Skorpion Tour 1996 cracks in rear tyre safe ?

[ketkroket]

Hello everybody,

I just bought a 1996 tour and i just noticed that the rear tyre (a Bridgestone BT45 130/80) has like about 4 cracks (some are 4 inches long , some 1 inch) almost looking like cuts with a sharp knive just about 5 mm away of the wheel rim.
I posted some pictures.

Do you think it is safe to ride the bike ? If you think not , would it be best to put another BT45 in the rear ( the front tyre is a BT45F 110/70 and is in very good condition with very low mileage !)

I can get a Pirelli Diablo 150/60 for 100€ , and a BT45 14/70 for about 140€. Any suggestions on this choice ?

Would it be wise to mix a radial tyre (Diablo) with a diagonal tyre (BT45) ?

Any other suggestions ? ((I would like to keep the BT45 front tyre because it is still almost new)

Greetings from Belguim !!!

[basser23]

Get rid of the rear now! those appear to be dry rot cracks due to age..can cause a blow out..Go with the BT45 to match the front.
I have Conti Road Attacks on my sport..so far they are terrific...

Chip

[ketkroket]

These are NOT old tyres , they have a DOT code of 2007 , so the tyres are only 3 years old, so no dry rot due to age.
Dry rot has a lot of small cracks !!

And by the way the Conti Road attacks do not exist in the size you need for a Skorpion Sport , maybe you have Conti Sport Attacks ??

[basser23]

Ah yes,Sport Attacks!!
Chip

[ketkroket]

Hello,

I have fitted a Pirelli Diablo 150/60*17 tyre on the rear. I hope it will not square off too quickly.

I have to say I am very dissappointed on the fact that there is only ONE person who has posted a reply and that this reply was completely besides the point in this case (dry rot ?????? )

I just don't understand why a simple topic like this one didn't have more reply's ?
Maybe this forum is as dead as the MZ company is , just take a look at their official website, seems like a dead company to me ...

Greetings anyway.

[basser23]

You will eventually find this forum a wealth of info for your bike....I was looking at your pics, and in retrospect,the long cracks may have been caused
by a tire iron,having said that, examine the smaller cracks by the wheel rim..this is what I was looking at..also what week in 2007 is the date code,as
over here in the US some tires of three years may be considered a bit aged..just my thoughts.
Yes, the MZ factory is about dead(according to rumor).They have put a Moto2 bike together for the Motogp series this year though...

Good luck to ya and let us know how the combination works for ya.
chip

[Anders]

To me it looks like the tire may have been exposed to some kind of petrochemical grease or product during fitting... at any rate a tire with cracks should be replaced, regardless of the cause. Just my 2 cents.