Bauld tyres

[Vash]

Hey all. Just curious, what effect does bauld, or near bauld tyres have on a tyre? If the tread is less than a mm, or in certain parts of the tyre, totally gone, is the bike still rideable, safely?

[Nanna10r]

Depends on the type of tyre, I've been told that the Dunlop 207 & 208 hold till they are completely bald (some consolation considering they are,nt that flash to begin with imo).
The bigger issues with a balding tyre are lack of groves for water displacement in the wet n the shape the tyre takes with bening squared up or triangulated. Its also much likely to follow ruts n get punctures both not pleasant things on a scoot.
Tyres are fairly cheap for what your getting nowadays n Hospital food sux so i tend not to go much over the wear marks myself.
Cheers Brett

[Smitty]

The bigger issues with a balding tyre are lack of groves for water displacement in the wet n the shape the tyre takes with bening squared up or triangulated.

yep as Brett said
think about it..racing tyres which have more 'dry' grip have no tread
...bald if you like
but in the wet...?they are completely unusable
so you must have tread grooves to handle water dispersion otherwise
you aquaplane and have no control over the bike
and fall off

as a road rider you can't stop and change tyres if it rains ...like racers do
so road tyres need grooves inthe tread

cheers

[MickLC]

I once ran a rear till it was pretty much bald in the middle. This was partly 'cause the rubber dissappeared much quicker when it got thinner and it caught me by surprise. I found it handled like shit and wobbled all over the road when cornering. The biggest problem was how quickly it started to open up and show threads. When it was pulled off I had a look at it and there was pretty much nothing left except about 2mm of rubber and belts. Scared the beejezus out of me so much I've never let them run down that far again.

[zxrarron]

correct me if im wrong but isnt a grooved tyre also good for pushing anything out of the road be it water or rocks etc? being the reason why on the track u dont need grooves because not as much shit on the track as on the road

[javaman]

And add the misery of having punctures. 90% of tyre puncture happens during the last 10% of tyre life. It's just not worth saving $$ in this area.

[I-K]

Depends on the type of tyre, I've been told that the Dunlop 207 & 208 hold till they are completely bald (some consolation considering they are,nt that flash to begin with imo).

Can't speak for the D208, but I've gone through a few D207F's (the cooking-model that everything used to come on from stock a few years ago) and found them to be precisely the opposite. Past about two-thirds worn, they were a complete torpedo for confidence; vague, wiggly and with bugger-all grip. The first time it happened, with a front on my B-model ZX9, I didn't know what the hell was going on. I was going into corners slow and upright because I felt that I just couldn't trust the tyre, but there was still heaps of thread, so what the hell? Changed tyres onto a Michelin Pilot Sport and instantly gained 20kph on corner entry and 15 degrees of lean angle.

Since then, I've worn out a stock set of D207F's on my R1 and the ZX6, and they both behaved exactly the same; two thirds worn, time for the skip.

Since then, I've run:

-Michelin Pilot Race; again, good down to the wear indicators, then they almost verbally tell you, in English (which is remarkable for French tyres made in Spain), "Replace us or we'll highside you".

-Metzeler Rennsport; awesome! Rock solid down to the canvas.

-Bridgestone BT012SS: very good when worn. They don't shred themselves once they get low and they give plenty of feedback. They won't let you throw the bike around like it was on new tyres, but they let you know it, too. Good for eking a few weeks of commuting out of them once they become ratshit for scratching.

-Michelin Pilot Race M2; these things rock the free world, and a few of the more relaxed dictatorships as well! I had them on my ex-Giles GSX-R600 (so full-on race-stup suspension front and back) and they just wouldn't wear out. They also don't move around, which is how I prefer a tyre to talk to me.

-Bridgestone BT001; Very little change from new to completely shredded-that is to say, they squirm almost equally when new and when worn. It's what I've got on atm and the rear, after a trip to the WSB and about 2000km each of scratching and commuting, the rear, at least, is hanging off the rim in strips, and it still doesn't feel appreciably less trustworthy than new.

[NovaCoder]

I was running a very worn Pilot Sport on the front which had also seen a track day or two ('ruffled' edges). It was making it a real hand-full to ride as it was very nervous over white lines and ripples. The bike feels so much better to ride now with new 208's.

The rear Power was also very worn but as it was wearing evenly, it wasn't effecting the ride quality......I just replaced it to be nice and legal.

[Neka79]

scary as shit...white lines are fun tho, and cold weather take offs....get used to rear wheel drift/slide...
personally i change em at abt the wear marker...i have enuf trouble without drifting more than i want...