Tire date on newly received tire

[Dakotakid]

Well, here we go again....
Late today, I received an order from Dennis Kirk. In the order, I received two tires for my newly acquired '82 GS 750 EZ.

I elected to go with a Dunlop on the rear and it's date (upon arrival) is 0510. A year and a half old through the door???

Tonight, rather late, I called Dennis Kirk operator and she stated I need to call back during business hours to talk to customer service regarding the date.

Honest comments about the date, please (from you guys).

Yes, it is another Dunlop 404 even though I recently felt my 404 on the 850 ran a little hot in hot weather. I plan on riding this new bike quite a lot as it is rather pristine and it sounds so very nice. And, yes, I am going to pull the pan and see if the pressure relief mode has been done yet.

The front is a Conti Go and I probably should have elected to go with one on the rear....but, money is beginning to be tightish. Also, my rear Conti Go's are erasing rather quickly on my other bikes. I have a lot of concrete roads out here in western SD and it seems they are rather hard on the tread as the concrete is highly siphed (misspelled?) and there are literally millions of sharp edges per mile of driving. Is the concrete the same in other states?

What do you suppose my response will be from the Dennis Kirk representative tomorrow? It's a 120/90-18 and I was expecting a fresher date...and, yes, I realize they have multiple warehouses throughout the country. Maybe my warehouse did not sell very many of these this size?

If they are willing to swap it out....I think I will step up to the Conti Go.

Edit: I also see that there is a wide diversity in the number of sidewall and tread cords in these new tires and in the ones I am currently running on these bikes. I never really paid attention before. For instance, the new front Conti Go (100/90-18) is "V" rated and is only a two ply sidewall with three ply tread face (two nylon and one polyester). The tire is about as light (weight) as a Trojan "love innertube." In contrast, my Michelin Commander on the 850 is a four ply polyester on the tread and in the sidewall. The Michelin is a very dull tire in the sense that it reminds me of the 5-ply Metzlers I used to run on open class bikes in the deserts.....they would absorb impacts and not deflect....very predictable. I like that...the Michelin is super at everything on the 850.

This new Conti Go appears to be more "boing-boing" looking....although that is NOT the case in the Conti Go I have on the GPZ. Apparently, the manufacturers are constantly changing the construction and I was not aware of this.

[Big T]

I wouldn't worry about the tire being over a year old - you should wear it out before it's 4 years old and it's not supposed to be bad until 5 years old

Certainly not worth waiting for another one

So, mount it up and ride

[sedelen]

Looks like that tire was manufactured during the 5th week of 2010. If installed do you think you'll wear it out before the 5 year manufacture anniversary? The 5 year mark is where I draw the line for serviceability regardless of the apparent overall condition of the tire, unless it's just plain worn out.

[bwringer]

It's been sitting in a warehouse, not exposed to weather and sun.

Find something else to worry about. Mount it up and ride happy!



FWIW, next time around there are FAR better choices than the Dunlop 404 for less money. The Shinko 230 ($120/set delivered) comes to mind.

[spwalker09]

My new tires mounted 2 weeks ago had about the same (0810 IIRC) date code. Happens when you order tires online I guess. I got mine (Bridgestone S11 Spitfires) from Motorcycle Superstore. They're a lot better than the tires I took off (dated from '03)

[themess]

17 months old is no problem at all. Stored properly, even 17 years isn't a big problem.

[Dakotakid]

Dennis Kirk representative said I could send it back if I wanted to. He stated that every tire they receive (for the most part) is at least one year old on delivery from the tire manufacturer. I didn't realize the system of delivery is so slow.

I thought you guys kept saying that a 3-year old tire is bad....not 5 years. Anyway, I kept the tire. Judging by the way the 750 runs (and pulls) when riding in the storage compound (where it is kept), the Dunlop ain't going to last for long! Esp. being only a 120 width.
Edit: I forgot to mention that the rep. said I could call and inquire about tire dates prior to buying it.....that's is what he said, anyway.

