The brand of motorcycle tyres you prefer is very personal. Our preference is hard-earned, often through expensive trial and error, and when a motorcycle tyre recall is issued, it can put a large dent in that previously unshakeable preference.
Some people – like me – have a brand that they prefer; some even drill down to a specific tyre, while others, like my colleague Carle, don’t really have an opinion. As long as the tyre has a predictable behaviour, he is a happy camper.
I’ve tried other brands over the years. Metzeler’s SE01 squared off too quickly. Road Pilots IIIs didn’t give me the feedback I was looking for, unlike the Road Pilots IIs, which I liked.
The Michelin Anakee tyres took too long to warm up, giving a harsh initial ride. When they came on song, though, I had enough confidence in them to do some naughty things on the Moto Guzzi Stelvio. Unless you are in law enforcement, in which case, I behaved myself at all times … Honest.
I’m warming to the Scorpions fitted to the Voge I’m riding, but the roads have mostly been covered in winter slime. It’s not the time to go looking for the edge of tyre performance.
The Bridgestone A41 was a good tyre except when it rained, it would shimmy every time I crossed a white line.
Given the choice, I’d buy Dunlop tyres every time, as long as they are the “real” Dunlop motorcycle tyres – most of which seem to be manufactured in Europe – not the OE tyres from various parts of Asia. Dunlop is a global brand but not a global manufacturer.
However, it seems to be OE tyres – a stupid euphemism for Original Equipment making them sound special when they are not – that has given rise to a spate of recent motorcycle tyre recalls.
OE and Generational Tyres
Although the name on the side of the tyre might be the same, it can be difficult to work out the wood from the trees.
First, we have Original Equipment (OE) tyres. These are often budget look-alikes and not manufactured from the same quality materials as the tyres they copied. There is more detail on these two aspects of tyre development in the Life of a Tyre article, but the bottom line is that they are often single compound look-alikes sold in bulk to motorcycle manufacturers to fit on new bikes.
Why manufacturers do this is beyond me. The manufacturer has sunk millions in development costs into a brand-new motorcycle onto which they slap cheap-as-chips fake tyres. It is a common habit across most manufacturers, and it is daft.
The counter-argument is that there might be a year between the motorcycle leaving the factory and its new owner riding it away from the dealership. Therefore, fitting a harder compound tyre that will be less influenced by long periods in a shipping container or on the showroom floor makes sense. I can’t say I’m buying the argument, but I get the point.
Then there are generations of tyres. It is standard practice amongst tyre manufacturers to constantly push tyre technology forward. Following the release of a new tyre or an updated version, the previous top dog tyre is relegated to a lower division.
At this point, the manufacturer won’t continue producing what is now a tier two tyre to the same high specifications.
I fell into this trap a few years back with Metzeler Tourance Next tyres. I thought I’d grabbed a bargain, but the tyres were the downgraded version because the Tourance Next 2 tyre had been released. It was my fault. I thought I was buying the original tyre at a discounted price.
Next, and perhaps I should make this the final whinge, there was a dealer I visited who was offering all their second-hand motorcycles with a fresh pair of Bridgestone tyres for £50 extra.
Yes, you guessed it, they were all OE tyres. The dealer wasn’t doing anything wrong. Bridgestone had made the tyres, and they met all the required standards and were brand new; they were just not what an unsuspecting buyer might think they were getting.
Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware) seems to apply more to motorcycle tyres than it should.
Where Can I Find …
- Moto Guzzi Stelvio – Old Skool Cool Road Test
- Life of a Tyre – Tyre evolution cycles with manufacturers
- Alphabet Soup – What does all the writing on the tyre mean
- Suzuki Press Release for 800DE rear tyre recall
- Metzeler Press Release for Tourance Next tyres recall
- Pirelli Press Release for Scorpion Trail II recall
- Dunlop Mutant Tyres – Dunlop Tyres Website
Motorcycle Tyre Recalls
Metzeler (Pirelli): The recall targets one size of Tourance Next and Tourance Next 2 tyres. Under conditions such as low pressure or heavy loads, these tyres may develop irregular wear, increasing the risk of failure and loss of control.
The recall affects over 62,000 tyres globally, including some distributed under the Pirelli brand as Scorpion Trail II. Free replacements are available at Metzeler dealers.
Triumph initially raised the recall for their Tiger 1200 in the US in late 2024. Metzeler later upgraded the recall to all 150/70 R18 tyres globally.
Suzuki has issued a recall for certain 2023 and 2024 V-Strom 800DE and 800DE Adventure motorcycles due to a defect in the stock rear OE tyre.
This issue can cause the tread to separate. The recall affects 1,688 V-Stroms manufactured between March 15 and November 20, 2023. Owners are advised to stop riding affected bikes and contact their Suzuki dealer for a free tyre replacement.
Why Do It?
Manufacture anything, and there is the opportunity for error, but I have never understood the OE tyre argument. Yes, the manufacturer may save £100 per motorcycle – that is me guessing – by fitting OE rather than the genuine, full-blooded version of the tyre. But is it really a saving?
Roger avoided Dunlop tyres for years because of the bad copies his Africa Twin came with when it was new. Now, he is happily riding the V-Strom 800RE through winter because it is fitted with genuine full-fat Dunlop Mutants, but it took us ages to get him to even consider a pair of Dunlop tyres in the wet.
In 2022, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that 1 in 50 motorcycle accidents involved tyre failure and that proper tyre maintenance could have prevented ~45% of these incidents.
Accepting that some of the people counted in those statistics won’t have checked the pressures, will have run the tyre long after it should have been changed, or even opted to ride on a full-on sports tyre in the middle of winter, there is no denying that tyres contribute significantly to the occurrence of motorcycle accidents.
So why … WHY … do manufacturers fit OE copies to their motorcycles?
Rant over. Ride safe. Go check your tyres.
One Response
I’ve got to agree with the whole ‘why put not so good/cheaper versions of a tyre as OEM fitment’ question. My logic is that the rider will say ‘these Dunlops/Michelins/whatever are rubbish, I’m not buying them again’. The result is a lost sale, and as mentioned above, maybe lost sales for many years. The tyre manufacturers could look at it as a marketing opportunity. Impress the end user with the OEM goods and there’s a much greater probability they’ll replace with same. Perhaps even an incentive, a voucher for 10% off or a cashback deal included with the bikes paperwork to draw them in.
As I used to tell my sales team it’s not the first order I want from a customer, it’s the second or third. After that the’lly know & trust us and as long as we keep to our half of the bargain they’ll keep coming back. It ain’t difficult.