Catastrophic failure

[jegarh]

I replaced the front tires on my 2014 RT with 8704 miles on it. The bike developed a pronounced wobble at low speed. For a week I have been chasing this wobble. Rechecking the balance and riding it 10 miles to and fro to work. Tonight I replaced some weights I had removed yesterday. I then took it for a little 12 mile test ride. All went well until I started back. The wobble was back and worse. At 60 mph it suddenly got really bad and I got off of the gas. Suddenly stuff was flying everywhere. I saw large chunks of rubber in the rear view mirror. I pulled off the highway to asses the damage and the whole rear end "tupper ware" was destroyed. While I was looking at the mess of what was left of the rear tire, it blew up. I called home and my son and my wife came to the rescue. If Foremost decides to total it I have a lot of farkles to remove. Sad day in river city.

 

[Flamewinger]

So it was the rear tire that failed? Why did you think it was the fronts? What model Spyder? Total miles? Rear tire brand?

 

[jegarh]

So it was the rear tire that failed? Why did you think it was the fronts? What model Spyder? Total miles? Rear tire brand?

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.

 

[Peter Aawen]

....... I pulled off the highway to asses the damage and the whole rear end "tupper ware" was destroyed. While I was looking at the mess what was left of the rear tire blew up.......

That is NOT good! :shocked: Glad you're safe tho, it coulda been a whole lot worse than just loosing the tupperware!! :yikes:

Do you have any pics of the damage or what's left of the tire??! :dontknow:

 

[PMK]

Unlikely they will total it. You might consider not detailing the story about experimenting with balance weights or that a new tire is waiting in the garage.

Get a quote from the dealer for parts and repairs. Let the dealer contend with the insurance company.

Hope you have a good local dealer to work with and will come pickup the Spyder.

 

[jegarh]

Thanks PMK. I'll take your suggestion to heart. My dealer is 156 miles away (187.2 KM) away. But since I grew up in south Texas where it is 50 miles in any direction for a drink of water, the trip to the dealer is no big thing. The RT is already on the trailer so I may take off tomorrow after I have talked to the adjuster.

" Well , here's another nice mess you've gotten me into " , I said to myself..........

Here is a photo of the disaster area;

 

[Chupaca]

Wow...!!

Glad to hear you fared well and made it out unscathed...:yikes: 2014 is when Kenda changed the compound and the tires did not work well. Mostly they just wore out really fast.

 

[HayRog]

Whoaaah !! Not a good sight to see. The original stock Kenda huh :sour:
Glad you were only 12 miles from home, and you're ok.

 

[Spyderlass]

Bloody 'ell !! :yikes:

Mind you, it'll probably buff out... :banghead:

 

[trikermutha]

Man that's looks bad. I would say that entire rear end luggage area need to be replaced.

Hard to say what other inner damage there could be??

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Tire failure

Glad to here you survived OK …. If I said KENDA tires are poorly / weakly made once - I've said it a thousand times. ….. That should NOT happen on tire made today - Period ….. Mike hyea:

 

[PMK]

Guessing BRP does not like seeing these photos circulating the internet...

 

[UtahPete]

Glad to here you survived OK …. If I said KENDA tires are poorly / weakly made once - I've said it a thousand times. ….. That should NOT happen on tire made today - Period ….. Mike hyea:

Mike, I don't remember any other reports of Kenda rears failing catastrophically, do you? I wonder if it has something to do with the age of the tire, rather than the mileage?

 

[UtahPete]

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.

Would you mind providing more information about your riding habits and tire maintenance habits? How often did you check the pressure and what pressure did you maintain on the rear?

And why did you feel the need to replace your fronts at such a low mileage? They normally go at least 20k.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Mike, I don't remember any other reports of Kenda rears failing catastrophically, do you? I wonder if it has something to do with the age of the tire, rather than the mileage?

….. There's a lot of info we aren't getting ….. from the pics it appears that tire was very worn - not un-common for a Kenda ….. Mike hyea:

 

[UtahPete]

I can't find any age or mileage from the OP ….. There's a lot of info we aren't getting ….. from the pics it appears that tire was very worn - not un-common for a Kenda ….. Mike hyea:

He said it's a 2014 with 8700 miles. So, it's at least 5 years old, right?

Maybe not garaged, so lots of sun damage. Hot roads and maybe dirt roads?

 

[cptjam]

Looks bad, easy fix. When the tire is at the wear bars, change it! Err on early! We have changed out early lots of times, mostly to prevent this exact problem! Of course, add a couple of zeros to how far from home we will be!!

 

[Peter Aawen]

Looks bad, easy fix. When the tire is at the wear bars, change it! Err on early! We have changed out early lots of times, mostly to prevent this exact problem! Of course, add a couple of zeros to how far from home we will be!!

:agree: Only make that ESPECIALLY so if you are still running OE spec Kendas!! :gaah:

IMO they are pretty poor excuses for tires; and being as lightly constructed as they are, plus the seeming 'lack of manufacturing quality oversight', it's pretty much a crapshoot re getting good Kenda tires on your Spyder!! :shocked: The only thing that really stands out about them to me is that this sort of thing hasn't happened waaay more often!?! :dontknow:

 

[Freddy]

He said it's a 2014 with 8700 miles. So, it's at least 5 years old, right?

Maybe not garaged, so lots of sun damage. Hot roads and maybe dirt roads?

Still shouldn't happen. After all the load is rather light.


Peter A - agreed indeed.

 

[Raknid]

Glad to hear you fared well and made it out unscathed...:yikes: 2014 is when Kenda changed the compound and the tires did not work well. Mostly they just wore out really fast.

So, are newer Kendas even worse than pre-2014 or have issues been corrected? Will need to replace my tire later this month.

Regarding the OP, would be curious to know the tire pressure too. Pretty bad failure.