wobble at the steering, mini tank slappers on decel from 55

[Pat Conlon]

....not quite in the budget for a new set of tires right this moment, but i know i am playing with fire....... but to count these tires out right this moment is.....

Why don't you look at the date code on your tires and see exactly how old they are?

[mtc]

....not quite in the budget for a new set of tires right this moment, but i know i am playing with fire....... but to count these tires out right this moment is.....

Why don't you look at the date code on your tires and see exactly how old they are?

remind me how to do that please

[ryanschoebel]

Its the 4 digit code inside the oval on the side of the tire. The first two are the week, second two are the year. Ex, 2617 would mean they were made the 26th week of 2017.

[mtc]

Its the 4 digit code inside the oval on the side of the tire. The first two are the week, second two are the year. Ex, 2617 would mean they were made the 26th week of 2017.

thanks i can't wait to find out, on  weds

[mtc]

....not quite in the budget for a new set of tires right this moment, but i know i am playing with fire....... but to count these tires out right this moment is.....

Why don't you look at the date code on your tires and see exactly how old they are?

rear 4512

front 3512

[RPM - Robert]

45th and 35th week of 2012. Not quite 7 years old.

[mtc]

45th and 35th week of 2012. Not quite 7 years old.

so are they finished?

if they are,i am going to be an occasional rider, no iron butt here


but i want confidence inspiring

what is a good budget tire, shinko? kenda?

[RPM - Robert]

I personally wouldn't run them. But some would, I am sure. The Shinko tires are ok, my dad ran a set on his bike for a year or so. He said they weren't awe inspiring by any means but they are a decent budget tire. I do recall the rear would get real squirmy on longer rides in twisties with them.

[ryanschoebel]

MTC, I sent you a PM

[mtc]

MTC, I sent you a PM

responded to your pm

[Bill_Rockoff]

Cliff's Notes: It Sounds Like You Need New Tires.

Sorry if that seems expensive. It's going to be $300 to $400, depending on what you get and where you get them and how much you get charged to install them. I carry in my wheels, I think it's $25 / tire for mounting and balancing that way. That fifty bucks stays the same whether you get the best tires around or the cheapest things that'll fit.

You may not believe you need new tires because you can see that yours still have tread on them. Unfortunately, "having tread on them" is not the only deciding factor on whether or not a tire is still good. Sort of like "holding air," it takes more than "having some tread left" for a tire to still be any good.
1) Tires get worse as they age. You have established that yours are pretty old already (seven years is a long time for rubber.)
B) Tires wear oddly sometimes. Yours are probably scalloped, which both results from and causes more of a tank-slapping tendency. More pressure often helps (if the sidewall max pressure is 42psi, you might have better luck at ~40psi or greater; the FJ is at the heavy end of "bikes that would run a tire like this one.") But once they wear funny and it's noticeable in how the bike handles, their day is done.
iii) Some tires are just not that great even when they're brand new. My experiences with earlier versions of your tires (Dunlop "Sport Elite" K591, on both an FJ1200 and on another bike) were not very good. Dunlop does make some good sportbike tires; I would be willing to guess that yours are not those tires, not when they were new, not when they had zero miles. You can argue that the ones I had are different than the ones you had, "Your experience was with a Chevy Cavalier! My Chevy is a Cobalt - COMPLETELY different thing!" Yeah, not that different... It's not like one of 'em is a Corvette here.)

I can't recall what year / size tires you have. If you're riding something pre-1988 with stock wheels, you have a 16" front wheel, and none of the specific recommendations I can make will be of any use to you. All my experience is on a 17"x3" FJ wheel from 1989 (US) or later.

For years, I was fitting my 17x3 front wheel with Metzler tires, and some of them would wear funny and tend toward tank-slappers like you are experiencing. This would become noticeable after 3,000 or 4,000 miles on a tire, long before they were "worn out." Recent tires (ME-Z6 and ME-Z8 radials) have been much better, and they go to 6,500 without wobbling, but earlier ME-Z1 or ME-Z2 tires would wobble when there was still tread showing. I used to hate throwing out a tire that still had some tread on it, until I rode on the new tire and realized "yeah, this is how it's supposed to be."

Higher pressure helped, and I was running ~40 psi up front (which didn't seem unreasonable, since the FJ is among the heaviest of bikes that will use most sporting front tires.) But after a while, the tire would be worn in a scalloped pattern and it would be a nightmare to ride.

