Hi all-
Not sure if this actually belongs in the "How Do I" forum, so my apologies if I got the wrong place...
Ok- so my bike has been thoroughly inspected, lubed, filled, washed and waxed for my upcoming trip down to the Honda Hoot, as we're leaving Monday morning. This afternoon, when I was going over the bike again- I did a double take when I glanced at my front tire. Along the left side of the tire, right past where the sidewall crowns up into the first part of the actual tread, there are a number of slices that run along about 3/4 of the circumference. Only on the left side of the tire, and the slices are maybe 1/64" to 1/32" deep. They are not continuous, but stop and start like every six to eight inches. At first, I thought it was a string or some hair or something- very bizzare looking. This is a BRAND NEW tire, and I mean brand new. The colored manufacturing stripes are barely worn off of it. It's a Dunlop K505, which was bought through a dealership from Honda.
So, I'm wondering how the heck this happened? The way the slices are, I doubt anyone tried to slash it, it's not random enough looking. I thought at first something was sticking out under the front fender and contacting the tire, but I tore that off and everything looks ok. No pressure has been lost at all- again, they are maybe a 1/32" deep. Needless to say, I'm a bit concerned. Part of me says just ride it and see what happens- but another part says not to take any chances. I'm baffled as to how these slices got in the tread. Could this be some kind of seam splitting from the manufacturing process? If you can imagine taking a razor blade and drawing it through the edge of the tread on a fresh tire, then you've got a pretty good mental image of what these slices look like. They are very clean looking- and by that I mean there appears to be no other abrasion wear near the slices.
Not to mention, the dealer where the tire came from wouldn't even mount it on my bike- as their policy is not to service any bike older than a '92. So I had the tire mounted at a different dealership. But it rides fine as far as I can tell so far. I'm thinking though that once it really heats up and starts to get tossed around 100 miles or so into my trip that it's gonna let go or something crazy. I've never been on a motorcycle that's blown out a front tire, and I don't guess it's real fun.
So, do I try to get it looked at on Monday morning by a mechanic, or should I just go for it? I'd feel better if I knew how the heck they got there, if it's due to an external source or a sign of bad things within.
Anyways, thanks alot for your input.
'cane
------------------
Not sure if this actually belongs in the "How Do I" forum, so my apologies if I got the wrong place...
Ok- so my bike has been thoroughly inspected, lubed, filled, washed and waxed for my upcoming trip down to the Honda Hoot, as we're leaving Monday morning. This afternoon, when I was going over the bike again- I did a double take when I glanced at my front tire. Along the left side of the tire, right past where the sidewall crowns up into the first part of the actual tread, there are a number of slices that run along about 3/4 of the circumference. Only on the left side of the tire, and the slices are maybe 1/64" to 1/32" deep. They are not continuous, but stop and start like every six to eight inches. At first, I thought it was a string or some hair or something- very bizzare looking. This is a BRAND NEW tire, and I mean brand new. The colored manufacturing stripes are barely worn off of it. It's a Dunlop K505, which was bought through a dealership from Honda.
So, I'm wondering how the heck this happened? The way the slices are, I doubt anyone tried to slash it, it's not random enough looking. I thought at first something was sticking out under the front fender and contacting the tire, but I tore that off and everything looks ok. No pressure has been lost at all- again, they are maybe a 1/32" deep. Needless to say, I'm a bit concerned. Part of me says just ride it and see what happens- but another part says not to take any chances. I'm baffled as to how these slices got in the tread. Could this be some kind of seam splitting from the manufacturing process? If you can imagine taking a razor blade and drawing it through the edge of the tread on a fresh tire, then you've got a pretty good mental image of what these slices look like. They are very clean looking- and by that I mean there appears to be no other abrasion wear near the slices.
Not to mention, the dealer where the tire came from wouldn't even mount it on my bike- as their policy is not to service any bike older than a '92. So I had the tire mounted at a different dealership. But it rides fine as far as I can tell so far. I'm thinking though that once it really heats up and starts to get tossed around 100 miles or so into my trip that it's gonna let go or something crazy. I've never been on a motorcycle that's blown out a front tire, and I don't guess it's real fun.
So, do I try to get it looked at on Monday morning by a mechanic, or should I just go for it? I'd feel better if I knew how the heck they got there, if it's due to an external source or a sign of bad things within.
Anyways, thanks alot for your input.
'cane
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