On-line tire purchase

[Dave]

For those that buy tires on-line I have a question. How do you make sure you're not getting an old tire? When ever I buy tires, I always like to verify that they are not more than 6 months old.

[cactusjack]

I'm just careful who I buy from. I order from places like Dennis Kirk and American Moto Tire who do enough volume that they don't have old inventory collecting dust on the shelves. I've never received an old tire yet.

I avoid the small vendors and the eBay sellers who may have bought a lot of questionable tires at a discount and are trying to move them.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Sometimes you just have to take chances. Like Scott says go with the larger online dealers and it shouldn't be a problem. Also check into their return policy just in case. I think they want happy customers and if someone gets an old tire I would think that would make for an unhappy customer. Dennis Kirk and Jake Wilson are a couple of large volume online dealers.

[jd01]

Speaking of old tires, and I think this has been covered before, I hope everyone is familiar with checking the date when a tire was made. It's a four digit number in a stamped circle on the side of the tire (all mine have always been on the left side when tire is on bike). An example of a "born-on" date would be 2209, meaning 22nd week of the year 2009. Just FYI.

[ringadingh]

Ive never received an old tire yet either, Im sure it has happened but its probably infrequent.
Id have no problems ordering from an online supplier.

[blowndodge]

You can't have that many miles on your Ultra??!!!

[Dave]

You can't have that many miles on your Ultra??!!!

I was just wondering.

[thedude]

That's a valid question. I got taken by Onieda Suzuki on a set of Metzeler 880's that were 4 and 5 years old. This time around I went with Rocky Mountain ATV on the advice of some other forum members Both my Cobra's from them were less than 1 year old.

[metalman]

i have never thought about whether or not the tires are old. I figure I will wear them out soon enought anyway. Perhaps now I will check. However, I just replaced a worn rear tire on my Sportster. It was 30 years old with no splits, cracks, or obvious age related issues. Of course that bike gets wrenched more than ridden.

[skeeter]

i have never thought about whether or not the tires are old. I figure I will wear them out soon enought anyway. Perhaps now I will check. However, I just replaced a worn rear tire on my Sportster. It was 30 years old with no splits, cracks, or obvious age related issues. Of course that bike gets wrenched more than ridden.

30 YEARS!!!! What brand tire? Or was it the bike?

[rickyboy]

I'm just careful who I buy from. I order from places like Dennis Kirk and American Moto Tire who do enough volume that they don't have old inventory collecting dust on the shelves. I've never received an old tire yet.

I avoid the small vendors and the eBay sellers who may have bought a lot of questionable tires at a discount and are trying to move them.

Hey Scott !! which one of these vendors would you choose first??
Is there much of a cost saving from local retail ???

[rez]

I recently purchased a new front tire....not an online order....picked it up at a local supplier. The first one they brought out to me looked questionable...i checked the date it was over 6 years old....told them it was and told them they should not be selling it....they brought out a second one which was just over a year old. It pays to check if you can.

[trosco]

The local Costco tire center manager is a neighbor and a fellow rider. I'd never really paid any attention to tire age in my 45 plus years of buying motorcycle and car tires until so many in this forum placed so much importance on it. I asked Pat (costco dude) about it as he worked as a mfgrs rep for Goodyear for 31 years before he retired (no pun intended) and went to work for Costco.
He said that most of the major manufactures would not distribute a tire over 5 years (60 months past manufacture date) but that if properly stored (reasonable temps, dark and so on) the shelf life was easily double that. He said that where you get into trouble is there are often 3-4 middle men and more than one retailer all with improper storeage in the chain from mfgr to consumer.
His practice on his personal vehicles is to insist on tires in the first 2 years of life cycle and to replace if not worn out at the first sign of weather checking or cracking or after 6 years which ever comes first. I am going to copy him!

[borto1990]

I never knew tires had a born on date. go figure...