Comments on dunlop d208

[MET]

I will start off by saying that I have had poor service out of dunlop motorcycle tires from my gsxr 750 to my TLR.  I always thought the grip was horrible and the life was just as bad.  I have used the d207 and d208 with nothing good to report.  

Now my buddy has a 98' superhawk with a d208 put on last summer.  Less than 2,000 miles the back tire is shot.  I know for a fact that there has been no burnouts or wheelie's (except by me on it, he he).  I really hope that the new qualifiers are way better.

I have used many different brands of tires now and dunlop seems to be the worst from my test.  

I've used:

michlin pilot race set                 super sticky, low life
dunlop d207 rear                      poor grip, medium life
dunlop d202 front                     medium grip, low life
continental conti-force set         bang for the buck
continental conti-force max set   same, except softer
Tomahawk T3 rear                    medium grip, long life
Michilin Hi-sport front                cupped early, low life
Bridgestone BT020                    good grip, life not better

Just wanted to get some input from you guys regarding the dunlops.  There is one thing I did like about them, the wet grip seemed to be up to par as the rest.

Please change my mind:  

Dunlop  

Well try the Perelli Diablo Grabs great, but got about 1500 miles off of the tire.  

Best bang for the buck is Shinko 005's. Grabs great and is cheap. If you have to change every 2,000 you can safe 1/2 over others.



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[Tufbusa]

If you like hitting the corners pretty hard, get M1's or Pilot Powers. You will loose some tread life, but stick in the corners.
If you ride straight up and aren't aggressive in the corners, then stick with the stock Battleaxes, you'll slip in hard cornering, but extend tread life.
I like the windy twisties, so I'm going to put on some Pilot Powers this spring. The Pilots have a soft compound on the sides and a medium in the center. I've only heard good things about the Pilot Powers.
I ran the M1's for part 2 of last summer and they were pretty good for a MAX (absolutely bald in the center, really low on the sides) of 3500 miles. I find it difficult to spend as much time in the corners as I do upright to keep tread wear even. My friend on a gsxr 1000 ran the pilots (2x)and got nearly the same results, 3200-3500 max rear tire life.
I haven't heard anything good about the Dunslops. Way to hard in my opinion.

The Pilot Powers are not dual compound. You are thinking of the Pilot Race, which are dual compound. Made in France which I don't buy for my own personal reasons. Mostly because I'm a loyal american.

The Battleaxe BTO14's are a true dual compound tire. They stick just as good as the pilot power and give longer life in the center tread. In a tire test in a recent issue of road racing world, the BT014 performed equal to or better than the pilot power except in bump absorbtion. The Pilot power has a very soft flexable carcass as compared to the stiff sidewall of the 14. I personally prefer the stiff sidewall tires found in most high performance tires such as Bridgestone and Pirelli. Stiff sidewalls make the tire more stable at high speeds as well as under hard braking.

 

[sportrider1296]

Very true!

 

[Kento-Moto]

I think I may try these ...

Dunlop Qualifier

MotoXoutlet

$243 delivered

I thought they would be more than the Pilots, They are just a lil less.

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[sportrider1296]

Cool kento, I noticed they had free shipping on BT014's good prices

 

[Hackabusa]

Just bought some Dunlop Qualifiers, let ya know.