Dunlap Roadsmart

[snbusa]

Seeing lots of extraordinary claims about the life and handling with these. Anyone?

[sixpack577]

Use a Roadsmart(sport touring) rear and a Q2 front(sport).
They will wear out evenly front to rear, as opposed to the rear typically lasting half the mileage of the front with sport front/rear.
A harder sport touring tire will never stick like a sport tire, but the Roadsmart/Q2 combo will handle great on the street.
I had a few sets that looked like this, and it's the only only combo I'll run now on a big heavy sportbike.
This shows that they stick to the road, but mileage will vary depending upon riding style.
I get around 3k miles front/rear with this combo, as opposed to about 1500 to 1700 on a Q2 rear.
Other riders have gotten much greater mileage, but you have to ride very conservatively to do so

[Tufbusa]

I like the Roadsmart so well I just bough four sets from Motomummy who had the best price I'd seen in years. Roadsmart rear and Q2 front makes for a great combination for balance between tire life and performance.

[E Zurcher]

I went to Roadsmart 2s front and back. Do a lot of commuting and I don't mind swapping the front every other time. I am not a track or highly aggressive rider so they should work well and save me some money. Q2 on the front cupped at less than 3k.

[Trout]

Seeing lots of extraordinary claims about the life and handling with these. Anyone?

My last bike was a K1200RS. My first set of tires (immediately after I bought the bike used) were Roadsmarts. They worked fine, but my front was gone in 60 days (about 6000 miles). The K1200RS has a heavy front end. I replaced them with Michelin PR2's. The Michelins were more money, but they ended up costing less per mile because they lasted a lot longer. I did 2 sets of PR2's on that bike and thought they were a much superior tire to the Dunlops.

Last spring, I put a set of PR2's on my Hayabusa (even though the PR3 was available). I liked the PR2 that much. As it stands today, I have about 7000 touring miles on this set of PR2's and my rear is about halfway gone. I fully expect to get an easy 12000 miles on this set.

Having experienced this kind of service life and performance from the Michelins, I would never go back to the Roadsmarts.

[Tufbusa]

My last bike was a K1200RS. My first set of tires (immediately after I bought the bike used) were Roadsmarts. They worked fine, but my front was gone in 60 days (about 6000 miles). The K1200RS has a heavy front end. I replaced them with Michelin PR2's. The Michelins were more money, but they ended up costing less per mile because they lasted a lot longer. I did 2 sets of PR2's on that bike and thought they were a much superior tire to the Dunlops.

Last spring, I put a set of PR2's on my Hayabusa (even though the PR3 was available). I liked the PR2 that much. As it stands today, I have about 7000 touring miles on this set of PR2's and my rear is about halfway gone. I fully expect to get an easy 12000 miles on this set.

Having experienced this kind of service life and performance from the Michelins, I would never go back to the Roadsmarts.

Don't be confused with longer life equals better tire. Longer life is at the expense of grip. There are no free rides. Purchasing tires is a personal choice (Choose wisely to suit your needs) you can buy an elbow dragging high performance tire with a short life or you can buy a high mileage tire that's harder than a w hore's heart but you don't get great mileage and great stick in the same tire.

Personally, I'm not giving up a sticky Dunlop for a high mileage Michelin. My theory is "I'm better off to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it"!

[Trout]

Don't be confused with longer life equals better tire. Longer life is at the expense of grip.

Wow! I never thought of that. Thanks for the insight. :oh:

I'm not giving up a sticky Dunlop for a high mileage Michelin. My theory is "I'm better off to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it"!

The tire in question here is not the Sportmax, but the Roadsmart... which is a Sport Touring tire. It's not a sticky tire, it's a dual compound, long life tire, just like the Pilot Road 3, just like the BT-023, etc.

[Tufbusa]

Wow! I never thought of that. Thanks for the insight. :oh:



The tire in question here is not the Sportmax, but the Roadsmart... which is a Sport Touring tire. It's not a sticky tire, it's a dual compound, long life tire, just like the Pilot Road 3, just like the BT-023, etc.

You are absolutely correct, the Roadsmart has a dual compound rear and it is indeed a sport touring tire. You are also correct that the Michelin PR will deliver more mileage than the Roadsmart. However, what I think you are missing is the fact you are giving up the additional grip of a softer shorter life tire for the additional mileage. You can buy a sticky tire or you can buy a hard durable tire and there are multiple choices in between. You don't get stick and durability in the same tire. Such a tire doesn't exist.

Keep in mind that the front tire is the control point for everything the motorcycle does. The contact patch of the front tire is only about half the size of the rear. These are things every rider should consider when purchasing tires.

Your view that the Michelins are superior to the Dunlops due to the increased mileage is a fallacy.

[880jedi]

Keep in mind that the front tire is the control point for everything the motorcycle does. The contact patch of the front tire is only about half the size of the rear. These are things every rider should consider when purchasing tires.

Your view that the Michelins are superior to the Dunlops due to the increased mileage is a fallacy.

It's a Catch-22 also. If you get a tire with superior grip, you might be riding past your talent level if you think the tires will make you faster in the curvy sections. If you're at the max grip level of the tire, you might also be going to fast for street riding too.

I ride the PR3's to get the most mileage. Less grip, but I'd rather bring it home to ride again another day.

[Tufbusa]

It's a Catch-22 also. If you get a tire with superior grip, you might be riding past your talent level if you think the tires will make you faster in the curvy sections. If you're at the max grip level of the tire, you might also be going to fast for street riding too.

I ride the PR3's to get the most mileage. Less grip, but I'd rather bring it home to ride again another day.

Even a shinko works well until it don't!

You don't get to choose when and where you may need more traction than you purchased in order to stay on two wheels. Every season we have multiple crashes on this site due to the front tire giving up grip during braking, usually while incorporating evasive actions or an "Oh Sh*t" moment while cornering. Most (not all) will be on high mileage/low grip tires.

The laws of physics are pretty much absolute when it come to motorcycles. Bikes get faster, tires get sticker. You can blame a crash on how bad the tires were but remember, it was you who made that choice. The cost of crashing far outweighs the cost of sticky tires!

Will you be among the unfortunate? We won't know until the snow flies!