What to do about my chicken strips?

RC,

Interesting. What is the difference? I'm about to buy a set of Dunlops from the track vendor at Thunderbolt. Should I re-consider? Is buying from the track vendor better or worse?

Elton
 
mrinflux-
,
my understanding is that track vendors might try to sell older nearly expired (yes, tires do expire) tires. still good but not as fresh and near the end of their life span. same with those super deal online places blowing out models from the last couple years. tire makers put the manufacture date on the sidewalls in code. I don't remember how but i''m sure someone can remind me how to decode the dates

we once had a snack vendor that came around the offices. someone got a stale ding dong or something and we noticed some of the snacks were expired or about to. he had been going to the bakery outlet and getting the snacks for pennies and charging us regular (ie: way marked up) vendor prices. needless to say...he wasn't allowed back in the building!

it's kinda like that
 
This is about what mine look like from the street riding I do... I'm getting a little better... I had gone to the lip of my Dunlops on my ZX6R but I'm still getting settled in on this bike... my next set of tires will be the dunlop Q2s... reviews state that they are the equivalent of a track tire but street legal and heat up insanely fast and stay from getting slippery for entire track days at a time... I think they will do nicely for the road... providing they don't wear out in 2000 miles.
 
It's kinda uncommon knowledge.. track vendors are authorised factory direct.. Dealers buy from very large wholesalers who often negotiate tight terms for huge lots. factories in turn are forced to "water down" the product. Not saying they're bad. Just often not quite as good..

In other words.

Authorised Factory Direct Vendor's= The Real Deal.

Dealer= Good But might be Wally-Mart Specs

I found this out some time ago, and was proved to me several times..

Also some magazine's mention this once in awhile doing tire test reports..

RC

Btw... Tonyous is also correct somewhat as far as "stale' tires.. But well stored, storage time can be up to 2yrs with no affects.. Course fresher=Better..

I'm sure others can pipe in with more info than I'm putting out..
 
Tony,

I'm in the habit of checking tire expiration dates prior to purchasing. If truth be told, you can get an old tire from the dealership also.RC,

Yeah, that's what I thought! The Dunlop guy at Thunderbolt holds himself out as a authorized factory direct dealer. I figured buying from him meant better, not worse. Thanks for the confirmation.

btw, the Dunlop guy at Thunderbolt is a real straight shooter who saved me a bunch of money. I need a new set of tires for my track bike. I asked the Dunlop guy about slicks. He could have easily sold me a set of slicks rather than the cheaper street/track treaded tire. Instead, he told me straight up, "unless you're already getting everything you can out of your bike, buying slicks is a waste of money. Slicks won't make you faster unless you're already going as fast you can be gone on that bike without slicks." What he said made sense. I appreciated his candor. (Although, if truth be told, I was a bit disappointed, 'cause slicks certainly look a whole lot cooler!)

Elton
 
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