VF500 tire age/info

Soooo....I'm looking @ the tires on my 85 VF500, and I'm seeing that they are kinda hard as a rock. Still have tread on both, just seeing some cracking in/around the nubs. So I figure I'd check to see when they were made and go from there.

I don't see anything like the age indicators I was looking for. The rear one has this on it:

Metzler Perfect ME99A
size 4.25/85V18 (huh? Whatever happened to 120/60, etc.?)
only other numerals I see are BPW315

Front:
100/90 V16 (that's the kinda sizing I was looking for on the rear)
Metzler ME33 Laser
BUH376

So...any idea how to tell the age of these things?

What's the biggest size I can put on the OEM rims?

What's the rear size on there now?

A brand/model you 500 guys have and like? I'm running Dunlop's on everything else I have, but I'm completely open to opinions. Looking for longevity above all else, with a little bit of canyon carving (mostly above Malibu/Rock Store).

 

I've had good experience with the Metzler Lasertecs....and a little experience with the Perelli Sport Demons. I liked both.

I had Bridgestone Battlax Tires originally when I got the bike and they worse horribly! The front is super cupped.


If you have the stock wheels then get stock sizes. I had a 130 on the rear and it doesn't look right

 

There should be a 4 digit # on the side wall of the tire telling the week and year of manufacture. For example 3208 would signify that the tire was made in the 32nd week of 2008.

 

Yeahhhhh...no 3 digit numbers, only the ones I posted up above. Must be before they started that 4 digit year thing, or the tires weren't intended for the US. Which is what I was thinking since the rear one is in metric.

 

Any help as to what the stock sizes were? I know the front size now (as noted above) but I have no idea if that's stock, if I should go up or down a size, or what the stock size currently is on the rear, or what is better.

 

Front tire : 100/90-16
Rear tire : 110/90-18

Since tires are not plentiful in these sizes it's best to go to a place where you are getting tires and say: "What can you get me from these sizes?"