Tires and wear bars

[Dray]

This probably is a dumb question but I will ask anyway. Just when should you consider
changing your tire or tires for a new one?

My rear tire is down to the wear bars and there is still a goodly even amount of thread
all the way across the rear tire. Not a thin or bare spot on the tire. When you are down to
wear bars, does that mean change now or change when the bars and thread are getting thin?
I have a new tire ready to go on, just do not wish to throw away a tire that has a lot of miles
left to go. Current tire is the OEM tire and has almost 11,000 miles on it.

Any knowledge/experience or opinions greatly appreciated.

Dray

[billybovine]

First make sure you are actually looking at the wear bars. There are other features that are confused as wear bars. Look at the sidewall of the tire. There will be small triangles near the thread. That is where the wear bars are located across the thread face.

[Highwayman2013]

If it's a Kenda, make sure you are looking at the right wear bars. Look for the triangles on the sidewall, that will point to where the wear bars are. The larger ones are something else.

[Jeffmal]

This probably is a dumb question but I will ask anyway. Just when should you consider
changing your tire or tires for a new one?

My rear tire is down to the wear bars and there is still a goodly even amount of thread
all the way across the rear tire. Not a thin or bare spot on the tire. When you are down to
wear bars, does that mean change now or change when the bars and thread are getting thin?
I have a new tire ready to go on, just do not wish to throw away a tire that has a lot of miles
left to go. Current tire is the OEM tire and has almost 11,000 miles on it.

Any knowledge/experience or opinions greatly appreciated.

Dray

The gentleman from Ohio who just hit standing water and was thrown from his Spyder acknowledged his tires were down to the wear bars.
When in doubt, change them out!! Don't wait for a problem...

[pegasus1300]

So one more time.The things that look like wear bars are not.They are tread stabilizers.The true wear bars are the arrow triangles on the edges.

[UtahPete]

So one more time.The things that look like wear bars are not.They are tread stabilizers.The true wear bars are the arrow triangles on the edges.

That's good to know. Is that true of all tires, or just the Kendas?

[pegasus1300]

As far as I know Pete it is just the tires on the Spyder,and don't ask me where I got that information.It has been long enough ago I have no clue.

[billybovine]

Michelin uses a running Michelin man symbol.

[SpyderAnn01]

The General Altimax has the words “Replacement Tire Indicator” written in 3 places on thecenter of the tire. When it is teady to change it says “Replace Tire”

[Flanker]

As everyone else answered what you asked; I'll just throw in some generalities.

The more tread you have, the more resistant it is to hydro planing (if you try hard enough you can still HP even a new tire---so this is relative) and puncture damage (the sharp object has to go through more rubber to get to the air inside).

More/taller tread can also lead to "tread squirm" during vigorous manuvering (say..........like avoiding that oncoming gasoline tanker). As you turn sharply, the tire contact patch lags behind the rest of (the tread block rubber above the contact patch) the tread blocks that are distorting in the direction of the centrifugal pull (don't worry though! If there is enough centrifugal force the tread in contact with the pavement will catch up the deflecting parts of the tread blocks when you lose traction, and go into an expertly executed drift , or uncontrollable skid ). A harder rubber compound helps reduce tread squirm at the cost of some traction and handling. A softer rubber compound does the opposite.

As the tread wears down on your tires--tread squirm decreases due to the shorter tread blocks and traction and handling increase.

In the end; tread depth and when to replace a tire come down to finances, and willingness to accept the increased risk of hydroplaning and puncture damage.

My two cents-----the stock Kenda rear on Spyders is substandard in longevity, traction, ride, and cost. Thanks BRP!!!

[blitzkreig]

First make sure you are actually looking at the wear bars. There are other features that are confused as wear bars. Look at the sidewall of the tire. There will be small triangles near the thread. That is where the wear bars are located across the thread face.

Holy Cow you do learn something new every day!!!

[Chupaca]

20160504_090715.jpg That little triangle is what you look for then across from them are the wear bars...

