Dunlop Roadsmart...

[rocker59]

OK folks, I decided to break down and try the new Dunlop Roadsmart sport-touring tire that's been getting such good reviews.

 

I've been running the Metzeler Z6 Roadtec with pretty good results. When new, the Z6 is a great handling tire. It performs well in the rain and sticks good in the dry. I've been running the Z6 Roadtec in the 170/60-17 size that so many people have tried. The main drawback with the Z6, and it's been mentioned by people like Greg Field, is the lack of grooves in the center of the tire. The lack of grooves makes it hard to tell how much life is left in the tire. An annoying attribute when you're planning a long trip. One other thing about the Metzelers is that they tend to square off, or flat spot in the middle. I ride mostly curvy roads, but still have a problem with the squaring off... As we all know, the spine-frame Guzzis handle like Mack trucks when the tires start going away on you. This was my second rear Z6 Roadtec and it didn't last 6,000 miles. Yeah, I probably could've squeezed another thousand out of it by going down to the cords, but the handling had gone away. The tire was really shagged. I've been riding a bunch of mountain roads here in The Hills that have been "chip and sealed". It's very abrasive stuff !!!

 

Enough of the old tire. I checked the internet, then called the local KTM/Kawi/Yami/Suzuki dealer. They had a 180/55-17 Dunlop Roadsmart in stock. Believe it, or not, the price was within $5 of internet pricing, so I called 'em up. They're open 'til 6pm on Saturdays, so I pulled the rear wheel and drove down to the store to have the new tire mounted. $140 + $21 mounting.... Was gone from home for about an hour. My Pit Bull forward-tilting rear stand really makes pulling the rear wheel easy. Used a bungee cord to hold the bevel box up. Removing and reinstalling a rear tire on these bikes is such a snap !!!

 

I hated to change tires and leave some tread on the old one, but I'm hoping to ride someplace like Santa Fe or Austin in the next couple of weeks and didn't want to risk running out of tire on a 1,000+ mile round trip. Plus, I'm taking a friend on a two-up breakfast ride in the morning. It was nice of the big box store to hook me up at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon.

 

I rode the bike around the neighborhood to scrub it in a bit and get a bit of a feel for the new tire. Can't tell a whole lot so far because of the low speeds, but I'll get a good feel for it tomorrow...

 

Here's the new 180/55-17 Dunlop Roadsmart on my Nero Corsa:

 

 

 

I'll update this post tomorrow after I get a feel for it, and later on as I get some miles on it....

 

[Skeeve]

 

I'll update this post tomorrow after I get a feel for it, and later on as I get some miles on it....

 

 

Mind measuring & establishing a center-tread depth benchmark before you go wearing it all off first? I'm interested in how much tire is really there...

[rocker59]

Tread depth is about 5mm at the center. That's between 6/32 and 7/32.

 

An interesting thing about these tires is that tread depth shallows to nothing as it goes towards the outside edges. A definite difference in philosophy to the Z6. I read somewhere that Metzeler didn't put any tread in the middle because motorcycles' front tires move all the water out of the way of the rear tires during wet conditions in a straight line. There must be something to that because I never had any problems in the wet with the Metzelers in the rain. The Metzelers, however, had significant tread almost all the way to the edge. Quite different from these Dunlops. Just looking, I'd say the Dunlop will probably be better on the edge in dry conditions. The Metz, with it's grooving at the edge, may be better at severe lean angles in the wet. I don't normally push it real hard, or get into big lean angles in the wet, so that may be a moot point.

 

I covered about 100 miles on today's ride. 2-up on the Nero Corsa with a 5'-9", 135-lbs passenger. (Man! I need a stiffer spring on the Ohlins!). Roads were typical curvy Ozarks roads. Usually a posted limit of 55-mph. My speeds were usually "speed limit-5" to "speed limit+10". A nice "touring pace". (first time on the Nero's pillion for this passenger).

 

The tire feels really good. Nice progressive turn-in. Easy to adjust the line on curves. It seems to work well with the Metzeler Z6 that's still on the front. That's good to know because there are a few thousand miles left in that front tire! (I still can't believe I shagged the rear Z6 so bad this time.) It was really hard to get a good feel for what the tire can do on this mellow "touring" ride, but I did hit a couple of nice twisties after dropping my pillion off on the way home. Lets just say the rear tire didn't mind lots of throttle well before the apex of a couple of tricky curves near my house.

 

I can't wait to really get a feel for these tires on a solo ride this week. I'll post my impressions...

[alfaguzzi]

I think you are talking about the old Z6? Metzeler have a new one called Z6 Interactiv ... http://www.metzelermoto.com/web/products/default.page , dont compere the 5 year old Z6 with the brand new Roadsmarts, its not fare to Metzeler. The new tire have the same tread as the old Z6 so Metzeler most belive in the blank tread design. I have now driven 8500 km on the Roadsmart, nice tyre, but the rear are worn down to the marks, time to change it, not so longlasting as they say!

[rocker59]

With all due respect... I'll compare what I like...

 

The Z6 that came off my Nero Corsa was less than a year old and is what you'll currently find on shelves at motorcycle shops across the country, and on many bikes of posters on this forum...

 

Yes, there is a new model of the Z6, but I don't know about its availablity here. The shop where I bought the Dunlop on Saturday surely didn't have one...

 

This comparison was brought about because of the difference in phiosophy of the two tire companies. The difference is clearly visible in the tires' tread designs.

 

That's what I'm comparing. Mainly because of complaints about the lack of tread in the center of the Z6.

