Tire life/tread depth

[challey]

I'm trying to gauge if the remaining tread on my ME Z6s is enough to get safely to the Rally in WI and back, which will mean putting on about 2,500 - 3,000 miles. The tires have about 6,500 miles on them and actually look pretty good. Tread depth is 4mm on the rear and 5mm on the front. I believe I read somewhere that the minimum safe depth is .8mm. If true, that means I've got 3.2mm to burn on the rear.

I didn't think to measure the tires when new, so I don't know what the thickness of the tread from the factory was. If I'd had the sense to do that, I'd know the approximate wear rate and could gauge things much better.

Obviously, the safe thing is to just replace now but that seems excessive.
4mm seems like a reasonable amout of tread - is it?

Charlie

[Robert_winter_1000]

I think (but not sure) the thickness of the new is 6 mm. I don’t think that the relation between the thickness and the distance is linear. Before going in a long trip I just pay a visit to the dealer and ask them what they do think about it. I think this is the best.
Regards
Robert

[zooomart]

I think you will be fine. The tire wear rate slows as the tread height shortens because the tread squirms less. If you hit wet weather, slow down or stop a while.Have a great trip

[duke]

Although thread depth is important factor - profile is a thing to be reckoned with.

Tires with 6000 miles on the clock ridden on the motorway alone look very different to tyres ridden on back-roads.

Of course I have no clue about your circumstances, but ask yourself the question - where did you spend those 6000 miles?

Have a careful look at the rear tyre from behind/above. Does it look squared-off?

[wncbmw]

Not knowing your riding style, I could not advise you. If you routinely get 10K out of a set, you should be fine, but if not, consider a tire change in route.

The tire wear rate slows as the tread height shortens because the tread squirms less

My experience has been the opposite. Start out a weekend thinking the tire is fine and suddenly - cords!

[tonyff]

I was glad to see the question asked. I'm not trying to steal the thread, but I do have a question surrounding the topic of tire wear.

I have 5,000 miles on the bike. Just bought it this spring. It had 1,200 at the time of purchase. I assume the tires were stock. I am starting to get some flattening of the rear AND front tire. I have two questions surrounding this.

First: Is it safe to continue with "some" flattening?

Second: What is the likely cause of this? I check the pressure regularly and keep it at 36 front and 38 psi rear. I did recently go on about a 2,000 mile trip fully loaded with lots of gear.

Thanks,

Tony

[Boxer]

I wouldn't trust those Z6s if I were you. Its hard to determine tread depth remaining when there is no tread in the middle to start with.

At the Bash, Mr. Beemeridian had a flattened Z6 with the same burning question. It had cords showing before he got home.

I also had this happen to me on my trip out west a coupla...err..yeah, a coupla years ago. Take a real close look at the tire. If it appears to be ever so slightly 'concave' for about a 1 1/2 inch swath across the middle, then it's about to go rubberless on you.

[duke]

Is it safe to continue with "some" flattening?

What is your definition of safe?

If you do not feel comfortable with the bike behaviour,
and it is not due to something silly like messed-up suspension settings or tyre pressure -
ditch the tyres!

If I am unsure about it -
I would rather spend money on new tyres 1000 miles earlier than necessary,
rather than having the lingering thought - "Am I going to end up in the hospital, or the undertaker?".

If the above is not the case - I am sure you can find a tyre shop and swap the tyres if you are on long distance trip before you get back home.

[Croc]

If you look at the edges of the rear Z6 you will see embossed pictures of elephants. These correspond with wear indication bars in the tread close to the centre. These wear bars are inside the tread and are not easy to see but are there. When the bar is level with the rest of the tyre you are at the recommended limit. As I said, these wear bars are about as close as the tread gets to the centre so they take account of the profile i.e. squared-off tires from motorway riding.

Croc

[Biff's R]

They are aqlso selling tires at the rally. scottybooj bought some in Lima, OH at the Rally. Not sure what he paid, but I would hate to throw away 20%+ of a tire.

[wncbmw]

The squaring off will affect handling in the curves. Lack of curves is also the cause!

[orbea54]

Put a new tire on and then you don't have to think about it anymore. I went through the same thought process at the start of a 4 day tour here in California. My tire had what I thought half life left when I started my trip. On day 3, I was down to cords, 200 miles away from home in a somewhat small town in Northern California. What shop would be open at 4:00pm, Sunday of Memorial Day weekend? I was ready to pack it in and hang out in a motel for 2 nights until Tuesday morning when shops would re-open for business. Luckly I found a shop that was having a Memorial Day weekend sale on Sunday at 4:00pm and was able to get a tire and ride 200 miles home and missed the 4th day of my tour that I was attending. Two days in a motel and a day missed of work on Tuesday was not worth me trying to save a few bucks on a tire. In the scheme of things, tires are cheap. Yes, I paid top top dollar for a rear tire but I did not care. Never again!

