Dunlop Roadsmart Street/ST Tires

[twowheelnut]

Ran the new RS's in today. Too early to tell, but my initial impression is positive. These seem to be very neutral handlers, but I can't really feel the road through these. I need to muck with the pressures a bit and maybe dial in a bit more compression. They do, however, stick nicely.

 

[FuzzyRider]

I have about 750 miles on my Roadsmarts. So far I like them a lot. I was running the stock BT-020s at 40 front 42 rear but the Roadsmarts felt darty at this pressure so I dropped them down to 38 front 40 rear (no pillion, no luggage) and they felt much better. I might try dropping them another pound to see how they behave.

The turn is feels good but not great but it's a neutral tire that'll hang in a sweeper with little effort on the bars. The tires let me slowly increase the lean/speed in a sweeper until I've dragging the peg a little. If they last and have continued good grip and shape I will have no problem getting another set once I wear these out.

But, take all of what I said with a grain of salt - I'm not a tire expert and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night. For a more expert opinion read Jeff Ashe's take on these tires.

 

[vabrzn]

Mounted mine on Saturday and after 400 miles agree with the positive comments by others ! Production quality is very good as well; didn't need to add weight to the front and only 1/4 ounce to the rear.

I wore out the front Road Smart after 5000 miles and the rear still has 1500 to 2000 more miles of life left. 70 % of this was commmuting to work on secondary roads riding at moderate speeds. Overall a very good tire!

Front at 5000 miles

Rear at 5000 miles

 

[MartyA]

Front could use that dual compound too.

I have 2,000 on my set and while the rear is just starting to show a flat spot the front has a pronounced flat spot already. Those 2,000 miles were about 25% curves (Adirondack rally keeping up with "Flyin' Iris" and a short ride with Haulin' Ashe on Rt. 219 in PA the other day) and the rest were 2 lane and 4 lane regular roads. I am leaving on a 4,000 mile trip this Friday so I am taking them off and putting on a set of Pilot Road 2 (if they get here in time!)

But no problems with handling, even in the wet they did very well.

 

[vabrzn]

Front could use that dual compound too.
I have 2,000 on my set and while the rear is just starting to show a flat spot the front has a pronounced flat spot already. Those 2,000 miles were about 25% curves (Adirondack rally keeping up with "Flyin' Iris" and a short ride with Haulin' Ashe on Rt. 219 in PA the other day) and the rest were 2 lane and 4 lane regular roads. I am leaving on a 4,000 mile trip this Friday so I am taking them off and putting on a set of Pilot Road 2 (if they get here in time!)

But no problems with handling, even in the wet they did very well.

I ordered a Pilot Road front tire from https://www.compacc.com and it shipped the same day; $130 with shipping.

 

[RoadGlide]

I mounted a set of RS's last week and have about 500 miles on them. I love the feel and confidence they give. I got 12,000 miles on the PR's I just took off. Very few curves and smooth roads here in Florida does wonders for mileage. I hope to get like mileage from the RS.

 

[Jagermeister]

I wore out the front Road Smart after 5000 miles and the rear still has 1500 to 2000 more miles of life left. 70 % of this was commmuting to work on secondary roads riding at moderate speeds. Overall a very good tire!

That's odd...my Roadsmart rear is bald, while the front has another 1k + to go. I now have 4200 miles, mixed roads and riding (mostly aggressive), 80% solo. I tend to throttle hard out of corners, though.

 

[Jagermeister]

4600 miles...And they're DONE. The rear, especially.

The front doesn't look too bad:

Maybe another 500 miles to go?

Nope:

 

[03silverbullet]

I have about 7500 miles on my Roadsmart tires and they are starting to show some wear. I think I can get another1000-1500 miles or so out of the rear and maybe a little more from the front. We'll see.

The tire is a great handling tire and of all the tires I have tried (which is just about all of them) I think I like these the best. Next to the Pilot road 2, they are the longest lasting tire I have tried with the rear lasting about as long as the PR2, while the front seems to have a good bit less life in it.

Hope that helps.

 

[jdog109socal]

4600 miles...And they're DONE. The rear, especially.
The front doesn't look too bad:

Maybe another 500 miles to go?

Nope:

Man those straight roads are a bitch....LOL thats to much tread on the sides of them tires ....Geterrrrr down lower :yahoo:

Jdog

 

[Jagermeister]

Man those straight roads are a bitch....LOL thats to much tread on the sides of them tires ....Geterrrrr down lower :yahoo:
Jdog

No Kidding! Most of the centers were destroyed during the 2k roundtrip to Arkansas last month. The other 2500 miles have been mixed. I tried hard to burn the sides off (scraped pegs a few times in the process) but it didn't quite happen.

