Tires

[stan]

On motorcycles that don't get ridden enough to wear the tires out. How many years can I ride my indian chief, and not worry about the tires failing me. Also I have a Croker tire I haven't installed yet it is about 10 years old. It is still wrapped in the protective wrap. What do you think about that one? Thanks for any info. Stan

[charlie frey]

Visual inspection should be fine.
if it looks good, it probably is.

[INLINE4NUT]

I would not use a 10 year old tire if I was going accross town @ 15 mph! But thats just me! Start new you know what you have and go from there

[AdminGuy]

Hummm.... I'd say your 10yr old Coker tire is perfectly fine.

[PRG]

Howdy Chaps,

AdminGuy 10-4 that on 10 year old Cokers and may I take this inoppurtine time to ask timidly about....IMG code on? OK, guess not.

Stan, it depends on the integrity of what you have fitted, how stored - and for that last bit of insurance - whether you've had these tires in your possession since new to witness their treatment.

Using the most bullet proof of vintage tires as an example - mid 80's Tiawanese Armstrong zig-zag repops at 17lbs each - almost indefinitely if stored nominally inflated and you are aware inferior wet weather traction when new on these hard compound tires deteriorates further with time as essential oils flash off reducing their pliability and thus ability to grip the road. Lateral adhesion is academic on these old chassis so what remains is dry braking which is passable. Modern tire construction favors long term storage of hard compound tires over soft which tend to loose essential oils changing their character completely.

The Armstrongs on my 1946 Indian Chief have been mounted 12 years and a little over 10k miles and as you can see from the today shots at that site, have plenty of tread left and tracked perfectly Saturday not having grown out of round due to carcass delamination.

If your tire is mid 70's HD fitted twin-line white sidewall or similar mainstream piece it oughta be ok modifying INLINE4NUT's response to going across town at 15mph with more posing than riding. Now, if they're Ching Chen (sp) or similar, no good new, worse now, peel em off and replace.

A ROUND Coker is a nice predictably handling medium compound tire that ages well, 7k miles on a diamond tread on the rear of my 40-4 till worn out. If kept inside the house in a dark closet wrapped, like all my more cherished N.O.S. one are - scents one's clothes nicely, I say - then it ought to provide good service though I'd put it on the rear and not take chances with my chin fitting it on the front.

Lastly, a little story on "old" tires and wear. At the Blue Ridge Road Run years ago, a tall elegant gent from S.C. arrived to ride his barn fresh untouched red 46 Knuckle with perfectly dusty but preserved wartime (WWII that is) era Becks. In one day and 200 short miles that tread disappeared down to the cord on the rear as the compound - to use the term loosely - literally powdered off leaving only a dusty residue on the rear of the machine.

[exeric]

I only have empirical knowledge of Coker tires but I can say that they have generally served me well. My '51 Pan has been Coker shod for quite a few years now and even though they need to be replaced, they're still hanging in there. As for the clincher tires, you have to be careful with those, but what's the alternative ? I like the way they look and I'm glad Coker is making them. I don't think anyone could say how many years a tire will last due to the multitude of factors involved but like Charlie Frey said; if they look good, they probably are.

I do have a story about a tire blow out though. I had a '33 VL that I kept in the living room of my hovel, (pre marriage days). The VL had an Allstate tire on the rear and a "MIllion" tire on the front. Needless to say, the "Million" tire was a vintage 'skin'. I was laying on the floor vegging out to the TV with my head next to the front wheel in that nexus state of sleep when the "Million" tire exploded. I didn't actually sh*t myself but it's pretty weird to hear yourself scream like a little girl when something like that happens. My ear rang for 2 days and I probably had a mini stroke but I know why it blew. I had over inflated the tube for some reason and due to the age and hardness of the tire, the tube was able to pop through a weak place in the tire sidewall. Now that was a tire I probably shouldn't have been running.