I have just replaced my Dunlop Qualifiers after 2 months of riding, which equals about 4,ooo miles, and I must say I am rather pleased. I have tried many different tire combos and these have given me the best balance of mileage and handling.
Dunlop Qualifiers
- Thread starter Gunnybusa
- Start date
grip, heating and wear compared to Diablos?
hmm...no worries, Guns.
Yeah...gotta love the riding surface here. Nuttin like unintentionally drifting the rear goin through an intersection.
Gotta love the
looks I get from folks. It's even more hilarious when they see that I'm doin the same thing.
Yeah...gotta love the riding surface here. Nuttin like unintentionally drifting the rear goin through an intersection.
Gotta love the
hmmm...yes. Perhaps a little too alive for my tastes.
I've had to pull enough seat outta my azz to build me a couch.
I've had to pull enough seat outta my azz to build me a couch.
I'm only wearing a rear Qualifier for now...
lasted 11k miles so far...and, no, i ain't ur grandma...i just have a long commute.
I like the tire, confident grip, easy ride.
But...and there's always a but...if it get's 3 psi low (around 38 psi), it lets you know by going vague feel and squirming...
lasted 11k miles so far...and, no, i ain't ur grandma...i just have a long commute.
I like the tire, confident grip, easy ride.
But...and there's always a but...if it get's 3 psi low (around 38 psi), it lets you know by going vague feel and squirming...
sounds good. I have a trackday on the 25th of this month so I'll be sure to have the Dunlop tire vendor throw on a set for me. Cool thing is they have an end of the year blow out special for track day and racer dudes. $200/set...I'll let y'all know how they do at the track.
My "Hayabusa Tire History" has been...
The oem BT56 rear was toast by 3K miles....which i replaced with a BT014 Rear while still running the oem BT56 front...the 014 rear felt far better both in profile annnnd stick than did the oem BT56 rear...unfortunately?...the BT014 Rear caught a nail within weeks..and with a mere 3,600 on the odo?...I went ahead and swapped out my oem BT56 front and Nailed & Plugged 2 week old BT014 rear for a fresh set of Pilot Powers...and?...WOW!...what a dif and change for the better in all aspects...great stick...but so catlike in it's steering that it was like you were ALWAYS steering...even when droning the straightline superslabs of florida interstates...trading off straightline stability for ultra responsive steering as the pilots required constant steering attention and lacked straightline steering stability for the first 1K-1,500 miles or so...until they lost some of their steep centerline profile and developed a bit of a flat spot in the middle...and then and only then did the powers begin to display a slight hint of some level of straightline stability to where the steering didn't demand my undivided attention at all times...which kinda suxed down here in florida with all the long straights...but the powers did in fact handle great with their ultra-quick steering...however...when pushed hard?...and i mean really "HARD"....i could sense a bit of unpredicatable squirmyness about them...just before breaking loose...as they were predicatble enough that i got to a point where i could nail corner exits hard enough to spit the rear out a tad and leave some cute little rear wheelspin darkies...but just before the rear would break loose when doing so?...that's where i could feel that the sidewall was getting a bit outta shape and loading up...just before cutt'in loose. I put a total of exactly 5K miles on the powers by the time my odo was spinning exatly 8,600 miles...with the wear bars of the rear ground to their bases....and i should've changed the powers out at 4K miles as a considerable amount of the original traction value of the powers was M.I.A. after the 4K mile mark...and they became extremely "Wooden Feeling"...telling me they were soundly worn down to the base level compound?...just guessing there but?..that what they felt like.
