Michelin Commander II update

[smokey]

Got this answer from Michelin with regards to the complaint I made about the wearing out of the tires

Michelin makes tires for over 3000 motorcycles but does not make tires that are approved for the 2010 Kawasaki VN1700 Voyager ABS.

We are sorry but the Commander II tires installed on the 2010 Kawasaki VN1700 Voyager ABS is a misapplication and not covered under warranty.

We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing Michelin.


What a bunch of bull.

[redjay]

It is strange that you got so little miles from the Commander II when many others using the same application got many more miles.

[smokey]

The main point here though is that Michelin will not warranty them in any way, now go to the scenario where a commander II fails and causes an accident, anyone making a claim against them for whatever, will be out of luck. I would like to know where in their advertising it states they are not approved for the voyager?

[redjay]

If the size you used are not exactly the size of the stock tire then Michelin has an excuse for voiding the warranty I guess.

[smokey]

Originally Posted by redjay

If the size you used are not exactly the size of the stock tire then Michelin has an excuse for voiding the warranty I guess.

I just got off the phone with them, regardless of what size it is the load rating, if the tire is not rated, according the Michelin they should not be used on the bike, so as the tire is only rated at 825 or so and the voyager weighs 895, the tire is unsafe. According to Michelin this is a dealer issue as the dealer is not checking to see if the tire is suitable for that bike, apparently they are running into the same problems with rapid wear on other heavy bikes like the gold wings and full dressers. So it is a case of the customer asking the dealer and the dealer not selling what is an unsafe or not recommended tire. Either way Michelin will do nothing.

[redjay]

I never had an issue with rapid tire wear on my Voyager, neither have many others.

I wonder which bikes weigh 825 lbs or less and use the same size tire as fitted to the Voyager and are suitable for a what the Commander II tire is said to offer ie high mileage and good grip ?

[johnberryus]

Looking at their website it looks like any of us using their tires on the big Vulcans would be screwed if there was any failure since none of the big touring models seem to have a tire made for them.


Very disappointing, as this is a great tire.

[highwayman2011]

What size were you running on the back? The 180/65/16 is rated for over 1,000 pounds. Almost 13,000 miles on my rear and still looks good.

[BBAZEN]

The weight limit for a single tire is not the reason for not covering your issue. To correctly figure out capacity you need to add up both / all tires. (OEM) 853 # rear + (OEM) 677 # front = 1,530 # total capacity.
The stock Bridgestone rear has a cap. of 853 lbs.
The stock Bridgestone front has a cap. of 677 lbs.

I am sorry to hear of you issue of premature wear. I just put my second set of Commander II's on yesterday.

This rear that I took off had 22,000 miles on it.

I edited this post because I was mistaken about the Commander being a bias tire. Thanks for the heads up Sin City! No clue why they are giving you the run around.

[Sin City Stan]

Originally Posted by Rcbozo

Most likely the reason why Michelin told you what they did is because Kawasaki wants you to put on Bias tires on your Voyager 1700. The Commander II is a radial tire.

I have Commander IIs on the front and rear. Both are bias belted. The Nomads and Voyagers are not listed in their fitment guide and that's the pretense for refusing to warranty the tire. Pretty much the same "get out of jail free" card used by all tire manufacturers.

[smokey]

Originally Posted by highwayman2011

What size were you running on the back? The 180/65/16 is rated for over 1,000 pounds. Almost 13,000 miles on my rear and still looks good.

according to Michelin it is rated at 825 pounds, I sent them the info on how to do a load rating because it seems they are expert at nothing except how to piss off a customer.

"After talking with the rep, I have to dispute what I was told, even though I know I am not going to get any satisfaction, the load rating on a tire is not an indication of the total load rating, the load rating on tires are a combination of all tires on the bike and also applies to the car tires, a car is not rated at the total weight of the car, the same for a motorcycle tire, the load rating for the Michelin Commander IIs are for both tires combined, with in my case would have been approx 1400 lbs total and as the bike is 895 it would have been within the acceptable limits.

If what the rep said was a fact, then why are the load ratings on car tires listed at 1000 lbs for the tire in some cases, I have yet to see a car that weighs that. "

[gwdriver]

This is the exact reason I only run factory spec sizes on both of my bikes. Had a Bridgestone Excedra Maxx go bad on my Nomad at 3500 miles. Bridgestone not only replaced the tire, they also paid for the mounting and balancing.

[toogun]

Originally Posted by smokey

I just got off the phone with them, regardless of what size it is the load rating, if the tire is not rated, according the Michelin they should not be used on the bike, so as the tire is only rated at 825 or so and the voyager weighs 895, the tire is unsafe. According to Michelin this is a dealer issue as the dealer is not checking to see if the tire is suitable for that bike, apparently they are running into the same problems with rapid wear on other heavy bikes like the gold wings and full dressers. So it is a case of the customer asking the dealer and the dealer not selling what is an unsafe or not recommended tire. Either way Michelin will do nothing.

Sounds like a load of crap to me. I would ask to have your warranty claim escalated to a higher level. I am surprised with Michelin being like that, whenever I've had issues with tires I went back to the shop where I bought them and they handled everything, mind you I'm talking car and truck tires but same manufacturer.
Good luck.

[smokey]

Originally Posted by gwdriver

This is the exact reason I only run factory spec sizes on both of my bikes. Had a Bridgestone Excedra Maxx go bad on my Nomad at 3500 miles. Bridgestone not only replaced the tire, they also paid for the mounting and balancing.

The front was spec size the rear wasn't as they don't make that size

[blowndodge]

Michelin's commander II's 180/65/16 bias rear tire as a weight rating of 81 or 1,019lbs. One of the highest in the industry.