I bought my 2012 FLHRC in August of 2016, it had only 300 miles on it. Garage queen for sure. It had been stored indoors the whole time, and with that many miles the tires of course looked new when I got it. I have 6000 miles on it now, just getting going again after winter storage. I've read numerous posts indicating that when tires are 5 years old change them regardless of tread life, but a mechanic at a local tire shop where I am tells me if it was stored indoors it's fine. I know one thing you don't want to go cheap on is tires, but I was hoping to get this riding season (likely another 6-7000 miles) out of these tires and change them before storing next winter. I know it's hard to predict and a dice roll perhaps, but how serious is the risk of a failure based just on tire age? I see no deterioration at all, no cracking, nothing.

 

You'd be surprised how many cager's tires are bought new that are 5 years old. I know our bikes are more of a concern, I'm thinking you'll be fine based on your visual. And then again, depends on your riding style. My thoughts.

 

If you're planning on running them I would put the bike on a stand and visually inspect the tires for any sign of dry rot or aging. Look for fine cracks in the tread and sidewall areas, Dunlops that are made for Harley's seem to be plagued by sidewall cracking issues. Any signs of cracking would be a reason to replace them, I'd be surprised if there's not any sidewall cracks.

 

How do your tires look, any checking or cracking at sidewalls ?

Thing about storage is that how they are stored matters as much as how long. If they're inside and not exposed to chemicals or oil or ozone (in vicinity of electric motors) they'll remain good for a very long time. The 5 year thing isn't an absolute but an industry recommendation based on an abundance of caution. If your tires haven't been exposed to these contaminants and they look good and ride with no irregularities, you're GTG IMHO.

Oh,, if you do get this season out of em, I wouldn't buy and mount new tires in the fall. I'd postpone new tire acquisition and installation till the following spring or if you purchase in the fall on sale, ie mail order, "leave em wrapped or boxed till spring". My $0.02

 

OH MY GOD YOU"RE GOING TO DIE!!! haha just kidding, ride them and enjoy! I've raced against guys with 10 year old tires and they were fine.

 

This is just my personal opinion of course... if you're worried about them enough to post the question, put new ones on. Tire age is a factor and why spend your summer worrying about it. Sell the old ones to someone who truly doesn't care to recoup some of the money for the new ones. Just make sure you are clear with the buyer that they are xx years old.

Recommendation: get a set of Commander 2's. You'll be glad you did.

 

Change em out. What if? Agree on the CIIs

 

I just replaced the factory Dunlops on my 2010 FLHRC. 11k miles on them, no signs of dry rot, but it was time for a refresh and I upgraded to billett 18s. Bike is also a garage queen.

if your tires still look good I think you can squeeze another year out of them...

 

Not a bad idea to check the manufacturing date on any new tires you buy. They do have a "freshness" code on the sidewall. Usually it's part of the "serial number" stamped into each tire.

Here's how to decode the DOT stamp for "Date of Manufacture":
The date of manufacture is the last four digits of the DOT code. The first two digits are the week of manufacture, and the last two digits are the year. For example, if the last four digits of the DOT code are 0203, that means that the tire was manufactured during the second week of the year 2003.

I would suggest that when you order tires make them aware that you want new stock and that you'll check the date on the tire. I usually tell them up front that I don't want tires older than 6 months.

 

I had 10 year old tires before - no signs of dry rot either... Just inspect your tires often and you'll not have to worry.