Comments on dunlop d208

sportrider1296

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I will start off by saying that I have had poor service out of dunlop motorcycle tires from my gsxr 750 to my TLR.  I always thought the grip was horrible and the life was just as bad.  I have used the d207 and d208 with nothing good to report.  

Now my buddy has a 98' superhawk with a d208 put on last summer.  Less than 2,000 miles the back tire is shot.  I know for a fact that there has been no burnouts or wheelie's (except by me on it, he he).  I really hope that the new qualifiers are way better.

I have used many different brands of tires now and dunlop seems to be the worst from my test.  

I've used:

michlin pilot race set                 super sticky, low life
dunlop d207 rear                      poor grip, medium life
dunlop d202 front                     medium grip, low life
continental conti-force set         bang for the buck
continental conti-force max set   same, except softer
Tomahawk T3 rear                    medium grip, long life
Michilin Hi-sport front                cupped early, low life
Bridgestone BT020 good grip, life not better

Just wanted to get some input from you guys regarding the dunlops.  There is one thing I did like about them, the wet grip seemed to be up to par as the rest.

Please change my mind:  
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Dunlop  
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You got it right.... 207 and 208 worst rubber I ever tried....

just unbeievable how much better stock BT56 is.
 
I've been completely happy with my BT-014's. 6-8K miles on a rear, double that on the front. Then again I don't ride real aggressive.

But, I'll see if my opion changes after I get back from KY next month.
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I had the BT020 on the rear of my TL and I liked it fine. The tire life was not what I expected from a sport-touring tire though. I got about 3 or 4k on it. I have heard good things about the BT014.

I'm going to probaly try a shinko 005 up front and a shinko 009 in the rear. I may also go with the Continental road attacks too.
 
If you like hitting the corners pretty hard, get M1's or Pilot Powers. You will loose some tread life, but stick in the corners.
If you ride straight up and aren't aggressive in the corners, then stick with the stock Battleaxes, you'll slip in hard cornering, but extend tread life.
I like the windy twisties, so I'm going to put on some Pilot Powers this spring. The Pilots have a soft compound on the sides and a medium in the center. I've only heard good things about the Pilot Powers.
I ran the M1's for part 2 of last summer and they were pretty good for a MAX (absolutely bald in the center, really low on the sides) of 3500 miles. I find it difficult to spend as much time in the corners as I do upright to keep tread wear even. My friend on a gsxr 1000 ran the pilots (2x)and got nearly the same results, 3200-3500 max rear tire life.
I haven't heard anything good about the Dunslops. Way to hard in my opinion.
 
IMO the stock tires on my busa are terrible grip wise...i had dunlop 207 and 208's on my F4i and had no issues with them...the stock 207's on my honda lasted me 8000 miles and i never had issues with them slipping or wearing poorly. I've only had my busa since last July and i dont like the stock tires at all and wont be putting the same kind on when the time comes for new shoes...
 
iv had no problems out of my 208zr 2500 to 3000 miles wheelies burnouts wand twisties..Better then stock tires imoa
will deffintly try some of the ones you put up though always try something at least once..Thanks for the comparison pretty thorough...



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I've Had:
Stock BT56 - never again.
Pirelli Diablo ( standard ) - 1800 miles done. sticky at 1st then fell off rapidly.
BT010 - eh  so so about 2500 miles
D207 - eh  so so 2500
D208 - eh so so 2500-3000
Pilot Powers - So far the best for me. Stcky in the turns and I got allomost 5k from the rear & 7 on the front.
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ANYONE TRY THE NEW DUNLOPS QUALIFIERS YET?
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<!--EDIT|Kento-Moto
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I've been completely happy with my BT-014's.  6-8K miles on a rear, double that on the front.  Then again I don't ride real aggressive.

But, I'll see if my opion changes after I get back from KY next month.  
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Where at in KY?
Frankfort area.  My little bro is working on planning a ride, maybe I can convince him to head to the eastern hills.

Time to get on Google Earth. What city is close to you? I know you are out near the border.



<!--EDIT|flynjay
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I've been completely happy with my BT-014's.  6-8K miles on a rear, double that on the front.  Then again I don't ride real aggressive.

But, I'll see if my opion changes after I get back from KY next month.  
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Where at in KY?
Frankfort area.  My little bro is working on planning a ride, maybe I can convince him to head to the eastern hills.

Time to get on Google Earth.  What city is close to you?  I know you are out near the border.
Ashland.
Little far.
Frankfort is around 150 miles away.
 
I had the same problem with'em on my TLR also. Worst feel and grip I've ever had. I put Mich Pilots on and were honestly the BEST tires for the street I've ever used. BUT, I don't buy French
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anymore for certaint reasons.  
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Next tires I am going to try is Avons because they worked great on my Duc ST4s and got me 8,000 plus miles of Rally riding  
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I want road attacks or Avon 46/45 so bad my teeth hurt, but for the price I keep wanting to try the shinkos so we all can get some feedback for them. Guys in Australia run them on bandits and are getting some great mileage out of them. I'm talking around 7 to 9K on a rear, wow
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I tried a set of Dunslops once.... JUST once. They sell MANY locally here to the squid community - the kids who try to get dates with burnouts - Dunslips are great for spinning. I bet the Qualifiers are better - Dorklap's been making race tires for ever so you'd THEENK they could get it right soon
 
Never had an issue with Dunlops and used them on all types of bikes . I put a lot of miles on annually and never get over 2500-3k out of any tire except what came on the Busa . I got near 5k out of those but I'd rather have grip than long life . Switched to Pilot Powers since I run Pilot Power Race on the track bike but I may try the Qualifiers . I ran Dunlop on the track all year once and never had an issue with slip either . Sold the '04 R1 with D208ZR's nearing 2500 miles on them too . It came with D218's and they were even better but I only got 2000 out of them .
 
A friend of mine got aroud 2000 miles on the rear of his FZ1. To say the least, he wasn't to happy and plans on trying some Metzlers.
 
I want road attacks or Avon 46/45 so bad my teeth hurt, but for the price I keep wanting to try the shinkos so we all can get some feedback for them.  Guys in Australia run them on bandits and are getting some great mileage out of them.  I'm talking around 7 to 9K on a rear, wow  
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HOW much are they ?
 
with all then inputs you can really tell that it is mostly all in the riders style that determins the type and wear of the used tire... usage and wear is different with everyone it seems but the dunlops arent getting more negitive comments like i thought they would. buddy of mine uses avons on his zx-12, what kind i dont know, he loves them especially with the flat roads around here wearing that flat spot on the middle of the tire...his are a dual compound that is harder in the middle and softer towards the outside...they took some getting used to for me cause of the way they look...the tread design and the width of the tread looks like it should be an off road tire or something!
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