How old is your new tire?

[Ponch]

7/15/2011: I just received my new E3 from Jake Wilson. It was manufactured the first week of October, 2007. 3 yrs, nine months old.

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[friesman]

I think i would see what your supplier would say about replacing that. Arent bike tires only sposed to be used up to 5 years? If thats the case you only have a bit over a year to burn it off...

 

Brian

[bongobobny]

Tire manufacturers recommend not using tires over 6 years old. Yah, that isn't the freshest tire but I've seen worse. If it is a rear tire you should burn it up in a couple of years anyway...

[CaptainJoe]

hummmmmmmmmmm...

Just got one from Jake Wilson yesterday... guess I'd better check the date:detective:

[The Black Pearl]

Just got my Dunlop a week ago 38th week of 2009 so about 2 yrs old but I burn through about one tire a year on the rear

[jfoster]

Mine was 2-3 years old when I got it. I'm not worried bout it, besides it sat in a warehouse out of the weather and within two years it'll be worn out.

Edited July 17, 2011 by jfoster

[Tom]

7/15/2011: I just received my new E3 from Jake Wilson. It was manufactured the first week of October, 2007. 3 yrs, nine months old.

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When I was looking for my new set they would not check the date codes so I kept looking until I found a tire place that would actually check the date codes and send what I wanted. I knew it was a lot of trouble but as I explained to them,"This is mine and my Wifes live depending on these tires".I got Motosport to check the codes and got some manufactured in 2011. Not knocking Jake Wilson but I want 100% customer service. Ponch as said I think Id try and get another tire.

[CaptainJoe]

mines either 2611 or 2311... so i guess I'm good to go!

its not the white ink but the 4 digit week/year in the molded oval on the tire...

[etcswjoe]

I looked at the tires I removed from my bike last week and the code in the oval like you have pictured said 5601 I always thought there were 52 weeks in a year? Turns out I was right that was not the date code on my Dunlop tires it is in with the DOT code on the tire. My new tires were made 14th week of 2011. My old tires were made 27 week of 2003. I think

 

But what is really confusing is I found this on the dunlop website http://www.dunlopmotorcycle.com/pdf/11D_FL_SAFETY.pdf

Edited July 17, 2011 by etcswjoe

[Condor]

Never checked my E3's when I got them from Jake Wilson. They looked new so I installed them. I'm not sold on this 6 year thing as it just gives everyone something else to be paranoid about. They're not going to mysteriously self distruct 6 years from the DOT date. As long as the tire wasn't sitting out exposed in a field somewhere, and stored inside, they should be fine. And, I've even had E2's on early 1stGens that had been sitting out in the weather, and run them without a problem.

[tufftom4]

Dates on a tire are a bunch of bull if they are not dry rotted they are fine in 2000 I drove from Mass up through Canada to Sturgis, Yellowstone and Glacier national parks and back on my 79 XS1100 with 15 y/o tires that were like new, I never even had to put air in them until they went bald, my front tire on my bike now was made in 03 but is new and I have no worries about riding cross country with it. In all my years of riding (30+) I have never had a flat on the road with tires over 6 years old.

[darthandy]

The problem with old tires isn't so much the possibility of rot as it is the possibility of hardening of the rubber compound. When left unused (Un-flexed as it were), particularly if exposed to UV rays and good old fashioned oxygen, the rubber compound can become "hardened". That loss of flexibility can reduce the tires ability to "stick" to the road in turns and during stops. This is especially true on wet surfaces. By the way, even a regularly used tire can, and in fact will, harden over time. It may look fine but a hard turn or sudden stop can show a dramatic (And possibly painful) difference with a newer tire. I am aware of a number of instances over the years of people who performed normal stops and found the front and/or rear tire locking up on dry pavement due to the aged condition of the tire. In some cases this led to an accident. Now, this doesn't happen overnight, but beyond a certain length of time, there will begin a slow hardening process that will rob the tire of its traction. As I mentioned before, the two biggest culprits are UV rays and the oxygen in the air. I first ran across this when I got into road racing (A long time ago, but this effect doesn't change) and dealt with tire experts. Also, you would get the occasional low buck road racer who would get a "great deal" on some old, high performance rubber, only to wipe out on the first practice lap.

