Dunlop Roadsmart

[FJRay]

Yeah, but, we want to know about tire LIFE...how many miles can you get out of the? The 021's sucked in that department.

Get them and try them yourself then! :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: Time will tell. Seems to me there are a lot of choices out there and most tires seem to be about in the same price range. Quit your carping my car tires for 1 cost the price of 2 of these so it isn't all that bad.

You want to play you have to pay.

[SIZE=14pt]DOH!!![/SIZE]

I go through 2 or 3 sets of tires a year, and I'm not an "Iron Butt" rider, so I do understand paying to play.

Years ago I mentally recorded words of wisdom from BikeEffects: "Tires are a wear item. You might as well try them all!"

BUT, since I wore out the Bridgestone 021s in 3500 miles on a little ride through NorCal, Oregon, Idaho & Southern Wyoming to get to Park City, UT for WFO-5, then enjoying the scenery in Northern Utah before coming back through Idaho, Hell's Canyon to Bend Or, and then riding Hwy 3 and 299 in NorCal on the final "leg" home.....being able to have SOME tire left at that mileage is rather important to me. The 021 front was "V" shaped and the rear had a rather prominent flat spot. The front I understood because I was rather enjoying the twisty bits in OR and NorCal. The rear wear pattern I found strange because the radii toward the tread edge had "hooks", so they were working well but I was disappointed and feel that dual-compound tires should not have flattened the center so badly.

Since I can get 7K-8.5K or more from Pilot Roads (First Iteration), Avons, Pirellis, 'Stone 020s, etc., I don't want to find out that PR2s or Dunlop Roadsmarts are only good for 4,000 miles (like the 021s) when I set out for my round trip to Golden, CO for NAFO. :blink:

Is there a part of a basic question about tire life you can't seem to grasp? For some, the contour of the tire isn't as important as the compound it is made from. We can always purchase sport bike tires for daily canyon carving....and a few of us actually have our own tire machines and balancers because of changing tires so often.

Many of us do more than take day rides or weekend trips and would like to have a tire combination that will actually allow us a complete trip of 5,000-6,000 miles, or more, without replacing tires on the road. Especially when the tires are reported to be specifically designed with two compounds to extend tire life and still maintain excellent cornering traction. :dribble:

Add me to the list of Dunlop Roadsmart tires for my 06 AE. Will mount them just prior to my run to Washington DC 14-25 May and then back for the Word Rally in NV on 29 May. Ride is from Ontario CA to Wash. DC and is done each year.

Uncle Dave is going to mount a set and ride from the L.A. basin to Washington, DC and back. I would hope that you understand a 3500 mile tire wouldn't be particularly good for THAT trip.
So...before you give a short answer that you think is clever, you might consider WHY the question is asked and by whom. :glare:

[SIZE=8pt]Rant over![/SIZE]

We now return you to your regularly scheduled progam.

Well said Mikey. :clapping:

 

[S76]

I have only had a few hundred miles on the Dunlops but am totaly impressed, even with the things about it I don't understand. I have used the Metzler Z6, the Azaros, and the Diablo Stradas, and the Dunlop are by far the best behaving of them all.

They turn in nice and light. Not as quick as the Azaro but almost and do not exibit any head shake. One of the things I like the most is when riding over large cracks in the asphalt that run with the traffic there seems to be no squirm at all until the cracks get about 2" wide. This is a big issue in the northeast as some of our roads are horrible this way.

What I found out on yesterdays ride is I came home with no chicken strips at all on the rear. This I don't understand because I have always had 1/4 strips and I don't think I am pushing the bike that hard. Is it a different shape tire that accounts for this? I did however just do the front and rear suspension upgrades which are excellent and make the bike feel like it is on rails. A contributing factor no doubt.

The rear tire looks like it is a different shape, or profile than the other tires were. More rounded maybe. The sides of the tread pattern do not have as deep a tread like the middle. Just as well as it usually gets thrown away. But maybe the shorter rubber accounts for a better response?

I do know I usually get about 9K out of a rear tire, and even if these only last 7 I will still buy them again. Maybe in a few weeks we will all be getting reports of tread seperation or something, but until then, awesome.

Is anyone else noticing this chicken strip issue? Means nothing really, just curious.

 

[madmike2]

What I found out on yesterdays ride is I came home with no chicken strips at all on the rear. This I don't understand because I have always had 1/4 strips and I don't think I am pushing the bike that hard. Is it a different shape tire that accounts for this? I did however just do the front and rear suspension upgrades which are excellent and make the bike feel like it is on rails. A contributing factor no doubt.
The rear tire looks like it is a different shape, or profile than the other tires were. More rounded maybe. The sides of the tread pattern do not have as deep a tread like the middle. Just as well as it usually gets thrown away. But maybe the shorter rubber accounts for a better response?

Is anyone else noticing this chicken strip issue? Means nothing really, just curious.

Your musings about the issue answered your own questions. The contour of the tire will absolutely change the characteristics of turn in (and feel) and how easily the bike will maintain traction and roll to the edge of the rear tire.

AND, the suspension upgrades turn the FJR into a completely different motorcycle.

It sounds like you are enjoying the "improvements"! :yahoo:

 

[HaulinAshe]

Did about 200 miles through Central NC and VA today. The entire morning it was wet with puddle stripes, mud spots etc., temps in the upper 40s to low 50s.

