How long do you let a rear tire go?

[MattP]

My rear tire is worn, but I'm not sure how how many miles it has on it (purchased the bike used with it on) and I'm not sure how far to let it go. It's a Road Pilot and the center setion doesn't have a prominent tread pattern, but what it does have is pretty much worn down. There is considerable tread left on the sides. It rides fine, grips well and there are no cords or anything like that showing. My question, I guess, is: How far can I ride on this one? I have heard "till the cord shows", which pretty much fits my budget model but I don't want to be stupid either. Thanks for the input.

[jaytee]

Once I notice shouldering (i.e. squaring-off of the center tread relative to the sides) I begin feel that on agressive corners I 'fall-in' to the corner rather abruptly. That is the sign to get a new tire. The difference in the confidence and smooth cornering ability in a new rounded tire to an old squared-off tire is amazing, IMHO.

 

And of course the wear bars tell the rest of the story.

 

JT

[Tony_K]

I don't think I have seen PR go to cord. They are just not that kind of tire.

They also dont have prominent wear bars. like JT said they will go way square like a 2x4 That effects turn in a lot. Texas... turns?... you make the call. Just remember you only have 2 tires.

[Mr_Ed]

When in doubt, change it out. Like one already pointed out you only have 2 tires...besides... riding isn't as much fun when you're wondering about how much tire is left.

[tallman]

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=51

 

2 tires

1 life

[notacop]

The tire dudes put little bumps in the gooves. When you can see those things even with the tread, it's time for money to be spent.

Or you can do the 'Do you feel lucky' thing.

[IanW]

1. Get a tyre tread depth guage and read your manual.

2. 80% of flat tyres occur in the last 20% of tyre life.

Ian

[TomfromMD]

And when you get your tread gauge, think about replacing the tire when the tread drops below 3/32" at any point on the tire. Definitely replace when its down to 2/32".

Tom

[bobbybob]

I just went thru this so here's my anecdotal (07 R1200RT). I always check rear tread before riding when I think it's getting kinda low. On Sunday, it looked just like it did Sat., which was smooth in the center (Metz Z6's don't have grooves that extend into the center strip, OR wear bars), nothing showing. It had 9,100 miles on it but as far as I knew it might have another 3,000 left..who knows? I then rode approx. 2 hours/120 miles and when I returned I checked it again because it just seemed to be handling kinda squirelly. The steel belt was now showing *big* time in 2 strips around the tire, over probably 50% of the circumference. I also noticed a *very* fine piece of wire (not much thicker than a strand of elec. wire) stuck into the smooth surface--hard to imagine it even working it's way into the surface it was so thin. I pulled it out with pliers and immediately air started flowing! I could feel it and when I spit on it, bubbly. In 120 miles I had gone from a possible 3,000 mile tread life (in my ignorant opinion) to zero, a hair's-breadth piece of wire away from a flat tire (or blow-out). Once the air leaked down low and I pressed in on the center of the tire, it felt as thin as paper--and just an inch to the left or right it felt nice and thick. Those 42 lbs of air pressure were fooling me into thinking I was riding on something solid. If I had hit a sharp rock I could have easily had a blow-out. That nice tread on the shoulders of the tire wasn't helping me a bit, just fooling me into continuing to ride on "may-pops". About 1 hour ago I replaced it with a Pilot Road (which DOES have tread in the middle). I learned about riding from this. Never again!

[MattP]

Thanks for the info, all. Off to the shop, rear wheel in hand!

[bobbybob]

Forgot to mention one other thing I learned. I always check air pressure with a gauge before leaving the house on a ride, but I also have always "kicked" both tires before starting off again during the same ride (i.e. after a pit stop) to make sure they aren't low on air. Well, that just don't work no mo. Cause while I was letting the air leak down in my punctured tire, I kicked it after about 4 hours and it was still hard as a rock. DANG--maybe it wasn't leaking after all...?? Put the tire gauge on it---had 10 lbs of air. But hard as a rock. So much for kicking tires...

[Bill_Walker]

Well, my recent experience was with a Tourance, not a PR, but I'd say when you start wearing down the wear bars, the tire can go to the cord in just a couple hundred miles. Of course, I thought I had a lot more than that when I left home for DV, but I came up short.

[elkroeger]

I always let mine go WAY too far. Not on purpose though.