 

A three year old tire that has been properly stored indoors, off the concrete and ideally kept wrapped up, should not present any problems unless you are running all out on a hyperbike at the race track. For the kind of riding we touring types do, any potential loss of traction would be too minimal to have any noticeable effect. Of course, the question is...was it properly stored all that time? That's where the fun begins!

 

Andy

[Ponch]

I looked at the tires I removed from my bike last week and the code in the oval like you have pictured said 5601 I always thought there were 52 weeks in a year? Turns out I was right that was not the date code on my Dunlop tires it is in with the DOT code on the tire. My new tires were made 14th week of 2011. My old tires were made 27 week of 2003. I think

 

But what is really confusing is I found this on the dunlop website http://www.dunlopmotorcycle.com/pdf/11D_FL_SAFETY.pdf

 

I hope you're right, but I don't see it.

 

U2LL = 14th week of 2011? I don't see a code description in their instructions.

 

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[Snaggletooth]

When I got my new Avons from SW Moto the front was a year and the rear was about 6 months.

 

A local independent shop was running a 70% off sale on all their "selected" tires and some of the dates on them were over 5 years old still on the racks. Yikes!

[darthandy]

I looked at the tires I removed from my bike last week and the code in the oval like you have pictured said 5601 I always thought there were 52 weeks in a year? Turns out I was right that was not the date code on my Dunlop tires it is in with the DOT code on the tire. My new tires were made 14th week of 2011. My old tires were made 27 week of 2003. I think

 

But what is really confusing is I found this on the dunlop website http://www.dunlopmotorcycle.com/pdf/11D_FL_SAFETY.pdf

 

Based on the Dunlop website, it looks like the date code for the first picture is the 5107 after the four letters to the right of the DOT code. In other words, the 51st week of 2007 ... unless I'm reading their example incorrectly.

[etcswjoe]

I hope you're right, but I don't see it.

 

U2LL = 14th week of 2011? I don't see a code description in their instructions.

 

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I called and sent an e-mail to Dunlop will see what they have to say.

I think this picture represents 51st week of 07 I was good with the date codes in the little oval till I ran across the 5601.

[Ponch]

I emailed Jake Wilson to see what they say. Thanks.

[wes0778]

I emailed Jake Wilson to see what they say. Thanks.

I'll be interested to see what you find out. I got the E3 we put on at Kenny's from Jake Wilson and I think I remember (need to go look) it had 07 as the last 2 digits of the little 4 digit code.

[Monty]

I buy all of my tires from Motorcycle Superstore, and they have always had a fresh date.

[CaptainJoe]

Perhaps The E3's are different.... my E3's don't have an 8 digit code anywhere on the left hand side of the tire ... just a 4 digit 2411 24th week of 2011.

Edited July 19, 2011 by CaptainJoe

[CaptainJoe]

Fortunately, tire manufacturers give the game away by stamping a date code in the tire sidewall. This is in the form of three numbers, for example “475” on the sidewall of a Dunlop K70 on my 1970 Bonneville. These characters are usually preceded by “DOT” and a bunch of other letters. More on that later.

Before 2000 the date is indicated by two numbers for the week and one for the year in the decade. In the case of my 475 Bonnie hoop, the tire was made in week 47 of 1995. How do I know it was ‘95, not ‘85 or even ‘75? For the 1990s only, a small triangle was used as a suffix to indicate that decade. Before 1990, you’re on your own. And you probably should have tossed them by now anyway.

From 2000 on, the code is four digits long (though some manufacturers didn’t start stamping four numbers until late in that year); and so, for another example, my Sprint ST’s back tire is a “4704,” created in week 47 of 2004. Simple stuff – after 1990, that is. I have a pile of older rubber awaiting disposal in the back of the Big Shed with year codes that could indicate manufacture in either the Disco or Glam Rock era, but I can’t tell.

