tires

[newventure]

I don't post much here, mainly just read other's posts but I'm on quite a bit. What concerns me is the last few days I see other riders having tire issues, Avon's with the sidewalls cracking and tire blow outs. I kind find it hard to believe that us riders are negligent on tire care such as inspecting them, and maintaining tire pressures ect. What is the consensus that perhaps like alot of things now that the quality of materials are lacking? I guess in the back of my mind I'm thinking that the costs of raw materials in today's society that manufactures are going the cheap route, and lack of proper quality controls to produce a good safe product. When I get back to Pa. my other bike will need tires and I'm concerned on what to get. I put the e3's on the venture two years ago and couldn't be happier with the bike. How old can tires actually be to actually be safe to use? I realize that tires have a manufacture date, and set on a shelf for a while, but how old before the safety factor comes into play? Any other's see a possible trend here? Thanks..

[bongobobny]

Tire manufacturers recommend replacing tires that are over 6 years old. The date code is a 4 digit number on one side of the tire and is the week of the year for the first 2 digits and the year for the other 2 digits...

[Freebird]

I am possibly being naive here but I just don't think that the tire manufacturers are cutting any corners that would result in a defective tire. The liabilities would be so high for them if that were the case and somebody was seriously injured or killed using such a tire. I just think that in the quest to manufacture a tire that provides the handling, grip, performance that is needed on a motorcycle while still trying to get an acceptable number of miles out of them is a critical balance. I do think that some of these manufactures turn a blind eye to some of the issues that are reported and just honestly think that we, the rider, are causing these problems.

 

Metzler refuses to admit that they have a problem that causes the tires for our bikes to sometimes chunk pieces of tread. They want to blame the rider for improper inflation even though those same riders don't experience that problem with other brands of tires.

 

Avon refuses to admit that they have a problem that is causing the sidewalls to crack on tires that are not past an acceptable age limit and sometimes with very low miles on them. They prefer to blame the rider for improper storage and various other reasons. Even though those same riders may have two or three bikes with tires of different brands stored in identical conditions with no problems with the other brands cracking.

 

I have very little to say about the Bridgestone. They are so bad that they are not even worthy of consideration.

 

There is really nothing that I can point to with the Dunlop tires. Some don't last as many miles as the other brands. The E3 seems to yield very good mileage but I have heard many reports that they are a bit noisy in the curves. That is simply a matter of tread design and could probably be easily corrected by them if they chose to do so. Some have also reported that they don't seen to grip quite as well in wet conditions. Other say that they grip very well so I don't know if they do or don't because I've never run them.

 

I went back with the Avons in spite of the fact that my old ones did crack. I'm just hopeful that this new set does not do so. I like the performance, quietness, longevity better than any tire that I have personally used so decided to give them one more chance. If these crack prematurely, I will try to Avon to replace them with another brand and will likely try the E3 unless Michelin comes out with a new Commander in the meantime, then I would probably try it again.

Edited June 26, 2011 by Freebird

[Mike G in SC]

Michelin refuses to admit that they have a problem that causes the tires for our bikes to sometimes chunk pieces of tread. They want to blame the rider for improper inflation even though those same riders don't experience that problem with other brands of tires.

.

 

Don, Was that Michelin? I was thinking that Metzler was throwing chuncks. I hadn't heard that on the Michelins.

(I have Michelin Commanders on my RSTD and Avons on my RSV, like them both but wanted to find more Michelins.)

 

Thanks, Mike G

[newventure]

My venture has the e 3's on it and yes after getting some miles on them they do have a humming sound when going into turns, but are wearing very good. My vulcan is an 06 and has 14k miles on the original tires so when I get home I'm putting new tires on it just not sure what to go with at this point. The oem tires are bridgestones and frankly I can't complain about them at all. I got good mileage from them and no evidence of any cracking ect. They are a tube type tire so I don't know if that would have any bearing or not. I noticed here the last few month's that they are starting to cup so it's replacement time, and may go with the bridgestones. I just noticed here that a few rider's were having some issues and was a little concerned. As a past auto repairmen I can honestly say that I have seen cheaper brand tires wear quite quickly vs. a more name brand tire and tires made from other countries may not use the same quality type of materials or compounds to produce their product. Yes I agree on the liability issue but still doesn't help the comfort issue when your rolling down the road. A friend of a friend had crashed his HD bad about 3 years ago from an aftermarket brake caliper that had locked up the front wheel and caused his crash. He spent some time in the hospital but now is back riding again. But supposedly the more the brake was used at low speeds the caliper wouldn't release the fluid back to the resevoir enough and eventually would lock up the front wheel. Luckily he was going at at a low speed. I spoke with him last fall and he said the part was made in china and after litigation ect. the part is still produced and being installed on other bikes. Sorry to get off topic here but I just wonder about about the quality control issues....

[Freebird]

Don, Was that Michelin? I was thinking that Metzler was throwing chuncks. I hadn't heard that on the Michelins.

(I have Michelin Commanders on my RSTD and Avons on my RSV, like them both but wanted to find more Michelins.)

 

Thanks, Mike G

 

Yes, sorry about that. I've corrected my post.