Read this in a local forum. Anybody hear of such a thing?

"For anyone that has just bought, is about to buy or may be buying thinking of buying the great Maxis Bighorn Radial tires here is a let the buyer beware for you.

This is just out and most dealers , including Rocky Mtn. ATV don't know about it yet.

When you buy the Bighorn Radials be sure the tires say "Radial' after the tire size. If they don't say Radial on the tire then you are buying a biased ply tire and paying $20+ a tire too much, plus they will not offer the same great ride and will not last forever like the radials do.

Right now now this is so new that some dealers will try and tell you that just because it does not say radial does not mean they are not. I Repeat IF THE TIRE DOES NOT SAY RADIAL, then IT IS NOT A RADIAL.

This was just discovered here in Grand Junction this past week and verified last Saturday by the Big O tire dealer in Richfield, Utah. Some of you know that that dealer has sold Bighorns for years. Many tire dealers will be in denial. I expect this news to start making the run around the ATV forum websites soon..."

The Bias ply version was the original Big horn that was introduced many years ago. To the best of my knowledge the Bias ply version has not been even in production in over 5 years. It was my understanding that about a year maybe 2 after the radial came out the bias ply version was discontinued. If memory serves this took place back around 2001 or 2002. If someone managed to buy a set of bias ply Bighorns, they were likely a really old set of tires that some tire dealer got stuck with and finally pawned off on someone, maybe by missleading someone about what they were and failing to mention how old they were as well.

As far as wear goes. I never noticed any difference in the tread wear on the old bias ply versions, but I do think there was a noticable ride quality improvement when Maxis went to the radials.

Thanks cc1999.
I'll bet that's it, not some conspiracy to sell non radial Bighorns as radials, that's going to explode in a scandal that will rock the ATV world.

A friend of mine just bought 4 Bighorns from Rocky Mtn ATV, two were radial two were biased ply. Rocky claimed they were all the same. Not true! Big O in Richfield sells a lot of bighorns. They checked their stock and found both radials and biased ply.

Just got 4 from ATV Outfitters and all of them were radials

I checked mine and all say radial on them. I bought mine from rocky mountain atv, a couple of years ago.
Did he by the new 2.0 bighorns or the orginal?

I believe they were the original.
I don't know how to tell the difference by looking at the inside of a tire but people in the industry say it is easy to see the difference on the inside. Anyway he has been led to believe there may be thousands of unmarked tires being sold as radials that are not. Not because someone is trying to take advantage of another but because of lacking communications prior to shipments and dealers not knowing any better.
May all be for naught but better to watch for it than be taken by it.

BH2's do not have white letters on the sidewalls like the BH1's.

Does anyone know the size of the ones that came from RM?

The ones I know about were the rear, 25X10X12

I just purchased several weeks ago from Rocky Mtn. and checked. Sure enough the rear tires (25x10x12) do not say radial but the front do. I sent an email to Maxxis and I'm not sure what to do. I mounted and have had them out once. BOO!!!

Do you happen to have a picture of them, RM is one of the largest Maxis dealers in the world, I highly doubt they are the old Bias ply tires. They radial has a different appearance then the bias plys had. I could probably tell by looking at a picture if it is one of there old Bias ply tires or if it's a radial.

Dang...
Im gonna have to go look at mine now!!!

Update - I contacted Maxis and they replied that all Bighorns sold in the USA should be Radial but other countries do have the Bias ply version. They said the size have to have the "R" in it ie. 25x10Rx12. If the "R" isn't there it isn't radial.

I had no R on the rear tires so I contacted RM. They were super to deal with! They checked stock of what they had and all were radial. They apologized for the problem and offered several solutions. I ended up shipping the tires and wheels to them on RM UPS number. They mounted new Bighorns on and shipped them back. One week later I have new rear tires on my Rincon. They didn't even care that I had mounted the others and put 50 miles on them.

It all has worked out in the end and props to Rocky Mountain for making it right but I would suggest checking for the R in the size if you have recently purchased Bighorns because there are bias ply on the market.

Tyler

PS Thanks for bringing this to my attention before it was too late to do anything about it! Good job Glenlivet!!!!

N/P