Tire Tale

[ARChoo]

I recently(2 months) bought a ME 880 of of ebay for $200 from a private seller thinking, "This sure beats paying $250-300 from any store."

Yeah. Right.

I took the wheel to a local shop and had them mount the tire. When I went to pick it up the partsguy/cashier said the tire was awfully dry and hard(looked fine to me) and the cure date for the thing was 2007. Apparently the mechanic had a REAL hard time installing the tire due to its unwillingness to flex.

I didn't think much of it 'cause 'Hey. I got one hell of a good deal'.

Fast forward to Thursday July 12th. I came home to Ft. Worth after a vacation in the New Orleans area. Took about 9hrs with a 1 hr lunch break with 100 miles of rain. When I got off the bike in my garage after the trip I could smell burning rubber. I looked down and saw this:



I figure I rode the last 200 miles with it like that because I could smell the rubber at each gas stop but shrugged it off as coming from one of the big rigs at the station.

With around 2000 miles on it the whole center tread around the circumference of the tire had separated with a 12 inch chunk departing the scene. I do not blame the tire manufacturer. I blame myself for not asking the tire seller what the cure date was.

I had to find and install another tire before the following weekend due to a scheduled ride with friends. After looking at $300 Metzlers I finally settled on the factory Bridgestones I found for the incredible price of $168.

http://www.bikebandit.com/bridgeston...otorcycle-tire

Almost bought two. Now I'm sitting by the door waiting with eager anticipation for the UPS dude to deliver my present to myself.

[chesshine5000]

Thank God you lived to tell the tale! Yeah, I am very apprehensive to buy tires from an individual. You NEVER know how they cared for the tire even if the date on the tire is recent. Some people just don't think about things before they do them sometimes. Glad to hear you made it home!

[BAD BOY M109R]

glad you made it home in one piece.... a good lesson learned , could have been a real expensive one...

[1r]

One word , WOW!

[Gold5th]

What's the DOT number on the tire? It'll tell you the manufacture year/month. I did the same thing with the stock tire.. just it took 16,000km.

[hunt1moore]

What do you mean by "factory Bridgestones"? My stock tire was a Dunlop.
And, I would still send that pic to Metzler. I'm sure there are still a few 2007 tires rolling on the backs of 2007 9's.

[antmor69]

What do you mean by "factory Bridgestones"? My stock tire was a Dunlop.
And, I would still send that pic to Metzler. I'm sure there are still a few 2007 tires rolling on the backs of 2007 9's.

It's a "C" 109.

[She's real fine my 109]

Bridgestone's a good tire. I run one up front on the nine. Two compound tire. The sides ware before the middle.

[hunt1moore]

It's a "C" 109.

Oh dang, missed that.

[ARChoo]

2704

It was actually made on the 27th week of 2004. Older than previously stated.

[1r]

that is a good price for the new one , doesn't help much you only got 2k from the last tire , I just got new tires mounted up this morning will be putting them on today, I spent a little more got the "max" version of the bridgstone it had good reviews better then the standard tire , i would like to have gone with an Avon I have had great personal history with them but in any size close they are $$$$ and I have NO desire to go to a shorter tire, would have loved to try a slightly taller one but , alas it does not exist .

[ELI]

that is a good price for the new one , doesn't help much you only got 2k from the last tire , I just got new tires mounted up this morning will be putting them on today, I spent a little more got the "max" version of the bridgstone it had good reviews better then the standard tire , i would like to have gone with an Avon I have had great personal history with them but in any size close they are $$$$ and I have NO desire to go to a shorter tire, would have loved to try a slightly taller one but , alas it does not exist .

The max Bridgstone is the same as the excedra, a marketing ploy, as I have tried Metzeler and it is as better tire, but doesnt get me any more miles. The brigestone I took off was wore thin in the middle,dangerously, hardly any plies,the Metz and Avon are safer,I will never put another Bridgestone on, cheap tire all the way around, and handles like a car tire, Darkside is better.I will let everyone know how many miles I get on the Avon.