a brand new tyre with a manufacturing flaw. Quickly remedied thankfully with no mishap.

P.S. I thought all truckers were used to delaminated tyres, given that carcasses lying along motorway verges/kerbs. 
(Fortunately haven't seen as many in the past few decades and likely they are mostly retreads.)

It's old now, but the NHTSA commissioned a study on those road gators and found that new vs retread had about the same failure rate, it's just that retreads are more common (for commercial trucking) so they account for more of the failures. They attributed most failures to road hazard and heat.

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/61517/102117.pdf

[DoubleGuzzi]

.. new vs retread had about the same failure rate..

A skim read of that interesting article later.

Side note: I knew a bloke that worked in a tyre factory, specifically on the retread side of things and there's a lot of effort put into their "re-manufacture". He always looked grubby, for some reason.