Tire tips: usage, age, storage

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Tire tips: usage, age, storage
Jorg Kunstle

accesories

tire

Tire tips: usage, age, storage

Tire tips
Use, age, storage

Motorcycle tires are black, round and extremely important as the only contact areas with the road. Accordingly, they should be given sufficient attention.


Uli Baumann

March 24, 2020

There are those, the little runners, grandfather clocks or garage finds that have their tires flat. Or the bikers who have tires in stock so that they are always ready. The same questions arise again and again: How long can I use a tire before it has to be replaced? How do I have to store tires? How long is a tire considered new??

Store tires correctly

The aging of tires is a chemical and physical process that takes place slowly, provided that new (unused) tires are properly stored, explain the specialists at tire manufacturer Continental. Appropriate means: cool, dry, not exposed to direct sunlight, chemicals and the effects of ozone. Cool means in a temperature range of minus 20 to plus 25 degrees (racing tires should not be stored below 0 ° C). If tires are stored outside, they must be protected by an opaque waterproof film. In such a way that air can circulate and heat build-up is avoided. Tires without rims are stored upright, whereby a slight rotation is required at least every four weeks. Tires mounted on rims should be stored hanging as possible with an inflation pressure of one bar. Alternatively, they can also be stacked horizontally. Here, too, should be restacked every four weeks.


Tire tips: usage, age, storage


Continental

If these key points are correct, from a technical point of view an unused tire can be sold and used as a new tire up to five years after its production date. In the case of a new purchase, the date of purchase is the start of the warranty period. Anyone who comes across tires that are more than ten years old should definitely invest in new goods, no matter how good the old tire looks.

Tire tips: usage, age, storage

tire


The right choice of tires

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The DOT number reveals the age of the tire

The DOT number on the tire wall, which contains the production date, reveals how old a tire is. Usually, but not exclusively, the date marking follows the “DOT”-Marking of a manufacturer-specific alphanumeric string. The last four numbers indicate the production date of the tire. The first two of these numbers indicate the week of production (the range therefore ranges from “01 to “53”). The last two numbers represent the year of production. A tire with the marking “DOT XXXXXX2515” for example, was made in the 25th week of 2015.


Tire tips: usage, age, storage


BILLION

Assess the tread depth correctly

Continental also has clear guidelines for the service life of a tire. It goes without saying that a tire is due when it reaches the legal minimum tread depth of 1.6 millimeters. If you want to stay on the safe side, change at the latest when the remaining tread depth is 2 mm. Measurements are made in the middle tread area and the minimum tread depth applies to all points in this area.


Tire tips: usage, age, storage


Markus Jahn

Modern tires are equipped with wear indicators (TWI = Tread Wear Indicator), which are integrated into the tread grooves at several points on the tire as crossbars, but they are useless as real wear indicators. As a rule, based on American standards, their height is only 0.8 mm and thus well below the minimum profile depth required in this country. By the way: A minimum tread depth of one millimeter applies to light mopeds, mopeds, mopeds and light motorcycles.

Tire tips: usage, age, storage

tire


6 sports tires (120/70 ZR 17; 190/55 ZR 17) in the test

2019 tires compared with the Yamaha YZF-R1

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Check for damage

The tread depth and age are not the only criteria for the useful life. Damage from punctures or cuts, joint fractures, cracks, dents, insufficient tire pressure or overload also limit the service life of the tire. Therefore, the tires should be subjected to regular visual inspections to detect any damage. If in doubt, a tire specialist should be contacted. Washed-out profiles also limit use. They usually draw attention to themselves through the changed running properties of the tire.

Small cracks are harmless


Tire tips: usage, age, storage


Continental

Cracks in the base of the tread (also called stress cracks) are usually caused by inadmissible air pressure, excessive heat, overloading of the tire or high ozone content in the area. Usually such cracks are purely superficial, no more than 0.5 mm deep and have no influence on the strength of the tire. From the point of view of the legislature, the technical monitoring organizations and the associations of the tire industry, such crack formation is generally considered to be harmless to operational safety. The properties of the tire are also unaffected.

Tire tips: usage, age, storage

tire


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