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Looks like a tire defect, i would take it in, and try to warranty it, all tire co. seem to have flaws from time to time, like everything else. I live in N. Ohio, and am in cold all the time, in winter , never had that. My last set of tires were elites, and i really like them
Went out and purchased a set of AE's which will be installed in the morning. Once the tire is off, I think I can get a better look at the damage and see if I can figure out what the heck. I did have them on for a fair amount of miles so not terribly pissed at the tires. More interested in if I did something to them. I don't recall hitting anything.
To the OP: As long as you had them inflated properly, all the time, that just looks like a failure that can happen. But, dang...have you ever leaned that bike over? The wear pattern is about as flat as I’ve ever seen.
Last edited by TriGeezer; Mar 19, 2021 at 11:22 AM.
To the OP: As long as you had them inflated properly, all the time, that just looks like a failure that can happen. But, dang...have you ever leaned that bike over? The wear pattern is about as flat as Ive ever seen.
I live in the Rockies! Had the bike 2 years so 6k miles per year. They may be flat looking but they have done its share of mountain riding. I am **** on checking air pressure maintaining as per spec! My last rear on my road King only lasted 9k So it goes...
There's plenty of tread left on that tire judging from the pic. 12k is a low mark for the AE. Most riders should expect 18k or better.
However, I have seen cracks on my AE rears. The current set I have, I've seen small cracks that are very superficial appear and then disappear as the tire wears past them. I believe these cracks are normal, and most AE will have them but most riders don't get down on the floor to inspect with a bright light and glasses on.
I've never seen anything as long or as apparently deep as what is shown in the OP. A crack like that, I sure wouldn't ride on it. Just sayin' tires roll over a lot of terrible stuff in the course of thousands of miles. A certain amount of superficial damage is to be expected.
My bikes winter in an unheated detached garage where temps sometimes reach -30 and I've never had a tire crack like that yet
The only reason I asked is some race compounds will crack like that in the cold. I've seen some that look like parched earth. There's been an ongoing discussion on a couple of sport bike forums where very similar cracks have appeared. The running theory is that dunlop street tires contain some of the same polymers used in the race tires. If that somehow gets concentrated in a particular spot, the tire will crack in the cold. It be interesting if the durometer near the middle of that crack could be measured against the rest of the tire.
The other theory is that the cold causes the tire polymers to contract. Because air pressure is fighting back, it creates tension all around the tire. There could have been a very small cut in the tire from road debris that created a weak pointt. Think windshield. Really strong until the tiniest of chips, then it cracks super easy. Same principle. Tiny superficial flaw that was exploited by the tension.
The molding process for Dunlops creates layers. Usually a defect in manufacturing will look more like pealing from delamination.
This is what mine looked like. Not road damage and lots of tread left. No more Dunlops for me since. I now run Bridgestone and nothing at all like this. I get around 20k on rears too, instead of 10k-12k with Dunlop.
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