[Robert_winter_1000]

Put a new tire on and then you don't have to think about it anymore. I went through the same thought process at the start of a 4 day tour here in California. My tire had what I thought half life left when I started my trip. On day 3, I was down to cords, 200 miles away from home in a somewhat small town in Northern California. What shop would be open at 4:00pm, Sunday of Memorial Day weekend? I was ready to pack it in and hang out in a motel for 2 nights until Tuesday morning when shops would re-open for business. Luckly I found a shop that was having a Memorial Day weekend sale on Sunday at 4:00pm and was able to get a tire and ride 200 miles home and missed the 4th day of my tour that I was attending. Two days in a motel and a day missed of work on Tuesday was not worth me trying to save a few bucks on a tire. In the scheme of things, tires are cheap. Yes, I paid top top dollar for a rear tire but I did not care. Never again!

This is logic. Maybe you will put yourself in a situation where you can not make any choice (like in small towns) then you put the tire which you can get and not the one you want to have. I had many situations when the dealer said the tire is still good for 2k; but I refused it: just put new good tires and enjoy your trip.

Regards
Robert

[riceburner]

I wouldn't trust those Z6s if I were you. Its hard to determine tread depth remaining when there is no tread in the middle to start with.

At the Bash, Mr. Beemeridian had a flattened Z6 with the same burning question. It had cords showing before he got home.

I also had this happen to me on my trip out west a coupla...err..yeah, a coupla years ago. Take a real close look at the tire. If it appears to be ever so slightly 'concave' for about a 1 1/2 inch swath across the middle, then it's about to go rubberless on you.

What Boxer said - The Z6 (and Diablo Strada) doesn't have tread across the middle, which is the area that wears the most, so it's very hard to tell when you're running out of rubber.

just be cautious.

[ScottM]

Don't take the chance. The Z6s will only go between 8 and 10k. I thought I had plenty last year going to Colorado and ended up with cords showing Saturday night before I left. Found a tire on Sunday (could have kissed the shop owner) in Grand Junction. No fun. I'm in a similar boat this year prior to the Naitonal and am just going to change. I realy don't care about the % left - we're talking piece of mind.

[tkm]

I just replaced the rear Z6 on my roadster. This is the fourth one and best I've ever done is about 8000 miles for the rear. Fronts last about 10-12000 miles. There are wear bars on the tires marked by the letters TWI on the sidewall when you see these bars flush with the tread the tire is toast....tkm

[Aitch]

Seems to me that the manual has something to say about this.
I've learned not to trust my memory completely, but I think I read that the tires should be replaced when the tread depth was less than .080" on the front and .120" on the rear.
This ring any bells?

I'm contemplating new shoes myself. My front Bridgestone is wearing strangely. Not sure how to describe it but it is wearing unevenly. Symmetrical but uneven. Say the front of a tread segment is high and the rear of the same segment is more worn, lower.
Pressure was not two pounds under spec. when checked.

[Daryl_stamp]

I agree w/ the posters that recommended changing.
I recently took my first ever long ride, 350+ miles one way.
New shoes, fresh oil & filter.
When it rained like hell I wasn't worried about the tires.
When it was hotter than hell I didn't worry about the oil.
Leaves more room in your thoughts for the managed risk (& euphoria) of motorcycling.

My scan goes like this;
"What's ahead of me?"
"What's that '___' going to do?"
"What's behind me?"
"What's the road surface?"
"What's that sound?"

Marginal tires, maintenance, protective gear or judgement all add to the scan list; the longer the list the less time there is to process the other stuff.

New tires $350.
Change w/ 20% remaining = $70 loss
One mishap during a trip due to tire wear = $70 and up.
Net benefit to not changing = 0.
The cost of time lost due to tire wear issue is different for everyone; but I wouldn't give up riding time to maximize tire usage.

DLS

[riceburner]

Seems to me that the manual has something to say about this.
I've learned not to trust my memory completely, but I think I read that the tires should be replaced when the tread depth was less than .080" on the front and .120" on the rear.
This ring any bells?

I'm contemplating new shoes myself. My front Bridgestone is wearing strangely. Not sure how to describe it but it is wearing unevenly. Symmetrical but uneven. Say the front of a tread segment is high and the rear of the same segment is more worn, lower.
Pressure was not two pounds under spec. when checked.

BT020s??

yup - the fronts do that, don't worry too much about it.

[Beemeridian]

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