Mine was Sunday night.
Was up north this weekend and didn't head south again until after dinner time. Traffic is always moving pretty good then, and I was keeping up with everyone in the left lane. I rode around with a buddy earlier in the day and my bike felt great. Then, just as I was coming out of a gentle right hander, I suddenly felt like the rear end wasn't tracking properly. I cut the end of the corner a bit, and stood it up. I played with the bars a little bit to see if I could feel anything and the back end was all over the place. I knew something was really wrong, so I pulled in the clutch, tapped my front brake to flash the people behind me, and headed for the left shoulder. Thats when things got really scary.
It felt like using even gentle front brake was throwing the back end out to either side. I had to shift my body weight to gently steer, touching the bars only changed which side the back end swung to. At one point it went so far out to the left, I knew if it didn't come back right away I was going to get chucked off. To my right was 2 active lanes of traffic, and to my left was a rumble stip, about 6 feet of pavement, then a row of reflective sign posts and deep sand. It felt like forever, but I managed to keep it on the shoulder and eventually it stopped. Thank god I was out of the corner and on a straight stretch, because I was going straight whether I liked it or not. I jumped on the back and this is what I found.
I spent the next 2 hours on the side of the road, waiting for my wife with her CAA card and a tow truck to show up. It gave me lots of time to think about how much worse this could have been, and all the corners I went through over the weekend where this would have led to an ambulance.
Both tires are new last September. They have probably about 2000km on them and are well under 5 years since manufacturing date. I've been checking the pressure regularly, most recently on Friday right before I left. Nothing on my bike seems like it could have caused any damage to them. It seems to me like a warranty issue, and everyone I've spoken with so far seems to agree. I got in touch with Michelin today and we'll see what they say.
Was up north this weekend and didn't head south again until after dinner time. Traffic is always moving pretty good then, and I was keeping up with everyone in the left lane. I rode around with a buddy earlier in the day and my bike felt great. Then, just as I was coming out of a gentle right hander, I suddenly felt like the rear end wasn't tracking properly. I cut the end of the corner a bit, and stood it up. I played with the bars a little bit to see if I could feel anything and the back end was all over the place. I knew something was really wrong, so I pulled in the clutch, tapped my front brake to flash the people behind me, and headed for the left shoulder. Thats when things got really scary.
It felt like using even gentle front brake was throwing the back end out to either side. I had to shift my body weight to gently steer, touching the bars only changed which side the back end swung to. At one point it went so far out to the left, I knew if it didn't come back right away I was going to get chucked off. To my right was 2 active lanes of traffic, and to my left was a rumble stip, about 6 feet of pavement, then a row of reflective sign posts and deep sand. It felt like forever, but I managed to keep it on the shoulder and eventually it stopped. Thank god I was out of the corner and on a straight stretch, because I was going straight whether I liked it or not. I jumped on the back and this is what I found.
I spent the next 2 hours on the side of the road, waiting for my wife with her CAA card and a tow truck to show up. It gave me lots of time to think about how much worse this could have been, and all the corners I went through over the weekend where this would have led to an ambulance.
Both tires are new last September. They have probably about 2000km on them and are well under 5 years since manufacturing date. I've been checking the pressure regularly, most recently on Friday right before I left. Nothing on my bike seems like it could have caused any damage to them. It seems to me like a warranty issue, and everyone I've spoken with so far seems to agree. I got in touch with Michelin today and we'll see what they say.