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Long Ride on thin Tread

2K views 35 replies 20 participants last post by  Goose11 
#1 ·
I plan on riding a few days on a tire with the ware bars starting to touch. Four days under 1000 miles cool conditions; Am I more likely to have a issue with my rear tire on this trip? I have always felt a new tire is less likely to flat out.
 
#2 ·
Yes you are more likely to have an issue....than you would be if you had a much newer tire. But odds are in your favor of doing fine even w/ that level of wear especially if you don't push it much and are on good pavement.
 
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#7 · (Edited)
If the wire is showing you will not make 1000 miles, zero chance. And if some smart LEO sees you, you will get a citation. Please let us know how it turns out. You could wrap your tire with duct tape......>:)
I miss read your post, thought you were to the metal. At wear bars maybe not a good plan either. Easy to get flats and no good in the rain.
 
#8 ·
Well how many miles did it take to get just above the wear bars?

I have run tires thin and if you are above or at the wear bar then the question is again how many miles did it take to get there?

Personally with my experience with some tires that look great in the morning and showing cord in the afternoon after a few hundred miles was a wake up call. Try finding a tire in Tupalo Mississippi at 5:15 PM. I finally had a Honda dealer that could take me in the morning and did he hurt my wallet.

That is my knock on Z8 tires. And why I dont run them no warning on cord showing.

So as Clint Eastwood said " You have to ask yourself, do I feel lucky today? Well do you punk?"

I hate to waste resources (money) but sometimes penny wise pound foolish and all that.
 
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#21 ·
I'm not sure about the Golilla tape but, yeah, the last 10% seems to only take half as long as any other 10%. Being cowardly by nature I've never seen the plys but friends have and it should scare the hell out of anybody who isn't suicidal. Besides the obvious tires seem to lose air very quickly after the tread rubber is gone, no idea why since the soft, inner rubber that really seals the tire is still there. Over the 50 years since my first bike, mostly in my younger and braver days, I've had sudden deflation (tube tires) and locked rear wheel (chain broke and wrapped around the swing arm). I didn't crash in any of the cases but I'm older and bikes are much heavier these days. I'd rather not find out if I have the ability to safely stop a fishtailing, 650 pound R1200RT while traveling at 70+ mph.

I'm proud to say I have both Scot and Dutch in my ancestry, two groups who view "cheap SOB" as a complement. I try to use all the life in my tires, work like hell to get the best deal and I change and balance my own tires to save money and so I know it was done right but new tires are on order by the time the wear bars are touching the pavement. Cheap is one thing, foolish is another.
 
#11 ·
OR...if you would like a very catchy statement for your TOMBSTONE...

"Here lies lovable OL' REDBULL...A MEMBER OF THE BMWLT FORUM WHO ASKED ABOUT THE WISDOM OF USING A WORN OUT TIRE???">:):wink::wave
 
#12 ·
One of the more unpleasant experiences I've had was wondering if my tire was going to make to the next place I could buy one. I couldn't enjoy anything because I was spending all my mental energy wondering if I was going to make it.

I'll never do that again. I've bought tires when I still had about 700 miles left, because I knew I was 1000 miles from the next convenient place. And maybe that 700 would have turned out to be 1000 miles after all (oh, well) or maybe it would have been 500 miles.
 
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#17 ·
Do you guys change your own tires...!?!?

is it a money issue..? convenience, frugality...??

I still don't get the urgency to make the tire last those very few last miles, when the rubber get thin some many things go wrong so fast, is just pointless..

I have never made much money and if I have extra I give it away for people that need it more than me, so I use to have a stash of tires (At one point I got about 35 on a little tiny studio in berkeley) that I collect from the shops in the bay area and something i will get a week out of one but it was just matter is swapping the tire, like a 15 minute max without any big machines, just tire lever and a kickstand..

I may look like India but I swap hundreds of tires right on the street in front of many shops around san francisco. I just borrow the compressor to seat them right..


