How to Read Motorcycle Tire Production Date

If yous've always bought a used motorcycle you lot'll have wanted to know:

• How sometime are the tires?
• When was the tire manufacturing date?
• How long volition the tires concluding?

Agreement tire dates is an of import part of my motorbike inspection checklist.

So here's my 5-second guide to reading tire appointment codes to see how erstwhile your motorcycle's tires are.

PS Is information technology spelled tyre or tire? Same give-and-take, different sides of the Pacific or Atlantic oceans. Simply nosotros can all agree that tyres definitely tire. I'm spelling it "tire" considering that's what virtually people Google.

Are you lot obsessed with motorcycles?

Well, I am. That'south why I created this site — equally an outlet. I dearest learning and sharing what others might observe useful. If you lot like what you read here, and yous're a fraction as obsessed as I am, you might like to know when I've published more. (Check the latest for an idea of what you'll run into.)

How to tell Motorcycle Tyre Age in 5 Seconds

Motorcycle tire code decoder crook sheet

The tire date code, also known as the DOT lawmaking is four digits giving yous starting time the week number and then the year(in two digits) of manufacture.

You lot don't have to exercise whatsoever math. Only remember there are 52 weeks in the twelvemonth. Get in 50 for simpler mental arithmetic. And then (roughly):

• Weeks one-twenty are well-nigh the get-go of the year
• Weeks 21-30 are nigh the center of the twelvemonth
• Weeks 31-52 are almost the cease of the year

That'due south all y'all need.

And in practise on the final motorcycle I bought (my Ducati Hyperstrada 821):

An example of a motorcycle tire date code

I got lucky in decoding this tire appointment code because the week number is "1", which ways the beginning of the year. Or unlucky, considering basically, that's a 2016 tire I bought in 2020!

The Trouble — Why you lot need to cheque tire appointment codes

Tires historic period and go erstwhile. Exactly how long they can terminal unused depends on how they are stored. But regardless, you lot can use tire age as a negotiating point when buying a motorcycle.

Often when buying a used motorcycle, y'all may encounter text that says something like this:

• "These are the original tyres – similar new." — Isn't this motorcycle from the 90s?
• "Front tire fourscore%, rear tire seventy%". Yes, simply how old are they?
• "Has been in storage for five years. Tires still good" — are they, though?

For case, this otherwise great looking VFR800 I came across on Craigslist:

Motorcycle advertizement for a wheel from 2002 with "original tires"

Negotiating down because of sometime tires is a Corking and honest way to knock hundreds off a motorcycle. Many motorcycle owners take no thought that in that location'due south something other than tread depth to consider.

(Of course, if the tread has worn — that makes your chore easier.)

The trap you can fall into hands is thinking that simply because there's lots of tread on a tire and information technology looks fine, that it is fine. Non so. There are lots of means in which a tire tin neglect, and rather than go into them, allow's simply say that your tire is more likely to neglect if it is onetime and hasn't been maintained well.

And since a pair of tyres typically costs Usa$200-500 (depending on what you get), this is a pricey bit of maintenance.

Ane matter to note is that even if your motorbike is deemed roadworthy by a mechanic, it might still have old tires. In most jurisdictions, a bicycle can be sold and ridden with old tires; tread depth is the only important regulatory business.

About tire appointment codes

Tire appointment codes are also known equally DOT codes in the U.s.a. (DOT stands for Department Of Ship).

They're common to tires from 2000 and onward in this format.

Previous to 2000, tire appointment codes had some other format. But if y'all're buying a motorbike with tires that old, then you're going to know they're onetime… it'll be pretty obvious!

Luckily, the tire engagement code format is international — it'due south used worldwide.

In that location is lots of other data in DOT codes merely the age of the tire is probably the most of import.

Other good information in the tire codes is the tire dimensions — important because a tire size unlike to stock might be installed, which tin affect the handling either adversely or positively.

Can shops sell old tires?

Yes, it'south "legal" to sell old tires — even up to five years former.

If tires are stored well (cool, dark identify) and so they can terminal for many years.

So if you purchase tires that are even five years one-time, that's OK! Only make sure you're ownership them from a reputable place and that they've been stored well. (Don't buy them from eBay.)

How long exercise tires last?

So yous go reading the tire DOT code and you think… OK, the tire is 3 years old. But how of import is that?

As a rough guide, from lots of reading I've done on the internet and from speaking to "experts" (seems everyone's a self-proclaimed expert in this field)

• If a motorcycle is stored outside in the dominicus — fifty-fifty a year old is too old. But then the motorcycle will be pretty obviously worn in other ways, like with faded paint and damaged leather/vinyl.
• If a motorbike is stored nether comprehend — three years is fine. Five years is tolerable as long equally you use upward the tires that very year. But I'd nonetheless use this equally negotiating leverage.
• If the motorcycle is in a climate and humidity-controlled room… well, y'all're buying a museum piece. How dare yous fifty-fifty consider riding it! The tires, in this case, last a long time, but you lot'll have a tough time disarming the adjacent heir-apparent (if there is 1) — then use them up and and then get new ones.

There are people on the internet who dispute that tires tin can go too old, and insist that most riders don't push tires almost to their limits. I remember there's validity to this — but it's yet good to know your tire age via the tire date code so you know what you're dealing with.

Sum up

Well there you have it — how to tell motorcycle tire age via the tire date code. Hopefully that was a simple guide.

Passenger, hacker, and self-taught everything. I take lived in a dozen countries, speak almost as many languages, can deadlift a motorcycle, make a mean cappuccino, and practise one great card trick.

lapointeclach1965.blogspot.com

Source: https://motofomo.com/tire-date-codes-dot/

Share this post