pre-mature cracks on tire

[justrideit]

Hello to every one, I am a new comer, was searching the web for my tire problem, happened to find this web site.

My 4604 tourance front cracked pre-maturely, it cracked so badly, unexpected. It’s only 3 years and 18 weeks. I am not a fast rider, and could easily get another 5000++ km from that rubber, the treat is good, the rubber still feel good when warm. I was lucky that I did the inflation in a bright morning, and discovered those cracks; it cracked on both sides, all-round, half inch away from the rim. I could have missed it if it was a dim morning. The rubber just split apart neatly. I went straight home without that morning ride, with my pounding heart. Anyone out there experienced the same problem? What is your opinion? Could JR, the importer of metzeler, commend on this? Would a normal tire degrade so badly in such a short time, before it shows something? the rubber still seem smooth and good. Or could some experienced guys out there advice? Appreciate that. I worry the rear will have the same problem, it a 05 tire, it’s scary. Guys out there, do inspect your tires carefully for hair crack, and may be the finger nail check. Feel really disappointed with that expansive tire. Do ride safely and enjoy your rides!

[three]

Well, how long have that tyre been fixed to your bike? Rubber will harden with time. Cracks will appear sooner or later. For me, once mounted, max lifespan for my tyre would be 8 months.

 

From my limited knowledge, a 3yrs 18 weeks tyre is considered OLD.

[GS777]

Hello to every one, I am a new comer, was searching the web for my tire problem, happened to find this web site.

My 4604 tourance front cracked pre-maturely, it cracked so badly, unexpected. It’s only 3 years and 18 weeks. I am not a fast rider, and could easily get another 5000++ km from that rubber, the treat is good, the rubber still feel good when warm. I was lucky that I did the inflation in a bright morning, and discovered those cracks; it cracked on both sides, all-round, half inch away from the rim. I could have missed it if it was a dim morning. The rubber just split apart neatly. I went straight home without that morning ride, with my pounding heart. Anyone out there experienced the same problem? What is your opinion? Could JR, the importer of metzeler, commend on this? Would a normal tire degrade so badly in such a short time, before it shows something? the rubber still seem smooth and good. Or could some experienced guys out there advice? Appreciate that. I worry the rear will have the same problem, it a 05 tire, it’s scary. Guys out there, do inspect your tires carefully for hair crack, and may be the finger nail check. Feel really disappointed with that expansive tire. Do ride safely and enjoy your rides!

 

 

Hi justrideit,

 

You are not the only one who has encountered this. I had it happened to 2 sets of my tourance tyres before.

 

I seldom ride my bike, clocking abt 6k a year. after 3 years the tyre still looks good, but I would think that the tyres hardened up.

 

Spoke to JR, but they cant do anything as the tyres are more than a year old.

but I think it is not normal to have cracks like you mentioned. To be fair, it can be due to many other reasons besides the manufacturing defects.

 

But I strongly suspect the later. I continued to use the tourance cos it is very reliable during wet and dry days.

 

Today, I dont use tourance anymore.

[chua6389]

My front tire still in good tread condition, found out already have crack lines along the tread lines only 15 mths old(at 11000kms).......

 

For safety sake, must change as i travelled alot on the highway, i wouldn't want

the front rubbers to give way when travelling at 100km/h.... :giddy:

[keratsini]

Hello to every one, I am a new comer, was searching the web for my tire problem, happened to find this web site.

My 4604 tourance front cracked pre-maturely, it cracked so badly, unexpected. It’s only 3 years and 18 weeks. I am not a fast rider, and could easily get another 5000++ km from that rubber, the treat is good, the rubber still feel good when warm. I was lucky that I did the inflation in a bright morning, and discovered those cracks; it cracked on both sides, all-round, half inch away from the rim. I could have missed it if it was a dim morning. The rubber just split apart neatly. I went straight home without that morning ride, with my pounding heart. Anyone out there experienced the same problem? What is your opinion? Could JR, the importer of metzeler, commend on this? Would a normal tire degrade so badly in such a short time, before it shows something? the rubber still seem smooth and good. Or could some experienced guys out there advice? Appreciate that. I worry the rear will have the same problem, it a 05 tire, it’s scary. Guys out there, do inspect your tires carefully for hair crack, and may be the finger nail check. Feel really disappointed with that expansive tire. Do ride safely and enjoy your rides!

