I went to a quick change oil place recently and he pointed out what he called dry rot on my tires. First I heard of it, but how bad is it? How can you prevent it? I'm going to get new tires soon and I don't wanna see it happen again.

 

Old tires. Sun will do it too. I hear blacktopping your driveway can encourage it also.

 

Yeah but I got the tires new w/the car 2 years ago.
That shouldn't do it right?
How about tire shine solution, would that do it?

 

These links may help:

http://www.msgroup.org/TIP087.html (motorcycle tires are rubber too)

http://www.303products.com/techinfo/tires1.htm

 

303 is the BOMB DIGGITY. I use it on my dash/door seals/etc. Very good product...far superior to Armor all in many ways.

Okay tires: Do you use any kind of tire wet or other tire treatment on them? That could be the problem. Most tire products contain silicone which blocks wax that is built into the tire from getting out and preserving the tire. You need to use a product like 3m's rubber protectant. These types of products don't give the ridiculous shine that tire-wet type things do, but they also won't damage your tires.

One tip I finally tried last weekend was to use a paint brush to spread around the 3m stuff on the tires. MUCH better than using rags...better coverage, better looks, less messy....etc.