How old are my tires?

[BassCliff]

Hello friends,

Since I just put on a new set of tires, it inspired me to add some information to my website's tire info page. I'll also post it here for those of us who will be picking up "new" bikes in the spring and think those tires look pretty good.

*************************

How old are my tires?

There is a code molded into the sidewall of your tires. The codes give you information such as size, manufacturer, the plant where it was manufactured, etc. The most important code is the date code. It should be a 4-digit code at the end of all the other informational codes. (Note: If your tires have a 3-digit code, then the latest they could have been manufactured is in 1999!!)

I just bought (Feb. 2009) a new set of Bridgestone Spitfire S11 tires. Here is the code from the front tire.

The last 4 digits are "4508". This means the tire was manufactured the 45th week of 2008. This works out to the first week of November, 2008. This tire was not quite 4 months old when it was mounted on my motorcycle.

Here is the code from the rear tire.

The last 4 digits are "1908". This means the tire was manufactured the 19th week of 2008. This works out to be around the 2nd week of May 2008. This tire was about 10 months old when it was mounted on my motorcycle.

I would caution you to be wary of tires that have been sitting in a warehouse or on a shelf for too long. If you buy a two year old tire and ride it for a couple of seasons, the rubber can start to deteriorate and become unsafe.
************************

I also want to thank Mr. Joe Nardy for contributing another manual, the (Katana) GS1100 '80-'83 T,LT,EX,SZ,EZ,SD,ED,ESD. Thank you Joe!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[knowyourenemy66]

very interesting info--good to know--thanks!

 

[Steve]

Some more information that will be just as important ...

The "code" that BassCliff mentioned that is molded into the sidewall of the tire always follows the letters DOT. The date code part of it is always at the end, usually in a separate branding area. If you find a tire that only has THREE digits at the end of the DOT number, CHANGE IT NOW !!!

They switched from thre to four digits in 2000, so anything with three digits was made in 1999 or earlier. The first two of the three digits still represent the week of the year, and the third digit only shows the last digit of the year, so if you see 458, you don't know if it was the first of November of 1998, 1988 or 1978.

.

 

[BassCliff]

Thanks Steve.

Too add your thoughts to the section, I've also included this little blurb on my page.

Here is an article on the American Motorcyclist website (the official website for the American Motorcycle Association) called "How to read a motorcycle tire".


It has nifty pictures too, like this one.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[82Shafty]

Hello friends,

Since I just put on a new set of tires, it inspired me to add some information to my website's tire info page. I'll also post it here for those of us who will be picking up "new" bikes in the spring and think those tires look pretty good.

*************************

How old are my tires?

There is a code molded into the sidewall of your tires. The codes give you information such as size, manufacturer, the plant where it was manufactured, etc. The most important code is the date code. It should be a 4-digit code at the end of all the other informational codes. (Note: If your tires have a 3-digit code, then the latest they could have been manufactured is in 1999!!)

I just bought (Feb. 2009) a new set of Bridgestone Spitfire S11 tires. Here is the code from the front tire.

The last 4 digits are "4508". This means the tire was manufactured the 45th week of 2008. This works out to the first week of November, 2008. This tire was not quite 4 months old when it was mounted on my motorcycle.

Here is the code from the rear tire.

The last 4 digits are "1908". This means the tire was manufactured the 19th week of 2008. This works out to be around the 2nd week of May 2008. This tire was about 10 months old when it was mounted on my motorcycle.

I would caution you to be wary of tires that have been sitting in a warehouse or on a shelf for too long. If you buy a two year old tire and ride it for a couple of seasons, the rubber can start to deteriorate and become unsafe.
************************

I also want to thank Mr. Joe Nardy for contributing another manual, the (Katana) GS1100 '80-'83 T,LT,EX,SZ,EZ,SD,ED,ESD. Thank you Joe!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Cliff,

How many miles were on your old set... Posting up some pics of miles assocaited with the tires would be great.

 

[BassCliff]

Cliff,

How many miles were on your old set... Posting up some pics of miles assocaited with the tires would be great.

Sorry Mr. 82Shafty, I didn't think of that. I'll take a picture of the old tires next time.

My front tire had about 16,000 miles on it and it really needed replacement. It could've probably gone another 1000-2000 miles so but it was starting to get a little weird.

The rear tire had 9000 miles on it and could've lasted another 3000-4000 or so (estimate). But I had put a plug in it a couple months ago and wanted to replace it anyway.

I'm hoping that I can wear out this rear tire to find out how long it really lasts. The last two rear tires have come to an untimely death due to nails and screws.

The pictures in my Rear Wheel Removal guide show that rear tire with 8000 miles on it. There's still a lot of tread left. I should take measurements too. :-k

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Can_O_Tuna]

Thanks Joe N.....