 

 

3 years plus tyres and you still using them? Goodness me! They must be hard like stone by now. That's the reason they craked, they lost their flexibility. Tyres should be changed when they reach the wear and tear marks or after 1 - 1.5 years whichever is first. If you love your life change them if you don't then I wish you luck.

[lao uncle]

3 years plus tyres and you still using them? Goodness me! They must be hard like stone by now. That's the reason they craked, they lost their flexibility. Tyres should be changed when they reach the wear and tear marks or after 1 - 1.5 years whichever is first. If you love your life change them if you don't then I wish you luck.

 

Ya, tire should be change if more than 2 years old or when crack line appear.

 

3 years old tire is abit old and will harden and should not be use.

[keratsini]

Ya, tire should be change if more than 2 years old or when crack line appear.

 

3 years old tire is abit old and will harden and should not be use.

 

Small bikes and/or normal ride I agree with you. Class 2 bikes and hard ride then should be changed 1-1.5 years.

[contrarian]

Tires will harden over time with exposure to air.

2 years is about as long as they should be used, regardless of the actual wear on the threads.

[mepkoh]

all tyres have their year of manufacture moulded into them...

 

i am not sure how long it will last...it depends on the formulation of the tyre i think...

 

but if it is more than 4 years...throw it away...IMHO...

the UV will degrade the tyre...once this happens the tye will not be able to take the design stresses..ie it will blow once the stress limit is reach...

good luck smiles upon you when you discover this...

maybe go back to the supplier and ask for a clarification...

[Constructicon]

Hello to every one, I am a new comer, was searching the web for my tire problem, happened to find this web site.

My 4604 tourance front cracked pre-maturely, it cracked so badly, unexpected. It’s only 3 years and 18 weeks. I am not a fast rider, and could easily get another 5000++ km from that rubber, the treat is good, the rubber still feel good when warm. I was lucky that I did the inflation in a bright morning, and discovered those cracks; it cracked on both sides, all-round, half inch away from the rim. I could have missed it if it was a dim morning. The rubber just split apart neatly. I went straight home without that morning ride, with my pounding heart. Anyone out there experienced the same problem? What is your opinion? Could JR, the importer of metzeler, commend on this? Would a normal tire degrade so badly in such a short time, before it shows something? the rubber still seem smooth and good. Or could some experienced guys out there advice? Appreciate that. I worry the rear will have the same problem, it a 05 tire, it’s scary. Guys out there, do inspect your tires carefully for hair crack, and may be the finger nail check. Feel really disappointed with that expansive tire. Do ride safely and enjoy your rides!

 

It's not 'pre-mature cracks' man....how could it be pre-mature when the tyre is over 3 years already.

I guess most got the same reaction when they read "3 years and 18 weeks".

:giddy:

[Raptor]

Most tyres have their date of manufacture on them, normally appears as a 4 digit number eg (3106)..

 

This is the manufacture date... the numbers are on the same sidewall of the tyre that shows the data of plies and load limits. The first 2 digits is the week and second 2 digits is the year of manufacture.

 

On the average its about 4 weeks to a month so this tyre was probably manufactured in late April or early May 2006.

 

When you fit a tyre, check on the manufacture date coz the shop might be giving you an old stock tyre. Normally the shelf life of a tyre is 3 years from date of manufacture, thereafter the rubber compound is supposed to be age hardened.

 

So if they put a shelf life expired tyre and you add on another 3 years of riding which makes it a total of 6 years... that is one damn old tyre and I would be amazed if did not crack and have pieces falling off in chunks.

