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.