Now to the longer DOT designation. The Sprint ST’s front skin reads “DOT ENYO VLK 1704.” We’re interested in the first two letters after DOT and the date code. The remaining characters identify the size and type of tire using codes specific to the manufacturer. The first two letters designate the factory where the tire was made. Using a comprehensive list of manufacturer codes found at(http://www.harriger.com/tires.htm), I learned “EN” means the tire was made at Bridgestone-Firestone’s Kurosio-Shi factory in Tochigi-Ken, Japan, during week 17 of 2004. Similarly, the rear Michelin Macadam on my Laverda Mirage is stamped “DOT HBBN 188T 4002.” So it was made in week 40 of 2002 by Michelin’s S.A.F.E.N.M. subsidiary in Lasarte, near Bilbao in Spain..

So now you’ve really got no excuse. You can confirm the age of your tire using the date code, and you can even tell where it was made. But if in doubt, replace!

 

http://www.roadrunner.travel/article-6336.php

 

*Note*

Sorry, corrected fist link to harringer tire codes... it was wrong from the articule. I should have tested it before posting here... OOps!

Edited July 17, 2011 by CaptainJoe

[crowrod]

I ordered a pair from Jake Wilson Wednesday of last week, by phone and was able to find out the dates on the tires ,rear is 3-1-10 front is 4-1-10 should get them Tuesday the 19th ,I thought they were very nice people.

[exrsa1]

I posted the following paragraph from a previous thread:

 

"I bought my front Elite 3 from Jake Wilson, and it turned out to be 3.5 years old. In talking to their customer service people, they explained that the manufacturer have assured them there are no issues with tires that old, if kept in a climate controlled warehouse, which they have. I was not very comfortable with that, but talked to my tire guy and decided to install it, but we realized that the beads of the tire were within an inch of each other, and getting to set that bead was going to be a problem. To make a long story endless... We got it on finally, but took some "engineering". So far I have about 1000 miles on it and no issues. It made a big difference from the original Bridgestone. I'll be putting on about 2000 miles in the next two weeks, and hopefully will see no ill effects due to the age of the tire."

 

So after about 3300 miles, no issues with the 'older' tire and really like the change from the Bridgestone. I also had to change the rear Dunlop 404 after only 6000 miles, which was very dissapointing. I went with an Elite 3 this time, again ordered from from Jake Wilson, but this time the tire was manufactured in 2011, and no issues getting it mounted.

 

Brian

[kevin-vic-b.c.]

This "6 year thing" came to me from Dunlop when I was trying to buy some E3s for my 86. I consider that as a collector bike it is unlikely I will ever wear the tire tread or rubber down to any unsafe level but the tire will age out. So when my "new" E3 tires showed up and they were about 2.5 years of date I was puzzled. I emailed Dunlop twice.... I phoned .... finaly after a heated discussion with someone at Dunlop Canada they gave me a number to call in the US and I finally got a man that after getting some run around finally ended up reading to me the "policy on tire age" I was told that all motorcycle tires should be removed from service after 6 to 7 years from date code stamped.

 

I asked the dealer for a discount on the tire or a replacement.... I ended up with Metzlers as all the E3s that the supplier had had the same date coding.

 

The E2s I took off still looked good..... but I asure you after having a new set of tires under me... they were not good. They were date coded 01 and 02... roughly 9 years old at the time.

 

[etcswjoe]

Just heard back from Dunlop on the date code and here is what they had to say:

 

Good morning Joe,

Thank you for taking the time to contact Dunlop Motorcycle & ATV.

 

Look for the letters DOT. (this means department of transportation and any tire that runs on the street must have one)

DOT will only be on one side of the tire .

After DOT there will be an alpha-numeric sequence approximately 10-12 characters long.

The last four digits of this sequence is the date.

It will be stamped....may be in an oval.

Example: 3409.....will be the 34th week of 2009

 

In case you find a tire with 3 digits, it means the tire was made prior to 2000.

Starting with the year 2000 four digits are now used..

 

Should you need further information or assistance, please call Dunlop Consumer Affairs @ 800-845-8378

or e-mail us.

 

regards,

Virginia Gallant

Consumer Affairs Representative

Consumer Affairs

Dunlop Motorcycle & ATV Tire Division

 

Goodyear/Dunlop Tires N.A., Ltd

PO Box 1109

Buffalo, NY 14240

Ph: (800) 845-8378 Fax: (716) 879-8425