Avon Roadrider cracking Again

[Bill C.]

Roadriders AM26

Well a week turned into a month before I got my tires mounted. Rode the bike today a what a differance they made. Will keep a eye on the sidewalls. My 850 turns and rides so much better. I will keep everybody posted on how they wear and if there are any problems. Finger crossed. I now have about 400 miles on my tires and no problems so far. I love the way the handle and the ride is much better. I would recommend them to anybody looking for a well priced good handling tire.

[82Shafty]

Ok, we are at about a year later, how are the Avon's holding up?

[Rkt-Rch]

My cheap priced Shinko's are looking pretty good right now... LOL

I WAS thinking about the Avon's for my next set but you all are scareing me now...

Hope AVON does right by you all...

[tkent02]

Hope AVON does right by you all...

They did, a year ago.

[Steve]

...

U.S. DOT Tire Identification Number
This begins with the letters "DOT" and indicates that the tire meets all federal standards. The next two numbers or letters are the plant code where it was manufactured, and the last four numbers represent the week and year the tire was built. For example, the numbers 3197 means the 31st week of 1997. The other numbers are marketing codes used at the manufacturer's discretion. This information is used to contact consumers if a tire defect requires a recall.

...

Almost, but not quite.

The four-digit date system was not implemented until 2000.
If a tire was made in the 31st week of 1997, the THREE-digit code would be 317.

Since there was no way of telling whether that was 1997. 1987, 1977, whatever, the four-digit date code started in 2000.

If you see a tire with a date code of 3197, that means that it WILL BE MADE in the 31st week of 2097.

.

[bonanzadave]

Having the RRs put on right now..........

[tkent02]

Having the RRs put on right now..........

Any cracks yet?

[bonanzadave]

Any cracks yet?

Funny ! (NOT) The guy doing it did mention how fresh they were by the date code. Got them from DK/Parts Unlimited.

[Tarbash 27]

I just bought a set of roadriders from dennis kirk this week.
Front 100/90/19 date 0510
Rear 120/90/18 date 4709

So there fairly fresh, problem is there going to be siting around for about a year before I mount them. Had a slight change of plans.

[waterman]

Ok, we are at about a year later, how are the Avon's holding up?

Still cracked, still rolling down the street. Has about 2200 miles on it now.

Good news is that they haven't cracked any more after the initial cracking. Of course, picked up a big wood screw about dead center when I was going to send this back for replacement. Told myself to forget it and just drive it. That is what I have been doing.

Would I recommend this to others, no. I am using bike exclusively for commuting and watch the tire like a hawk. Loses air about weekly, mainly due to the plug I put in tire.

[82Shafty]

My buddy just put a set of RR's on his Hawk... the tire that was made in 08 has cracks starting on it, even after only acquiring 150 miles: The funny part is the tire that came from JC Whitney was made in '09, the tire that supposedly came direct from Avon's warehouse had the '08 stamping.

His other tire marked 09 seems to be fine he said. I Googled the problem and it seems to be sketchy for 08 and older tires having cracks...RR's that is.

I was just going to go back to my Spitfires, but they are on national backorder...so I'm unsure if rumor is true or not about them being discontinued.

If DK has fresh sets of RR's, I may go that route. My Spitfires are at 9000 miles and are in need of being retired. Wear bars are now level with the tread blocks.

[themess]

I would not ride a bike on tires with sidewall cracks. Avon should replace those tires.

[82Shafty]

Avon Ohio said that he has to take the bad tire to an Avon dealer to document the crack, the date code and tread depth...So my buddy placed a few calls and no dealer will touch the bike seeing that he didn't buy the tires through them. One bike shop gave him an earful how Avon has screwed him on several sets of cracked tires through his bike shop; so he never recommends them to any of his customers regardless of what people say on the internet. My buddy was even willing to eat a dismount, mount and balance cost for any shop that would do the warranty just to get this resolved: no deal.

My friend owns his own lift truck repair business and said that he'd be happy to send pictures of the date code, tread depth and would even be willing to pay for the new tire and wait for a refund from Avon after they received and confirmed the old tire was faulty; Avon said no deal.

JC Whitney will not take the tire back because it has been mounted on the bike.

Our last resolution will be to contact our local bike shop, even though they are not an Avon dealer, and see if they can help us out.


After seeing the assocaited problems with Avon's, I went with Dunlop E3's through DK. I should have them on my doorstep when I get home today.


I will let everyone know how this cracked Avon is resolved; if it does get resolved.

[Theo]

I was just going to go back to my Spitfires, but they are on national backorder...so I'm unsure if rumor is true or not about them being discontinued.

Motorcycle superstore has them in stock.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/28/396/6016/ITEM/Bridgestone-S11-Spitfire-Sport-Touring-White-Letter-Rear-Tire.aspx

[COGS]

My buddy just put a set of RR's on his Hawk... the tire that was made in 08 has cracks starting on it, even after only acquiring 150 miles: The funny part is the tire that came from JC Whitney was made in '09, the tire that supposedly came direct from Avon's warehouse had the '08 stamping.

His other tire marked 09 seems to be fine he said. I Googled the problem and it seems to be sketchy for 08 and older tires having cracks...RR's that is.

I was just going to go back to my Spitfires, but they are on national backorder...so I'm unsure if rumor is true or not about them being discontinued.

If DK has fresh sets of RR's, I may go that route. My Spitfires are at 9000 miles and are in need of being retired. Wear bars are now level with the tread blocks.

Technical note: Doubt that any tire came "directly from Avon's warehouse" ... I believe they use sub-distributors in this country...don't think they sell direct...so, that could explain the lapse in DOT dates...