Yes.
Tires harden with age and lose their grip.
Very exciting way to find out.

Yes thanks for the confirmation  Shinko 230,s fitted now
Made in 2017  That should be better!
New front disc pads tomorrow almost worn right out in 4000kms

That is pretty amazing that Suzuki mounted 6 year old tires!  My original front tire on my Honda NT700 was dated 2008 and it was mounted on a 2010 bike.....I thought that was old - but it was not as old as your tires!

As Batman stated, 5 years is the limit for the recommended age for a motorcycle tire.  It does make some difference how the tire is stored, and makers claim the coating on the tires helps preserve them until mounted.  Once you mount the tire and start riding, the coating is gone and the tire can begin to age from Ozone and other atmospheric gases.  Very hot storage can also shorten the tire life (don't store them in a hot attic, car, storage shed or pole barn).

My Honda only had 900 miles on it when I bought it in 2016, and I rode on the 8 year old front tire and 6 year old rear tire - they looked good and rode fine.  The bike was stored in an insulated garage by the previous owner - and I never rode the bike in the rain.  The tires wore incredibly fast - especially when my wife and I rode the bike down in Georgia on a weekend when the weather was 90 degrees.  In 2 days of riding the back tire tread came off in a black powder that coated the rear wheel, license plate and swing arm.

As the rubber ages it becomes hard and does not provide as good of traction (especially when the roads are wet).   I typically wear a tire out in 3 years or less so age is not a problem - but I do adhere to the 5 year limit if it is a tire that I am going to be riding aggressively through curves.

Hiko, check you VIN plate for the date of manufacture. If you brought "new" in 2012, the bike may have been made in 2010, or even earlier.

jcstokes wrote on 10/17/18 at 01:15:45:


You are absolutely correct The bike was bought "new' in 2012 in Wellington It was built in December 2006
IT  racked up nearly all its 2800  KMs in the first 2 years from 2012 and then seldom used  for the next 2 or three years until I bought it  4 months ago.
The previous owner did say it had been stored for a long time but I did not realise how long! The bike is older than it seemed .  My bad for not checking before .Probably would not have turned me off though, its a good bike.
Even better now.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 11/01/18 at 06:36:38:


Since you brought this up.....for me as I was growing up in northeastern Ohio, the "tire age" occurred in the 50/60/70's.  Akron, Ohio was the rubber capital of the world with Goodyear, Goodrich, Uniroyal and Firestone all making tires in that city - I read that 2/3rd of all the tires sold in the US were made in Akron.  In 1978 Goodyear stopped making tires in Akron, in 1980 Firestone ceased production, in 1982 General ceased production, Uniroyal stopped making tires around 1988 I believe when it as bought by Michelin.

When I was growing up - it was the factories that employed most of the blue collar working men that were not farming.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 11/01/18 at 08:11:46:

That and a congressman and you can get anything you want.