2mm minimum depth, haha! Too many lawyers in this world.

For myself, that all depends on how far I intend to ride and what terrain I intend to encounter.

I will many times run a rear until it is worn smooth in the center-line of at least a section.
I know to slow down on rainy asphalt.
The front tire, I might run until barely an impression of visible tread.

Most owners won't wear them even as far as you have.
I many times "Finish-Off" other customers used tires. I like "free mileage".

Its my skin, my life, my choice. YMMV

 

glad i'm not the only "thrifty" rider, I bought my first street bike in 1962, rode many miles on tires that should have been trashed, but we do what we gotta do

 

It looks like you're measuring to the wear bar instead of the base of the tread.
Those tires have plenty of meat left.

How much tread you want left kind of depends on how you ride, what you're riding on, and ambient temp and moisture.

2mm min is a good general guidance, because you need to draw a line somewhere, and that line needs to account for the lowest common denominator.

I pulled my Tractionator GPS tires when the rear was at 3-4mm. Those tires have a hard compound, and I noticed braking traction decreasing rapidly in dry weather. Wet weather would have been worse.

I also pulled my recent Tractionator Adventure rear at about 4mm, because it was squared off and I wanted to scrub in the new tire before hitting some dirt. But I kept that tire, and it's likely going on my spare rim soon so I can burn it all the way to 1mm on the street.

Motorcycle tires are very different from car tires. Motorcycle tire tread doesn't wiggle or squish that much (tall knobbies aside), and in wet weather, you're usually carving through standing water with a narrow contact patch, rather than surfing on top of it. For a non-knobby tire, you're not really losing much, if any, dry traction as the tire wears down to the base of the tread. Burning it all the way down to the carcass in dry weather isn't going to cause any serious problems.

Car tire tread is designed to wiggle and squish during braking, which improves braking traction in both dry and wet conditions. You're also more likely to drive your car in wet weather, and taller tread gives better water evacuation to a wider, flatter contact patch than you have on a motorcycle. So unless you're running very soft compound summer sport tires on your car and only driving on pavement in dry weather, you probably want to replace your car tires at 2-3mm tread depth.

The Michelin Pilot Sports (all season sport tires) on my civic are at about 3mm, and I can already tell they're losing traction in dry corners. They are probably going to get replaced late this year, before the wet season.

 

Thanks for the info, I appreciate the response.

 

I’m currently @ 4mm tread on my rear Trailmax mission and it’s sub par off-road…at best. It currently has 6,500mi.
I’ll probably run it to ~7,000mi before swapping it out. Likely before the winter season. Gotta have meat on the rear for when I plow thru the snow. 😜

2mm of tread isn’t going to offer you squat off the pavement, even if your measuring @ the wear bars. Especially if you’re a novice rider. Regardless, it’ll be time to change out that rear tire VERY soon!

 

Those white thread like things that show up when the tire gets smoother provide good traction … for a little while …

 

Some good points by Paul and Tad.....I tend to agree that it depends on a number of variables with usage and budget being the primary driviers - I toss my tires long before they get worn down as far as the one in the pic but I ride mostly offroad and like the traction offered by a newer tire.

Dave