Tyre age and sport tourer tyres

[Whysub]

Were the Tomahawks the ones you could buy in coloured rubber?

I remember orange tyres.

I seem to recall someone on the VD SM section having yellow and blue on their Husky

I seem to remember that VeggieDave had orange one on his KTM at one point

[mboy]

There is no hard and fast rule about tyre age, though the suggestion is to replace anything over 5yrs old based on age, but as various youtube channels have proven, if a tyre is stored properly, it can be fine for many more than 5yrs of course…

The problem is, you don’t know how they’ve been stored. The bike has come to you 2nd hand, and you’re not confident in how it feels. If a bike has spent much of its life living outside, the tyres will age much more prematurely than tyres that have been kept in a dark warehouse at a constant temperature.

I’d change them before anything else… Not worth taking the risk IMO. Certainly not worth not enjoying riding the bike, when as we all know, a brand new pair of tyres will transform the way the bike rides.

[mboy]

Not really true. For 15 years in UK I only ever had track tyres on my GSXRs.
Worked fine even winter commuting.

“Working fine” because you absolutely nursed a wholly inappropriate tyre through winter conditions for the purposes of bragging rights is absolutely not the same as them being suitable for purpose. In Gran Canaria, yeah fair enough… UK winters are not a place to be chancing a Supercorsa because of some perverse desire to prove yourself…

[Yorick]

Not really true. For 15 years in UK I only ever had track tyres on my GSXRs.
Worked fine even winter commuting.

“Working fine” because you absolutely nursed a wholly inappropriate tyre through winter conditions for the purposes of bragging rights is absolutely not the same as them being suitable for purpose. In Gran Canaria, yeah fair enough… UK winters are not a place to be chancing a Supercorsa because of some perverse desire to prove yourself…

Woah. That high horse is on shaky ground. You're talking shite.

It was plenty of winters in Leeds.

[mboy]

Not really true. For 15 years in UK I only ever had track tyres on my GSXRs.
Worked fine even winter commuting.

“Working fine” because you absolutely nursed a wholly inappropriate tyre through winter conditions for the purposes of bragging rights is absolutely not the same as them being suitable for purpose. In Gran Canaria, yeah fair enough… UK winters are not a place to be chancing a Supercorsa because of some perverse desire to prove yourself…

Woah. That high horse is on shaky ground. You're talking shite.

It was plenty of winters in Leeds.

Ah, a Yorkshireman. That explains it!

For someone who can clearly ride and clearly knows how to (trail braking thread in the staying alive forum for example), you are absolutely full of bravado and bad advice at times!

Track tyres work well on the track… They have a temperature operating window far higher than most people can ever get them into on the road, even in the height of summer. In a British winter, they are as useful as a chocolate teapot. The fact you’re here to tell the tail after a claimed 15yrs of commuting on them through British winters is more of a testament to your skill than it is to your sensibility!

You are talking to someone who works with tyres for a living for what it’s worth… I am certain that you are a faster rider both on track and on the road, but I spend a significant amount of both my working life and my spare time advising people that riding appropriate tyres is far more beneficial to both speed and safety in all sorts of conditions, than riding the ones that look the coolest or you managed to source cheaply off a mate…

[Yorick]

“Working fine” because you absolutely nursed a wholly inappropriate tyre through winter conditions for the purposes of bragging rights is absolutely not the same as them being suitable for purpose. In Gran Canaria, yeah fair enough… UK winters are not a place to be chancing a Supercorsa because of some perverse desire to prove yourself…

Woah. That high horse is on shaky ground. You're talking shite.

It was plenty of winters in Leeds.

Ah, a Yorkshireman. That explains it!

For someone who can clearly ride and clearly knows how to (trail braking thread in the staying alive forum for example), you are absolutely full of bravado and bad advice at times!

Track tyres work well on the track… They have a temperature operating window far higher than most people can ever get them into on the road, even in the height of summer. In a British winter, they are as useful as a chocolate teapot. The fact you’re here to tell the tail after a claimed 15yrs of commuting on them through British winters is more of a testament to your skill than it is to your sensibility!

You are talking to someone who works with tyres for a living for what it’s worth… I am certain that you are a faster rider both on track and on the road, but I spend a significant amount of both my working life and my spare time advising people that riding appropriate tyres is far more beneficial to both speed and safety in all sorts of conditions, than riding the ones that look the coolest or you managed to source cheaply off a mate…

What a load of shite. You've assumed far too much

[Whysub]

The BF Goodrich tyres on my car were three years old (as per the date stamps on them), only covered about 20,000kms, so the tread was way about the wear bars.

But the sidewalls were absolutely ****ed, cracked due the UV they received, as parked outside all the time. So are my bikes.

[mangocrazy]

I spend a significant amount of both my working life and my spare time advising people

You have PM

[ninja]

I have tried various incarnations of Michelin Pilot Road tyres along with Power Pures but I always end up going back to Pilot Power 2CTs. They may be old hat but they last a 3000 mile hard thrash of Euro mountains, they are OK in the wet and are much more responsive than their newer Road counterparts, which seem/feel very benign and almost dull, in comparison, handling wise.