How about the Dunlop Tires?

The Dunlop tires that cops used on RTP?

I am using the road pilot...great grip, but they make a lot of noise except when going straight--just like the Metz used to do my ex-Goldwing.

I was thinking the Dunlops would probably last longer, do they?

Dunlop, thumbs up

I used 'em on my Airhead, still do, for the last 34 years. Nothing but good to say here. BMW actually had them on their NO USE list of tire recommended for their bikes years ago! BMW Dealers would not sell'em. This is dating back a lot of years and not probably so anymore. Riders usually find whats best out there and Dunlop is a legend tire builder, imo. The old K491s were one "hall of fame" tire that went away after a LONG run, sad to say. It was bombproof. Randy

I ashed the same question about better wear to the BMW Dealer in San Diego. He claimed the police use them because of the stiifer side wall and not for wear. They get about the same as all the other popular brands.

Polarbear said:

The old K491s were one "hall of fame" tire that went away after a LONG run, sad to say. It was bombproof. Randy

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491s were also an accident waiting to happen if the road got wet.

Try the Bridgestone 023GT. Very impressive wear life and grip. They got this one right. The GT variant is load rated for the RT.

lkchris said:

491s were also an accident waiting to happen if the road got wet.

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They were about the spookiest tire I've ever ridden on in the wet. Wet tar snakes put me all over the road..

Good part about them was - you could lose all the air and the sidewalls were so stiff they'd still stay semi-inflated. Tires have come a LONG way since the K491.. (thank Dog!)

lkchris said:

491s were also an accident waiting to happen if the road got wet.

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I thought for a while that I was the only one that hated the K491. I tried one of them about 20-25 years ago on the rear of an airhead. I found it to be rough riding, noisy, and after a few thousand miles it wore flat in the center and looked like a car tire. There seemed to be an edge that I had to "roll over" in the curves, that is not a good thing on the roads I ride here in southeastern Tennessee, northern Georgia, and North Carolina.

I never felt comfortable with that tire, I just couldn't take it any more and changed it about half way through its life. After putting on one of the Metzlers, the bike felt transformed and was back to normal. I know a lot of people who raved about them and I was beginning to feel like the oddball. The excellent mileage was the only real benefit, but the trade off was way too much in my opinion. YMMV Stepping down off of soapbox now!

Come on, tire snakes!

Any tire is going to slip on those on a hot day. My miles and 491s were what I said to be for my liking. I rode every type of weather for years and years on'em. Never slipped in rain,etc., or had an issue of any kind with 491s, riding a LOT more miles than average. Same with todays tires, everybody hates some tires, loves others. I stand behind the old tire, shame its gone. 404s today on my Airhead and they last half the miles, but good. Randy

Disclaimer - start with I don't like Dunlop tires.

I did run two sets of 491s on my K75. One was a trial set prior to the Iron Butt Rally. I wanted to see how long they would last. I concluded the frontwould go from home to start to finish to home, but the rear wouldn't so I planned a change at the mid-point checkpoint. They were OK except in the rain where the rear slid some in the remains of Hurricane Dennis in the hills of West Virginia.

I tried a set on my K1100LT. The rear slipped starting to pass a car on a straight concrete stretch of I-29. I tried to be very gently with the throttle but the rear still didn't want to stick on wet pavement - asphalt or concrete. I put 600 miles on the tires, took them off, and gave them away to a rider with an Airhead. He reported they did OK, but the rear wheel horsepower on a K1100LT and an R80RT are a bit different.

The last generation of Dunlop RoadSmarts outlasted Michelin PR2 on my 08 RT by a little and were less noisy. Their profile gave them a faster, less linear turn in, also.
The PR2s were noisy as heck especially when worn and cornering. I could hear the front tread blocks from new.
Currently working my way through some sets of PR3s to see if they're as much an impovment as claimed and havn't tried the latest RoadSmart but have no reason to think it wouldn't be at least as good as the last version which was a brit publications tire of the year in 2008- and they do see a litttle of the wet stuff there. I certainly had no traction complaints wet or dry for the RoadSmarts- they were a whole lot better than the oem BT-020 that came on my RT. The stockers tramlined badly and had lousy cold and wet traction.

Razer,
Let us know how the Pilot 3 work for you

Polarbear said:

Any tire is going to slip on those on a hot day.

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not necessarily true. have run some nasty tar-snaked roads (US 14 in CO, US 89 in UT come to mind), and never had any slippage on Pirelli Diablo Stradas, which have been superceded by their Angel STs. sure, they felt a bit squirmy at times, but it was actually the tar snake moving under the tire, not the tire slipping on the surface. (tested at uber-illegal speeds too, just to be sure!) Said roads ridden in near freezing temps, as well as above 100 degs.

Dunlop tires

Have put approx 7K miles on Dunlops and the tread still looks good - Appears they still have 3-4K left. Didn't feel squeamish in the rain, grip wasn't much different than on dry slab although I did reduce my normal speed by about 15%.
Will replace with another set of Dunlops when needed.