I can not find a link to the government website regarding tread depths.
However the definition of minimum tread for a bike, 1 mm generally, must be a bit awkward as so much of the centre of a tyre is solid rubber even from new. A few little grooves is all you get in extreme cases.
How do MOT testers interpret the law?
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
|
As ytou say, it's a bit tricky as many sports bike tyres don't have any tread in the middle. Those that do don't have much from new, and are probably worn down to 1mm within a thousand hard mile, or less.
Last time I had mine MOT'd I asked him about this, and he basiclly said that if the tyre was shot, then it would fail. Shot meant less than 1mm all over if it's evenly worn (which only happens on a track day bike), or if the middle is so worn that the tyre looks pretty square. In other words, you know yourself when a tyre is knackered and needs replacing, and so do they.
|
|
Don't testers use the minimum tread depth indicators indented in the tread as a guide tio wheteher the tyre is legal or not.
|
|
|
|
I can not find a link to the government website regarding tread depths. How do MOT testers interpret the law?
Will this link suffice?
www.motuk.co.uk/mcmanual_410.htm
|
|
My bike tyres don't have a tread wear bar. According to the manual in the link, there must be a least 1mm across 3/4 of the width, with visible on the rest. My rear tyre has a width of 192mm, so that means you can have nearly 50mm in the middle with only visible tread, which is quite a bit. How they can tell if there was ever any tread on that bit is anyones guess. Mine doesn't have any tread across the central 20mm even when new, so I guess they use their discretion.
|
|
Just read the manual more carefully, and it states " Original tread pattern must be taken into account when assessing tread wear"
|
Thanks to both Daves.
Exactly what I wanted to know.
Paying for new tyres will be the next blow. £284 fitted is my first quote!
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
|
|
£284,sounds a bit steep,m&p usually have offers on pairs of tyres appx £130-£150 a pair of 120f and 170/180r.Metzelers, Pirrelli ,etc, but you have then to get them fitted.As for tread depth,the front will always wear on the rhs of tyre,and rear in the middle. Never skimp on tyres as running on worn tyres just to get an extra few hundred miles will cost you alot more in the long run,
|
If your rear tyre is 192mm across I guess it must be a 190/50 therefore the front is probably a 120/70 or 120/60. You can get a superb set in these sizes for around £160 such as Dunlop D207RR's or 208's, Bridgestone BT-014's etc.
What bike is it for?, might be worth going for a 180/55 instead of 190/50, helps it to turn quicker.
|
But would you readily fit a 180 section rear onto a rim designed to take a 190. I'm going thinking about this at the moment, i've got in the garage a 170/60 to fit to as a replacement for a 180/55. I bought it on Ebay ( Brand new very cheap!), the haynes manual gives the rear as a 170/60, and i was suprised when i looked to find it had a 180/55. I have subsequently been advised that the Honda's rear rim was originally shod with a 170 but as 180's became the norm Honda fitted a 180 without fitting a wider rim.
Don't pay stupid prices in this weeks MCN someone is adverising 2 rears and a front as a deal for just over £150.
|
|
Worth checking the rim width re tyre spec however on many contemporary superbikes it is common to switch between 180/55 and 190/50 depending on rider preference for the speed of turn in.
|
|
The tyre size is 180, but if you measure it across the tread with a tape measure, then it comes out at 192mm (as it's rounded, and not straight across). Front is 120. Remember the early fireblades with the 16" rim?
|
Although they are wider if measured directly across the widest point 190/50 section tyres would measure similarly if measured around the curve beacuse the lower profile gives them a flatter curve.
Early Hornet 600's ('98 to '00 I think) also had a 16" front.
|
|
£22,230was £22,450Details
£19,950was £20,150Details
£31,150was £31,400Details
