How old is your new tire?

[CaptainJoe]

Yours is a U2:

U2 SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.SHIRAKAWA CITYFUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE JAPAN

 

Heres where it's made using the harringer link and the letters DA (first two letters after DOT)

DA DUNLOP TIRE CORPORATION BUFFALO NEW YORK UNITED STATES

Heres a pic of my new E3:

Edited July 19, 2011 by CaptainJoe

[V7Goose]

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.

[ATTACH]58750[/ATTACH]

Well Ponch, I sure hope they exchange that tire for you at no cost - I wouldn't want it. A four year old tire is close to end-of-life, and even if the bike tire manufacturer's do not publicly share max tire age information, I'll just point to their warranty policies - Avon won't warrant any tire over 5 years old, and Dunlop won't warrant any tire over 6 years old. There is a sound reason for that - they don't trust their own tires past that age. If they don't, why should we?

 

If you plan on burning through that tire in a year to 18 months, it is probably OK; otherwise, I would not accept it. Please let us know what they do about your concern - if they insist on shipping tires that old and then sticking it to the unsuspecting customer, I won't every buy another tire from them - just not worth the risk.

 

BTW - is that a front tire or a rear? What size? If we share that information along with the tire age and where we bought it, maybe we can begin to paint a picture of what venders have fresh tires?

Goose

Edited July 19, 2011 by V7Goose

[V7Goose]

Just for reference, the MV85B15 E3 I bought from Jake Wilson in June, 2010, has date code 4909 - that means it was only about 6 months old when I got it.

 

The 150/80-16 Venom AM41 front tire I just got two weeks ago from SW Moto Tires has a date code of 1711 - also less than 6 months old.

 

Goose

[Skid]

I got mine from Jake Wilson last fall and they were 47 week 2009

[Ponch]

BTW - is that a front tire or a rear? What size? If we share that information along with the tire age and where we bought it, maybe we can begin to paint a picture of what venders have fresh tires?

Goose

 

Front tire, 150/80/16.

 

I wrote Jake Wilson and they shipped a new one immediately.

 

 

I had complained about depressions in the sidewalls, so I don't know if they replaced it due to age or the depressions.

 

The only problem is, it's Wednesday morning, I don't have the tire yet and we leave tomorrow afternoon for Cody.

[CaptainJoe]

Your in the same boat i'm in...

can you have shipped to cody? and have Mountain valley motorsports install?

I'm gonna wiait till they open this morning and see if they can do it... and how much?

[Bobby G]

According to my OEM contacts at Yamaha and Suzuki, their OEM tire suppliers (primarily Bridgestone and Dunlop) advise that unused new tires that exceed 4 years in storage should not be used by dealers for warranty replacement. That tells me that the tire manufacturers feel that a 4 year old (or older) tire would be "potentially" unsafe to ride on, regardless of where or how they are stored. I think that their legal and compliance folks probably had something to do with instituting this policy, and that a 5 year old tire is probably still OK to ride on, but my life is on the line here. As such, I will always hedge my bets and not install any tires that are older than 4 years from date of manufacturer, regardless of how much I can save by buying tires on "special". My tire store (Ken's M/C Tires in Woodstock GA) concurs, and does not stock, sell or install any tires that are dated older than 3 years.

[Ponch]

the replacement came in today and it's right off the mold.

 

[ATTACH]58935[/ATTACH]

 

No blemishes either.

[Tom]

Hooray! I'll be in Clayton, NM Friday evening around 5PM at the Super 8 if y'all need a place and can't get one.