Tyres should be changed when they are around 5-7 years old regardless of how much use they have had, as even unused tyres will deteriorate with age. Much of the deterioration can be unseen. This is a major reason for blow outs and tyre failures on motorcycles, especially those that are not used very often.

So how do you check the tyre to see how old they are?

Prior to 2000 the year code was only one digit following the week of manufacture, but as this could be either 1980's or 1990's many manufacturers added a small triangle on it's side after the date to indicate the 1990's.

From 2000 onwards a two digit year code was added e.g 1502 would mean that the tyre was made in the 15th week in 2002

Bar is a measure of pressure. 1bar=14.5 psi, this equates to the average atmospheric pressure at sea level.

The table shows an approximate conversion to the nearest 0.5 psi