Yesterday I was on vacation with my wife on an extended road trip, (6000 kilometers so far) when we had a rear tire blow on the Icefield Highway in Alberta’s mountains. The tires were in great shape and had been checked before we left Winnipeg. Unfortunately, we were on the most remote part of the road, with no cell service, approximately 262 kilometers away from help. It reminded me of a very close call on my 2002 Honda VFR 800 about seven years ago, but without the drama of that incident, which almost cost me my life.
I was riding through Kamloops in the North Okanogan of British Columbia when the chain on my VFR 800 slipped. I pulled off the highway and discovered that my chain had indeed streched and was now sagging on the sprockets. I contacted a Motorcycle dealer in Kamloops and was told to bring it right in.
Within an hour, I had my chain replaced, and a new Tire remounted, (which was near bald) however they did not have the tire to match my Metzeler Roadtec 01, which was on the front. Instead, they mounted a Shinko tire on the rear. I thanked them and headed off to the International Association of Firefighters Road Group Rally in Kamloops. Upon arriving I noticed the tire was low, so I used my little compressor to charge the tire up again, checking the bead of the tire with soapy water and the valve stem for leakage. There was none, and the pressure held.
In the evening I again checked the tire before leaving for Shuswap Lake on Highway #1. It was now dark and as I made my way about halfway to Shuswap, I felt a shimmy in the rear end. I immediately began to slow down but I was on a sharp bend in the road, when the tire suddenly blew out. I was adjacent to a transport truck and was dead-lucky to avoid sliding under the rear wheels of the transport, which I could have reached out and touched.
I pulled over, my heart racing to check both the tire and my shorts. The tire was completely shredded. I was stranded, miles from anywhere on the highway at about 1:30 in the morning. I stayed with the motorcycle throughout the night, worried that the bike would be stolen by morning. My 02 VFR was pristine. A collector’s bike previously, with only 8,000 kilometers on it, I was in no mind to abandon it on a major highway. After spending a very cold night in the mountains, the sun finally came up.
As soon as I thought the dealer would be open, I contacted them by phone, while still sitting on the highway. He was shocked that the tire had failed and sent a truck to pick up the bike and find the cause, “as he was sure, there had to be a reason for its failure.” The tire had 54 kilometers on it. Yes, I said 54 kilometers.
The following pictures show the tire when removed at the installer’s bike shop. They, and I were shocked. I had hit nothing. This was the rear tire on the bike. The installer immediately changed the tire and had a Michelin tire delivered to their shop that morning. Fortunately, the wheel was not damaged. I thanked them, and they lodged a complaint with Shinko, as they were positive that the tire was defective. (You can see the steel belts separated from the rubber in the photos).
I too contacted Shinko and received a polite. “Thank You”, for the information. They did not provide me with a new tire. The dealer did and has since ceased buying Shinko Tires.
I’ve been on a writing hiatus for ten days now. While not riding, I’ve been considering my upcoming ride, which is about a month away. I’m sitting in a hotel in Hinton, Alberta at the moment, waiting until tomorrow when automotive tire centers reopen from the holiday to remount a new tire on the car so that we can continue our journey home.
Having almost killed me, and with the astounding lack of customer service from Shinko, I think it’s safe to say that I will never purchase another one of their products.
As for yesterdays blowout, fortunately we were not on our motorcycle, but in a car. I’m now sitting in Hinton, Alberta having installed the ‘spacesaver’ tire and driving the approximately 300 kilometers to where there is a tire replacement available.
Be safe, be well.
Ciao…
Leave a Reply