Barcode on tire?

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Just received a new front PR4 from Rock Mountain ATV/MC. Was getting ready to take it to get it mounted when I noticed a bar code sticker.. right in the bead channel! I've tried to get it off but it's really on there good. I'm afraid to get it off I'll have to gouge into the tire to remove it. Don't know what kind of adhesive they used but this stuff is unreal. And just why in the heck would they put it on an area that needs to seal??

Have any of you guys ever encountered this?

 

wjbertrand

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Re: What the heck is this?

Yeah, many tires have this, both cage and bikes. Don't worry about it, the tire will seal to the rim just fine, picking or digging at it on the other hand.... I've used a dozen pairs of Michelin tires and that zebra tag has never been a problem.
 
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Mick
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Re: What the heck is this?

Thanks Jeff. 1st time I've ever seen this. So far I've only used my fingernail to try and remove it.
 
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Mick
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Re: What the heck is this?

By the way, Rocky Mountain had one of the best prices I could find ($141) and the shipping was free. I ordered it Friday afternoon and got it Tuesday noon.
 
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Mick
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Re: What the heck is this?

I've used a dozen pairs of Michelin tires and that zebra tag has never been a problem.

In the last 2 or three years I've put PR-3's on my Bandit and ST. None of them had the bar code.
 

wjbertrand

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Re: What the heck is this?

In the last 2 or three years I've put PR-3's on my Bandit and ST. None of them had the bar code.
Could swear my PR3s and all the PR4s I've used had the zebra and always in the bead seal area. The same was true for a set of Michelin Defender tires I bought from Tire Rack for my wife's Toyota RAV-4. I think I picked at it for about 1 minute the first time I saw it and quickly realized it wasn't going to or meant to come off.
 

Coop

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Re: What the heck is this?

Just received a new front PR4 from Rock Mountain ATV/MC. Was getting ready to take it to get it mounted when I noticed a bar code sticker.. right in the bead channel! I've tried to get it off but it's really on there good. I'm afraid to get it off I'll have to gouge into the tire to remove it. Don't know what kind of adhesive they used but this stuff is unreal. And just why in the heck would they put it on an area that needs to seal??

Have any of you guys ever encountered this?

There is an Aggie joke in the somewhere!
 
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Mick
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Re: What the heck is this?

Could swear my PR3s and all the PR4s I've used had the zebra and always in the bead seal area. The same was true for a set of Michelin Defender tires I bought from Tire Rack for my wife's Toyota RAV-4. I think I picked at it for about 1 minute the first time I saw it and quickly realized it wasn't going to or meant to come off.
Just looked at my records and the last tire I bought was a PR3 rear in January of 2014 and it had no bar code. None before did either. This is obviously something new. Are they putting that tag on other brands?
 

970mike

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Re: What the heck is this?

That is the chip that tells our big brother if we have exceeded the speed limit or not!! :22yikes:
 
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Re: What the heck is this?

worked at a tire shop for a while, they have been on car and truck tires for a long time. Nobody removes them.
 
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Re: What the heck is this?

I worked for Michelin years ago, and the barcode is vulcanized into the tire at manufacture time. It's stuck to the tire carcass during buildup. If I recall correctly, it was used for production tracking and control.
 

Andrew Shadow

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Re: What the heck is this?

Tires I bought for my truck have these bar codes. The bar codes are the serial number- there is no serial number branded in to the sidewall.
 
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Re: What the heck is this?

Just about all the cage tires I mount have that. That is not technically where the air seal is made - this is accomplished by the very inside lip of the tire bead.
 

BakerBoy

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Re: What the heck is this?

Mick, I've seen that barcode on my Michelin tires for a number of years...I too tried to peel it off with my fingernail and found it bonded into the rubber, so left it alone.
 
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Re: What the heck is this?

Every single Michelin tire I have installed in the last 3 years has had the barcode in the bead area. Sometimes I remove it, sometime not. I am the guy that goes through at least 10 sets of tires a year so I notice things like tires with no balance dot and barcode stickers. They have no impact on bead sealing not that my tires ever stay on the rim long enough to leak down. ;)

I always use the barcode sticker as the balance dot and only one Michelin has needed over 3 weights in the last 3 years. Always the softest carcass tire which makes them easiest to mount of all the tires i use. I rarely use Michelins anymore because they suffer an inordinate amount of punctures compared to Bridgestone and Dunlop. I have not had a Bridgestone puncture, only one Dunlop puncture, one Metzler puncture and 4 Michelin punctures in the last 4 years. 25 to 30K miles a year on mostly mountain roads in East TN and West NC.

KEB
 
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Mick
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Re: What the heck is this?

Mick, I've seen that barcode on my Michelin tires for a number of years...
Mystery solved.

I had a couple of neurons fire this morning, something that occurs with less frequency the older I get, and I think I've figured out why I've never seen this tag and everyone else has. Up until 2009, I had always ordered my tires online, took my wheel off, then took them to the local Honda dealer to be mounted (no bar tag on any brand that I purchased to that point in time). I had completely forgotten that post 2009, with my Bandit and my ST1300, prior to the most recent tire, I used an independent MC mechanic to mount my PR-3s rather than a dealer. His tires at the time were reasonably priced so I gave him my CC# over the phone and then he ordered them and had them waiting when I took the wheels in. The key detail here is that I did not get to inspect the tires prior to mounting, therefore if the tag was there, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to have seen it. This latest tire is different in that I ordered it online just like I used to prior to '09 with the ability to look at the tire before it was mounted.

Unfortunately this is the be the last motorcycle tire I will ever have to fool with as I've got my 1300 up for sale. Decided to stick a new front tire on it because when I looked closely at the current tire the other day, I noticed that it had cupped and in the low area created by the cupping, the rubber was down to the wear bar. Reminds me of the old Bridgestone 020s and Dunlop 205s that I used to put on my '99 ST that would cup so bad. It really cut the life of the tire.
 

mlheck

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Re: What the heck is this?

Is it most likely put in the bead area so that it can't be damaged. Like was said early, it is the serial number for the tire. If ever there is any question about the manufacturing of that tire then the bar code will be needed.
 

BakerBoy

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Re: What the heck is this?

I ran your picture through an online barcode scanner ... the number encoded in that barcode is: "73828965". If you look closely at that barcode sticker, there are 4 pairs of numbers (upside down) on the right edge, and they do appear to be "73 82 89 65", the same as the barcode represents.

I speculate that the number is not a single tire serial number, but rather a is likely a lot number (for a bunch of same size tires made in the same run at the factory). It would be interesting to learn from Michelin what the number means--my quick online search turned up only speculation on other forums.
 

wjbertrand

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Re: What the heck is this?

Many manufacturers use bar codes to track product production on the manufacturing floor and in distribution. There's typically lot number, model number, factory location and production date information buried in that code. They may even have traceability information all the way back to the raw materials lot numbers (rubber, carbon black, silica etc.) that went into making that tire or batch of tires.
 
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