If you can find radial tires in appropriate size, that's what you want. Radial tires are like synthetic oil - they are better at everything you want out of a tire (or oil) and there's no reason to hamstring yourself with 1980's technology just because our bikes are from the 1980s.

Randy Thompson had Shinko tires. I tried his bike (never could get him to try my 998, but I think I got him to try my FJ with the RaceTech / Penske.) I do not like riding on Shinko tires. I know they're cheaper, I don't care. (Also, I don't think they last as long as the 6,500 to 8,000 miles I get from Roadtecs, so they may not even be cheaper to run; the lower price might have to be paid more often.)

Good luck.

- Bill

[mtc]

Cliff's Notes: It Sounds Like You Need New Tires.

Sorry if that seems expensive. It's going to be $300 to $400, depending on what you get and where you get them and how much you get charged to install them. I carry in my wheels, I think it's $25 / tire for mounting and balancing that way. That fifty bucks stays the same whether you get the best tires around or the cheapest things that'll fit.

You may not believe you need new tires because you can see that yours still have tread on them. Unfortunately, "having tread on them" is not the only deciding factor on whether or not a tire is still good. Sort of like "holding air," it takes more than "having some tread left" for a tire to still be any good.
1) Tires get worse as they age. You have established that yours are pretty old already (seven years is a long time for rubber.)
B) Tires wear oddly sometimes. Yours are probably scalloped, which both results from and causes more of a tank-slapping tendency. More pressure often helps (if the sidewall max pressure is 42psi, you might have better luck at ~40psi or greater; the FJ is at the heavy end of "bikes that would run a tire like this one.") But once they wear funny and it's noticeable in how the bike handles, their day is done.
iii) Some tires are just not that great even when they're brand new. My experiences with earlier versions of your tires (Dunlop "Sport Elite" K591, on both an FJ1200 and on another bike) were not very good. Dunlop does make some good sportbike tires; I would be willing to guess that yours are not those tires, not when they were new, not when they had zero miles. You can argue that the ones I had are different than the ones you had, "Your experience was with a Chevy Cavalier! My Chevy is a Cobalt - COMPLETELY different thing!" Yeah, not that different... It's not like one of 'em is a Corvette here.)

I can't recall what year / size tires you have. If you're riding something pre-1988 with stock wheels, you have a 16" front wheel, and none of the specific recommendations I can make will be of any use to you. All my experience is on a 17"x3" FJ wheel from 1989 (US) or later.

For years, I was fitting my 17x3 front wheel with Metzler tires, and some of them would wear funny and tend toward tank-slappers like you are experiencing. This would become noticeable after 3,000 or 4,000 miles on a tire, long before they were "worn out." Recent tires (ME-Z6 and ME-Z8 radials) have been much better, and they go to 6,500 without wobbling, but earlier ME-Z1 or ME-Z2 tires would wobble when there was still tread showing. I used to hate throwing out a tire that still had some tread on it, until I rode on the new tire and realized "yeah, this is how it's supposed to be."

Higher pressure helped, and I was running ~40 psi up front (which didn't seem unreasonable, since the FJ is among the heaviest of bikes that will use most sporting front tires.) But after a while, the tire would be worn in a scalloped pattern and it would be a nightmare to ride.

If you can find radial tires in appropriate size, that's what you want. Radial tires are like synthetic oil - they are better at everything you want out of a tire (or oil) and there's no reason to hamstring yourself with 1980's technology just because our bikes are from the 1980s.

Randy Thompson had Shinko tires. I tried his bike (never could get him to try my 998, but I think I got him to try my FJ with the RaceTech / Penske.) I do not like riding on Shinko tires. I know they're cheaper, I don't care. (Also, I don't think they last as long as the 6,500 to 8,000 miles I get from Roadtecs, so they may not even be cheaper to run; the lower price might have to be paid more often.)

Good luck.

- Bill

ok thanks good explanation... better than skin grafts like pat says

but.........


can i hang on to the old rear tire and just deal with the front for the time being?

[copper]

Is your life worth the cost of new tires? Why risk it? If the tires are questionable at all; they are worth replacing.  Things that happen on a bike can turn ugly very quickly.

[mtc]

Is your life worth the cost of new tires? Why risk it? If the tires are questionable at all; they are worth replacing.  Things that happen on a bike can turn ugly very quickly.

first it's skin grafts and now it's my  life, this is turning into a pricey hobby, but you are right, a new pair  for sure

[RPM - Robert]

Have you had a look at the steering head bearings and bearing races?