-- Vince. ZX9R, CBR250 Ex-SKoGA#3, YTC#13 BONY#47, SBS#22, BOTAFOF#26, BOTAFOT#102, MRO#23. MIRTTH#19 "Vince: more repulsive than Ginge"
Not quite sure how that little bugger snuck out on it's own. Anyway. Anybody got an opinion? I sell Tomahawk recons for a modest £110-ish a pair at the shop. I've ridden them hard (and outraced a TL1000, and two 748s on them) on twisty Welsh roads, yet I can't persuade anybody to buy them. What gives? -- Vince. ZX9R, CBR250 Ex-SKoGA#3, YTC#13 BONY#47, SBS#22, BOTAFOF#26, BOTAFOT#102, MRO#23. MIRTTH#19 "Vince: more repulsive than Ginge"
Furry muff, if you see them as second hand. As I said before, I've used these tyres and they (in my inexperienced hands) behave as new. Not better, but as well as. I could probably drop the price to 99.99 a pair. Do you think that cheaper tyres would be more attractive? -- Vince. ZX9R, CBR250 Ex-SKoGA#3, YTC#13 BONY#47, SBS#22, BOTAFOF#26, BOTAFOT#102, MRO#23. MIRTTH#19 "Vince: more repulsive than Ginge"
Well "recon" doesn't mean "new" does it? I assume the carcase could be several years old. So does a frayed rope.
Could be. When I buy them, I get a choice of carcase. Normally I choose 010 or 020, price doesn't make a difference so long as I can get the carcases to match. 010/020's have been out how long? I can choose to buy BT5x carcases if required. Aye, and I've handled a few of them as well. A question for those who care to comment on the psychology of the 'biker': Most people who ride bikes only buy 'the best' because they feel that they'll only get the best out of their bikes on the best tyres. Given that most bikers wouldn't know a really good tyre if it walked up and blessed them, how the hell do I show them what I feel is a good deal? Yours frustrated, -- Vince. ZX9R, CBR250 Ex-SKoGA#3, YTC#13 BONY#47, SBS#22, BOTAFOF#26, BOTAFOT#102, MRO#23. MIRTTH#19 "Vince: more repulsive than Ginge"
A fair question. Having started biking back east (in civilization, on a budget) I'd say yes, the commuter on a reasonable sportsbike. Experience however has taught me that anybody that's got a sportsbike itsn't poor enough to pay for re-con/remoulded tyres. They'll usually find the money for 010/207/name your flavour. I started out buying them because I thought they were a good deal. Living & working in the arse end of Wales I know how little people make & thought they'd appreciate a good deal. I stuck them on the 9R because I felt that I couldn't fairly sell them without an honest opinion of them. Now I can say, honestly, they're great tyres, definately no worse than a new tyre. Can I sell them? Can I heck. I'm not really complaining, I've only got mebbe a couple of hundred quids worth and I'm quite happy to put them on my own bike until I run out, but what I don't understand is people's refusal to give them a try. -- Vince. ZX9R, CBR250 Ex-SKoGA#3, YTC#13 BONY#47, SBS#22, BOTAFOF#26, BOTAFOT#102, MRO#23. MIRTTH#19 "Vince: more repulsive than Ginge"
I'd use them if a) they were scientifically proven to be safe and b) a **** of a lot cheaper than £110. Weren't there some well-documented cases of recon tyres coming away from their carcasses several years ago?
There are several things which in my mind, and a few others I guess, which you just don't skimp on and 'risk' using potentially shoddy parts. Brakes (levers, hoses, calipers...), forks, frames and tyres. If anything else fucks up then its not likely to kill you, but if any the previous items give up the ghost, you're screwed. I'm sure you'll come back saying that they're just as good as new, but a reconditioned tyre wouldn't sit well on my mind.
