Secondhand tires hot despite blowout dangers

By Imran Rusli

JAKARTA (JP): Despite the risk, the future of re-patterned tires, called ban batik in Indonesian, is secure. There is never any shortage of buyers for the cheap secondhand tires, with prices ranging from Rp10,000 to Rp75,000 (US$4.24 to $29.78), depending on the size, brand and car type.

Ban batik are sold in Tanah Abang, Simprug, Pasar Minggu, Lebak Bulus, Kebayoran Lama, Gandaria, Pool Tangan, Pulo Gadung and Rawamangun. Too many places, actually, to be mentioned here. Together with secondhand and retreaded tires, re-patterned tires crowd sidewalks, taking up the fronts of small shops. They are also sold on river banks. Secondhand tire sellers usually set up temporary shops, but a few garages and car-parts shops sell the re-patterned tires.

The tread on a re-patterned tire has been gauged by a stone or a hot poker to give the impression of more relief. The practice obviously thins the layers of rubber, which can be fatal.

"It only needs a sharp pebble, or extreme heat from road abrasion to explode the tire," a tire manufacturer explained.

Re-patterned tires come cheap. A new minibus tire used by the Kopaja minibus company costs Rp183,000, but a retreaded tire can be bought for Rp75,000.

"A re-patterned tire costs only Rp40,000," said Agus, a Kopaja minibus driver plying the Blok M to Cipedak route. Its durability matches the sale price, lasting no longer than one month on a Metromini or Kopaja. Retreads last somewhat longer.

"If it is good work, it could last three months or longer," said Agus, "but a new tire lasts longest, six months if well maintained."

Yan, a relative newcomer in this lucrative business, is optimistic about his prospects.

"I sell at least five re-patterned tires a day," he told The Jakarta Post. Even so, his business is smalltime.

"I started with funds made from the sale of 10 used tires and a small loan from my uncle," said another secondhand tire seller, Darma, in Simprug.

Dodi, a re-patterned tire dealer on Jalan Raya Pasar Minggu, started with Rp 300,000 he got from hawking an old motorbike in Surakarta last year.

Location is everything. The shop must be accessible to bus drivers, minibus drivers and car owners.

"It should be a site where we can change a tire quickly and safely," said Dodi, who sells an average of two tires every other day.

"It's not bad," he said, "it helps pay my kids' school fees."

Emergency

As a rule, people only buy re-patterned tires in an emergency.

"They are only used temporarily, until a retreaded tire or a new one is bought," explained Agus,

"I only used the tire for two days. I had to buy a re-patterned tire because I had lost money gambling and didn't have enough to buy a new tire," he admitted. Agus said using a re-patterned tire could be dangerous.

"You should never replace a front tire with a re-patterned one," he said. "They are mainly used as an inner back tire."

Albert Hardoyo, a car spooring and balancing veteran of 10 years at the Start Tyre Service in Bumi Serpong Damaihas, confirmed that re-patterned tires are unsafe. He added that even some new tires are not safe.

An employee of PT Gajah Tunggal, a tire manufacturing company established in 1951, said in a telephone interview that pneumatic tire strength depends mainly on the structure of its frame, as well as the rubber plies, metal hoop, and nylon, polyester or rayon plies.

"Without these enforcements and necessary materials, a tire is just the same as a balloon," he told the Post. He said the center of a tire is made of heavier rubber than its sides. The areas most exposed to abrasion are made of rubber designed to take the wear and tear. The sides of a tire are made of thinner rubber.

According to the company spokesman, who refused to be named, tires used to have six layers of rubber ply. "With increased road improvement, the layers have been brought down to two," he said. Radial ply is the most popular type of tire construction today.

Standards

Manufacturing tires demands great care and caution. At PT Gajah Tunggal, for instance, each tire must meet Indonesian Industrial Standards or International Standards, and an acknowledgement from the American transportation ministry, before it enters the market.

B.J. Zulkifli, a consultation columnist for the tabloid Otomotif, wrote in June of 1994 that "every tire has a production mark, denoting the week of a given year in which the tire was made."

For instance, the front tire of a standard Honda Astrea Prima, marked Inoue 2.25-17, DOT 073, means that the tire was made in the 7th week of 1993. Another sample is a Yamaha standard back tire, marked Yamaha RZR/RX-Z, IRC 3.00-18, DOT 114. This means the tire was produced in the 11th week of 1994.

Could it not have meant a week in 1974 or 1984?

"That would be impossible, a tire never lasts more than one year. Using a tire past its standard duration period would be dangerous," Zulkifli explained.