Counterfeit Tyres

[MangoKorat]

Up until now, I've sourced my bike tyres in the UK and brought them with me when I visit - I found decent tyres were cheaper in the UK than from stockists in Thailand.  However, I'm likely to need 4 or 5 sets of tyres this year so had a look around and jeez, some brands are less than half the UK price on sites like Lazada etc.  However, are they real of counterfeit? In other circumstances it should be a 'no brainer' - tyres are normally your only contact with the road and a bad choice might give you a different type of 'contact' with it - slam dunk right?  

 

Possibly but......... in the UK (and Europe I believe) bikers get totally ripped off by just about everyone connected with the motorbike trade on just about anything we want to buy. Far from being the 'poor' young man's transport it used to be, biking is very much part of the 'leisure industry' now and many bikers are in their 50's and 60's. with cash to spend. Bikes are our 'toys', can sometimes costs as much as cars and the manufacturers and parts stockists know it so they push us to the limits. Have the crazy prices we pay just become the norm? So much so that much cheaper prices just ring alarm bells?

 

Quick example, a couple of years ago I needed a lockset for my bike and due to potential language difficulties, I decided to source one at home in the UK. That was until a Kawasaki dealer in the UK quoted me over £400 (17500 baht).  No way, its not a complicated lockset - no chips or ECU codes, just 2 lock barrels and an ignition switch.  A member here took a look at the Kawasaki online parts catalogue and suggested I persevere with my potential language problems as the exact same parts in Thailand, from a Kawasaki dealer were £140.  Since then I've bought many other genuine parts for both bikes and cars in Thailand and saved literally 0000's. I got a genuine Honda (car) brake master cylinder for less than half the UK trade price.

 

People have suggested only buying from reputable bike shops and main dealers but does that guarantee no fakes?  2 years ago I bought some Amber Leaf tobacco from Doha Duty free that turned out to be fake - confirmed by a spelling mistake on the packaging, the makers JTI in London and me coughing my guts up.  There have been several cases of major High Street stores in the UK unkowingly selling counterfeit products in the news recently. Retailers often don't buy directly from manufacturers - they buy from wholesalers and distributors so they may be just as succeptible to fakes as the end user is.

 

So, are these tyres on Lazada and other similar websites genuine or not? Has anyone actually bought some and tried them?

[scubascuba3]

Tyres are cheap here, I'd never bother importing them from UK. Garages call them copies but they are just cheaper makes such as Fujiama Kicker, not the overpriced Pirelli etc. 

 

Problem with buying on Lazada and Shopee is you then need to find a place that will fit, a little bit cheap charlie to save a couple hundred

[MangoKorat]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Tyres are cheap here, I'd never bother importing them from UK. Garages call them copies but they are just cheaper makes such as Fujiama Kicker, not the overpriced Pirelli etc. 

 

Problem with buying on Lazada and Shopee is you then need to find a place that will fit, a little bit cheap charlie to save a couple hundred

I think you've misunderstood. I AM talking about major brands like Pirelli - like for like.  I saw a pair on Lazada today that are 4000 baht cheaper than they are in the UK. As for fitting, my local bike shop or Cockpit branch fit them for 100 -120 baht.

 

The lesser known brands you mention may well be OK but I'm always wary when it comes to tyres. We had problems with some of the Eastern European brands of car tyres in the UK a few years back.  Tyres were de-laminating, shedding tread, blowouts and all sorts of other nasties. A blow out in a car can be bad enough but on a bike, at the speeds I ride?? No thanks. So I tend to stick to the well known brands when it comes to bikes - although I have no doubt that I am being ripped off every time I buy them.

 

Hopefully someone will have tried some of these Lazada cheapies and can opine on whether they are genuine or not.