Tyre Questions

Gents,

Are there any particular websites you use to stock up on tyres?
I've seen Sim mention Oponeo.

Since my tyres are 11 years old (!) I will be looking at replacing them ASAP
Thanks a bunch Sim for pointing this out to me. Who knows, you might have saved my life as it would not cross my mind to check the age..just the thread.

Since I wanted to paint white walls on mine I will simply buy white walls and be done with it.
Metzelers are being the favourite here from what I've read so far.

Also, I noticed people buying different sizes so I'll ask...what is the recommended size for rear and front?
170/80/15 rear and 130/90/16 front? What's the deal with buying bigger rear? Performance? Looks?

Many thanks!

P.S - Is it problematic to replace the tyres yourself? I don't mind giving it a go if it's within newbie range.

A rear tyre that is on a vl800 serves no purpose being larger than stock as it is not an exposed like it is on some other bikes so makes no difference to looks. Also a wider tyre does not always end up wider if the rim is not as wide as the tyre was originally intended to go on to and will actually end up taller due to minor distortion. Wider tyres where they have no cosmetic reason are not usually good for anything other than making cornering harder as wider tyres do not fall into the corners as well as a thinner tyre. Fitting tyres is not for the faint hearted, if you have not done it before I would say that you should not even attempt it on your shiny chromed wheels

Easy! ... if you have a tyre machine that is

Joe.. 

Just ordered a rear Michelin Commander 2 from oponeo. Delivered within 5 working days of ordering plus MOT Ayr will fir it for £20. Front tyre will be purchased in Sept....

Marcin, what condition are your tyre's in?, side walls and tread wise? Just because they're 11 years old, it doesn't automatically mean they're Knackered, put your bike on the jack and deflate your tyre's so they're more pliable, then give them a good inspection for cracks, cuts or perished spots, If they're fine? run them till the rear is bald and then replace them as a pair and keep your money in your pocket, If they are knackered though, you'll need inner tubes as well as new tyre's because they could be 11 years old as well.

I agree.

That's all fine but we're talking about two pieces of rubber that were exposed to elements for 11 years...10 of which I don't know how much.
Both tyres look great...smooth, no cracks.

I've read a bit on it and general voice is that you have to be either stupid or a gambling type to run on rubber that old. And it's not about thread or cracks...just the rubber compound as whole, that degrades from day 1.

I'm really confused now.
Would you happily ride on 11 year old tyres until they're worn out ? Did you ever ride on such old tyres?
I got over 5mm thread left front and rear...that will take me 2 years maybe more to wear out.
Thing to bear in mind is that we're talking about taking oem tyres, not some custom ones, to ripe age of 13/14 years.

I really don't know what to think about it with all the contradicting information.

It makes no difference whether Sim or I would use the tyre at the end of the day mate, if you are not comfortable with it, bin it.

Have you had any issues with your tyre's over the last 12 months? would you have doubted them had you not known how old they are? Probably not, I personally don't think your riding style warrants any radical action to be taken on the purchase of new tyre's, As you should, even with with a new tyre, Check it over every time you ride the bike to put your safety first and your mind at ease, Like Dave says though, if your not comfortable with it, bin it and go and spend some money.

ps. 9 years 9k on the front of the SV without issue.

Sim,
Correct...ignorance is bliss :/

Dave,
Good point

Crash,
Agreed...if it'll freak me out on the road I'm better to change them.

tell your missis it's dangerous and you have to change them strait away for safety reasons then say no maybe i'll just wait till we have some spare money then when she says I worry about you riding with those tyres by new white walls YAY and lets face it stock tyres are always crap IMO

Marcin, For your own peace of mind it looks like you need to change your tyres, other wise you will not enjoy riding your bike due to worrying about the tyres.

white walls, white wall, white walls!!!!! hehehe

Have a look on this site Marcin, you will be able to read up on the different tyres as well a getting a price.

http://www.moto-tyres.co.uk/

I've read the motorcycle portal from the link above, It states that a tyre is at it's best up to several years (5 to be precise) and should not be used or fitted once ten years old, But also states that a test was done under "Race conditions" on a track between a 5 year old tyre and a new one, and the difference was negligible! Hmmm? Ten year old tyre on a Cruiser, Cruising the A roads kinda sounds OK to me.

Verdict, That out of date White Mars bar don't taste any different to that new Brown one, It just cost more and keeps Mr Mars bar in a job. Happy riding which ever you choose

I believe I've read the same thing.

Well anyway I made the choice much clearer for myself yesterday.
As you recommended Sim I inspected the tyres pretty much inch by inch, took measurements across the lot and I found areas that are down to 1,5mm (rear of course) and I found wear/cracks forming in grooves.(hard to spot little buggers)
That pretty much sorts it.

Ain't it the truth that when the shit hits the fan it goes all out.... just called my mechanic and he's selling the tyre machines...
Other fella I found that does mobile fitting bowed out and said he can't do mine (probably because of shaft drive) so I'm looking around now.... 

Depending on the deal I'll go for ME880's, Venom's or Commander 2's...and then paint them white anyway :)

If you want white walls why not buy them now instead of painting new tyres,false economy,obviously up to you,but the difference in price is small,and bought white walls  look better.

Just because I already bought the paint mate...no other reason.

That's interesting...I phoned up a local garage to get a quote for either Venoms or Commanders and the guy went..."but...they're tubeless tyres...and you require tubes..."