Roadsmarts did very well. Turn in pressure and roll lies somewhere between the Avon Storm and the Diablo Strada. Not as quick as the Avons, but quicker than the Stradas. I ran 39 front and 42 rear. Was two-up with my youngest daughter and not much gear. I think the 42 rear was a bit much. I'm thinking 39 for solo, 40 for light two-up and reserve 42 only for fully loaded two-up in hot weather.

Very nice tire so far. Extremely smooth and predictable. I had one instance when I was lightly leaned in a mild sweeper and the brisk application of throttle resulted in the rear breaking loose a tiny bit. The tire skipped out but quickly recovered as the lean angle increased. I assume that was the result of the contact patch changing positions and moving from the harder compound to the more soft sidewall. It was not scarey (much). Just remininscent of the Bridgestone BT-021, but not as long to recover.

Hopefully serious mileage and a complete report in one week.

 

[Jagermeister]

Did about 200 miles through Central NC and VA today. The entire morning it was wet with puddle stripes, mud spots etc., temps in the upper 40s to low 50s.
Roadsmarts did very well. Turn in pressure and roll lies somewhere between the Avon Storm and the Diablo Strada. Not as quick as the Avons, but quicker than the Stradas. I ran 39 front and 42 rear. Was two-up with my youngest daughter and not much gear. I think the 42 rear was a bit much. I'm thinking 39 for solo, 40 for light two-up and reserve 42 only for fully loaded two-up in hot weather.

Very nice tire so far. Extremely smooth and predictable. I had one instance when I was lightly leaned in a mild sweeper and the brisk application of throttle resulted in the rear breaking loose a tiny bit. The tire skipped out but quickly recovered as the lean angle increased. I assume that was the result of the contact patch changing positions and moving from the harder compound to the more soft sidewall. It was not scarey (much). Just remininscent of the Bridgestone BT-021, but not as long to recover.

Hopefully serious mileage and a complete report in one week.

Good, cause I'm one week away from a bald front 021!

 

[madmike2]

Good, cause I'm one week away from a bald front 021!

And boy, aren't the last 500-8oo miles on the V-shaped 021 a bit "intense"?

I'm also looking forward to your test results, Jeff.

 

[S76]

It sounds like you are enjoying the "improvements"! :yahoo:

I sure am! :yahoo: This bike is totally transformed. I gotta tell you this though:

I rode to work today at 10:00 (for a 12 hour day!) Weather was cool, temps in the lower 40's. The last mile of the ride has two opposite turns on the perimeter road that are way fun, if the airport police aren't close by. I crank it through the turns and it feels oh so good. So now I'm getting a little frisky with the thing as I approach our parking lot. I do a last second hard down shift braking exercise to whoa the thing from 70ish. The rear tire skidders a little going into first and about the time it grabs again I bend it over hard to do the 90 degree right turn into the lot. As the bike is starting to stand back up in the second half of the turn I grab a handfull of first gear (smoothly but quickly) and it lofts the front wheel a few inches while I am still turning! I mean...I've seen pictures...but I still can't believe it's doing that. It didn't seem to be a problem though so I just hold the pose and it settles back down in about 15 feet or so and another hard braking exercise puts me into my parking spot by the shiping door with a grin that lasted to super time.

Yeah, maybe your right. I guess I answered my own questions.

I got off of a 25 year old bike when I got this FJR and thought it was awesome. Now with the upgrades it is awesomerest (?) most awsomer (?) awesomest (?)...................Pretty good!

 

[MaxMojo]

I have just returned to California from a tour of the southwest states (4200 miles). After 8500 miles total my Dunlop Roadsmarts are ready for replacement and I will be replacing them with another pair. The original tires were done in just 5500 miles, which is too soon for me. In the nine months I have had my FJR I have put on 14K miles, so extrapolation tells me that I would need *four* sets of the OEM tires per year. That's just silly.

The Dunlops are almost as sticky as the original tires; the difference is not normally noticeable. Thumbs up.

 

[Jagermeister]

So far, I really like the Front Roadsmart; I'm now on the second. However, I burned through the rear a little quicker than I'd like.

Currently, I'm running a front R/S and rear BT-021 (will never buy a front 021 again), and it seems to be a great combo. Excellent wet & dry traction, and getting good mileage so far.

 

[bikerskier]

I slipped on a new set of Roadsmarts, replacing Avon Storms, just before the 3800 mi. run to NAFO and back. They are OK, nice feel and fairly sticky in the twisties, (except in a particularly interesting loose gravel corner leading into Glacier Park) but the turn in is nothing as sweet as the Storms. Our total route tried to avoid freeways as much as possible and I would say we did 85% of the ride on 2 lane with a huge amount of sweepers and a very satisfying amount of twisties, (thanks to Sockmonkey for the great route planning). I am very dissapointed to see my rear with over an inch wide flat spot and a bit less on the front. This is supposedly the harder compound? I weigh about 210 w/gear plus the trip gear. 40# front and 41# rear. Wilbur rear shock and GP fork springs, with med soft settings for my ride.

Anyway, unless the rest of the life of these tires shows me some love, and continued good handling, I'll likely not get another set.

 

[airboss]

Turned the first 1000 on the roadsmarts, think they're a keeper, really like the turn in, and they feel a lot grippier in the turns( high speed sweepers) than the PR's they replaced.

 

[RockiesRider]

I just bought a pair of the RoadSmarts and will mount them this weekend.

Even though I was very happy with the Metzler Z6 OEMs which I got 9100+ miles out of.

Wore the front out before the back. First time I've ever done that.