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I had some tyres given to me when i aquired the falco.
There are dates molded into the side wall of the tyre but the tyres are
out of date?
I am thinking of doing a few track days and fitting these tyres to a different set of of rims and not using them on the road.
Can anyone see a problem with doing this?

blinkey501 wrote:I had some tyres given to me when i aquired the falco.
There are dates molded into the side wall of the tyre but the tyres are
out of date?
I am thinking of doing a few track days and fitting these tyres to a different set of of rims and not using them on the road.
Can anyone see a problem with doing this?

These are "eat by" dates. If they've already passed you may find them a bit on the tough side. Pot roasting may make them more palatable.


.... actually I'm pretty sure that along with many things like this, they will be the dates of manufacture.
This supports my view: http://www.p-t-a.co.uk/Tyre-Age.htm

Nice one andy.

How old and what kind of tyres are they?

I think most manufacturers state 7 years as the max shelf life, but as with most things how they've been stored is as important as age.

Some years ago I found this site which answers just about every question you may have regarding tyres and wheels. Here's what they have to say about tyre dates. It's mainly for cars but applies to bikes as well:

http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

Basically, you shouldn't be using a tyre that is more than 6 years old; i.e. if you bought it before Jan 2006, then change it, now...

I have just been and had a look.
They are scrap, which is sad has they have never been fitted.

The thing is, if a tyre is over 6 years old, because tyre technology has moved on so fast it will be way behind what's currently available. It's a bit like graphics cards in that respect (to refer to another currently active thread)...

mangocrazy wrote:The thing is, if a tyre is over 6 years old, because tyre technology has moved on so fast it will be way behind what's currently available. It's a bit like graphics cards in that respect (to refer to another currently active thread)...

True, does depend on the tyre though.

I'd happily fit a pair of Rennsports or Dragon Supercorsas, but wouldn't touch a Hi-Sport or D207!

I might have mis led slightly...
These are road tyres. Bridgestones; I have done 2 track days, the BT021s i have fitted to the bike have been brilliant.
I have these tyres spare and i thought maybe they would be just has good if the date was ok.
Thanks for your help

from memory the date is in the stretched oval and is the week up to 5x and year

Hi, if you are thinking of doing track days, I would strongly encourage you to buy a set of used racer's tyres. The performance of the tyres these days is incredible and the Falco feels very good on sticky tyres, particularly the front end. The main limitation of the Falco on track is front end feel and the extra confidence that comes from using track tyres helps considerably when you commit to a corner. The Falco can do very good lap times, but corner entry is tricky as the bike is slow steering and bulky (relatively). I also find thesse tyres better on the road too, but you need to be careful to warm them up and in the wet. The most recent tyres I used were Dunpop Sportmax GP, which were made for a national race series - very grippy and very long lasting.

ReggieGasket wrote: The most recent tyres I used were Dunpop Sportmax GP,

.... from the pre-punctured series?

My rear roadsmart has a large nail in it. That can't be helping the unsprung weight at all.

ReggieGasket wrote:Hi, if you are thinking of doing track days, I would strongly encourage you to buy a set of used racer's tyres. The performance of the tyres these days is incredible and the Falco feels very good on sticky tyres, particularly the front end. The main limitation of the Falco on track is front end feel and the extra confidence that comes from using track tyres helps considerably when you commit to a corner. The Falco can do very good lap times, but corner entry is tricky as the bike is slow steering and bulky (relatively). I also find thesse tyres better on the road too, but you need to be careful to warm them up and in the wet. The most recent tyres I used were Dunpop Sportmax GP, which were made for a national race series - very grippy and very long lasting.

The most important thing though, is a Falco sitting on a pair of sticky tyres looks cool and purposeful.

A Falco on a pair of 020s looks like it's fallen asleep in front of the fire, next to its pipe and slippers

Reggie, these Dunlop Sportmax GPs of which you speak - what do they do to the handling? Do they make the bike steer quicker, and if so is that at the expense of stability? And what are they like on warm-up? Can you happiliy iuse them without tyre blankets?