Something tells me I should look for another garage that knows that you can fit these tyres on our Intruders with tubes in.
I would never think that this is something uncommon.(?)

There is a thread on this forum somewhere dealing with is topic of tubeless tyres with tubes in, if I remember rightly someone had explained it in some detail.

Sorted....
getting Avon's fitted tomorrow.
Cobra on front
Venom on rear

don't paint them till they're three years old.

roger that

is that down to some chemical reaction?

marcin wrote:

Sorted....
getting Avon's fitted tomorrow.
Cobra on front
Venom on rear

I,m pleased you have got your tyres sorted , you will feel all the better now when you ride your bike, I,m a firm believer in safety first even if it does cost money.

Very good choice Marcin I have the same tyres fitted on mine,excellant combination.

Michelin Commander 2's were on backorder, otherwise I'd go for that.

But Avon's are cool too...just not sure why they couldn't do front Venoms....seems odd.

Why you have ordered 2 different makes of tyre rather than sticking the same one on back and front?

Different makes? Theyre both avon.
cobra at front, venom at back. As per avon website.

Oh OK

No clue why avon doesnt make front venoms for vl...not a popular size maybe

MarcinG wrote:

roger that

is that down to some chemical reaction?

Not sure mate? something bleeds into the paint when they're new and turns the paint brown apparently, How much you pay for the Avons if you don't mind me asking?.

Marcin Avon recomend Cobra front and Venom rear on the M series as well,I changed my front from Venom to Cobra in March of this year,and all is well.

Just came back on new ones.
Sim, 235 all included.

Makes me wonder though...no balancing weights have been put on, just old removed.
Is that normal/possible?
May I add the ride now is great. No wobble and actually less vibrations.
proves what a piece of rock hard shit my old ones were.

No balancing weights, Hmmmmm very strange. Never known that.

Marcin, Sounds like a bargain  Not sure on the weights? if there's no wobble or strange vibrations it should be ok, don't forget to take it easy on the lean angles for the first 100 mile till the tyre's scrub in.

Dave, me neither until today.

Some say if it feels ok then just roll with it..literally.
I will enquire tomorrow anyway.

Sim, yes, I was expecting more. 
I will take it easy on corners, promise :)

If it feels alright, with no vibration or wobble, then it's fine the weights are to balance the wheels to stop vibration and wobbling, if there is none then weights are not required.

Right then...just came back from first proper ride.

Since I never actually dealt with new tyres on bike I can only assume that at if there was any unusual vibration, wobble, I would feel it at 70mph?

The ride is slightly different in terms of how bike feels on the road but I guess that's the break-in in progress.

Other than that I'd say that the bike vibrates as usual (judging by how well I can see in the mirrors :))

Mechanic was closed/away so will have to enquire on Monday just to double check.

very strange not to have weights on front wheel but hay ho I aint got none on my back wheel though although you can have the rear balanced as well if you want I normally scrub in for 100 miles then then bed em in proper by 300 miles I ride how ever I want

Update on balancing.

I finally got around balancing my front wheel on my own after purchasing the balancer from Sealey.
The result was rather shocking and makes me wonder how the hell I rode before.

I levelled out the balancer, chucked the wheel on and whoosh! it turned... tried again...whoosh it dropped like a stone. I though...that's massively unbalanced.

So I started adding weights...5, 10....another 10...another 5....what the hell?
I found the sweet spot where the wheel rests at any rotation given....
Total:
65g!!!!!!!!!      
30 on one side, 35 on opposite.
I checked it 3 times from scratch to make sure.

Is it just me or is that a mad amount?
The heavy point was where the valve is.

I took the bike out for a quick spin, floored it and my God it runs smooth now. No wonder I had so many issues with mirror shake.
Result.

Then I got a mild sunstroke and slept through the rest of this beautiful day to recover.  

Yes - tyres can go off with age, but you will get fair warning of a drop off in performance - where it is likely to catch you out is in cases of hard braking or hard acceleration in damp conditions. But if you ride carefully you could wear them down to your 'target' level - BUT you only have yourself to blame if they let you down when you ask them to perform !

Any cracking in the tyre, especial in the treads is clearly a tyre that needs replacing.

One thing often missed is people think it is fine to use the tyres down to the 'legal limit' .... but the tractive & braking performance will have gone off before the legal limit is reached, which can actually be as 'bad' as running on old rubber.

The manufacturer quotes minimum tread depth for their bikes.
(For Example 1.6mm Front & 2.0mm Rear for VZ800 & VX800)

This is to prevent getting to the stage where the expected performance starts to drop off significantly.
The Yorkshire man in us can allow us to get 'a bit more mileage' out of the tyre - but there will be a progressive drop off in how well that worn tyre will look after you. 

.... At the end of the day it is cheaper to replace a tyre early .... than have to do unnecessary repairs if you lose control of your bike & drop it !  - There are only two relatively small patches of rubber keeping your pride & joy 'shiney side up' - so it is in your interest to keep on top of those contact patches !

Cheers    Yam

MarcinG wrote:

Update on balancing.
65g!!!!!!!!!      
30 on one side, 35 on opposite.
I checked it 3 times from scratch to make sure.

Is it just me or is that a mad amount?
The heavy point was where the valve is.

I took the bike out for a quick spin, floored it and my God it runs smooth now. No wonder I had so many issues with mirror shake.
Result.

Not sure what mine weighs? It's about the size of a small child though! (opposite valve)