General Tubed Tire Questions And Problems

[Rocky]

I'm a bottomless pit of useless information
Seriously, this is good information to know. Even a brand new tire may have been on the shelf for a year (possibly longer) when its mounted.
I learned about this coding system years ago and keep an annual record as my tires age.
I prefer to bite the bullet and start looking at changing tires when they get to 7-8 years old. By then tire technology has probably improved anyway.
I honestly have too many bikes and each one doesn't get ridden enough to actually wear out the tires so it pains me to be throwing away half worn tires, but I like to have fresh rubber under me.
I know that many people do very well on old tires so it's up to the individual what they do.

 

[SarahP]

Rocky & everybody,

Oh, I have no problem replacing the tires! And Rocky, thanks for the tip on the dating. I'm not sure what the story is, but I looked on all three of my bikes and didn't see any circle with numbers in it, as your photo shows. I'll pull a bike outside tomorrow and check it again. I must be missing something.

So here's a question for the Hive Mind. If I want to sell the dual sports bike, should I replace the tires before selling it? My inclination is to replace them -- that way I have no moral dilemma about worrying whether someone is riding on old tires. OTOH, it's up to the buyer to check the condition/age of the tires, I'm not his mother, etc. -- caveat emptor. So I guess it boils down to $300 or so (cheapie tires +labor) and sleep very well at night or --- sell as is, let the buyer beware.

What's the standard when selling a bike? The tires look good and just passed a Virgina state inspection (not a particularly grueling test, but at least it's something).

And BTW, I turned away a buyer for my Honda VTX 1300 last season. I was desperate to sell (never a power position to be in, right? LOL). She saw the ad, called me, said she hadn't taken the MSF course yet, and did I think this was a good bike for a beginner?



So - replace the tires if I'm going to sell the bike or no?

 

[hemibee]

So - replace the tires if I'm going to sell the bike or no?

Yes, with that bike I would. Would you buy the bike with bad tires on it? Your potential buyer will probably be a new rider and not think much about tire condition.

 

[Rocky]

New tires would be an attractive selling point even though you may not recover the cost in the selling price.
Either sell it as is with a reduction in selling price or replace them.
Sometimes you can't have it both ways

On your tires, look for a code something like in the second picture I posted. That was from a modern Bridgestone tire.
The first picture is from a tire for a vintage bike and you probably wouldn't see it printed that way on a tire for modern bikes.
I posted the two versions just as examples.

 

[SarahP]

It's amazing how much a little daylight helps you to read the sidewall marks! Yup, the dual sports bike manufacture date is 0409...looks as though I'll be getting a couple of new tires for the CRF.

(And, ugh, the VTX is 5208; the Bonnie is 5011. Looks as though I'd better start saving my nickels.)

Thanks for all the advice and recommendations!

 

[Rocky]

yes, you need a good light to read obscure impressions on a black tire
I'm glad I was able to impart this bit of knowledge to you. It's always good to know the age of your tires.

That's the problem with bike tires, unless you ride a lot, they often don't wear out before they age out.
Rubber products in very warm climates don't seem to have the life that similar products do in cooler climates.

I think the same is true for batteries. Most of the short life of batteries I see commented about on forums are from southern US owners and others in hot climates.
But that's just a personal conclusion, and not to be accepted as fact.

 

[Greyfell]

I think the same is true for batteries. Most of the short life of batteries I see commented about on forums are from southern US owners and others in hot climates.
But that's just a personal conclusion, and not to be accepted as fact.

No, you're right Rocky. It's something I learned as part of my job. While it's not a hard-and-fast rule (meaning there will be occasional exceptions), the general rule is that high temps do age batteries faster, while at the same time providing a little more "oomph."

 

[harper6t]

Those dating codes are a reasonably recent thing from 2000 as far as I can tell, prior to 2000 there was a 3 digit code mentioned but not defined in the articles I could find on google. I can't find anything meaninful on some older tyres on bikes I have.
see pics for what are quite old tyres on Indian Velo, both are Pirelli made in Italy, there may be a date code hidden there but I haven't been able to find out how to read it. In any case they should be replaced if they are older than 2000.

 

[SarahP]

Wow, those could be some old tires, Harper!

Mine aren't nearly that old, but yeah, they need to be replaced.

All three bike$.

 

[hemibee]

I think the same is true for batteries. Most of the short life of batteries I see commented about on forums are from southern US owners and others in hot climates.
But that's just a personal conclusion, and not to be accepted as fact.

You can call it fact, the battery companies agree with you. There is multiple charts out that show the life expectancy of a battery in the warmer (hotter than hell) climates is about half of the expectancy for the cooler areas.

A 72 month battery around here that is 3 years old is sticking time bomb. A 72 month battery that is 4 years old can make a loud bang when you hit the starter. . . A REALLY LOUD BANG

 

[shanered6]

Yes a battery can be a lethal bomb ! i had a very large tractor battery explode in my face a couple of years ago lucky for me the bonet dropped as it went off and took some of the force , but the force was enough to send me over 10 yards in the air and burn one of my sleeves and the left side half of my shirt clean off !
And i do have some burn scars on my arm and chest ..... i was very lucky it could have been full in the face , it was a very hot day and i was checking the tightness of the terminals and touched across the terminals and made a spark and that was it .

 

[Rocky]

Wow, Shane, that was a close one!
Maybe I just haven't been paying much attention, but I don't think I heard of batteries exploding like that.

As for battery life, here in Eskimo land (-12C - 10F this morning )I only use Yuasa batteries and easily get 7-8-9 years out of them.
That said, for nearly six months they sit on a shelf in a cool dry place for the winter, but once a month I line them up and hook each one to a charger for a couple of days.
They lose practically no charge at all as within a few minutes the charger goes into float mode.
The Yuasa battery in my 2006 Bonneville is original and still good, and I used it all last summer, but I'm going to replace it this spring. It doesn't owe me anything after all that time.

BTW harper, I can't read those tires codes either.

 

[harper6t]

I get 5 or 6 years from a battery generally, but I have had a couple of bikes which kill batteries within a few months. First was a Ducati 860GT and it must have had a leak somewhere in the electrics, killed 2 batteries stone dead within a couple of months if left unattended. I resolved this by fitting a switch to isolate the battery when not in use. It had various other electrical gremlins and I was glad to see it go and be replaced by a Trident. I have recently had the same issue with my 1950 Thunderbird after I fitted an Alton 12 volt alternator in place of the generator. Apparently this is a common occurrence with the Alton units. Again I have now fitted an isolation switch to the earth lead. I also seem to have the same issue with a chinese minibike that I added a sidecar to so my father could use as a golf buggy, I got this back after he gave up golf at 90. In this case I just pull off one of the battery leads to stop it draining and killing the battery.

 

[Rocky]

Wow, that's a lot of battery problems - and a lot of bad luck with many different machines!

 

[Greyfell]

As for battery life, here in Eskimo land (-12C - 10F this morning )I only use Yuasa batteries and easily get 7-8-9 years out of them.

Yes, as you noted, batteries (especially vehicle batteries) do last longer than their rated life in cool/cold temperatures, but at the same time they produce less amps for turning over the engine. I expect that the Yusa batteries you are using have a higher cold-cranking amp rating than many other brands so that you get the starting power that you need.