I was emailed by a friend the other day asking what tires I have on my 2005 Road King Custom. They said a friend of theirs ahd a blow out and lost his wife while on a ride. They said the dealer has tires that they put on our bikes that are known to blow out, but it is hush hush as to not create a panic. My friend said this was a highly spoke of topic while he was attending at Sturgis. I checked the forums and found blowout mostly under normal conditions. One thing is for sure, I have 10,000 on these tires now, with wear noticable on the back tire, I am going in for a new set today. Thanks for any info on if this story is true or not. I am having flashbacks of the SUV's and Bridgestone tire crashes.

 

the SUV crashes involved Firestone tires not Bridgestone, while Firestone is now owned by Bridgestone, the tire processes didn't change for either brand. Pictures of crashed vehicles showed the tires that blew out were nearly or were bald. There was the problem that the Decatur, Illinois plant was omitting an internal belt that weakened the tires. i'm not defending Firestone, i wouldn't take a set if they were free. Most common reason for the crashes after the blow outs were over-reacting drivers over braking. At any rate you are doing the right thing to replace your tires on your bike as soon as they are starting to thin.

 

If you're thinking of switching from the Dunlops, you can't go wrong with Metzelers!

Cheers!
[sm=icon_rock.gif][sm=icon_rock.gif][sm=icon_rock.gif]

 

So just to clarify all HD's are sold with Dunlops? Or is this only on specific models?

Forgive me for this noob question, but what about if you use that anti-flat stuff that they sell in the stores to protect the sidewall, will that help at all?

 

You guys are getting off topic real quick. A good question is being brought up.

Are the tires on certain Harleys prone to blowouts similar to the Firestones that were used on SUVs?

 

Firestone sold or installed tester tires,which were abused for testing purposes and shouldve never been sold or put on vehicles.Trying to recoup some extra $ cost them millions and many peoples lives.I am not a Dunlop fan,too squirrelly as they wear.880s are much better in my opinion.

 

Boy, I'm sorry that I read THIS post. I'm dropping the bike off tomorrow to have two new Dunlops (SE180) installed![&:]

 

To bring this back to motorcycles INSTEAD of auto tires, I have never heard of motorcycles having an issue with tire failure as a pattern. Keep in mind, with the internet, a single post on here could spread like wild fire and create enough rumor that you end up hearing about it later....even though it turns out only one person had a blow out. You never know.

 

I believe they are, but not heard of quality probs/Dunlops. More along the lines of ride/grip. And do not put anti-flat in unless it is a bandaid situation to get you somewhere. That is not a good thing to leave in a tire, especially a good tire.

 

I have, since I first posted my question on Dunlops having blowouts, Found out the truth of the story of the guy who lost his wife in a blowout. He said it was not a tire problem that had caused the blowout, but a tire tracking problem. He said that some bike are not aligned properly from the factory and cause the tire to heat up and blow. It just happened to be that it had Dunlop tires. I am upgrading to the Metzlers today. Thank you for all your input on the matter.