Dunlop K70

wesleyonoel

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Ordered/received tires from Bike Bandit for '73 TX650. Rear tire was manufactured in Indonesia with a date code of LDVM1220. Front tire was manufactured in Japan with a date code of BDVM1819. Looks to me like the front tire is already over a year old. Am guessing useful life is somewhere around 5 years from date of manufacture. Have contacted supplier with dilemma a few minutes ago. Received acknowledgement of query. Am soliciting thoughts/opinions/experiences along these lines. Ideally prefer tires from same manufacturing facility with similar date codes. Reasonable expectation or pipe dream?............
 
Well you are putting K70's on an antique, it'll be hard to tell that they've "gone old". Seriously I'm running off old K70s on WJL don't recall zackly how old but far from fresh. No issues, tho I'm a known toddler. :wink2:
 
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Yah, might not be anything beyond my notion that having matching tires is a good thing. No reply from supplier to date. Must be busy?...........
 
I recently bought a pair of Avon tires. One shipped from a warehouse in PA and the other from CA based on the requested sizes. Both were manufactured within a month of each other in 2019 though. Not sure if this helps your cause or not but I know a lot of manufacturers were shut down for several months due to COVID. This has made getting some tires a little harder and supplies in warehouses are greatly reduced. I believe most manufacturers are back to work now.
 
I recently bought a pair of Avon tires. One shipped from a warehouse in PA and the other from CA based on the requested sizes. Both were manufactured within a month of each other in 2019 though. Not sure if this helps your cause or not but I know a lot of manufacturers were shut down for several months due to COVID. This has made getting some tires a little harder and supplies in warehouses are greatly reduced. I believe most manufacturers are back to work now

Seem to recall reading a thread in this forum suggesting "safe" tire life of 5 years from date of manufacture. Figure it would be ideal to begin with fresh tires of the same vintage - would be preferred if from same manufacturing facility. No reply from supplier to date......................
 
K70's too Old ! No such thing. Tires like those never come apart and last Decades,
A half a century ago when me and a group of friends were in our early 20's we had
a 4:00 x 18" K70 we would pass among ourselves for $5.00 per use. If we needed a tyre
that tire was always available to use until we could afford better. Did not stick well but
seemed to never wear out. What do you think will happen if dates don't match ? Even a
decade apart will not matter unless you are running a GP !
 
Seem to recall reading a thread in this forum suggesting "safe" tire life of 5 years from date of manufacture.
I had some new Pirelli tires that were 10 years old. I disregarded the "Those tires will kill you!" remarks. I rode them and I rode them hard. I can say that that old rubber wore away in a New York minute. Those tires lasted no time at all. So yes, old rubber is degraded.
 
What ever you do, Do Not run these tires!!:yikes: Unless tires are made in the same plant and have matching batch and consecutive serial numbers they will EXPLODE the minute they`re installed killing everyone and everything within a 1,000 mile radius. No exceptions!! :jk::jk::jk: Just kidding. Mount em up and they will last a long time. K70`s are fool proof.:thumbsup:
 
You made me go look; The XS1 and the Norton are both on tires made in 2015 I'll keep an eye on them but expect to get several more years of service. I replaced the tires on the Venture cuz they were 99 date code, showed no signs of cracking, had plenty of tread, I was headed out for a camping trip to remote areas and 21 year old tires on a heavy bike going distances on the highway was a bit past my comfort zone. I did ride them several hundred miles "locally". Back tire on Allison's Radian is about 15 years old still looks fine. I have a new replacement on the shelf, The front was original 1990 and worn, I replaced that one. It prolly helps that Ilife in the great white north keeps tires refrigerated 5 months out of every year.
 
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Explode killing everyone within a 1000 mile radius? Covid-K70's? Honestly not all that concerned beyond my notion of consistency. Not sure which is more troublesome - date or site of manufacture. Honestly would prefer both to be the same - in my orbit, anyway. Doubt they will ever be worn to the point of being tread-bare by me. And until reading a post on this forum, date of manufacture never occurred or bothered me. Still no word from supplier......... Can honestly divulge digging in trash containers behind a local Honda shop in the early 60's for any tire that would even remotely fit my '39 Scout. Rode on a lot of "may-pop's" in those days......happily too!..........
 
Finally heard from tire supplier. Was told Dunlop proudly manufactures their tires exclusively in the USA - only! Didn't make much sense to me since one was marked "Made in Indonesia" and the other "Made in Japan"..........embossed in the sidewall. Anyway, they eventually supplied a UPS pick-up tag.

Next? Riding season has expired in the Great White North. Plenty of time to search for replacements. Scooter (bone stock '73 TX650) is primarily used for local riding - maybe a couple hundred miles per season. Liked the look of K70's - still do. Ideas/suggestions solicited.............
 
I like the K70’s, you won’t confuse them with a performance tire, but they have the right classic look and they perform well enough as long as you’re not out there trying to drag your knees in the corners. I run them front and back on my XS2.
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Re: tire age. The main causes of tire aging... besides use obviously :cautious: are heat and UV light. Followed by ozone and petroleum contamination. A tire properly stored in a climate controlled warehouse will last almost indefinitely. Once they're mounted and in use, the clock starts ticking. Even then, tires on a bike that's stored in a garage 5-6 months out of the year, is out of direct (UV) sunlight and elevated temps. You could probably double the recommended 5-6 yr replacement life. The tires on my SG (dated 2014) were mounted in 2015... just before I bought the bike.... still had the nubs. First thing I did to store it was remove the wheels and store them in the basement, away from heat and light. Finished the resto last year and I expect to get a few more seasons out of 'em....unless I wear 'em out first... well past the recommended time frame.
On the other hand, a bike in say....Az that spends it's life outside... I'd prolly set a 3-4 yr limit.
 
Re: tire age. The main causes of tire aging... besides use obviously :cautious: are heat and UV light. Followed by ozone and petroleum contamination. A tire properly stored in a climate controlled warehouse will last almost indefinitely. Once they're mounted and in use, the clock starts ticking. Even then, tires on a bike that's stored in a garage 5-6 months out of the year, is out of direct (UV) sunlight and elevated temps. You could probably double the recommended 5-6 yr replacement life. The tires on my SG (dated 2014) were mounted in 2015... just before I bought the bike.... still had the nubs. First thing I did to store it was remove the wheels and store them in the basement, away from heat and light. Finished the resto last year and I expect to get a few more seasons out of 'em....unless I wear 'em out first... well past the recommended time frame.
On the other hand, a bike in say....Az that spends it's life outside... I'd prolly set a 3-4 yr limit.
Exactly.
A few years ago I bought a rear wheel for the GS that came with a totally unworn Conti Blitz on it. Close examination of the date code revealed it was not in the first flush of youth*, and I reckon the PO of the bike had fitted it just before the bike was put off the road for whatever reasons.
Since it had probably been stored in cool darkness of somewhere, I decided to just run it and keep a careful eye on it for any deterioration.
I got 8000 miles out of that tyre, before it turned evil as it got to the last two millimetres of tread - and I suspect that was just the normal way of that tyre. Some handle excellently all the way down, and some just go off towards the end.

* DOT dating was pre the long code, so it might have been nearly 20 years old.
 
Like the look of K70's so probably will continue searching for a set. Not a performance rider. Like to lean in the corners but not to the extent of dragging foot pegs.They just seem to "fit" in the appearance department. Like the look as on Mailman's XS2 - a beautiful motorcycle!.............
 
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