[Souske]

When I got my shinkos through motorcycle superstore, they were less than 6 months old.
Not sure why it takes a year to get them from other manufacturers

[themess]

When I got my shinkos through motorcycle superstore, they were less than 6 months old.
Not sure why it takes a year to get them from other manufacturers

Tire manufacturing a tire takes many steps. Each step involved precisely setting up a big machine. The cost of those machines is high: when I worked in the tire industry the cost of equipment for each employee was higher than that cost at hospitals, and about twice the per-job equipment cost of auto plants. So tire factories like to have relatively long runs of products before changing tire sizes.

Another factor is a long supply chain. Few, if any, motorcycle tires are made in the US. Shipping them (using ships) and filling a wholesale and retail supply chain takes time.

The industry could cut inventories a lot, but tire cost would have to rise substantially to do so. Tires are not, for the most part, a "sexy" purchase. People want the least expensive tire that will do the job. And they don't want to wait for it.

Finally, tires age about as quickly as a cement block. There's no pressure to sell only newer tires.

[Dakotakid]

Today, received a Shinko Tourmaster for future use on the 850 from M. Superstore. Delivered with 4510 for a date....that's better!

Hey....I don't think any of you guys ever pointed out that these 230's have one ply of Aramid in them. When I saw that....I ordered one last week. Any wonder why you like them???? The tire looks pretty much all business while still in the wrapper. My love-hate relationship with the Dunlops is o----v----e-----r!!!!!

Wish I had another spare wheel to mount this on.......

[snicrep5]

i just got off the phone with my local parts guy. he had a dunlop for $101, and a shinko for 81. he calims that they are both made in korea at the same factory, so the quality is equal. He also says that the price of the dulops has been steadily rising, faster than other brands. So im getting a shinko.
I have an old tire that im replacing on my rebuild project. the dot code is m25029. what dat would that be! Im guessing its from 99. so old the numbering system was differnt. 1999 would go along with the plates last sticker (1998)

[Steve]

Today, received a Shinko Tourmaster for future use on the 850 from M. Superstore. Delivered with 4510 for a date....that's better!

I got new Shino 230s for "Junior" back in June. I just went into the shed and looked, the date code on the front tire (the only one I could see easily) was 1311.
Yep, made in the last week of March, and was on my bike mid-June.

I have an old tire that im replacing on my rebuild project. the dot code is m25029. what dat would that be! Im guessing its from 99. so old the numbering system was differnt.

Yes, it was a different numbering system, but those are not the numbers you should be looking for. Just past those numbers is a little oval section that should have just three numbers in it, and maybe a triangle. The first two numbers are the week number, the last number is the last number of the year. If there is a triangle, it would be in the 90s, if not, it would be in the 80s.

.

[snicrep5]

no triangle. guess its a real oldie. there is another oval before the dot that is something like 25-45-25 ??

[themess]

i just got off the phone with my local parts guy. he had a dunlop for $101, and a shinko for 81. he calims that they are both made in korea at the same factory, so the quality is equal. He also says that the price of the dulops has been steadily rising, faster than other brands. So im getting a shinko.
I have an old tire that im replacing on my rebuild project. the dot code is m25029. what dat would that be! Im guessing its from 99. so old the numbering system was differnt. 1999 would go along with the plates last sticker (1998)

One of the DOT codes can tell you which factory made the tire. It is illegal to sell a tire inside the US without that code on it. Dozens of web sites (including, I think, BassCliff's) tell you how to find and read the code.

Making different tires in the same factory does not make the quality equal. Several general factors affect quality.
1) Design
2) Materials
3) Workmanship

Most products made in a single factory will have the same quality of workmanship. Design and materials vary greatly from tire line to tire line, within a factory.

I'm not guessing about this. I worked in four tire factories.

[snark]

I got a Shinko 712 at a Cycle Gear store in July and they manufacture day was 111 (first week of January 2011). As for lasting...the tier I replaced had a manufacture date of 508. I had to replace it because it dry rotted and wouldn't pass inspection. I had just put it on two years ago and it had about 6K miles on it...a decent amount of tread left. I would return the tire, get your money back and buy one locally. You may even find a shop that will price match.