Quote Originally Posted by dragos13
I can ride very shagged tires. I just have to adapt my riding to match the rubber I'm on. Brand new tires can be pushed very hard in race pace. As they get older, they will slide around more. If you are comfortable with the bike and know how it feels, you should be fine. I have ridden tires until the indicators completely disappear. I've also crashed on freshies.

.
Casey took the words right out of my mouth.

You can check how hard a tire is, in comparison to other tires, with a tool that Mark has in his trailer that penetrates the tire. But that doesn't really tell you how it is going to "feel" underneath you.

I can tell you one thing.....
If you are riding around the track worried about how safe your tires are... you won't be thinking about the task at hand, which is riding your motorcycle, and paying attention to what is in front of you. If you are that worried about them... get a another set.
Aside from your tires... you don't want to crash because your head was somewhere else....