I would buy the bike and go by your dealer and have a new set of rubber installed on the way home. I hate tires i bought a used triple axle toy hauler and pulled it home from Ft Worth and aired the tires up to load bearing pressure 80lbs and had one blow out in the driveway! China Bombs they were , its now wearing a nice set of Goodyears made in America now.

According to Michelin it could be as little as 5 years but no longer than 10 years..

https://www.michelinman.com/mo...e-my-motorbike-tyres

We have a pair of tires from a supplier that came into the bike shop I work at that were with three months of five years old. Claim has been filed to return them.

We will not sell a tire that is five years or longer from manufacturing date.

My 82 FLH has a set of Metzeler’s on it with maybe 2k on them. It’s been off the road for awhile, tires look good but the rubber has gotten less pliable. I have a new set of tires in the basement for it whenever the parts get back from the painter.

I'm in the no more than 5 years camp on Bike tires.

If they look to be in good shape and hold air then they probably are fine for tooling around the neighborhood, up to Publix, low speeds, but they are due to be replaced age wise.

If you want a local crew to look at it, check out Southern Cycles in Apopka, good guys, independent,

https://www.southerncycles.net/

Tires over 5 years belong only on wheelbarrows.

Bigdeal those OEM tires (which are usually not the best anyway) are probably close to 1/2 worn and being 10 years old I'd replace them.

At 2,550 miles on the 2014 CB1100 I recently bought the front tire was flat and badly worn, so it had to be replaced. The tire had a slow leak and I'm sure the previous owner rode it low on air. The rear had over half remaining and no cracks but had started to square off and let's face it when it comes to a bike's handling the last miles on a tire are the crap miles so being an 8 year old OEM tire it got changed as well with a set of Bridgestone T32s. There's nothing like riding on two brand new tires!

Last night the rear was already on and I was working on the front. Here cleaning the wheel and checking it for balance. During a bike's first tire change I balance the wheel by itself applying weights painted to match the wheel which then stay on. The rear needed two 1/4 oz weights but the front was off less than 1/4 oz so I didn't have to add one. To balance the tires themselves the rear only took 1/2 oz and the front 1/4 oz so these tires were manufactured pretty well balanced.

I plan new tires on my 2014 CB1100 this spring. It’s a lightly used bike, just over 5000 miles.

I think that's a good idea sourdough44. I would suggest ordering the tires soon because come Spring MC tires (and batteries) may be in short supply. And the CB1100's 18" size are a bit of an odd size.

In the cruiser market lots of bikes running around on 10 year old tires. Not saying it's right, but I have never seen one blow out.

When in doubt, change them out.

I ride a sport bike, Ducati Monster 1100 and replaced my tires with low miles at about 6 years. The soft rubber hardens and my life is worth more than 500-600 bucks. Probably didn’t really need to replace them but did it anyway. I replace my helmet on regular intervals for the same reason, though I would trust an old helmet before I trusted old tires.

BTW sourdough have you changed the brake and clutch fluids on your CB? If not you probably should, I think the manual calls for it to be done every 2 or 3 years (on all motorcycles I imagine). I doubt it had ever been done on mine because the brake fluid came out pretty amber and clutch fluid was actually dark.

Even if they look ok, I'd be concerned about the grip level of older tires.
Just do it and put your mind at rest.

Rubber gets old, hard, dry, and brittle. On a bike, you’ve only got the two, and really only a couple inches of contact with the road. Especially in a turn. You don’t need that old hard tire letting go on you or losing grip…

Old tires get replaced.

From what I've read motorcycle tires get hard and lose their ability to grip when leaned into a turn so it's more like riding on bowling balls than riding on rubber so for that reason I wouldn't attempt to ride on tires that were in excess of 5 years old and especially not 10 years old. Riding a motorcycle is inherently dangerous so why increase the risk factor by riding on tires a decade old? Motorcycle tires aren't cheap but neither is a visit to the emergency room to clean up road rash or mend broken bones so new tires are cheap insurance to reduce the chances of injury.

Other thing I would add is the ride quality of new fresh tires. New tires can almost be pushed on the rims without tools, older tires sidewalls can get so hard that you almost can't get them off with tools. So the negatives are ride quality, corning ability, acceleration and perhaps the most overlooked is the effect on stopping distance. I change mine around 5 years.

I want to answer the question you asked. Can you trust those tires?

No.

Can you ride around on them, have fun on them? Sure. Are you willing to put your life on the line in an emergency swerve or cooking a corner you don't know well?

Tires, pads/rotors/fluid/hoses. Every single ride you put your faith in those things. The motor might quit and leave you stranded. The battery might die and you'll need a jump.

But a blown tire, blown brake line is a whole 'nuther level of "oh shit".

Use them as extreme training aids. Turn off the ABS and practice power slids and max power progressive braking (controlled circumstances, gear up). Make some cool burnout videos in slow mo. Find some gravel roads and power slide/elephant turn that sucker until you it's effortless.

Then throw on some new shoes, replace 10 year old hoses with new fluids and pads, and love the new bike.

I dont think I've ever ridden tires on my bikes more than two seasons, just not enough tread left. I guess if it was only riding a couple hundred miles a season and properly maintained then I would trust the rubber 7 or 10 years.

I have a camaro with the same tires for 15 years that only gets a couple hundred miles a year and no issues.

But on a bike I would be a little weary. Leaning hard on a tire might put some extra stress on a old tire. I am not sure if that would cause a get off but for 300 bucks, why risk it.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ridewv:
BTW sourdough have you changed the brake and clutch fluids on your CB?

No I have not, I’ll look into it, sounds like a warm weather project.

I bought this bike as ‘new, old stock’, so maybe a year or more after 2014.

I did have a blowout on my CB-750 back in the day. I think it was the rear tire, gravel road, about 45 mph speed. I was able to keep it upright, but still a little dicey.

Yes, ordering tires soon seems a fine idea.

Depends on condition, usage, storage conditions (in the garage near the fridge (ozone source), in direct sunlight/weather versus under a cover, etc).

If they're not weather checked or dry rotted, I'd probably use them, assuming I'm not doing anything deliberately aggressive like a track day.

I also probably wouldn't use old tires for an extended road trip, especially if fresh tires are likely to last the entire trip (although if they're in decent condition and had a reasonable amount of tread left, would save them for local commuting. I would use them around town where a faulty tire isn't likely to be the end of the world.

As a KLR rider, I've got a reputation for being frugal (ok, cheap) to uphold.