Tyre life

Planning a 2500 / 3000 mile continental trip. Front tyre is new, rear tyre is part worn.

How little tread would you set off with ? - 2mm ?, 3mm ?, 4mm ?, 5mm ?, 6mm ? Or at what point do you think a new tyre is essential ?

Planning a 2500 / 3000 mile continental trip. Front tyre is new, rear tyre is part worn.

How little tread would you set off with ? - 2mm ?, 3mm ?, 4mm ?, 5mm ?, 6mm ? Or at what point do you think a new tyre is essential ?

I would bite the bullet and get a new tyre so that you set off with an equally matched pair for optimum handling . Personally I've never changed individual tyres except occasionally on small bikes . It's twice as many trips to the tyre fitters for one thing .

I would agree with fastbob, I changed both tyres before going to Switzerland, I knew that both of them were sound then and would provide good grip and handling, plus trying to find the right tyre fitter when abroad can be a pain in itself.

If it was me doing a long trip like that, I would make sure I've got this installed https://bikeseal.co.uk/. It takes all the worry about punctures away. All the while I'm still motorcycling I will always have it my tyres. [mention]fastbob[/mention] is a big fan of this also.

Oddly enough I don't bother much about tread depth. What I look at is the flat spot and consider whether the tyre will be alright based on that. If push comes to shove it's easy enough to get a new tyre fitted almost anywhere in Europe. But, that shouldn't happen as it's easy enough to tell if the tyre will last the course.

I also have a healthy lack of respect for these so called instant puncture repairs. 2 reasons. First, if I get a puncture, I want to know about it... Examine it so I know it's not a tear. Second... I want it repaired properly. Which I can do myself, assuming it's repairable in about 10 minutes. Or if it is a tear... Arrange a replacement. This is what I buy European rescue for.

You can use these various in-tyre sealants. But they are not for me.

new tyre if in doubt , min tread depth in Germany is 1.6 across the whole tyre, much more stringent than ours, so you could start out legal and be caught out

how worn is part worn, without knowing how worn your tyre is its hard to guess

Oddly enough I don't bother much about tread depth. What I look at is the flat spot and consider whether the tyre will be alright based on that. If push comes to shove it's easy enough to get a new tyre fitted almost anywhere in Europe. But, that shouldn't happen as it's easy enough to tell if the tyre will last the course.

I also have a healthy lack of respect for these so called instant puncture repairs. 2 reasons. First, if I get a puncture, I want to know about it... Examine it so I know it's not a tear. Second... I want it repaired properly. Which I can do myself, assuming it's repairable in about 10 minutes. Or if it is a tear... Arrange a replacement. This is what I buy European rescue for.

You can use these various in-tyre sealants. But they are not for me.

I did have a quite an in depth chat about those reasons with the Honda tech people who installed it. You do get an indication where the puncture is by a visible show of fibres. So it pays to check after each ride, which you should do anyway. Even so, all it may require is the slightest top up of air (if that) as the self repair is permanent for the life of the tyre and with no speed restriction. If there 's a catastrophic tear, then it will automatically require a new tyre.

I know it's not for everyone, but I'm glad Honda pointed it to me.

If it was me doing a long trip like that, I would make sure I've got this installed https://bikeseal.co.uk/. It takes all the worry about punctures away. All the while I'm still motorcycling I will always have it my tyres. @fastbob is a big fan of this also.

I'd rather put custard in my tyres !

Don't do a burnout just before you get to the fitters as it really knobs em off with the tyre peppered in gravel

Guess it depends on the tyre. If you know they're good for 10k miles and you've only done 5 so far then no worries.

Don't do a burnout just before you get to the fitters as it really knobs em off with the tyre peppered in gravel

And I thought I was the only one!

Thanks for all the comments !

1. I have always had tyres matched front and rear (although I'm not convinced that mixing them would necessarily be a disaster)

2. I realise that getting a new tyre is the safe / default option, but maybe if I had 6mm of tread left that might be a totally unnecessary expense ?

3. Tyreseal (or similar) never appealed to me and I've never tried it. I can see downsides, particularly on a bike with pressure monitoring sensors .....

4. With over 2500 miles planned in 12 days, getting a new tyre fitted en route doesn't appeal, and I had one experience in Portugal where the tyre fitters looked like they had only ever fitted car tyres - and they fitted it the wrong way round, which I had to point out and get it turned around.

I really wanted to see if the tyre would last and I still suspect I might have got away with it, but I also suspect I might have been getting home with the tyre close to showing canvas (or missing the ferry due to a puncture), so the new PR4GT will be going on tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the thoughts !

It depends on the current tread depth and the kind of tyre it is imo, you might have more than enough left or it could run out part way through. I can’t get more than 1500 miles out of a rear tyre on mine even without punctures! .

If it was me doing a long trip like that, I would make sure I've got this installed https://bikeseal.co.uk/. It takes all the worry about punctures away. All the while I'm still motorcycling I will always have it my tyres. @fastbob is a big fan of this also.

I used that tyre sealant in my rear tyre when I had a puncture and it definitely didn't work it just leaked out on to the road and the undertray so yeah I wouldn't use it again

It is a problem, the rear on my TRX has about 4mm left and needs to do 2000 miles. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but I know that the tread depth has reduced from cavernous to this paltry amount in only 3000 miles so I quite possibly won't be okay. But then tyre wear slows down as it squares off and the contact patch gets larger, so maybe it'll be fine. Oh no.

I'll probably still be wondering if it's worth doing while boarding the train at the Channel Tunnel

eer on the side of caution and get new boots it takes the worry out of it