BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

I'm always conflicted when replacing my tires.
I'm cheap, but I want to be safe -- I want to be safe, but I'm cheap.
I think I drag out tire replacement a little too long, but then again, money is an object. How do you know when the time has come?

Do you have a specific tread depth? Where do you measure? Do you wait for tread wear indicators to show? Where? Do you detect a specific performance problem? Cupping? Specific milage?

Usually it's when I am far from home, trying to get "just one more" trip out of a tire and I notice during a riding break, that it's slick and I have to pray for dry weather until I get home!

My experience is the last little bit of tread goes much quicker than the rest of the tire.

The dialog goes something like this:
"Ahh, uhh, this tire is not lookin' as round as it used to."
-time passes-
"Ah, okay it looks like this tire is getting a wider flat area. Hmm?"
-time passes-
"Wow, this tire is kind of wearing. I guess I'll need a new one soon. I'll just take a little trip to the hills and wear it round again"
-time passes-
"Hmmm. Not much tread left on the middle of this thing. I better watch it"
-time passes-
"OH CRAP! I see threads running down the middle of this tire! Quick honey bring me a new one over here to Wampuskinny, Arkansas. I'm stuck with a bald tire!"

Well...this is the first bike that I have to change tires on.

I measure tread depth regularly.

I also just learned, on this board, that the tires can make a whining type of noise in leans when squared-off enough.

These 2 things tell me to open up my wallet!

I'm with both Vann and Phil on this. At least I can tell my wife that I'm not the only one who does that.

Frank

PS, minus the "honey bring me one" comment.

Your manual tells you.

Since you basically have 2 credit card size patches on the ground most of the time, and so much depends on those small areas, dont take chances. The cost of repairing yourself and the bike far exceed the cost of a new tire.

A friend tried to squeeze a few extra miles, took a long trip that he 'thought' he could do. Half way there ran down to the inner construction. He ended up parking the bike, hiring a car, riding several hundred miles, found a tire that fitted and wasted a day - that was an expensive tire!

Play with cosmetics, but dont compromise on your safety.

3/32"

I usually don't notice how much tread is left until there is none, and they're calling for rain. I *have* in the past, frequently made the decision to order tires when I see threads. Then keep my fingers crossed. Since I'm doing my own tire changes I will order the tire a few weeks ahead of time and change it as needed (hopefully BEFORE the threads start showing.)

when I had a bolt (yes a bolt, not a nail!!) through the sidewall of the rear tire. A riding neighbor had pointed out that the front looked worn down, so I had been doing some reading and shopping for that and just decided to replace both at the same time.

When I stay close to home commuting and Sunday rides, I wear the tires to the tread wear indicators. When I plan to go on a long trip, I make sure that I have enough tire to complete the trip comfortably. This may mean that I take off a half worn tire before the trip and put it back on when I get back. I don't want to loose a day and worry about scheduling around Sunday/Monday closures, when traveling.

Since I would be considered marketing size and for my tires to wear normally they would have to be inflated to 85 psi, I keep a close eye to squaring of the thread......

Speaking of changing tires, how do you guys balance them ? I see ads for fixtures with special BMW adapters, etc. Do you have to invest in a bunch of tooling to get started ? I think I can get it on and off the rim, but I want to learn to do my own balancing.

For balancing: Front: In a bearing shop get two simple ball bearings with the same outside diameter but the different inside diameter to fit the two ends of your front axle. One of them could be a discarded front wheel bearing of your bike. Wash the grease out of the bearings and put a drop of very light oil in them. Put the axle through the wheel with a bearing on each end, put the whole thing on two jackstands, and you have a balancer. It is enough to sense the weight of half the little square balancing weights. Rear: Only pricey item, get the BMW wheel adapter hub. It mounts to the wheel with the 4 wheel bolts. It fits from the first K bikes to all the oilheads. The adapter uses a 17mm axle, which can be a old front axle of a BMW /7. Again two bearings - again the axle needs two different inside bearing sizes. Ready to go.

I start looking for replacements as soon as I detect a performance problem! Personal riding style makes it nearly impossible to come up with a single criterion. Old timers ride like they expect something to fail.

The wear indicators are great, but other stuff can come up before they do. Back in my young, dumb and broke days I spent so much time riding dead scared because I KNEW the skins on my beater of the week were shot that I never gave up the habit of riding below potential. If you racing wannabe's go to the edge of adhesion routinely you better check them every time before you go out - and start changing 'em out early, too. Trusting instead of knowing leads to unhappy adventures.

I change my tires when the tread depth on the center of the tire is on the order of 1 mm.

Do most people replace their own tires or have it done at the shop? Just as a rough number what does it cost to replace tires? Do most do both tires at the same time? Sorry for the newbie question.

I replaced mine when I could roll over a stick of gum and tell what flavor it is.

When its 3/32 inch I become aware of it and get it changed as soon as I can take it in. I try not to let it get to 1/16 inch. Metzeler says it "legally" (don't know where they get that) must be changed at 1.6mm which is barely over 1/16 inch.

I'm looking at a used bike with 8.000 miles and I noticed a flat, square spot on the rear tire. Should I be worry? The owner said it should be replaced in 2,000-3,000 miles. What is a basic cost of replacement?