I bought my 2003 FLHTCUI in 2011 . It had 2k miles on it. I bought it in January, so left it in dealer storage.
I contacted Dunlop by phone and email. They recommended changing tires if over 6 years. Strongly recommended if over 8.

I didn't even check manufacture dates, since it was in storage. I just had new tires put on for my Spring pickup. My thinking was, I couldn't know if previous owner ran tires when under inflated.

I ran my boat trailer tires for 16 years, and they still looked good when I bought new ones this year. So your tires are probably good, but are you willing to bet your life on it? I have an old biker buddy who laughs at me for buying new tires. And he's a millionaire, who buys planes and mansions, but can be a miser. He also has a 2nd house in Florida, and I was told storing in a hot state decreases tire life.

You seem a little too defensive for HDF. You can always expect some ball busting with every thread. Here is a copy of my Dunlop email from 2011.




From: <consumeraffairs@dunloptire.com>
Date: Mar 24, 2011 9:24 AM
Subject: Re: Dunlop Tire Contact Form Submission


Good morning Ron,
Thank you for contacting Dunlop Motorcycle.

I would like you to look at the sidewall of the tire for the age.

***Look for the letters DOT...
***After DOT there will be an alpha-numeric sequence approximately 10-12
characters long.
***The last four digits of this sequence will provide the date...
***Example; 3409....34th week of 2009

As a tire ages, it will deteriorate. However, it's difficult to provide
an exact number of years because there are so many variables involved. Are
the tires mounted? Is there load on the tires during storage? If so,
have they been overinflated? Are they in a climate controlled area? etc.
A general rule of thumb is that if the tires are approaching 6 - 7 years
of age, they should be replaced regardless of their exterior appearance.

If you need assistance or further information, please call or e-mail us.

regards,
Virginia Gallant
Consumer Affairs Representative
Consumer Affairs
Dunlop Motorcycle & ATV Tire Division
Goodyear/Dunlop Tires N.A., Ltd
PO Box 1109
Buffalo, NY 14240
Ph: (800) 845-8378 Fax: (716) 879-8425

End of Email.

If you ride in cold temps (under 43°), is when you really notice loss of traction, with hardening. Good luck.

 

Ron, Defensive, defensive, what do you mean by that buster??? Hehehehe. I think you are right on the money and I will try and moderate my tone. Really appreciate your posting the 2011 response from a Dunlop representative. It has some minor conflicts with my specific question that got answered from the company recently on age issues but nonetheless adds quality information to the subject.


I don't profess to being a subject matter expert in much but happen to be recognized locally and internationally in another technical hobby in a very specific area of the hobby. It took a lot of work and reading of scientific/industry source material over a 15 year period to get there. I was hoping for seasoned folks like yourself to have initially responded to my truly questioning approach to ascertaining what to do with new/old tires on a bike I bought to rehab. This particular 2005 Road King project has taken me down some technical/mechanical paths that are new to me even though I have been riding for 51 years and have owned 98 different motorcycles and have some limitations in wrenching skills. I appreciate your response and will try and roll with the variations of expertise in the responders without getting so defensive moving forward. I think that sites like this provide invaluable bits and pieces of information when stitched together help to provide a better understanding of the machines I am currently enjoying.

 

A tire can look fine but how the tread interacts with the road, and adhesion properties especially near the limits can be entirely different new(ish) vs. 10 years old.

I'd love to see a braking test of nearly new, 5 years old and 10 year old motorcycle tires but that introduces a lot of variables.