Dunlop Roadsmart

[Andy]

Road Smart II

My 09 came with the road smart. 200 miles ran over a huge nail. Only thing dealer had on hand was the Q2. 4800 miles of highway and twistys its toast. Have a roadsmart 2 on the way from Motorcycle Superstore for 170$Free shiping. Dealer parts guy said he would loose $95 if he sold it to me for that price. Then stated it would be $100 to mount the tire bought online.

 

[txjames]

Q2 is a better tire, isn't it?

Highly recommended around these parts.

 

[Andy]

Q2 is a better tire, isn't it?

Highly recommended around these parts.

It has it's place like anything else. It is geared more towards track / street performance compared to the roadsmart that is street / touring. If I didnt have 80 mile round trip commute on highway I would go back with it. Wife will kill me if I have to buy a tire every 4k miles. :spank:

 

[FastFreddy]

I had the RoadSmart tyres on when I bought my bike.
I thought they were really good in the wet, they had a round profile for easy riding, and fairly good grip. I did about 15k km on them before they started getting square. I then went to the the Q2s. Q2s turn in quicker and have loads of grip, you have to lean over hard and feel the grip there to understand the purpose of these tyres. I'm now on a Michelin Pilot Road 2 rear and Q2 front, after I punctured the Q2 rear with a fat screw. The Pilot Road 2s have good feel and grip, are compliant and can flick over easy. A more flexible carcass than the Q2, need a little more time to warm, I haven't really tried them fully warm yet, they feel quick.

 

[klawson]

My 09 came with Roadsmarts. I went through them in 4200
miles, doing some slab but mostly twisties and canyons. I
put the Bridgestone BT023's on and have 8000 miles on them
so far and anticipate that another 1500 miles are still on them.
They handle much better than the Roadsmarts.

 

[SurfJunkie]

Just fixed my rear tire alignment this morning.

Overall the roadsmarts feel nice. Take a bit longer to warm up, but nothing to terrible. The major difference I've noticed is just the profile of a fresh tire for turn in/cornering is so nice and smooth.

Ive still yet to do some major carving with them, but they serve their purpose well thus far for commuting. Ill keep everyone posted as I rack up miles/hit the twisties.

 

[SomeGuyFromCali]

Dunlop Sportmax Roadsmart vs Bridgestone Battlax Tires

My albino FZ6R came with the Dunlop Sportmax Roadsmart tires but my lady's Raven came with Bridgestone Battlax tires.

I haven't ridden hers enough to notice the difference but they are visually much different tires. At first I thought I got the cheaper of the two tires because the Bridgestones have noticeably deeper treads and also appear to stick out past the rims further making them look wider. Looking at prices online today though I am wondering if I got the better deal because the Dunlops appear more expensive.

Anyhow... here is some FZ6R tire porn for you guys:

 

[SomeGuyFromCali]

Our bikes each had less than 100 miles on them in these shots so please refrain from the chicken strip type comments for now ostcop:

 

[txjames]

You got it...


FZ6R Brakes git 'r done - YouTube

Nice SMIDSY avoidance.

Check this link out for how to HELP avoid that scenario. Great job avoiding the accident and not going over. Looked like if you stayed locked up another half second you would be going down to the left.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQBubilSXU]Crash Course - The SMIDSY - YouTube[/ame]

 

[sjones]

My 2012 FZ6R came with the Roadsmarts on them, and I wont be putting them back on.

They have 12700 KM on them and the tires are finished. After 5300km they had just started to show flat spots (it is my daily driver and I live in a flat town)
I set out on a trip 2 weeks ago to Montana, put 7100km on the tires there and back. While I rode the tires hard out in the mountains, they still wore out at an incredibly fast rate. Thankfully I had to ride back through North Dakota which took out the scallops in my tires. Although, the rubber was actually peeling off my tire. Straight line running at 104f.

As a comparison, one of the guys I was riding with had the 2CT's with about 1-2k on them before the trip, on a Kawi Concours, so a much heavier bike. He just barely scalloped his tires, and he was leading down highway 89, Beartooth pass, and Going to the Sun road (all tire killers) so pushing just as hard as myself. His tires are still have about 5k more life in them. While I know the Michi 2CT's are a sport touring tire, they still seem to be just as sticky as the Roadsmarts. And they don't have the same dunlop - dunflop characteristics in corners lol

 

[BKP]

I have the Roadsmarts (original equipment, *not* the Roadsmart II), and I've been happy with their performance... braking, sticking in the corners, warm-up, wet and dry, etc...

However, I'm going on about 6k miles, and the rear is beginning to flatten out. Not quite at the wear bars, but close. Most of my riding is *not* big slab, but rather different degrees of twisty roads (a nice happenstance of the north Atlanta area). I had the pressure up around 36/42 for performance reasons, but, put it back to 33/36 since I'm told the higher pressure could flatten the rear faster... I was *hoping* to get at least 10k out of them, however, I think 6500 right now will be about the limit I'd accept.

So, while I like the Roadsmarts, and I'm still pleased with their overall performance, I'm moving on to Michelin. Almost bought the PR3s last night, but, after not being able to find a PR3 front, *and* after a bit more research that says you sacrifice some longevity for wet performance, I'm going to try the PR2s this go-round... Still dual compound, but a more conventional (and hopefully longer wearing) tread.

If anyone thinks I'm nuts for passing up the 3's for the 2's, I'd love to hear why, given my riding style, and preference for longevity... Or, I'd just like to hear from those of you that have ridden the 2's... *hard*...

 

[dart1963]

Honestly, the PR3 are more wet ready... performance wise... dry roads... about the same... but, I'm with you, why get the old model when the new ones have been out and tested for a while now.