With 8,600 on the odo?...I begrudgingly sprung for a fresh set of Dunlops Qualifiers...(wanted a new set of powers but waited for two weeks and the 190 rears were unobtainium)...and keep in mind that at this point i loathed "Dunlop" in general...but?..the quali's did recieve a great review by two pro test ride editors in a 27 tire shootout/comparo so?..withbthe mindset of "Rubbers Rubber and I need Rubber"...(and the fact that the price was right)...I let my local tire guy mount up and balance a set of quali's for $265...and the first thing i noticed (when he removed my old power rear) as i compared the two rears was that the sidewall on the quali was like 10 x's stiffer than that of the pilot power...as while i could easily deflect the sidewall of the power with slight finger pressure?...it took both hands to try an put a wrinkle in the sidewall of the quailfier...very stiff...and when i rolled off on the quali's?...the steering was utterly predicatble and every degree of lean in was totally controllable..and where the pilots seemed to just "FALL" in?...the quali's seemed to get there just as quick but with more confidence and predicatability. And while i wanna say that the ride was just a tad harsher on the quali's than the ultra plush feel of the powers?...it really wasn't...as the compound of the quali's felt sorta like i was riding on pencil eraser type rubber...he11...it wa almost like you could hear them sticking to the road like a heavy nap paint roller soaked with paint...i could even detect a bit more pronounced "TIRE DRAG DOWN" during throttle decel events...and the proof to me that they had more traction than the pow4rs was when i tried to execute my patented rear wheel spit out on corner exits as to my shock and horror?...no dice...even tried nailing the quali's harder AND Harder to leave my trademarl darkie annnnd?...no dice...to the point that...he11...i'd of slammed it down on the powers if i nailed'em that hard yet the quali's didn't even think of breaking loose or?...relaying any squirmy feeling...to boot?...up at this past Fall Busa Bash?..it rained for 3 of the 4 days i was there to ride..roads were wet..in some of the most treacherouse mountain curves the eastern seaboard has to offer and?...it got to a point that i said fug it and just rode like the roads were bone dry..but applying heavy concentration on "Staying Smooth"..carried the same speeds as i would on dry stuff..and just stayed glassy on te throttle and gentle on the almost completely neglected brakes and discovered the ballsey, nutty way that the quali's do in fact rock in the wet as well....milage?...the quali's have 3,400 on'em now and the rear still has about .050" of tread depth left before it starts tagging the shallowest wear bars.
That's it...and with the latest strike/layoff situations i may be forced to try a set of avons next but too date?...the powers were great but imho?...dunlops quali's took tires too the next level.
L8R, Bill.
The oem BT56 rear was toast by 3K miles....which i replaced with a BT014 Rear while still running the oem BT56 front...the 014 rear felt far better both in profile annnnd stick than did the oem BT56 rear...unfortunately?...the BT014 Rear caught a nail within weeks..and with a mere 3,600 on the odo?...I went ahead and swapped out my oem BT56 front and Nailed & Plugged 2 week old BT014 rear for a fresh set of Pilot Powers...and?...WOW!...what a dif and change for the better in all aspects...great stick...but so catlike in it's steering that it was like you were ALWAYS steering...even when droning the straightline superslabs of florida interstates...trading off straightline stability for ultra responsive steering as the pilots required constant steering attention and lacked straightline steering stability for the first 1K-1,500 miles or so...until they lost some of their steep centerline profile and developed a bit of a flat spot in the middle...and then and only then did the powers begin to display a slight hint of some level of straightline stability to where the steering didn't demand my undivided attention at all times...which kinda suxed down here in florida with all the long straights...but the powers did in fact handle great with their ultra-quick steering...however...when pushed hard?...and i mean really "HARD"....i could sense a bit of unpredicatable squirmyness about them...just before breaking loose...as they were predicatble enough that i got to a point where i could nail corner exits hard enough to spit the rear out a tad and leave some cute little rear wheelspin darkies...but just before the rear would break loose when doing so?...that's where i could feel that the sidewall was getting a bit outta shape and loading up...just before cutt'in loose. I put a total of exactly 5K miles on the powers by the time my odo was spinning exatly 8,600 miles...with the wear bars of the rear ground to their bases....and i should've changed the powers out at 4K miles as a considerable amount of the original traction value of the powers was M.I.A. after the 4K mile mark...and they became extremely "Wooden Feeling"...telling me they were soundly worn down to the base level compound?...just guessing there but?..that what they felt like.
