I was told today that the oem tyres that are put on bikes as standard are often not exactly the same as the aftermarket variants and can be inferior... Now part of me thinks this is b*llocks but having said that I know this to be the case with some manufactures in the car industry so... Not sure What do we think?
I've certainly heard the same thing, in respect to the Bridgestones that were the OEM fitment on my 696. Likewise on the Pirellis on the Diavel - there is a special edition for the Diavel (I think there's a D at the end of the Diavel version compared with the non Diavel version). Not sure if the OEM edition is always inferior to the bog standard version, but there can be a difference.
My VFR came with BT020's when I bought it new in 2002, they had a special designation, 'BB' ISTR, and had 2mm less tread depth compared to the standard 020.
Yep your right with this one but there are some different reasons for different manufacturers, Dunlop on modern sports bikes D201/221+others were found not to be purchasable in uk, that was because Dunlop made a cheap single compound for OEM, yes inc 600/1000 sports bikes particular Honda, this is bike come almost prebuilt in crate to uk dealers included the tyres ok for jap climates, Metz made an O, M, C series for mainly BMW, at first mezteler said not mixable but then after 12mth they allowed to mix, Pirelli has D on Rosso 2 but it only fits the one bike, talking about 240 rear, other manufacturers have theirs I.E GT for heavier bikes. Basically as a retailer I will only fit prefix tyres until manufacturers release the tie on it, Not being disrespectful but why if your replacements come from a respectable retailer with up to date knowledge and cares for their customers ALWAYS feel so much better than the originals, Ducat always seem to fit tyres that suit the bike and offer upgrade to supercorsas or develop purpose tyres like the RS's for Scrambler when supplied, I have seen a customer come into me complaining about confidence in his tyres, he 12 plate gsxr1000 had new bridge bt 021's !?? This tyre retailer didn't give two hoots, the rider requested fast road tyres, they put on single compound sports touring tyres that were 13 years old in technology, his bike was 10 years newer in tech compared to his tyres, guys, just speak to your TRUSTED suppliers before going online looking for a better deal, you'll find that the advice itself to make the correct decision maybe worth the extra £10 note a pair!!! Or just some politeness when asking if they can do a better deal I mean no disrespect to anyone with my comments its just what I see occasionally and I hate fellow people not being looked after..... rant over
I used to work for a large Japanese automotive manufacturer, and tyre development was partly within my dept, so I can tell you how it works with cars if some of the same logic carries over to bikes ; A tyre, by say Pirelli, has a standard model designation, which is largely generic bar a few weight and size derivatives The tyre co would then work with the manufacturing company development team to tune the compound of the tyre to work with the model it was to be supplied for. This work is mainly rolling resistance (NVH & economy) vs traction properties, which has a direct effect also on life expectancy. This is generally done by adjusting the compound 'ingredients' with a variety of rubber types and carbon contents etc, but not the carcass itself, and it will come off effectively an identical mound to any other tyre of that type If you go to a Ducati dealer, which would then source your tyres through its internal parts network (Ducati uk), you should be getting a factory spec tyre as it come off the line with. However, many dealers (automotive also) will buy from other sources to save costs, and get the tyre manufactures generic version of that tyre, which won't be tuned for your bike. The differences here will be virtually invisible and 99.9% of riders will be not feel a tangible difference Hope that helps
Yes, it's true mate, although tbh I don't think Ducati use them. I know on the Honda's and the Kawasaki's they used to use BT-014's etc which you couldn't buy as an aftermarket, only OEM Fit. Triumph use off the shelf SuperCorsa's though and i am pretty sure MV and Ducati generally do also. I think it's really only the japanese that do on their really big volume stuff, and as has been said it's all about tailoring.
I can imagine it's not cheap to get Pirelli to develop a special compound for your tyre, and like above, the volumes are very small compared to the Honda or Kawasaki, so the amortisation of that R&D cost could be huge But then again, like Ferrari, there's a certain marketable prestige to companies like Pirelli being the supplier, so they might write that cost off Your best bet is to ask a Ducati dealer
I can imagine the only thing a motor manufacturer will be talking to tyre manufacturers about is using buying power to drive the price they pay for tyres down. Having a tyre manufacturer produce an inferior tyre to save a few pennies seems fanciful. Why would the manufacturer be so stupid to put them on their vehicles. Why would a tyre manufacturer take a risk also? VW are finding out to their cost what happens when somebody makes stupid decision. I'm surprised some people sleep at night tbh. Mail Ducati and ask if OEM tyres are inferior. I'd be interested to see the reply.
I'm not sure anyone specifically said 'inferior'. My understanding is that in the case of the Honda spec Bridgestone was based on a another model but designed for higher mileage, slightly different compound etc. I agree, no manufacturer would compromise deliberately unless they really were looking to save pennies which would be ridiculous
yeah, i think you missed the point on that one Manufacturers will often "tune" a tyre to make it more specific to the application. I can't see Ducati, or any other brand looking for a cheaper way to make a tyre of a certain type. After all, most of the outlay in a tyre is the production process and amortisation of the moulds themslelsve (which are generic for a certain type of tyre/tread pattern) and the R&D costs. Reducing materials to a cheaper alternative would save you very little, but the R&D for doing so would probably out way the benefits
I've been told by a number of dealers, people and read on the net that it's the case Didn't mean I think it is. Simply a question.
My info on Dunlop in an earlier post is correct, there are tyres made all over the world by all different manufacturers, the three main tyre compounds change for Europe, America & Asia, my ref to Honda being crated into the UK with tyre already attached is also correct, most of these Dunlop models for 600+ sports bikes are single compound front and rear, both tyre and bike manufacturers work together in different ways, the ref to Dunlop is that the products are made for the Asia market therefore not as demanding as European roads and the asphalt is also different, between 2009-2014 approx. Dunlop won OEM fitment on price to asia market, it was uk dealers that did not change to European rubber ie more profit as tyres came built on crated bike, if you ring fowlers of Bristol and ask them to supply you a Dunlop as per original equip they will say they cant get them, the real reason is because Dunlop are NOT allowed to supply asia rubber to the uk, and guess what, the uk equivilant is dual compound! this is due to expected usage of our road types and asphalt differences. Ducati work with Pirelli and these become off the shelf tyres, different manufacturers, diff way of working, All manufacturers have a different ways of working, the target for tyre manufacturers is to gain OEM on as much as possible, then as the first time riders usually request same replacement fitments, therefor tyre manufacturers has better chance of market share in following 2 years.