 

Change your tyres yearly if you can.... its not the wear depth issue but rather the age issue which is directly related to the age hardening of the rubber compound which is related to the amount of grip available.

 

And by the way... there is NO such thing as good grip and last long. Its one or the other.

 

Tyres are much cheaper when compared to your life and your life is riding on them.

[mepkoh]

some tyres have milage warranties..check it out.

so the next time you change tyres ask for the warranty..

[PK Leong]

My stock tyre last 2.5 years, 22000km on it. I just changed it due to wear but no crack. Check out the link below, it give some tyre tips.

 

http://www.dunlopmotorcycle.com/infocenter_tiretips.asp

[justrideit]

hey, many thanks to all of you.

Do forgive me, I responded slow. I am much slower these days, just like my riding. And English isn’t my language; I need time (long hours) to arrange those letters readable. Sorry here. And if I use offensive words in my posts, I don’t mean it, really, I don’t, and they are of no ill means. I apologize if I use them unintentionally. I do not have good command of English. And seem like having mild dyslexia. I mix words up often. If you see silly words, dyslexia to blame, though I am the owner. Let me thanks all nice guys out there again. Nice to see you guys make this web such a lively place. There are some individual thanks to some of you, and also some discussions.

 

Hi three, thanks to you,

 

I would agree with you if those are performance or race rubber, but these are touring tire mean for miles eater. 8 months just not right. Is a 3 yrs old rubber considered too old? I am not in the position to say. Before my posting, I went to some web sites, including tire manufacturer’s sites; at lease two of them stated in their web sites that rubber should have 6 to 8 yrs of life. I know none of us is going to trust an 8 yrs old tire, nor am I. We are on a two-wheeler, none of us is going to put our lives on thing like that; we demand absolute confident. Read about the tragedies in today front page? Could that be a failed tire? Or some do not belt? f=ma is a cold hard fact. And, do they mean only car tires? I don’t know, I did not read those articles in-depth. I had an experience with a set of 5+ yrs car tires, they were in good condition, so I took them for an 8200+ km long trip, they came back perfect. So, you may ask, what about the inside? Well, I had a chance to look into one of them. It punctured on the journey; I took it to the tire man. This guy in Ayutthaya did the patching in a proper way, inside out. Many of our tire shops don’t do that. So I got a feel of the inside, I would say, fine, not a stone. What about the rubber composite? I don’t know, may be only the tire companies know. By the way, those were Korea rubber. I back them, really miles eater, wet or dry, AAA, I mean daily use. Thanks again, three.

 

 

Hi gs777, thanks to you,

 

We may have something in common, other than the bad experience with those rubbers, just a guess. I too, clock less than 5k a year, if rubber life is less than 2 yrs, we are just the losers. I would rather look for something that last longer, because I don’t really need the muscle from the high performers. I should agree with you that it is indeed manufacturing defects. Those cracks on my tire are not like those on my daily communicating bike, I mean bicycle. I use them till they burst. They are old, with lots of hair cracks, I accepted the fate that they will die, die in a bitter way, or should I say an honorable way. But those on the tourance are different; they form a single line, neat and deep. It’s like they can’t take the pressure any longer, I mean the necessary operation pressure. The rubber lose it bond, they are wrongly formulated. Of course, we all accept that tires harden in time, they aged, lose some grip, etc. By the way, gs, you said you don’t use them anymore, had you found something better? Or something suit you better? Had you tried BT? Would you recommend? Which shop? Thanks again, gs.

 

Hi pk leong, thank to you,

 

Good information, they also say their tires are warranted for 48 months. I have no read all, may be I missed some other important clauses. Thanks again, pk.

 

 

thanks again to everyone, for your experience sharing, for the kind concern you expressed. I still owe our administrator a thank you note for his warm welcome, but I am tired, I will do that some other day, I know he don’t charge me interest. Bye, enjoy your riding.