The front R/S wear is more even, with less of that middle flat spot, as if the center compound is harder, relative to the rear R/S. Jeff Ashe commented that the rear R/S center compound is not as hard as the rear BT021, and I agree. With similarly mixed riding, including a 2k roundtrip to New Orleans, my previous rear 021 actually had more tread left, when discarded at 4500 miles (the front 021 was too soft in the center, and melted first).

I just ordered a new Front RoadSmart & Rear BT021. Since both the BT021s and R/S handle and stick very well, it should be a good combo. They're both dual-compund tires, which should wear at roughly the same rate, hopefully giving me that ellusive 5k.

 

[bramfrank]

Quick price check Roadsmart
Motorcycle Superstore F&R $269 with shipping to my zip code

MotoXoutlet F&R $252 with shipping

Southwest F&R $251 with shipping

I thought one of the Pirelli's were also dual compound? Not familar with Pirellis.

Stradas are dual compound - about to embark on my 3rd set of those (I had a spare front, so I didn;t want to mix brands). Two weeks from tomorrow, 10 days of road trip!!

 

[Turvy]

Mounted a set of RS's yesterday. Too early to tell with just a few miles on them, but initially, They feel great!

I have one issue however. The rear tire took 120 grams to balance. The shop that mounted them clipped four "30's" to the rim to balance...looks like shit. Should I be concerned about the construction of these tires? Really don't want to get half way to NAFO and have belts sticking out one side of the tire and plenty of tread on the other.

Has anyone had to use this much weight to balance their tires?

 

[Roy Epperson]

Mounted a set of RS's yesterday. Too early to tell with just a few miles on them, but initially, They feel great!
I have one issue however. The rear tire took 120 grams to balance. The shop that mounted them clipped four "30's" to the rim to balance...looks like shit. Should I be concerned about the construction of these tires? Really don't want to get half way to NAFO and have belts sticking out one side of the tire and plenty of tread on the other.

Has anyone had to use this much weight to balance their tires?

You might check with Dunlop to see if they have a maximum weight to balance spec. I had a front Michelin tire on my Roadstar that took a "ton" of weight to balance. After checking the balance of the wheel, the tire was replaced by Michelin (via dealer) as being out of spec.

 

[vabrzn]

Mounted mine on Saturday and after 400 miles agree with the positive comments by others ! Production quality is very good as well; didn't need to add weight to the front and only 1/4 ounce to the rear.

I wore out the front Road Smart after 5000 miles and the rear still has 1500 to 2000 more miles of life left. 70 % of this was commmuting to work on secondary roads riding at moderate speeds. Overall a very good tire!

Front at 5000 miles

Rear at 5000 miles

I got 12,700 miles out of the rear tire with no gripes, bitches ,or complaints along the way. The tire still performs as well now as when I put it on. Very good tire for the money!

 

[Fred W]

I do npt understand how there could be such variation of the rear tire wear on the exact same model tire. One guy gets 12k+ miles and another can't manage 5k miles. What gives?

 

[Warchild]

I do npt understand how there could be such variation of the rear tire wear on the exact same model tire. One guy gets 12k+ miles and another can't manage 5k miles. What gives?

Probably because we all don't ride under the EXACT same conditions every day... not the same bikes, or same bike loads, or same roads, or same road surfaces and conditions, or same geography, or same road temperatures, nor have the same riding style, same exact precise tire pressure, etc, etc, etc.

 

[Fred W]

I do npt understand how there could be such variation of the rear tire wear on the exact same model tire. One guy gets 12k+ miles and another can't manage 5k miles. What gives?

Probably because we all don't ride under the EXACT same conditions every day... not the same bikes, or same bike loads, or same roads, or same road surfaces and conditions, or same geography, or same road temperatures, nor have the same riding style, same exact precise tire pressure, etc, etc, etc.

Yes, yes... understood. But a factor of 2.5 times more mileage?

 

[wheatonFJR]

I do npt understand how there could be such variation of the rear tire wear on the exact same model tire. One guy gets 12k+ miles and another can't manage 5k miles. What gives?

Probably because we all don't ride under the EXACT same conditions every day... not the same bikes, or same bike loads, or same roads, or same road surfaces and conditions, or same geography, or same road temperatures, nor have the same riding style, same exact precise tire pressure, etc, etc, etc.

Yes, yes... understood. But a factor of 2.5 times more mileage?

YES. I believe it.

I've ridden with many DIFFERENT kinds of riders...on many different kinds of roads. I tend to ride in the spring and the fall when temperatures are cooler. Some of our southern friends don't have that luxury and ride all the time when it is hot. There are also different expectations as to when tires are done...SkooterG on one end of that spectrum.