Your tires are the most important components of your motorcycle. Getting used tires is great for saving money, as long as you aren’t sacrificing your safety. Unlike a car, your motorcycle has just two points of contact with the road so size, shape, compound, and condition are critical. In this article I will discuss buying used tires, how to properly evaluate them for safety, and my experience with buying used motorcycle tires near me.
Used Motorcycle Tires Near Me – Use the Locator Below
If you are searching for “Used Motorcycle Tires Near Me” or “Used Dirt Bike Tires Near Me” your local options are shown below. If there are limited results, alternatively you can search for used motorcycle tires online.
Who Sells Used Motorcycle Tires
Not many places sell used motorbike tires. When you do find them they are at motorcycle salvage yards, re-treaders, or local used tire shops. I find the quality at salvos to be really poor and hard to find a matched set. This is because the best tires go quickly and the rest sit and age in a pile.
You can also find them online, which is often on sites like Ebay and Craigslist or other public classifieds.
My rule of thumb though no matter what, never buy second hand motorcycle tires from someone you don’t trust.
Buying Used Locally vs Buying Them Online
In my experience it’s better to buy local then online. In person allows you to assess the condition of tire yourself. You need to visually see and put your hands on the tread.
Every tire is specifically designed to perform in certain conditions and its ability to tread water and keep traction is imperative. As the tread wears, the grooves get shallow, and their ability to shed water is effected. This is what makes pattern groove depth a critical indicator of how much life is left in a tire. Bike tires have tread wear indicators often set to 1/32nd of an inch (0.8mm), once they start showing, tires need to be replaced. Honestly, they need to be replaced before that, but seeing the indicator is the ultimate stopping point.
I mention that here, because people online take pictures of used tires at angles that make the tread depth appear deeper. They also may mis-repesent the tread depth, condition and age of the tire. You need to see tires with your own eyes and measurements. In a car you can get away with mismatching tires, retreads, or even having steel cables poking out…do that on a bike and you risk your life.
How Much Mileage Will I Get out of Reused Tires
This is a tough question to answer, because it matters how you ride your bike and how much tread is left on the tire. If there is 40 to 70% of the tread depth left, that is pretty promising for some decent mileage.
If you want a more scientific approach to estimating the mileage you will need to do some research. You need to find out the manufacturers original tread depth and estimated mileage. Then subtract the current tread depth and calculate the percentage that remains from the original. Then take the percentage and multiple it against the estimated manufacturers mileage.
The Dangers of Second Hand Motor Bike Tires
Used motorcycle tires are dangers. regardless if you have a dirt bike, street bike, or track bike the bad outweighs the good in my opinion. Tires with low tread depth have reduced traction and increase your chances of sliding and reduce your distance for stopping. A wet road, especially in the first few minutes of rain are particularly dangerous when the oils come out of the road.
Tread isn’t the only concern. Used tires for motorcycles have defects, plugs, punctures, patches, and worn sidewalls, all which reduce the ability to provide a stable ride. Some of these issues you can’t even see with an untrained eye.
The other piece that adds danger to buying motorcycle tires second hand is the lack of government regulation. There is no standard for safety, collection, inspection, and returns. Private owners and/or local used motorcycle tire shops will happily sell you unsafe rubbers. It is a buyer beware market. You must be absolutely educated about how to properly inspect a tire for safety.
In my honest opinion, buying a used tire for any style motorcycle is too risky. I would never go used for a street bike or a race bike. I suppose maybe for a dirt bike, but nothing outweighs my personal safety.
What to Consider When Buying Used
Most people gravitate towards price, They are buying used often because they can’t afford new tires. You should consider safety first and price second.
How to Assess a Tires Quality
Learning how to assess your rubbers may save your life. While tread depth is important, its not the only thing that matters. For example, never buy a bike tire, even if brand new with full tread depth, that is more then 5 years old. Motorbike tires are created with chemical compounds that give tires their traction. Overtime these chemicals evaporate and the rubber gets brittle and hard “rotting” or “outgassing”.
Here are the main things to consider when you evaluate a second hand motorcycle tire:
- Tread Depth – 1/32 of an inch is legally bald
- Exposed Chords – Look for metal wires coming through the rubber anywhere even on the inside
- Separated Belts – Feel for waviness in the sidewalls surface by running your hands over it
- Aging- Check the Tire Identification Number, never buy tires over five years old
- Improper Repairs – Look for punctures, plugs, patches and issues that haven’t been repaired
- Linear Damage – Look inside the inner tire liner for metal wires poking through the rubber
- Chicken Strips – Look at the edge of the tread width and sidewall. Chicken strips indicate the tires weren’t leaned on too much
The rules above apply generally to motorcycles, street bikes, dirt bikes, and track or race bikes.
If the tire requires a tube, often on spoke rim tires, replace the tubes at the same time that you replace your tires. Tubes also tend to stretch over time and can crease when a tire gets changed. If you have tube you need to get the same size on the tire markings for compatibility.
How to Measure Tread Depth
You can do the ol’penny test or use a tread gauge.
Penny Tread Depth Test:
- Flip the penny upside down so Lincoln’s head is down
- Place the upside down penny inside each of the tire’s tread grooves
- Check to see if you see Lincoln’s head from any of the grooves
- If his head is visible from any of the grooves the tread is legally bald
If you already see the tread wear indicators through the tread…DO NOT BUY THE TIRE.
Don’t Mix and Match Brands and Styles
When you buy second hand tires you want to get a pair. Look for same brand and same style and compound of tire. This is what makes getting used tires at a salvage yard really hard. Often you are picking tires out of a pile. Tires are made to match and doing otherwise can create instability in your ride.
What you can do however is mix and match new and old. Rear rubbers wear 2X faster then fronts, so for every front tire you have its life will span two rears. You bike’s owners manual may suggest new tires every time, but waiting to wear two rear tires to change one front will save you money.
How to Identify Tire Age
Even if a used tire has never been mounted, if it’s older then five years its not safe. At the used motorcycle tires near me, they sell brand new tires almost right at the 5 year mark. They look great but are dangerous.
To get the age of your tire, you need to find a four digit code in a rectangle box on the sidewall. It will tell you what week and year the tire was made. So if it says “1411”, it was made the 14th week of 2015.
You have to look for this, there are scams out there, where people rub off the tire age box so you can’t read it. Never buy any kind of tire that you can not see the birth date on.
Who Buys Used Motorcycle Tires Near Me
Often where there is an opportunity to buy, there is the same opportunity to sell. Where I buy used motorcycle tires near me, they also will consider buying my current tires. How much you can get for them will vary based on condition, wear, and compound. I have gotten between $30 and $60 per set. You can also probably get a bit more if you are exchanging for a different set of used tires with them. You can find out who buys used tires here.
Used Motorcycle Tires Near Me Conclusion
Truth is I don’t buy used tires for motorcycles anymore. Its way to much of a risk and I would rather spend the extra money for piece of mind and safety. There are other benefit of buying second hand such as doing good for the environment, but the safety factor outweighs it all for me. I can’t stress enough that without government regulation buying used tires is all dependent on your ability to evaluate its condition. There are places and people out there who just want your money and have no concern about what they are selling you. That’s what I have learned from buying used motorcycle tires near me.