Tire Wear - How does this look?

[borat]

Hi Folks:

I'm new here.  Obviously a little late but here nonetheless. 

My wife and I bought an '03 Valkyrie Standard with hard bags and Hondaline windshield.  It looks like the Tourer but it's not.   We bought it in January and look forward to riding as soon as winter is out of the way.  I've been perusing VRCC site and I'm very much impressed with the knowledge base that has been assembled there.  I plan to do a number of the recommended maintenance suggestions in preparation for the upcoming riding season.  Accordingly, I've been going over what I consider very important items.  The tires.   The bike came with Metzeler 880s standard sizes front and rear.  According to the Metzeler web site, they say the tire should be changed  when the depth at the tire wear indicator (TWI)  is less than 1.6 mm.  So I went out and took some readings with my electronic caliper and got 3.0 mm at the TWI and 3.71 elsewhere on the same groove. 

So, what I'd like is a real world measurement for tread depth before changing the tires.  What do most of you use as minimum tread depth?  How do these look?  Here's some pics:




 

[fudgie]

How many miles on the bike? To me, that looks good. Depending how many miles you are doing this year it should last. I wear my Metz done till the is no grove at the center. Some times till cords are showing!  I only get 1 riding season out of a rear tire anyway. 

[John U.]

I've got much worse looking tires on one of mine right now, soon to be history. Those don't look like they need to be replaced. For maximum wear keep at least 42 psi front and 44 rear.

[Master Blaster]

If its not cupped, or otherwise messed up I use cords showing as the wear indicator unless I am going on a trip.   then I make sure I have good rubber, dont want to do a change on the road if I dont have to.  Seriously yours look good.  When you get below the wear indicators whats left goes very fast.  I usually keep spares on hand.  Watch for the sales and pick up a pair cheap if you get the chance and will save you some bux later.  I am an Avon fan, and like mentioned above the Valk likes higher pressures.  I run minimum 42 F/45 R and get good mileage.

[AussieValk]

The 880's are pretty good tyres down here in Oz. I just replaced the front on mine and that was only when there was no tread left and the tyre had three distinct 'sides'.

The rear is a different story. I've tried all sorts of different pressures but I can't stop it from cupping after a few thousand klms. It will handle fine but it does not last too long. Oh no, may have to go to the darkside....

[f-Stop]

Age of the tires would be my concern at this point.  My Tire Guy (I actually have a tire guy!) says that 48 months is about max on today's synthetic rubber compounds no matter what your tread guage indicates.  There is a date code that "tire guys" know printed on the side wall. 

FYI, the VRCC Tech Board is great!  I've learned so much from these folks on the board that I don't know where to start...

[Airetime]

  Looks good, ride it!

[Big IV]

I'd ride it.
Although I tend to ride well past when I would suggest others to change them out.
that tire looks fine. Keep riding. But keep an eye on it.

If you're planning to head on a long trip,s ometimes the price of a new set of tires is worth the piece of miind. Around the house, where we'll presume you have friends in case you have a flat: keep riding.

I was burning through tires to fast when I rode the motorcycle tires, and trying to stretch the tires to thin to get every dime of rubber out of it, which I why I ultimately switched to a car tire. 20,000 miles and I could have gotten more miles out of it (many more) but I was pulling the rear end down anyway and decided that it would be easiest to replace it while I was back there.

Just keep an eye on your tires. They are the most important part of the bike. Everything else can be bungee corded out of the way (I had to do that with some pesky rear brakes once on the way back from the beach on my XS11) but the tires are fairly important.

[DaveD(MI)]

Looks OK at least for another year.

[borat]

Thanks a lot folks.   I'm impressed to see the level of activity here.  Considering the Valkyrie hasn't been produced in over five years, it's good to see so many people still actively participating in this forum.  It's obvious that the Valkyrie isn't a flash in the pan.

I figured the tires didn't look too bad. 

I also ride a Kawasaki KLR650 and a couple of 1970's vintage Yamahas.  A '76 RD400 and a '74 RD350.  Both of which are fully restored and performance enhanced.  They don't see as much mileage as the KLR does because I use the KLR to head out into the bush a quite a bit and put on a lot of gravel road miles.  My stock Dunlops on the KLR lasted 3000 miles and they were shot.  I found a manufacturer that makes a dual sport tire that provides equal pavement handling qualities and much better dirt road handling than the Dunlops and will last three times longer.   They're another Germany company named MEFO.  They make one hell of a dual sport tire.  That's for sure.  Not sure if they make anything else but I will be checking. 

So, don't want to start a tire p!ss fight but what's the best all round tire for the Valkyrie available today?   

[SANDMAN5]

So, don't want to start a tire p!ss fight but what's the best all round tire for the Valkyrie available today?

I don't think there is a "best" tire, just different opinions. I always liked the Metzeler 880,
just couldn't get them to last very long. I currently have a front Avon Cobra and I like it
a little more every time I ride. Not tried it in heavy rain yet. The Metz's were great in rain.
Darkside rear for me, don't know if I'll ever switch back to a round rear tire. I'll never buy
another Dunlop E3. Didn't like it OR trust it.