For example my favorite tires (specially notable in the front with a 17" rim on my GS) of all time are the Pirelli MT-80's but they wear out extremely fast, Lucky me scuderia west use to run a motard team and change front tires every race (ten laps on a really short circuit), plus a lot of clients got them "Flat top" so I gotta wear out the Edges, No they where not underinflated, I just love to do front Drifts and carry tons of speed on the tight turns, so much grip so much fun

 
#28 ·
Do you guys change your own tires...!?!?

is it a money issue..? convenience, frugality...??
Yes, I change my own. The reasons in order of most to least important are:

1. I want it done right and I don’t want my rims all scratched up.

2. I live about 30 minutes from the nearest place that will mount motorcycle tires. So, a trip to a dealer for a tire change is at least a couple hours of my time. I can easily mount two tires in an hour with my NoMar machine and balancer.

3. I’m cheap. :grin:
 
#19 ·
Ricardo - the riding style and environment here is very different to what you experience in Europe. Many of us think absolutely nothing about covering more than 600 miles (960 km) in a day. The road surface is also different, even here when one goes from state to state. If you take these things into account, you might have some understanding of the questions. I, for one, prefers to err on the safe side, and changed my tires when it was only at 8,000+ miles, when I expected to ride more than 4,000+ miles on that trip. Typically, my tires lasts around 10,000 - 12,000 miles.
 
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#25 ·
Ricardo - the riding style and environment here is very different to what you experience in Europe.
Oh I'm sorry I never file my profile.. (this facebook log in is not the best idea)

I have been living in the USA for almost 30 years, 21 in san francisco, 6 in salt lake city and now in minneapolis (where my LT make more sense..)

when I was living in san francisco I paid my school housing in palo alto (got a scholarship for the school) working on bicycle shops, mostly building wheels since I can take the "work home"

but trust me riding bikes, making around $15 per hour is really hard, lucky me I became really good friends with Kari from CalBMW (rest in peace my dear Friend) and he kind of let me pick up stuff front their trash, like semi worn out brake pads and tons of tires..

this bike today has 362.000 miles on the original engine, Seven clutches plus one I made a mistake on it) original final drive with original bearings, shaft, three transmission and trust me always load it way more than recommended (LT weight if you count the load)






Many of us think absolutely nothing about covering more than 600 miles (960 km) in a day. The road surface is also different, even here when one goes from state to state. If you take these things into account, you might have some understanding of the questions. I, for one, prefers to err on the safe side, and changed my tires when it was only at 8,000+ miles, when I expected to ride more than 4,000+ miles on that trip. Typically, my tires lasts around 10,000 - 12,000 miles.
Oh My,,, the Dolomites on MT-80's i will really need to carry spare tires for a three day tour..

In the same theme of "Starving student" I was always running out of all the consumables, but before coming here I spend a few years working on helicopters and building small composite planes, well to the point, Sure On those types of machines you do service by the "Hours" (save the gasoline of the helo, bikes run great mix it half and half with pump gas) but a safety check up override any previous work or paper work..

Yes with bikes you do learn over time to questimate how much a tire is going to last, along the years I accumulate ready build wheels (Mostly from trash wheels the shops refuse to fix) that i just need to walk down from my apartment and in a few minutes I'm ready for a "Change of attitude"

In short they are many things I don't really about (like washing the bike as fun as it maybe be) but i never mess with objects that can interfere with Steerings or the chain and sprockets and brakes and tires for obvious reasons..
 
#23 ·
Been in that is the tire going to make it to the end of the trip, does that look like rain, can I corner with my buds stop fast without sliding situation on long trip. Ended up catching a trailer ride home cuz the tire was a goner about 600 miles from home. I used to run my own car on a mailroute, I knew tire wear and flats inside out. Most flats occur in the last 20% of tread life. Take a look or feel how much tire you have between the road and the air leaking out on a dismounted worn tire. It's a lot thinner than you would like to think.
 
#35 ·
My replacement tire arrived today. I love new tread and will spoon it right on. The wear bars are still below the surface but side by side you get the feeling you are skating on thin ice. It is great weather here on the north coast for a 200 mile scrub in ride.
 
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