Dunflops alarming news story!

[BaZa®]

Touring Motorcycle Tire Deflations Require Investigation, Attorney Says


Touring Motorcycle Tire Deflations Require Investigation, Attorney Says

Austin, TX June 30, 2009 --

Harley-Davidson, Honda and Goodyear Dunlop should investigate a number of motorcycle crashes involving sudden deflation of Goodyear Dunlop D402 and other tires, attorney Billy Edwards said today. The tires, installed as original equipment or sold as replacement tires on touring and cruiser motorcycles, may need to be recalled, he added.
Five more instances of sudden deflation of the Dunlop D402 tire have been reported to the safety website, UnsafeMotorcycles.com, he noted. Four of the incidents involved Harley-Davidson classic touring motorcycles and one involved a Honda GL 1800. All occurred in the last 13 months, he said. The latest incident occurred in Marino Valley, CA, he said. Others have been reported in Massachusetts, Texas and Georgia, he said.


We believe this is the tip of the iceberg.
The defect in these tires appears to be worsening
as the tires age, leading to more instances of
sudden deflation and serious injury


"We believe this is the tip of the iceberg. The defect in these tires appears to be worsening as the tires age, leading to more instances of sudden deflation and serious injury," Edwards said.
These reports join at least two lawsuits filed recently involving allegations of Goodyear Dunlop tire deflations, one in Butte, MT, the other in Atlanta, GA.
According to the allegations described in a lawsuit in the Butte, MT crash, a defect in the bead seat area of the tire allowed excessive leakage of air leading to a "sudden and catastrophic deflation" of the tire. Stephen Gageby, Butte, MT, was killed, and his wife was seriously injured in the resulting crash, the suit says.
The Georgia suit was filed in U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia, Athens Division,(Case no. 3:09-cv-74 ), and involved the death of a passenger Patricia Morris. Among other things, the suit alleges Harley-Davidson knew it was "false and misleading" to represent that its 2007 FLHTCU and its tires were safe for carrying up to two riders weighing more than 250 pounds each, plus their cargo and motorcycle accessories.
The Montana suit (Cause No. DV-08- 480) was filed Nov. 10, 2008, in the Second Judicial District Court, Butte Silver-Bow County. Attorneys representing the Gageby estate are Michael McKeon, with the law firm of McKeon and Anderson, PC, Butte, MT, and Billy Edwards, with the Edwards Law Firm, Corpus Christi, TX.

[Veggie]

Bloody Hell

[the_monster]

Sounds like a pair of lard arses trying to blag some money, their combined weight alone was getting on for that a shovel FX !!

the mind boggles at how much food they probably had on board

[grbrown]

Originally Posted by the_monster

Sounds like a pair of lard arses trying to blag some money, their combined weight alone was getting on for that a shovel FX !!

the mind boggles at how much food they probably had on board

Alarming. I'm only glad I prefer Avons.

I've read that notice a few times! It says "safe for carrying up to two riders weighing more than 250 pounds each" which is poor grammar. I think it means the bike can carry riders weighing 250 pounds each, not that the two riders who crashed did weigh that much.

I cannot find the gross vehicle weight for a 2007 dresser, but for my 1990 model it allows a combined rider and luggage weight of 475 pounds. For later bikes it may be over 500 pounds.

Patricia who died may not have been a lard arse after all!

[Kernow]

Originally Posted by grbrown

Alarming. I'm only glad I prefer Avons.

I've read that notice a few times! It says "safe for carrying up to two riders weighing more than 250 pounds each" which is poor grammar. I think it means the bike can carry riders weighing 250 pounds each, not that the two riders who crashed did weigh that much.

I cannot find the gross vehicle weight for a 2007 dresser, but for my 1990 model it allows a combined rider and luggage weight of 475 pounds. For later bikes it may be over 500 pounds.

Patricia who died may not have been a lard arse after all!

But my 2000 Fat Boy weighs about 650 lbs on its own(300kgs) GVW is over 1,100 lbs

[kevscrivener]

Originally Posted by Kernow

But my 2000 Fat Boy weighs about 650 lbs on its own(300kgs) GVW is over 1,100 lbs

Which is about half a ton. I remember reading in a book back in the 70's that this was roughly the weight of a fully-loaded dresser, so I doubt things are much different now than they were 30 years ago, when tyre technology was much more primitive.

[grbrown]

Originally Posted by Kernow

But my 2000 Fat Boy weighs about 650 lbs on its own(300kgs) GVW is over 1,100 lbs

Which means your FB can carry up to 450 pounds of passengers and luggage, which is about 100 pounds less than the Ultra mentioned in the original post.

It does not, however, mean that you personally weigh 450 pounds!

Without scales to weigh us, I estimated that my Glide, wife and I, plus our luggage, weighed around 1200 pounds ready to roll for a recent touring holiday, just a squeak under our bike's limit. Being older it has less payload than your FB.

[Terror Fish]

Never had a problem with Dunlops in wet or dry weather.

[Ukkid76]

Originally Posted by Terror Fish

Never had a problem with Dunlops in wet or dry weather.

Neither do I....

I don't believe everything written in the papers or marketing campaigns either!!!!!

[DickDastardly]

Rear Dunlops that are 'clapped out' in under 3000 miles and Avons that last over 7000, I know the 'old man' would turn in his grave (if we hadn't have burnt him, sorry Dad), if he knew I had Avons on the bike (he worked for Dunlop for over 30 years) always went with Dunlops but not impressed with the D402's.