I beat the rain!

Actually I never got close to the rain but the sky was neat.

 

Now that's a cool picture with a sweet bike.

 

I suspect somebody (who I'm sure knows better) is riding his project bike around on really old tires... 8O

 

Now that's a cool picture with a sweet bike.

 

IIRC the op put new tires on right before he sold it, so he's in the clear

 

Ok fitz, you got me thinking. How long has Bridgestone made the Spitfires? The PO said the tires were new and when I checked the date code they ended with 12, so I was thinking they were new, as in 2012. They look very good, no visilbe wear or dry rotting, what you would expect from tires made less than a year ago.

I did some more research on date codes and it would appear that pre 2000 the codes were 3 digits and from 2000 on they are 4 digits. Based upon that it would appear I'm riding on tires from the 41st week of 1992! 8O

My Seca codes are 4 digits ending in 10.

Here is the code from the rear. If these are in fact 20 year old tires they're coming off tomorrow! Holy crap. Thanks for making me look again fitz.

 

I answered my own question about the date codes. Three digits mean pre 2000. When I bought the bike I just looked at the back tire which by coincidence the code ended in 12 leading me to believe 2012 as I stated before. Had I looked at the front tire the code was 263 which would have been a big clue that I was misreading the code. Shame on me, somewhat embarrassing.

Anyway don't laugh at my stand (it does the job nicely ) but as promised the Spitfires are gone and soon some shiny new D404's will be taking their place!

Then I can finish using the gas left in the tank and start on that crappy paint job.

 

Dunlops are on!

Just a bit of curiosity but why do new tires have a line around the circumference? :?: I figure it must have something to do with QA but not sure.

 

What are all those lines, numbers and letters on a new tire's tread?

While tires may appear to be a homogeneous piece of rubber after they are vulcanized during curing in their molds, most tires feature dozens of fabric, metallic and/or rubber components that must be shaped, sized and assembled to exacting specifications. One of the main rubber components is the tread compound, which is typically manufactured by extruding, a process that's essentially an industrial version of squeezing toothpaste out of a tube.

In the case of tires, warm rubber is extruded through a metal die to produce a continuous slab of tread rubber compound that's the appropriate width and thickness for the tire size being manufactured. The slab of tread rubber compound is subsequently cut to the length needed to go exactly one revolution around the tire's circumference.
Tire Tread Identifiers Multiple stripes and numeric codes are visible on the surface of this new tire's tread.

Since thousands of these flat tread slabs are processed in a tire manufacturing facility every day, the manufacturers often print stripes (often featuring multiple stripes or various colors around the tire's circumference) and/or alphanumeric codes to identify the exact type and size tire for which the tread slab is intended. Because the tread identifying stripes/letters/numbers are printed on the flat tread slab before the tire is assembled and its tread design is molded, these identifiers can be seen on the surface of a new tire's tread blocks, as well as all of the way down to the bottom of the tread grooves.

Since these tread slab stripes/letters/numbers don’t have any bearing on the tire’s performance and are often specified by each individual tire manufacturing plant, those found on a single tire type and size produced in multiple locations may be different.