Running Metzelers 880 WWW 150/80-16 (rear)...... Noticed several of these cracks all on the same side...pressure two up at about 40 psi.....
What is causing them? Trying to find manufacturing date of the tire to see if its dry rot.. Or is it something else going on here?
I am about to change the tire, going to Avons Cobra...even though pleanty of thread left on the Metzelers..my life is worth more then $200 bucks. So far on this tire about 11000 miles.
Uncanny! I have the same tire in black with the exact same issue. Two up at 40 PSI. Guessing we weren't running enough PSI and tire started to tear away. Going to try out Michelin Commander II this time.
Have the shop that sold you the tire call the Metzeler warranty line (I'll post number tomorrow) and get the tire warrantied. This has to be done through whomever the tire was purchased from. Date code is on the sidewall 4 digits. First two are week of the year and last two are the year. So 3413 is the 34th week of 2013.
Max PSI is listed on the sidewall too but those look like manufacturer defects. Running PSI too low only means it will wear out quicker and possibly cup.
Had two or three Metzlers on and the only failure I noticed was low miles before wear away. The advertised high mileage never paned out for me and I don't abuse the bike.
One got a puncture and I changed it after several hundred miles on a plug.
Running Michelins and so far am happy with everything about them. Will see if mileage proves up, but so far seems to be great. Rear profile has just started to change. Dunlop's and Metzlers would already be flat across the profile. And wear bars getting close to pavement.
I run a 150/18 on my 2008 roadglide and run the air pressure that is stated on the side wall. Metzler makes these tires and know what air pressure should be in them. Low air pressure is the number one cause of tire failure. I run 50psi that is what is on the side wall and have very good service to of them. Low air means a lot more heat and heat kills tires. Low air pressure is why you see all the asphalt alligators on the interstate.
A friend of mine had two different rear 880's loosing a big chunk of thread right out of the middle. None of us run Metzlers anymore. Might want to try Commander II's. I have a rear with almost 15,000 and it gauges 5/32.
I have the larger 880, a 200, on my hard tail bike, and it's actually my second one. The first one didn't last me long at all. But that was due to my own screw up. After finishing the bike build, and all the effort that entailed, I looked at the new Metzler I had sort of quick purchased like it was any other tire, threw it on, aired it up to 30 PSI, and off I went.
Then I actually started airing it down to soften up the ride until I was down to about 18 PSI. I know that sounds crazy but I still hadn't read anything at all about Metzlers and it didn't scare me as this tire has a very low profile mega-stiff sidewall. I knew that as I mounted them myself with tire spoons.
All was well and then seemingly overnight it cupped like a mother. After that I schooled myself on Metzlers and frankly instead of all those numbers and codes on the sides it should just say, "Hey *******! This Tire Requires more PSI than any other Motorcycle Tire you've ever Owned!!!"
So why did I turn around and buy another one?
I can't say I've ridden all brands of tires but so far Metzler seemed the most sure footed (to me.) I imagine it's because they are soft (hence the grip) so they wear faster especially if under inflated.
On my other bike, a stock Fatboy, when the current rear tire wears out (I ain't feeling it, sorry Dunlop) it's getting a Metzler too.
Ran Metz 880s, three sets, on a different brand (non-HD) tourer .. first set (2003-4) got almost 14k miles out of the rear tire with great wear. Second set "blew chunks" at 11k (2004-5) .. Metzler said I had to have had a cut, low pressure, etc; pressure was at 45 psi, so I believed them on the cut and replaced the tire with another Metz 880 (2005). That rear looked just like the one in the pix at approx 9k miles. And hopefully this doesn't come off like a know it all a-hole, but I'm religious about checking the tire pressures/wear/cracks, etc .. I didn't have any warning with either of the two tires that went bad. Left on a trip with the first one that went bad, friend noticed it was missing a chunk (that one actually had two chunks missing) when we stopped for lunch 20 miles from home .. it was fine that morning 150 miles earlier. Second one basically the same thing, fine when I checked before heading out for a weekend get away ... at home, on the lift for a bike wash afterwards and the tread had lifted and separated. I can post pictures later (at office now) if anyone wants to see them.
Through reseach with other Metz owners with same brand bike who had similiar problems there were no known problems with the tires if manufactured in Germany, that ones with problems came from Brazil. To my knowledge Metzler has never admitted there's a problem and never will .. until they end up court paying out the family of a rider killed because their tire came apart at speed!
No more chances here, went to Dunlop E3s on the other tourer and the one that followed it, and won't run Metzlers on my Limited (or any other bike I own) when it comes time to put new tires on it.
08-24-2014, 03:09 PM
Metzelers 880 failure?
