[Andrew]

Just wondering if I can use the mileage on a bike as an indication of if the bike will need new tires soon? How many miles should you get out of a set? Just trying to figure out if mileage will help me know what to expect when I go to look ,or decide to go look, at a used bike.

Will the price of new tires differ from bike to bike and depend on what rubber you select like cars?

[Budd]

You have to look at the tires often. Mileage isn’t that great of indicator because driving habits and conditions play a huge role. Ask the person when they last changed their tires. Look for a good amount of tread left. A lot of tires have a notch or a line and when the tire wears down that far, it is time to replace them. For my ninja tires average about $100 a piece. This differs from bike to bike based on wheel size and width and how common a tire size it is. I am not saying that there isn’t bad rubber out there but if you stick with a major manufacturer, you should be good.

“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine

[Rab]

Most motorcycle tires have wear marks molded into the treads. Quite often (but not always), the whereabouts of the wear marks is pointed to by little triangular “arrow-heads” on the sidewall.

The wear marks themselves are little bumps in the rubber at the bottom of the tread grooves. You won’t be able to see them on new tires, but as the tire tread wears away, you’ll see these little raised bumps at the base of the tread groove at a few places around the circumference of the tire. Once the tread is worn down level with the wear markers, then it’s *definitely* time to replace the tire (if not before).

Alternatively, if you have a tread depth guage, ignore the wear markers and replace the tires when there’s between 1 and 2 m.m. of tread left.

[Author]

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