Tread depth

[short-edd]

My 07 wee has Anakee 2 tyres fitted, profile is good But checking them today I have
(in the center) 3 mm on the front & 4 mm on the rear (plenty on the sides).
I don’t know the tread depth from new so I don’t know the wear rate used, how much
mileage do you think is left.
I have the odd giddy moment but generally I ride quite steady and with a 2k trip coming up
I’m a little concerned.
(If I need new ones, who’s doing the best price).
Edd.

[Oop North John]

If in doubt change them then you'll have fresh tyres for your check, with no squaring off to worry about.

Keep the Anakee 2 tyres as spares, or refit after the trip and use the rest of the wear, if you don't want to / can't afford to dispose of half used tyres.

[mr_diver]

there is a bit of life left in them, but with a big trip coming up, I'd change em and not spend the trip worrying or having to find a tyre place and waste best part of a day.

Isn't it 1.6mm rear and 1.0mm front????

Holmsey?

[MartinW]

Found this link this morning:-

The legal limit of tyre tread depth in the UK for motorcycles over 50cc is 1mm across ¾ of the width of the tread pattern and with visible tread on the remaining ¼. For motorcycles up to 50cc the law requires that all the grooves of the original tread pattern must be clearly visible.

Full details here

So we can get away with just "visible tread" on some of the tyre  

Not sure they do MOT's to these slack limits though.

[V-Strom3]

Tread depth across the central 3/4 is a minimum of 1.0mm for motorbikes.
Minimum of 1.6mm for cars.

[UK_Vstrom650]

1mm across 3/4 of the centre of the tyre (front & rear)

That said, I saw an episode of 5th Gear a few years ago where they tested car tyre performance under braking in the wet.  The results were anything under 3mm severely reduces braking performance, and at 1.6mm (minimum for cars) they said was insufficient and would likely result in an accident.

[Hondaman]

Tread depth across the central 3/4 is a minimum of 1.0mm for motorbikes.
Minimum of 1.6mm for cars.

The minimum legal requirement for bikes is 1mm across 3/4 of the width of the tyre the remaining 1/4 (centre) must have visible tread.

I generally run tyres 'till they are 'about' bald in the middle ;)
Changing at 3-4mm is a wasteful, expensive hobby IMHO

[frez]

Fronts start off at 5mm, rear starts off at 7mm, so you are about half worn.

The reason bike tyres can be less than car tyres is because they are so narrow it is pretty difficult to get them to aquaplane.

I change the fronts before they get near 1mm. Rears I'm not so fussed about.

[short-edd]

Thanks for the advise chaps, I will monitor them over the next 8 weeks prior
to my Germany trip, I will probably put another 1k on them before my trip.

£165 + fitting is the best I've found so far, not over the moon with that price
but at least I still have time to look around.
Again thanks for the input.
Edd.

[1monkey1]

I just got a new set of Anakee 2's from OPONEO.CO.UK. cheapest I could find.
£65 front  £69 rear including delivery.My local bike shop charges £6+ vat per wheel to fit.

[short-edd]

£134 delivered, I can live with that (is that for the H rated?)

[1monkey1]

This is what it says on the invoice
Items ordered:

Michelin ANAKEE 2 150/70 R17 69 V Rear TL/TT M/C
Price per pc. incl.VAT: 69 £Quantity: 1 Total price (with VAT): 69 £

Michelin ANAKEE 2 110/80 R19 59 V Front TL/TT M/C
Price per pc. incl.VAT: 65 £Quantity: 1 Total price (with VAT): 65 £

Just been on site and seems the price has gone up

[Hondaman]

£134 delivered, I can live with that (is that for the H rated?)

Check what the local tyre places charge for fitting, some don't like fitting tyres bought elswhere & charge accordingly.
£6 +vat for fitting is cheap, £10-£15 per tyre usually.

[Holmsey]

Isn't it 1.6mm rear and 1.0mm front????

Holmsey?

Only just read this post .... but it's been answered  

[Juvecu]

I used to ride the Anakee 2s until they were flat in the middle on the rear before changing, you could feel the edge when you got it leant over. The fronts I changed before it got to 1mm, I could usually tell when it was wet that they're about to need a change. I'd say 1.5-2mm is still safe, lower than that and braking in the wet starts to suffer enough for it not to be worth waiting longer to put a fresh one on. Not much of an issue in the dry though, but in the UK it can get wet at any time.