Changing your bike tyres is as important as servicing your bike regularly. With all the care you take, keep the air pressure optimum and ride as sanely as possible, everything has a limit and so do your tyres. But then there are always parameters as to when to change your tyres. What we are going to put out here is a general set of guidelines to change your tyre, but it is you who should understand your tyres well after riding on them. So do go through the rest of the article thoroughly and make the right choice on changing your tyres when the need is true, else the repercussions of your negligence could become fatal.
It is not always about how hard you ride or how much you ride, sometimes it is even time who undoes the right. The very reason why it is generally recommended that even if you have not run the specified kilometers on your current tyres, you change them for good. And for the reason, I will give you a small example for it. Riding a Hero Honda Splendor at the beginning of my riding days, things like tyre changes was nowhere even on my radar. One fine day while heading towards my college, I noticed my bike wobbling a lot even at low speeds. After going on for about 400 meters, I stopped and checked out to find my rear tyre flat.
Cursing my bad day I went on to the nearest garage to get the puncture fixed and within 15 minutes I was back on my way. But it did not stop here. In the next 3 months I had almost about 10 more punctures on my rear tyre (One thing to remember here, the year was 2013, the bike was a 2004 model and the rear was stock while the front was changed once on a tyre tear). Finally after a lot of frustration I decided to change the tyre after all and since then I did not have a single puncture until I sold my bike off when I upgraded. The thing to say here is that, even though the ODO of my bike read 11456 kms, the tyres had lost its life due to the time.
The reason why this happens is because tyres are made of rubber which is naturally found and hence they do decompose off slowly and gradually over time. So when the tyres are exposed to nature’s exam of harshness, they degrade and develop cracks in them which cause loss of air or easy access to puncture causing materials. Hence it is generally recommended to simply change your tyres after 5 years at max if the tyre has not run its course of kms mentioned by the manufacturer. Also in case you feel loss of grip and sudden slips happening, even then the tyres need to be changed.
Apart from the time factor, there is a need for the tyre to be changed depending on the conditions in which you are riding. If you are a regular commuter, then the stock tyres are enough. But if you are someone who is into hardcore biking, then according to the terrain you will be visiting, the tyre choices need to be changed like slicks for the tracks, highway tyres for the regular use and off road tyres for the tough terrain.
As for all the others who are just regular “bikuters” which I prefer them calling as a mix of bikers plus commuters; you need to change your bike tyres depending on the usage and the kilometers clocked. But then that also depends on the tyre compounds. If you are running on softer compound tyres, then in that case the tyre life is really less; something to the tune of 15,000-20,000 kms. As for the medium compound tyres, they can go on for up to 25,000-28,000 kms at max. The harder compound tyres though come at the cost of reduced road grip, are the least susceptible to punctures and can last for as long as 30,000-33,000 kms.
But then many of our Indian roads are too taxing on even the best of the tyres causing loss of grip and tread. Hence always keep a lookout on the tread of your tyres. If the tread depth is less than 1.6 – 2 mm. simply take your bike to your nearest tyre shop and get the tyre replaced irrespective of its condition and kilometers run. It might seem fine in regular conditions but in the first sign of irregularity, they may backfire on you.
So always make sure your tyres are perfect and ride safe. Stay tuned to BikesIndia for more scoop, news and such informative articles.
By: Pratik Patole
It is not always about how hard you ride or how much you ride, sometimes it is even time who undoes the right. The very reason why it is generally recommended that even if you have not run the specified kilometers on your current tyres, you change them for good. And for the reason, I will give you a small example for it. Riding a Hero Honda Splendor at the beginning of my riding days, things like tyre changes was nowhere even on my radar. One fine day while heading towards my college, I noticed my bike wobbling a lot even at low speeds. After going on for about 400 meters, I stopped and checked out to find my rear tyre flat.Cursing my bad day I went on to the nearest garage to get the puncture fixed and within 15 minutes I was back on my way. But it did not stop here. In the next 3 months I had almost about 10 more punctures on my rear tyre (One thing to remember here, the year was 2013, the bike was a 2004 model and the rear was stock while the front was changed once on a tyre tear). Finally after a lot of frustration I decided to change the tyre after all and since then I did not have a single puncture until I sold my bike off when I upgraded. The thing to say here is that, even though the ODO of my bike read 11456 kms, the tyres had lost its life due to the time.
The reason why this happens is because tyres are made of rubber which is naturally found and hence they do decompose off slowly and gradually over time. So when the tyres are exposed to nature’s exam of harshness, they degrade and develop cracks in them which cause loss of air or easy access to puncture causing materials. Hence it is generally recommended to simply change your tyres after 5 years at max if the tyre has not run its course of kms mentioned by the manufacturer. Also in case you feel loss of grip and sudden slips happening, even then the tyres need to be changed.
Apart from the time factor, there is a need for the tyre to be changed depending on the conditions in which you are riding. If you are a regular commuter, then the stock tyres are enough. But if you are someone who is into hardcore biking, then according to the terrain you will be visiting, the tyre choices need to be changed like slicks for the tracks, highway tyres for the regular use and off road tyres for the tough terrain.As for all the others who are just regular “bikuters” which I prefer them calling as a mix of bikers plus commuters; you need to change your bike tyres depending on the usage and the kilometers clocked. But then that also depends on the tyre compounds. If you are running on softer compound tyres, then in that case the tyre life is really less; something to the tune of 15,000-20,000 kms. As for the medium compound tyres, they can go on for up to 25,000-28,000 kms at max. The harder compound tyres though come at the cost of reduced road grip, are the least susceptible to punctures and can last for as long as 30,000-33,000 kms.
But then many of our Indian roads are too taxing on even the best of the tyres causing loss of grip and tread. Hence always keep a lookout on the tread of your tyres. If the tread depth is less than 1.6 – 2 mm. simply take your bike to your nearest tyre shop and get the tyre replaced irrespective of its condition and kilometers run. It might seem fine in regular conditions but in the first sign of irregularity, they may backfire on you.
So always make sure your tyres are perfect and ride safe. Stay tuned to BikesIndia for more scoop, news and such informative articles.
By: Pratik Patole