02-15-2018, 06:04 PM
Marc, I think that you did the right thing by sending those tires back. As people say often say, "you should ride your own ride" and in my mind that means not only how you handle yourself going down the road, but also how you prepare and maintain your bike. You must do all of these things at a level that you are personally comfortable with, not by what anyone else goes by.
I'm one of those guys that tends to stick with tires in the stock sizes if I can get them. Changing sizes up isn't the end of the world, but I just like what I like. After I took ownership of my Hawk GT, one of the few radial tires made it in the stock sizes for that bike was the Avon Azarro. I was very happy with the first set I owned. The best thing about them was how well they stopped when riding in the rain. The last time I ordered a set, like yourself I received tires that were unacceptable to me and so I sent them back. In my case, the company I ordered them from wasn't willing to have the tire date of manufacture checked before sending them out, so I just asked for a refund.
I don't put nearly as many miles on my two bikes as a lot of guys around here do and so in my case I like to get the freshest tires I can as I know that I'll typically be replacing them before I've managed to wear them out due to the tire's age. Again, there might be tread left, but where I notice the aging of the tires the most is when riding in the rain. In the case of those Avon tires that I returned, one was around 1 1/2 years old and felt nice and pliable. The other tire was three years old and it was hard as a rock. The difference between the two was not at all subtle. So back they went (I ended up going with a different tire as those Avons had become very hard to find by then.)
I ended up deciding that not all tires are probably stored as they should be. Others can tell you that all should be fine, but it's your hide that's on the line, not anyone else's. I'm getting ready to change out the tires on my CB here in the next couple of weeks. I ordered a set of Metzeler Z8's to go on the bike. One of the tires that I received is 5 months old and the other is 14 months old and both feel plenty pliable just as I would expect from a new set of tires.
I'm one of those guys that tends to stick with tires in the stock sizes if I can get them. Changing sizes up isn't the end of the world, but I just like what I like. After I took ownership of my Hawk GT, one of the few radial tires made it in the stock sizes for that bike was the Avon Azarro. I was very happy with the first set I owned. The best thing about them was how well they stopped when riding in the rain. The last time I ordered a set, like yourself I received tires that were unacceptable to me and so I sent them back. In my case, the company I ordered them from wasn't willing to have the tire date of manufacture checked before sending them out, so I just asked for a refund.
I don't put nearly as many miles on my two bikes as a lot of guys around here do and so in my case I like to get the freshest tires I can as I know that I'll typically be replacing them before I've managed to wear them out due to the tire's age. Again, there might be tread left, but where I notice the aging of the tires the most is when riding in the rain. In the case of those Avon tires that I returned, one was around 1 1/2 years old and felt nice and pliable. The other tire was three years old and it was hard as a rock. The difference between the two was not at all subtle. So back they went (I ended up going with a different tire as those Avons had become very hard to find by then.)
I ended up deciding that not all tires are probably stored as they should be. Others can tell you that all should be fine, but it's your hide that's on the line, not anyone else's. I'm getting ready to change out the tires on my CB here in the next couple of weeks. I ordered a set of Metzeler Z8's to go on the bike. One of the tires that I received is 5 months old and the other is 14 months old and both feel plenty pliable just as I would expect from a new set of tires.