With 8,600 on the odo?...I begrudgingly sprung for a fresh set of Dunlops Qualifiers...(wanted a new set of powers but waited for two weeks and the 190 rears were unobtainium)...and keep in mind that at this point i loathed "Dunlop" in general...but?..the quali's did recieve a great review by two pro test ride editors in a 27 tire shootout/comparo so?..withbthe mindset of "Rubbers Rubber and I need Rubber"...(and the fact that the price was right)...I let my local tire guy mount up and balance a set of quali's for $265...and the first thing i noticed (when he removed my old power rear) as i compared the two rears was that the sidewall on the quali was like 10 x's stiffer than that of the pilot power...as while i could easily deflect the sidewall of the power with slight finger pressure?...it took both hands to try an put a wrinkle in the sidewall of the quailfier...very stiff...and when i rolled off on the quali's?...the steering was utterly predicatble and every degree of lean in was totally controllable..and where the pilots seemed to just "FALL" in?...the quali's seemed to get there just as quick but with more confidence and predicatability. And while i wanna say that the ride was just a tad harsher on the quali's than the ultra plush feel of the powers?...it really wasn't...as the compound of the quali's felt sorta like i was riding on pencil eraser type rubber...he11...it wa almost like you could hear them sticking to the road like a heavy nap paint roller soaked with paint...i could even detect a bit more pronounced "TIRE DRAG DOWN" during throttle decel events...and the proof to me that they had more traction than the pow4rs was when i tried to execute my patented rear wheel spit out on corner exits as to my shock and horror?...no dice...even tried nailing the quali's harder AND Harder to leave my trademarl darkie annnnd?...no dice...to the point that...he11...i'd of slammed it down on the powers if i nailed'em that hard yet the quali's didn't even think of breaking loose or?...relaying any squirmy feeling...to boot?...up at this past Fall Busa Bash?..it rained for 3 of the 4 days i was there to ride..roads were wet..in some of the most treacherouse mountain curves the eastern seaboard has to offer and?...it got to a point that i said fug it and just rode like the roads were bone dry..but applying heavy concentration on "Staying Smooth"..carried the same speeds as i would on dry stuff..and just stayed glassy on te throttle and gentle on the almost completely neglected brakes and discovered the ballsey, nutty way that the quali's do in fact rock in the wet as well....milage?...the quali's have 3,400 on'em now and the rear still has about .050" of tread depth left before it starts tagging the shallowest wear bars.
That's it...and with the latest strike/layoff situations i may be forced to try a set of avons next but too date?...the powers were great but imho?...dunlops quali's took tires too the next level.
L8R, Bill.
blue_falcon
Registered
I bought a rear qualifyer today hadnt put it on yet but i cant wait......
At the track a couple months ago, the dunlop man gave two of our racers a set of Qualifiers to put on their GSXR1K's, both street bikes. If you would have watched the show we got from those boys riding on street tires, you'd be convinced the Qualifier is the tire to beat. These guys were going race pace for many guys and only a few seconds off the race pace of the best riders. It was unbelieveable to watch those guys break the rear loose and cross it up around corners etc. Only after a dozen laps or so did the tire get hot enough to become a bit greasy. One of the riders had this to say after a session on the track "These tires (Qualifier) are as good as the race tires we had only two years ago".
I'd say if you are a hard rider, try a set of Qualifiers. If you are an average rider, then any major tire that's round will do just fine.
My experience with PP's is about the same as Jinkster's. I had one set but was not impresssed at all. After two weeks I replaced them and gave the PP's to a friend. I have seen lot's of track day guys all wadded up on PP's. They all basicly said the same thing about the PP's, "They stick really well but when they give up grip, they give no warning". My impression of the PP's is, they are a good tire but if you are going to ride them on the edge, you best be very smooth or they will toss you in the bushes.
I'd say if you are a hard rider, try a set of Qualifiers. If you are an average rider, then any major tire that's round will do just fine.
My experience with PP's is about the same as Jinkster's. I had one set but was not impresssed at all. After two weeks I replaced them and gave the PP's to a friend. I have seen lot's of track day guys all wadded up on PP's. They all basicly said the same thing about the PP's, "They stick really well but when they give up grip, they give no warning". My impression of the PP's is, they are a good tire but if you are going to ride them on the edge, you best be very smooth or they will toss you in the bushes.
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