Kawidan,

Did you let ITP know about the shredding inside the tire? If so, what was their response?

 

Adirondack

I talked to ITP about the problem last September when I initialy had the problem with the original right rear tire. I had contacted them to see if they had ever seen this type of problem, and they indicated that they had never heard of such a problem, and that it must be a defect in that specific tire. They insisted on sending me a new replacement tire. Like I mentioned in my original post, ITP support was great and they went out of there way to help me out even thought I had 3500km's on the tires.

Now my new replacement tire with 1000km's is doing the same thing as the first one, but at a quicker rate then the original one. So I've come to the conclusion that the Mudlite is just not designed to take the torque of the 650. I now have 4500km's on 3 of the tires, and 1000km's on the replacement tires, so I've gotten my money's worth out of them, so I've pretty much given up on the Mudlites for the 650, and will now try the Mud Bugs. The funny thing is that the replacement tire with only 1000km's on it, is twice as bad as the left rear tire with 4500km's. When I was looking at the left tire, it appears like it's in the early stage of shredding. The right one, was really really bad.

I haven't bothered contacting ITP this time around since I now know that it's not related to a defective tire, but more to a combination of a soft tire, and a powerfull atv. I guess they just don't go good together. LOL!!!

I don't want to bash on the Mudlites, they served me well for the time I had them, and I will be installing a new set of Mudlites on my GF's 350 Bruin when we come back from Newfoundland. I'm sure they will work quite well on a smaller CC atv with less power.

I just wanted to warn other 650/700 owners about the problem I had with the Mudlites.

 

Thanks for the response. I have 1000 miles on the 26" mudlites on my P650. My wife has 27" mudlites on her Vinson. You are right about the power. The Mudlites on the Vinson are wearing better than the ones on the Prairie and it is definetely attributable to the power difference. I still like the Mudlites, but may try 589's when these wear out.

 

Hey Dan......
I haven't been on here in ages atleast to respond...guess what, I had/have the same problem on mine....with the 27" mudlites. The insides are shedding to pieces and i can see the cracks beginning on the outside aswell, but no plugs yet. I attributed the left rear to being too close to the muffler (with stocks rims on)..infact...I had little ***** of rubber inside the left rear tire when i changed them. I've since gone to ITP C-series, for the mudlites and also bought another set of C-series for 25" holeshot ATR's..which, btw i absolutely LOVE. haven't even had the mudlites on at all since first thing this spring. I'm thinking very strongly on trading up to a BF this fall (after i hear the reports from guys in here who get them) and take one for a spin myself, so if and when i do...the mudlites will be going with the bike, but on stock rims. You remember a post i put up last winter about the mudlites spinning on the stock rims ?? well, they do on the C-series aswell, and this on gravel, not pavement.
What's my bike gonna be worth anyways..any idea ?? '03 650, with a few goodies (shhhhhh)..including winch, rear seat, fender protectors front and back, kimpex front and rear bumpers, front rack extender (homemade), hand (variable temp) and thumb warmers, front fairing/windshield, 27" mudlites on stock rims,with likely close to 4500 kms (this fall) , and still 2 years worth of warranty.

Jeff

 

Hey Jeff,

I was wondering where you where hidding LOL!!! Did you go to the Fredericton Junction run a few weeks back. I looked for you, but I didn't see you.

Interesting that you had the same problem as me. The only thing is that my problematic tire is on the right hand side, so it's far away from the muffler.

How much did you pay for your C-Series rims? I'm debating getting a set. I'm also debating trading for a Brute Force, not sure what I'm gonna do yet. The more I think about it, the more I think I may keep the 650 an extra year and just put a few goodies on it. I guess I will make a decision once I start hearing the feedback from other owners.

I'm thinking that it should be worth probably between 6500 and 7000. It may seem low, but now that the 700 is out, and now the 750 coming out, the 650 is really gonna take a hit I think.

Dan

 

Nope...never made it to that run this year...I was working nights and had a pretty rough night the night before. How much I paid for the C-series ?? haha ...can't say Dan.....as you know...I kinda have connections...and employees that sell kimpex products get a rebate directly from kimpex....soooooo.....let's just say ya wouldn't believe me if i told ya. Yea I was thinking around that price range myself. We were hoping to get out on a few poker runs this summer, but work's kinda getting in the way of that...so far anyways. We really haven't been biking much at all actually, but hope to before the nice weather leaves. Someday, somewhere, we'll likely meet on the trials Dan.

Jeff

 

Hi Dan, I just ran in the garage and check my Mud Lite 27" tires and they are alright inside and outside. I couldn't see your picture, Could you Mail them at mtd@nbnet.nb.ca cause I want to know what to look for. So far 1000km on mine and no tire problem yet.

Thanks for the post.

Tony

 

Tony,

Check your mail.

Dan

 

Kawiddan:

I would at least e-mail ITP with those pics. They may even want the tires back for more in depth analysis. Heck you may get a new set of tires out of just out of their gratitude for helping them identify a potential problem.

I've seen damage something like that on a truck tire before but I can't for the life of me remember what the exact cause was. It seemed like it had something to do with chemical contamination of something like that.

I'm thinking Novakaw650 is hitting it pretty close to the mark with "2. The wrong quality/chemical mix of rubber in that area of the tire. The pronounced flexing between the lugs caused the cured rubber to physically break down."

In any event I would let ITP know about the problem. I'd almost bet they would be quite interested in it.

 

CaptainQuint

ITP has already gone out of there way to help me the first time I had the tire problem. I provided them with all the info and pictures that they wanted, and they then insisted on sending a replacement tire. They didn't even want the defective tire back. They just came to the conclusion that it was a bad tire and felt that they should replace it with a new one, even after I had put over 3500km's on them.

So I'm assuming that they would probably come to the same conclusion with the new tire. I've gotten 4500km's out of these tires, so I've come to the conclusion that I've gotten my money out of these tires, so I'm not going to bother contacting ITP this time around.