 

[KGB]

You got 16K out of a front tire??!!??

I'm impressed. If I get 10K out of one I'm happy.

My GS likes Dunlop GT501's.

 

[julien]

Scary...

Scary...

Well I don't know how many miles on my tires but my front tire tag is 486 - 48th week of 1996/1986??? and my rear one is 347 - 34th week of 1997/1987???
Needless to say I will be getting new tires.
Any suggestions for my 1981 GS650G? Where is the best place? local bike place?

Thanks.

 

[jabberjoe87]

I'm in the same pickle sorta, i'm debating between a Chen Shing or a Bridgestone S11

 

[BassCliff]

Well I don't know how many miles on my tires but my front tire tag is 486 - 48th week of 1996/1986??? and my rear one is 347 - 34th week of 1997/1987???
Needless to say I will be getting new tires.
Any suggestions for my 1981 GS650G? Where is the best place? local bike place?

Thanks.

Hi Mr. julien,

Oh my! Those tires are at least 12 years old.

There are many places online with good tire prices. Check my webpage for the usual suspects. Do you want to mount and balance your own tires? There is information on my website for that too. A lot of members here mount and balance their own tires.

I'm pretty lucky. There is a bike shop near me that has pretty good prices (within $10 or so of online prices) and will mount and balance for free if you buy the tires there. Otherwise they charge $20 for each tire if you bring in your own. From what I understand, most shops charge $35 for mounting and balancing. Check around the bike shops/tire shops in your area.

What size tires? Probably a 100/90 for the front and a 120/90 for the rear. What make/model of tire? That's up to you. You'll get all kinds of opinions. Do you want really sticky, high performance tires? Do you want longer lasting touring tires? Do a search of the forum for "tires" and you'll find everything you ever wanted to know about tires but were afraid to ask. Personally, I like the Bridgestone Spitfire S11 tire. It gives me a good balance of performance, wear, and cost.


Thank you for your induglence,

BassCliff

 

[posplayr]

Thanks Cliff

Thanks Cliff

I was wondering how to do that .

Pos

 

[julien]

Mr. Basscliff,

Thanks for the info, I will look into the different tires.
I don't want to hijack this tire thread but I have some other questions.
Spark plugs? which one should I get for my bike?
And one more... although the how-to carbs rebuild/cleaning doc on your site is great and will be the one I use to do my carbs... it is missing some information on how to take the carbs out of the bike. Again I am sure it is something very simple but I think it may be a good idea to include that. What do you think? The service manual doesn't have anything on this either... maybe it is obvious... I haven't looked into it yet.
Thanks again.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. julien,

I believe your bike uses NGK D8EA plugs or similar. You can always double-check at the auto parts store catalog or your favorite online parts fiche.

Take off the tank, take off the seat, disconnect the throttle and choke linkages, loosen the clamps on the carb boots, pull airbox back as far as it will go, wrestle the carb rack back out the right side of the bike, and hope for the best.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[julien]

thanks

thanks

I will wait to have all parts and will give that a shot... I will let you guys know.

 

[BassCliff]

I will wait to have all parts and will give that a shot... I will let you guys know.

That's the spirit! :clap:


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[bwringer]

Cliff, at some point you're also going to have to tell us how you get those perfect, crystal-clear extreme close-ups.

I've fiddled with the macro settings on three or four different digital cameras, but I've never been able to get anything that nice.
:clap::clap:

 

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. bwringer,

I use an old Fujifilm Finepix A210 camera with the "close-up" setting enabled. In its day it was the best point-and-shoot under $200. It's still great for web stuff. I hope I never drop it while taking pictures or videos while riding. It would be no great monetary loss, but it's still a quite servicable camera.



Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[julien]

tires....

tires....

I asked the guy at the place where I got "Suzie" inspected this morning how much for some new shoes.... First he didn't want to get the Bridgestone Spitfire... he said he has better one... I asked him how much to put on the tires if I buy them elsewhere... $140 for both (acting as though he was giving me a good price)
I said... how about if I buy them here? He was ready to sale me the two tires (rear for $150 and the front for $137) - I then said "WOW!!! ok... that includes installation and balancing right???" of course not... "but it is only $100 since you get them from us" - I ran out quickly after paying my $6 for the inspection.
I will be seeking some other place (needless to say)

 

[BassCliff]

Mr. julien,

Oh my! That's highway robbery. Or does that price include removing and reinstalling the wheels on your bike too? Somehow I doubt it. Even so, I like to do (at least) that myself to be sure it's done right.

What kind of tires was he trying to sell you? Did they have raised gold letters? Platinum sidewalls?

If I had to pay those prices I would mount and balance myself. There are other GS riders in the New York area. Where do you guys go? Or is "every man a tire shop"?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff