Should I trust 13 year old tires or replace?

So I bought a 2007 SW with only 2,100 miles. Always garage kept. I see the manufacture date on them is '06. That said the tread is great, and after careful inspection, I see no outwardly signs of dry rot.

No. Absolutely not.  I'd presume they are not useable. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't have issues with the suspension as well. Shelf life of tyres is 3 years tops.
And if the bike has been sat in the same place for all that time, more than likely the tyres will have flat spotted?

I wouldn't risk my life on tyres that old, they are your only contact with the road.

Tire time and if there isn't a good reliable maintenance record time for all fluids to be replaced, check the air filter for " critter " nests too.

For Gods sakes man replace those tires ASAP.

The mere fact that you're asking should tell you the answer bud

Yeah it's true. I already knew the answer. Tires are ordered and will be here in a couple of days. Thanks all

senorcosta wrote:

So I bought a 2007 SW with only 2,100 miles. Always garage kept. I see the manufacture date on them is '06. That said the tread is great, and after careful inspection, I see no outwardly signs of dry rot.

It"s the condition of your footwear you should check.

Rubber decays naturally in ultra violet light (daylight). Get the new ones on.....oh yeah...you already are!

Amazing if there are no fine cracks in the side walls of the old tires. I was really surprised when I found how bad my tires were on a new - to- me 2005 bike .... because judging by the tread they were probably good for another 5 years. The bike had low mikes but the tires were 10 years old!! Learned the lesson of old tires right some quick !

Get new tires and you will be spending money wisely. You will also experience a better ride. Old tires get hard and loose their gripping ability too. Just not safe to keep the old rubber.

There's a company over here that sells tyres at what look like really good prices, and they are if you do a lot of miles every year, in the 20-30,000 mile range.

But the reason they are "cheaper" is that they are mostly old shelf stock, I've seen dates of manufacture that are three years old, like I said, not a problem if they are stored right and you do a lot of miles. Because you will get your miles in and wear them out.

And I know this is true because when you look at prices of newly released tyres, they are the same prices as anywhere else pretty much.

But if you don't, after a year or so the tyre side walls start to crack and it doesn't matter how much tread there is, they are still cracked. So again it's something you need to consider, if you are getting the tyres for a good price, it pays to ask what the "build date" is on the tyres, they all have it these days. And again, doesn't matter too much if you are plugging a thousand miles a month (or a week like I am) because you will get to use the tread they come with. I think the usual turn around for tyre "re-designs" is about 3 years.

I bought a 2001 Jaguar X type once, it still had the original 205/55/16 Pirelli P6000 spare in the wheel well... Dated July 2001. It was perfect in every way, spot less, still had the "new tyre" sheen but it went in the waste tyre pile.

Good call! First thing I did on my 2 2007s last year was put new rubber on them.

Just to add my two cents worth, I bought a 2007 this August and the tires didn’t look bad at all until a close inspection where the front had fine spider vein cracks. It also was dated 13-06 so had been on there for 13 years. The rear had been replaced and was only 7 years old. I replaced both of them ASAP!

senorcoasta. I realize you have already ordered and probably have installed your new scooter tires. I have a different point of view on this topic. Here's a recent post I made in response to someone else asking the "what should I change/replace" question on a new-to-them SWing purchase.

sonuvabug wrote:

... snipped ... I'd bet most fluids and all the consumables (tires, filters etc.) on your scoot are 13 years "fresh" unless you were told otherwise or were given the service record to show otherwise.  As you know from your Reflex, it's not only the mileage that matters ... it's also "time and age" of the scoot.  

For instance, brake fluid is hygroscopic (moisture absorbing) and this affects their (brake lines) safe functioning if they've absorbed a lot of moisture. Also, check the DOT date stamp on your tires ... I'd bet they're original.  Check around the tread lines to see if there is spiderwebbing (thin, fine) cracks along the tread lines.  If severe ... this is not good.  If minor, well read below.

You see ... it's all about your risk tolerance and managing that risk.  People with low risk tolerance will advise to replace everything you can -- all fluids, filters, tires (if original), drive belt etc.  Others with high risk tolerance will say just fill it up with gas and go ride.  And then there are the middle grounders ... they'll check and measure things, replace what is obviously required and leave the rest alone.  It really depends on your personal risk tolerance and comfort level.

I bought my '09 last year with 3,044 miles on it.  It already had 3 documented oil changes (sheesh!).  That was it for maintenance as far as I could tell.  I checked, and measured as many of the fluids as I could. The coolant measured fine level and strength wise.  The drive belt looked and measured like new as did the air filter which I simply "blew out" and reinstalled.  I washed and retuned the final drive filter to its place.  I do not know of a brake fluid moisture check but I did ride it, uneventfully, for half of this season and will be changing the fluid out this Fall.

My brake pads looked thick and solid (I dismantled both front and back) to grease the axles and I observed no deterioration or flaking off with either wheel's pads.  My original tires (date stamped 2008) had some spider webbing along the treads.  The Dealer issued a "passed" Safety Inspection but said keep an eye on the tires.  I always do anyway.

After my riding the first 1,000 miles, I find it interesting the spider webbing seems to have all but disappeared.  I suspect the riding I've done has stirred up the oils in the tire's rubber compound and filled in the very fine cracks that were there from a lack of use.  Maybe?

Personally, I have an upper middle of the ground risk tolerances in that I want to know what I'm dealing with but I also won't replace good, inspected parts willy nilly just because they are old.  I  suspect that after 2,000 miles riding this new-to-me scoot with no issues, I made the right call ... for me.

For the record, I recently replaced a never used, 20 year old Light Truck tire on my 2000 Super Duty diesel pickup truck. It had sat under the truck as a spare tire since 2000. When I removed and cleaned it, it looked brand new. It even had the vent spews still in place. However, since I occasionally carry a slide-in truck camper in the bed, running with this "new - never used" tire as a spare was above even my risk tolerance so I decided to replace it.

For the record, I recently replaced a never used, 20 year old Light Truck tire on my 2000 Super Duty diesel pickup truck. It had sat under the truck as a spare tire since 2000. When I removed and cleaned it, it looked brand new. It even had the vent spews still in place. However, since I occasionally carry a slide-in truck camper in the bed, running with this "new - never used" tire as a spare was above even my risk tolerance so I decided to replace it.

my 1999 Ranger has it's never been used original spare, the tire doesn't look bad at all but the rim was a rusty mess. I don't put enough miles on the truck in a year to warrant a normal mileage / year oil change so I cleaned up the rim and put it back, probably not be down again.