Shoulda said :Fitted. Didn't hear it, but then before my time as a salesman. -- Vince. ZX9R, CBR250 Ex-SKoGA#3, YTC#13 BONY#47, SBS#22, BOTAFOF#26, BOTAFOT#102, MRO#23. MIRTTH#19 "Vince: more repulsive than Ginge"
That's a fair point, and one I'll not argue with. I've fiddled with most bits on my bikes, brakes being the bit that sticks mainly in mine. So far so good ;-) I can only say what I've learned. My last set of tyres were the re-cons. My only complaint about them was that the front would wobble a bit under hard accelleration. The 012's I'm running ATM have lasted about a fraction (roughly 2/3rds) of the time that the re-cons did, and offer me maybe 20% more confidence. Everybody's different. Don't laugh, I'm looking forward to putting another set of re-cons back on. In Bloo. Both of them As an aside, I hope you realise I'm treading a very fine line here on UKRM. Its tricky as hell going from being a biker to a bike parts sales-thingy. I am learning what the really good deals are and would like to pass them onto ukrm, but it'd be really easy for somebody to accuse me of abusing the charter. If I did do so, I hope somebody would tell be before I over stepped the mark. -- Vince. ZX9R, CBR250 Ex-SKoGA#3, YTC#13 BONY#47, SBS#22, BOTAFOF#26, BOTAFOT#102, MRO#23. MIRTTH#19 "Vince: more repulsive than Ginge"
I`ll try one. Seriously...If you`ve got something on a 020 or strong rear sports/touring carcass in black in 170/60ZR17 ...I`ll run it on the Muell. Currently running Dunlop D207`s but the rear is shagged after 2500miles! Looking to pay (for a recon. + postage +fitting it meself)...? Gis ` a ping Vince and I`ll try one. -- Petel . 02 M2 Buell. C90-ZZR. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/peteh1/website/index.html [email protected] (remove 4 dots;-)
Emailed. -- Vince. ZX9R, CBR250 Ex-SKoGA#3, YTC#13 BONY#47, SBS#22, BOTAFOF#26, BOTAFOT#102, MRO#23. MIRTTH#19 "Vince: more repulsive than Ginge"
Dunno if it's of interest, but a quick google turned up this link: http://pub32.ezboard.com/ffazerownersfrm5.showMessage?topicID=92.topic and from my own file at work for the hardcore surfers http://www.challenger-uk.com/motorcycle.html -- Vince. ZX9R, CBR250 Ex-SKoGA#3, YTC#13 BONY#47, SBS#22, BOTAFOF#26, BOTAFOT#102, MRO#23. MIRTTH#19 "Vince: more repulsive than Ginge"
Most sports bikes are ridden by people no where near as capable as the bike. They *want* to have the latest tyres as a fashion statement, in the same way that they have pristine knee-sliders and romper suits. Buying recon (or even non-branded) tyres would be admitting that they weren't the demon rider that the bike was designed for. You need to look at the non-sports bike market for this kind of stuff. The problem there, though, is that you'll be competing with cheaper new tyres to start with.
It happens with lorry tyres, you see the results on the motorway. I've fitted remoulds (which I presume is what we're discussing here) to cars over about 5 years in the past, I stopped doing this when my vehicle started 'shuddering'. Thought little of it (I've a bad attitude to car maintenance...) and one morning the car had a flat tyre. On inspection the belt had let go in the tyre and it was bulging at this point, this bulge was then wearing fast until it made a hole in the tyre. The tyre had done about 5k at this point (I would expect about 25k normally). Not fitted remoulds since. I questioned this with the tyre place when I had a new one fitted, they said it wasn't exactly uncommon for a remould to let go like this.
I can get avon AzaroIII's 45/46's for £175 a pair (fitted) they stick like shit to a blanket and are good for about 7-8000 miles (a rear) more on a front. I suspect the reoulds wouldn't last anywhere near as long, and for an extra £65 I like the security of knowing the tyres aren't in any way worn, or likely to go pop.