20160324_085157.jpg this is what a Kendas looks like when your at the wear bars... 16,000 miles +

[Peter Aawen]

Here in Aust, if your tread wear has reached any (real) wear bar anywhere across the face of the tire tread, then the tire is no longer legal for use on the road at all, because there is not sufficient tread depth left to maintain suitable traction in the range of conditions likely to be met..... I'd guess that at least some if not most jurisdictions over there will have similar legalities surrounding adequate tread depth, otherwise we wouldn't have tread wear indicators on our tires!

So once you can see the tread wear has reached the wear indicators, there's a pretty good chance that you don't have sufficient tread depth left to remain safe (even if that's only safe from scoring fines!)

[Chupaca]

Here in Aust, if your tread wear has reached any (real) wear bar anywhere across the face of the tire tread, then the tire is no longer legal for use on the road at all, because there is not sufficient tread depth left to maintain suitable traction in the range of conditions likely to be met..... I'd guess that at least some if not most jurisdictions over there will have similar legalities surrounding adequate tread depth, otherwise we wouldn't have tread wear indicators on our tires!

So once you can see the tread wear has reached the wear indicators, there's a pretty good chance that you don't have sufficient tread depth left to remain safe (even if that's only safe from scoring fines!)

In countries south of the border they get the soldering gun with a blade and cut a deeper thread... when sparks fly from the steel belts they re-cap...

[Peter Aawen]

In countries south of the border they get the soldering gun with a blade and cut a deeper thread... when sparks fly from the steel belts they re-cap...

Yeah, I've seen that done here in the past too, but the boys in blue are all over that one now & if they even suspect it, they whack a 'yellow canary' (a 'Do not Drive' notice) on the windscreen & ban the vehicle from road use until the tires are checked & shown to be legal, or replaced....

Besides that, it's often very easy to see once the tire is worn down that much, because the tread compound & the carcass compound are made of different mixes of rubber, so they have different colours; which means that the tire ends up with a different coloured strip down the middle of the tread, & that shows up quite clearly to anyone looking as you drive down the road, so no-one gets away with it for long here anymore!!

[Dray]

Good morning to all and a SERIOUS THANK YOU!!!! I have an appointment at 1:00
today to get a new tire installed on my F3L. I was not looking forward to a 3 hr. trip in
100+ degree weather. Thanks to all the knowledge by people on this forum I can wait
to a cooler day. I have been looking at the thread stabilizer bars and not the wear bars.
At 6:00 am I was down at the shop laying on my side looking for the little marker for
the wear bars and there they were. I still have a very useable amount of rubber before
I have to mount a new tire.

To all again, I say THANK YOU!!

Dray

[Grandpot]

42 states consider a tread depth less than 2/32"(1/16" for you math majors) to be unsafe and illegal. South Carolina is one of them.

[Road-Kill]

I average 13,000 on the rear Kenda tire and still going strong at 25,000+ on the front Kenda tires.
Hydroplaning (for me) occurred when the tires were new so tread depth meant nothing for this lightweight machine.
My attitude.....replace if in doubt.

I pushed replacing a tire on another bike once.....then needed tow cause I was left stranded.

If you are going to switch to non-Kenda tires ask for proper citations because if you are worried about hydroplaning......

[Highwayman2013]

I average 13,000 on the rear Kenda tire and still going strong at 25,000+ on the front Kenda tires.
Hydroplaning (for me) occurred when the tires were new so tread depth meant nothing for this lightweight machine.
My attitude.....replace if in doubt.

I pushed replacing a tire on another bike once.....then needed tow cause I was left stranded.

If you are going to switch to non-Kenda tires ask for proper citations because if you are worried about hydroplaning......

What are "proper citations"?

[Road-Kill]

I prefer tire manufacturers.
I also consider people with engineering credentials in this specific field.
Both of these groups do the actual field testing that ensures traction for a particular product, in this case a Spyder.
Considering I have never had issues with my Kenda tires I'll stick with the above two who are truly experts.

What are "proper citations"?