Triumphrat

Syynful

Okay I keep air in my tires regularly, but Im confused what has happened and why. I came home today and my tire was mostly flat and around the rim now the tire is starting to crack like its old and kind of dry rotted. I bought the bike a year ago new. It had 3 miles on it when I got it and I have since put on 4800. This is also my first bike so my question is do motorcycle Tires wear out that quickly? I called my dealer to see if thats covered under warranty. He said its possible but would have to submit it first. Anyone else have this issue? If I have to get a new Tire (rear tire btw) whats a good tire? It came with the bridgestone and i had no performance issues or handling issues but if they die in 5k miles then maybe I want to buy a different brand. If so any recomendations?

--Cheers™--

Photo1

Very strange. I have never heard about anything like that happening before.
There's something fishy going on here.
Do you have enemies?

Bottle_Fed

you may have a leaky valve. Put some air in it, then put some soapy water, or kids bubbles work good too If it's leaking, you will see it. If not you need a new tube anyway. I prefer pirelli's, but that's just me. I think the battle axes are big crapola, when you put a good set on you will think the same too.

Greg

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2001 Black Bonneville 1200cc "High Tuned Son-of-a-Bitch!"


Bored, Stroked, and Injected!
Life always gets better after a few gears and a shot of nitrous....

mecscc

Do you have a lot of tread left? You may just have a flat. The OEM tires can have been made as many as two years before you bought the bike. A totally flat tire will show some surface cracking when you look at the sidewall. You, or a good tire man, can determine if they are superficial, and they likely are. Also, if you run your tires low a lot, and they can lose several pounds a week, you can further induce superficial cracking of the outer side wall. So, don't panic. Either take it off and take it to a tire mechanic, or, if it will hold air long enough to get to there you can ride the bike there. It would help to have someone along in case you guess wrong!

Let us know how it comes out.

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Monte

"The Old Ohio Preacher Man"

Syynful

Yes it holds pressure for about 4 hours or so just sitting. And Yes I still have plenty of tread. So I will pressurize it and take it to the dealer. I dont know if the cracking is superficial or not I honestly havent seen anything like that before but as I stated I have never owned a bike before either. Regardless of warranty I apparently will need a new one.
Any ideas of what a fair price is? I believe my dealer when I called yesterday told me about 160 for the tire then another 35 to mount and balance it. Sadly thats like putting 2 Tires on my truck... and yah tonight I can try to put soapy bubbles around the valve stem to check for leaks but it looks like no matter what its a trip to the dealer.
Not happy

Syynful

I forgot I do have a picture of it that I didn't to mention.
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...l/100_0759.jpg
its not the best picture cause again it was dark and I have a crappy camera.

smartin108

Is it only flat on the bottom?

uzidzit

Bike tires do not generally last as long as car tires (just ageing wise, Bridgestones seem to weather crack quicker than most) Bike tires actually loose traction and harden a little quicker as they use rubber with more plasticizer in them, they really are at their best for only about 2 years after their mfg. date but if stored correctly (in the dark, in the dry, in the cool) they will be very good for up to about four years, Bike tires are getting poor if they are kept much over 5 years. This is a relative thing they are safe ish longer but they have lost a lot of their performance at old age.

Don't pay $195 for a single Bt 45 crapax tire.

Take off both wheels and drive them to Knoxville,Tn and go to Cycle Stop, they do all my tires.

A new FRESH set of Pirielli Sport Demons (these are THE tires for The bonneville, Excellent handling, excellent wear pattern, good milage for a sticky tire, and they duplicate the stock size) will run you about $260-$270 with new tubes and rim tapes and mounted and balanced if you remove the wheels and take them to them.

Call them ahead and they will make you an appointment, and get the tires in, then you can visit with them for the thirty minutes or so it will take to get them changed.

Or go have lunch at the Time warp tea room, If you come up on a tues. you can visit the tea room for Knoxvilles best bike nite (4:30-9pm), They serve no booze and the and this is where all the british bike guys show as it is also the home for the vintage bike club.

Their meeting is on the last tues. every month and when the weather breaks the vintige bikes come out, very exclusive club if you have a 25 year old bike and $5 bucks you're in I think it is still $5 bucks maybe $10

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"Peter, It seems like you have been missing a lot of work recently, well Bob I wouldn't say that I've been missing it"
ENOUGH, go out and ride!

tsmgguy

Truly odd. I still have the original 2003 Bridgestones with no surface cracking. I do armor-all them twice a year or so, and this may have slowed down exterior oxidation.

Of course, if the tire leaks down, the problem is with the tube, either the body or the valve or stem, but you know that.

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2003 Lucifer Orange Triumph Bonneville T-100
2007 Red Ducati GT-1000

dazco

My first set started cracking quite soon too. I was told what someone else mentioned....that the tires may have been a few years old when i bought the bike. But i found out how to date the tires then when i bought new ones i checked. The old tires were a bit older than the bike, tho not a lot. And the new ones were made very recently. They too however began to crack very soon.

My theory as to why bike tires seem to do this and car tire take much longer is because bike tires are much softer rubber which is likely more suseptable to the elements. Why do some seem not to have the issue? I don't know, but as a guess maybe they wear their tires out faster than it takes them to crack and maybe garage their bike and live in a climate thats better for the rubber.

It's all just a theory, but i think it does make sense. If you think about it thats about the only difference between car and bike tires, so it makes even more sense. Mine has Metzlers by the way which many consider some of the best. Bridgestones are often razzed as lousy tires, so you should find Metzlers much better.

Also, if you ride much at all you should be wearing them out by the time the cracking gets very bad.

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