Bikers - when do you change your tyres?

eidolon · 4 May 2010 at 08:00

My little CBR125 now has 2mm left on the front and rear and feels a bit wobbly and not very confidence inspiring when riding, especially if the road is bumpy/cambered/uneven. As it's my first bike I don't know if that's just cos the bike is crap and lightweight.

I thought that new tyres wouldn't harm so when do people change their tyres? Do you wait until you're down to the last 1mm or change well before?

Also, do I just find a bike tyre place and ride in, ride out or am I best off taking the wheels off myself and taking them?

eidolon · 4 May 2010 at 10:40

Pressures are spot on (according to my local garage and their posh digital meter). I check them every fortnight just to be sure. The tread doesn't seem too bad but it's not great either, it might be just that the tyres themselves are crap (or more likely I'm crap and just notice every twitch that the bike does). The only thing I've noticed is that the tread on the sides is a bit of a shinier than the centre bit, feels slippier too - more plasic than rubber feeling if you know what I mean.

Might as well get some new ones fitted anyway for piece of mind.

eidolon · 4 May 2010 at 16:14

I'm in catch 22 now. Those chicken strips are all shiny and don't inspire me to use them cos they aren't very grippy, thus they continue to be shiny cos they remain unused.

Better get some new tyres and make sure I don't develop more chicken strips

eidolon · 4 May 2010 at 16:39

The tyres are down to 2mm so they're not that far off needing replacing anyway so it wouldn't be a hardship to change a bit earlier.

They're Eagle tyres (or something like that - never heard of them personally). Also they're a funny size 80/90-17 Front, 100/80-17 Rear but apparently you can fit a Michelin Pilot Sporty in 90/80-17 Front and 110/80-17 Rear which are supposed to be loads better than the standard ones (and only a tiny bit different size)

eidolon · 4 May 2010 at 16:55

Yeah, I'm not really that confident in the brand, the remaining tread or the chicken strips so maybe time to get rid. Phoned ProTyre and they're getting me a price for the tyres but they want £70 to fit them on the bike (drive in, drive out) Seems a bit excessive to me.

eidolon · 4 May 2010 at 19:57

Felix said:
Is it sensible to use the tyre pumps at the garages on your bike tyres? I have been told they aren't very accurate!

They can vary wildly. I checked mine last week at a garage near work, set fronts to 29psi and rear to 33psi.
Decided to double check them today on way home at a different garage, fronts showed 33psi and rear 36psi so one of the two machines is telling lies.