Tires, New front with 1 season old rear?

[YoungPUP]

When I bought my new rear this spring (Elite 3) the counter monkey where I had it installed said I had to replace the front with it or bad things would happen.   Ive never heard of this problem before, and the new one is going on when I do my winter storage maintenance. At the current rate, I should have about 10k miles on the rear at that time. The plan is for an E3 on the front as well. Anybody know what he was talking about?

[Hoser]

He was trying to sell you another tire, you're fine.  Hoser

[X Ring]

Ian, the rule of thumb is two rear tires to one front.  Of course, it depends on your riding style and the type of asphalt you ride on.

Marty

[The Anvil]

Yeah, the condition of the tire is the important thing here. You don't have to replace in pairs.

This reminds me of the guy at the stealer who was selling me the "you need a new helmet every five years" when trying to sell me the 700 dollar Arai I was ogling. I asked why (even though I knew what he was going to say). "Well the EPS foam breaks down and doesn't protect as well and UV rays from the sun break down the fiberglass matrix, yadda, yadda..."

Right. So for years I've been hearing that this crap will sit in a landfill for 5000 years and come out looking about as good as it did the day it went in, but in my motorcycle helmet it's only going to last 1/1000th of that? And all those 30 year old airplanes flying around with composites are gonna turn into falling pumkins too I suppose? Sure buddy, sure. 

[BradValk48237]

In the many years of riding and ownership, I know for a fact that I have only done the front and rears at the same time once...... usually one or the other has "A few more miles left"

B

[The Anvil]

This reminds me of the guy at the stealer who was selling me the "you need a new helmet every five years" when trying to sell me the 700 dollar Arai I was ogling. I asked why (even though I knew what he was going to say). "Well the EPS foam breaks down and doesn't protect as well and UV rays from the sun break down the fiberglass matrix, yadda, yadda..."

If you want a used 1999 Bell helmet, stop by the house and I'll give it to you.  That snug fitting size XL got real floppy as the foam thinned out.  There is probably the same amount of plastic in it, but it lost volume.  Some guys feel safe with an ancient helmet, but for $109, I replaced it.

I thought the foam in my Arai was collapsing too until I replaced the lining and cheek pads. It fit like new after that.

I'm not saying helmets never need replacing. Fact is, styrofoam DOES deteriorate. But the truth between the helmet industry's five year rule and the tree-hugger's 5000 year rule probably lies somewhere in the middle and is determined by a number of factors; for instance, how much you actually WEAR the helmet. My point was that you replace it when you think it needs replacing, not by using some agreed upon industry standard designed primarily to move product. Recommending replacing both tires at once is essentially another industry tactic. You don't need to replace the tires in pairs, you need to replace them when they're worn out. That might be at the same time, might not.

[The Anvil]

OK, Anvil and all experts.  My '03 has 5,300 miles and is still on the factory tires.  Dunlop says a MC tire has a 7 year service life.  If the rear needs replacement first, should I change out both?

Thanks / Pluggy

That's a judgment call. I've seen tires be used well past their "shelf life" and modern rubber compounds and tire construction have conspired to do virtually eliminate things like dry-rot and delam. But depending on the manufacturer and the use they've seen tires can still suffer from age. Personally I'd have to take a good look at the tire to tell you one way or another. Do you have sidewall cracking or has the tires balance changed dramatically during it's life? For that matter I've seen tires last for years with sidewall cracking. There are too many variables.

At that age with that kind of mileage I would personally replace em both. You do not want to lose the front on a big, heavy bike like a Valkyrie (or ANY bike really) so since you'll likely need to replace the front soon anyway...

[YoungPUP]

Thanks guys! I thought it smelled funny so i figured I'd ask.