Catastrophic failure

[PinkRosePetal]

....I don't understand why BRP doesn't address this head-on.

It makes them a lot of money.

[Fat Baxter]

I'll just about bet Kendas, being the cheapest tire (or almost the cheapest), beat out everyone on a contract basis (my opinion only).

The story I heard, long ago, was that Kenda was the only tire manufacturer that responded to BRP's call for tire suppliers.

[pegasus1300]

"When I chatted with my dealership's manager about their Spyder tire policy (they will only fit Kendas, claiming liability concerns from their lawyers), he voiced his opinion that the Kenda rear tire, price-wise ($180) and mileage-wise (10-12,000 miles), is not out of line with other motorcycle tires."
And he is correct. I searched long and hard to fine a tire that would go 20,000 miles on the rear of my Venture, and when I did I stuck with that. Other tires fit it but most of them only got 10,000 - 12,000 miles before wearing out. Even with changing my own tires,2/year got pretty expensive.

[canamjhb]

When dealing with my Goldwing, tires have NEVER been an issue or thought of as being overly expensive. I checked my records and typically get 18-20,000 miles for both front and rear. I have never gone past the wear bars. I can (and have) gone past the wear bars on a Kenda rear tire in half that many miles. The Goldwings contact patches are just a fraction of those on the Spyder so you'd think they would wear faster. But they don't. And the cost to have a dealer R&R the tires is very much less than that charged by Spyder dealers. I think dealers who spew the "company line" saying the lawers make them do it are slinging so much BS...... And too many people believe it. If there is one, just one, lawsuit involving non-Kenda tires on a Spyder, it has not come to my attention or the attention of anyone I know. I would challenge anyone who supports using Kenda tires for legal reasons to cite actual case law..... Jim

[johnsimion]

I would challenge anyone who supports using Kenda tires for legal reasons to cite actual case law..... Jim

This started as a claim that Kendas are unsafe even though they are OEM. Nobody can ever cite a case showing that something is "safe" unless it started as a claim for damages and resulted in a judgment for the defendant. But I don't even know of any cases even alleging that the Kendas are unsafe, let alone a judgment for or against that allegation. If a dealer says they can't install anything but Kendas, that is false. Certainly they CAN install tires other than Kendas but if they do, someone could sue them and claim the replacement tire itself was unsafe. In that case, the dealer would be on its own. OTOH, if they only install the same Kenda tires that were OEM, they can't very well be sued without also bringing in BRP because basically that would be a defective design lawsuit. Having BRP in the picture would protect the dealer. And for all I know, maybe someone at BRP tells them they have to use Kendas and nobody questions why. In 40 years of practicing law, I found that 99% of clients will believe their aunt's brother-in-law's mechanic any day over their own lawyer.

And I'm realistic enough to know that the dealers also enjoy doing this because they only carry Kendas and stand to make more profit.

[canamjhb]

This started as a claim that Kendas are unsafe even though they are OEM. Nobody can ever cite a case showing that something is "safe" unless it started as a claim for damages and resulted in a judgment for the defendant. But I don't even know of any cases even alleging that the Kendas are unsafe, let alone a judgment for or against that allegation. If a dealer says they can't install anything but Kendas, that is false. Certainly they CAN install tires other than Kendas but if they do, someone could sue them and claim the replacement tire itself was unsafe. In that case, the dealer would be on its own. OTOH, if they only install the same Kenda tires that were OEM, they can't very well be sued without also bringing in BRP because basically that would be a defective design lawsuit. Having BRP in the picture would protect the dealer. And for all I know, maybe someone at BRP tells them they have to use Kendas and nobody questions why. In 40 years of practicing law, I found that 99% of clients will believe their aunt's brother-in-law's mechanic any day over their own lawyer.

And I'm realistic enough to know that the dealers also enjoy doing this because they only carry Kendas and stand to make more profit.

You very well state my position. It's not about non-existent lawsuits. It's not about the safety of or lack thereof of different tires. It's all about BRP and Kenda being in bed together and having their dealers support their marriage for mutual financial gain. (At our expense) ..... Jim

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I think dealers who spew the "company line" saying the lawers make them do it are slinging so much BS...... And too many people believe it. If there is one, just one, lawsuit involving non-Kenda tires on a Spyder, it has not come to my attention or the attention of anyone I know. I would challenge anyone who supports using Kenda tires for legal reasons to cite actual case law..... Jim

Not necessarily BS. Federal tire regulations require that tires be labeled for the service they are designed and manufactured for, except for passenger car tires. Therefore, strictly speaking, it is a violation of Federal Law to install a car tire on a motorcycle, which the Spyder is officially classified as, if that tire is not labeled for special motorcycle use like the Kenda is. At this point large tire makers have not certified their car tires to be suitable for use on a Spyder. I'm sure there are many reasons for this, not the least of these being low market volume for Spyder tires. In spite of that, I run car tires on my Spyder.

[stmike 1800]

I have ran car tires on my wing and the spyder and still alive to post this.

[JeffandLori]

I just had my 3k service done. While at the dealer I asked the service department if they install "car" tires on spyders. They told me they can only sell tires they are dealers for warranty reasons but would mount any tire I brought in and there would be no warranty from them, I would the purchaser and would have to go to where I bought it. With the resent stories of tire rack not selling tires to people wishing to put them on spyders leads me to think that tire manufactures and dealers would find us negligent for putting on car tires.

[ChicagoSpyder]

The fronts were the only thing that had changed.
Model 2014 RT SE6
Total miles are 8704
Rear tire was OEM Kenda. I have the replacement tire in my shop and was going to replace it this coming Saturday. The OEM rear tire looked OK when I examined it when I was changing the fronts. It was just down to the wear bars and did need replacing.

The rear tire suddenly decided to go bad and it coincided with my front tire replacement. The symptoms felt like the fronts were out of balance. It never occurred to me that the rear was failing. I had just come home from a 160 mile trip and everything was nice and smooth. I was even toying with the Idea of removing the New tires one at a time and remounting the Kendas one at a time to see if I had a defective Vredestein.

The tire was used up and probably bubbled, thus the wobble you experienced. I'm not defending Kenda but I have had GY Eagle F1's, Michelin Pilot Super Sports on various cars, 12-18,000 miles is what you get out of a soft compound ultra high performance summer tire, these Kenda's seem to be more of an all-season tire with a soft compound which should give good hook-up at the expense of tire wear.

I have an 18 F3L which I picked up this spring, 3,000 mildly aggressive/aggressive miles and the Kenda's seem to be wearing evenly, so maybe Kenda has figured out the ballooning of the rear tire?

[Michael211_2000]

Do keep in mind people, even a brand new tire can fail catastrophically running down the road the same day you had it installed... it only takes a single nail poking the tire, then the tire leaking down overheating at highway speed and then suddenly BOOM the tread comes right off (I've had it happen, on a Peterbilt 18 wheeler no less... after close inspection of the tread of a brand new steering tire that blew the day after i installed it, we actually found the hole where a nail had poked it). You can blame the manufacture for a lot of defects, but it only takes a single nail to cause an otherwise fine tire to fail like this and often it's impossible to tell what caused the failure.

I see this as a successful positive outcome though, the Spyder remained controllable the rider was able to pull over and walk away without injury! That's a GOOD design IMHO, the bike can be fixed and enjoyed for MANY MORE MILES of SMILES! Try that with a 2-wheeled bike! Just saying, people... ride on and enjoy! :-)

[davev1pa]

In any case and for whatever reason ....that's really awful and dangerous. Glad your fine. The bike appears fixable and if mine ever wobbles I'll get off thanks to your story. Appreciate you sharing the woeful tale.