Mr Brown, sounds like we have another convert.

I have Venoms on one bike, Cobras on another, and will have Cobras on my Glide whenever it finally gets back on the road. Only brand I buy for the Harleys now, when something works this good, I'm not going to take a chance on anything else.

If you haven't heard already, Avon usually recommends higher tire pressures than Harley does for their Dunlops. Here's a link to their pressure chart.

http://www.avonmoto.com/tech/tire-pressure-guidelines

 

I bought a bike that had dry cracked tires. I had planned to change them as part of the deal. When I pulled the front rim I looked at the date code 0213

Seriously? 2 year old tires are already drycracked

 

Mileage and time doesn't mean anything to me when it comes to tires and safety of my tire griping the road. The cost of a tire blowing out or not holding the road isn't worth getting banged up in a wreck when you get old like me. Commander II's on my bike.

 

This is correct information. 7 yrs or more, replace. Some will say 5 yrs and older.

 

I can't really add much to this beyond what others have said. When in doubt replace them.

 

Can happen with some tires if they're out in the sun all the time. If they're parked in an area with high levels of ozone, like around electrical equipment or welding, ozone oxidizes them way faster than regular levels of oxygen. On the other side of the scale, I've seen tires over 10 years old that looked perfect - but they sure were slippery on corners. I can't say negative about stock Harley Dunlops on this subject, that's what those 10 year plus tires were.

 

The Dunlops that I just pulled off were like 3 months shy of 10 yrs old. They had 5k on them and I swear looked new.