 

I liked the Z6. I ran two sets on my Nero Corsa. However, I'm willing to try something new and different and post the results here on this forum.

 

Buy a set of Interactives if you want to. Post the results here and let us know what you think.

[RHIP]

Thanks for the review, and please keep it updated. I'm going to need tires soon, and I was originally thinking of the Michelin Pilot Road 2's, but then I saw all the positive reviews of the Roadsmarts, so they look like what I'll buy. (plus, they are a bit cheaper.)

 

Any difference going from the 170 to this tire in the 180 rear? I know it's what was available to you locally, but I'll be ordering mine, so I can stick with the 170 if I want to.

[rocker59]

Thanks for the review, and please keep it updated. I'm going to need tires soon, and I was originally thinking of the Michelin Pilot Road 2's, but then I saw all the positive reviews of the Roadsmarts, so they look like what I'll buy. (plus, they are a bit cheaper.)

 

Any difference going from the 170 to this tire in the 180 rear? I know it's what was available to you locally, but I'll be ordering mine, so I can stick with the 170 if I want to.

 

My bike originally came with the 180/55-17 rear tire and corresponding wider rear wheel.

 

I dropped down to the 170/60-17 rear in an attempt to quicken steering when I switched from Pirelli Diablos to the Metzeler Z6.

 

The Roadsmart seems to have a pretty triangular profile, so I went back to the OEM 180/55-17 this time. The dealer did have a 170/160-17 on the rack. I just wanted to try another 180.

 

Your bike has a narrower wheel than mine. I think going up to the 180 on your bike might be pushing it a bit. Probably would have a negative effect on handling.

 

I'm going to do some solo riding this week and will report back with my impressions.

[RHIP]

Let us know what you think as you get some experience with this tire. By the way, my Rosso Madello appears to have come from the factory with a 5" rear wheel - not supposed to, but I think it's another example of Guzzi changing parts in the middle of a model run

By the way, is the food at Penguin Ed's still as good as I remember?

[rocker59]

Let us know what you think as you get some experience with this tire. By the way, my Rosso Madello appears to have come from the factory with a 5" rear wheel - not supposed to, but I think it's another example of Guzzi changing parts in the middle of a model run

By the way, is the food at Penguin Ed's still as good as I remember?

 

Yeah. Penguin Ed's is pretty good. Picked up some BBQ Pork on Sunday for a little party here at the house. I then had enough left over for a couple days of BBQ sandwiches this week...

[Ouiji Veck]

We seek the Grrrrrail.......A 10K mi sport touring tire.

 

Always interested in finding a higher millage good performing tire.

I've been running Contis for the last 5 or 6 sets after loving the Metz but hating how bad

they square up.

The Contis don't last any longer but they don't lose their shape as bad...if at all.

I figure an extra 1500 mi of predictable handling is a boon. YMMV

Maybe it will be good old Dunlop that pulls a rabbit out of the hat.

They're over due for a good idea.

[Skeeve]

We seek the Grrrrrail.......A 10K mi sport touring tire.

 

Always interested in finding a higher millage good performing tire.

I've been running Contis for the last 5 or 6 sets after loving the Metz but hating how bad

they square up.

The Contis don't last any longer but they don't lose their shape as bad...if at all.

I figure an extra 1500 mi of predictable handling is a boon. YMMV

Maybe it will be good old Dunlop that pulls a rabbit out of the hat.

They're over due for a good idea.

 

Here in sunny LoCal So. Cal. [where the money is plastic & the people are too!], I'd be satisfied if Dunlop made a radial version in the right sizes of the old 491 EliteII. Yeah, wet grip was negligible, but here in the desert that's not of primary concern, at least on the rear.

 

I guess none of the modern compounds will stick to the one that the EliteII was made of, for a dual-compound tire w/ center tread that actually lasts and sides that stick! Like you said, we're all looking for the holy grail [sanct graal, sangre real, whatever], but is really that hard to make a motorcycle tire that works w/ 1/4 the mileage guarantee of a cheap car tire and only costs 2x as much? Seriously... <_>

[Guest frankdugo]

thanks rocker for expermenting for us all.currently have 8+ on z6 rear and was hopeing for 14,as last one gave 12,with me putting off preasure checks. as skeeve said you think they could.anyway this thread could be a long termer

[rocker59]

thanks rocker for expermenting for us all.currently have 8+ on z6 rear and was hopeing for 14,as last one gave 12,with me putting off preasure checks. as skeeve said you think they could.anyway this thread could be a long termer

 

I must be really hard on tires... I haven't gotten 8,000 miles out of a tire since I rode Harleys!!!

 

What pressure are you running in your Z6s? What kind of riding do you do?

[Keith Foster]

It's the old YMMV thing. Today I mounted a set of Conti Road Attacks. The Pirelli Diablo's I took off had 12K mi. on them. No cord showing, but quite the flat in the middle. Before that the Diablo Stradas had 12.5K mi on them when I swapped them out, worn the same way as I recall. The original Metz's had 9.5K mi. when changed. I'm trying the 170/60 set up, I'm interested to see how it feels. I can say the Conti's sure were a lot stiffer tire than the Pirelli's. Reading the sidewall of the new Conti and take off Pirelli, the Pirelli was a 3 ply construction and the Conti a 6 ply Yes - twice the ply construction - no wonder they felt a lot stiffer, and heavier! It made the mounting of the Conti rear a bear. The front was normal, but the rear was work!

[Guest frankdugo]

I must be really hard on tires... I haven't gotten 8,000 miles out of a tire since I rode Harleys!!!

 

What pressure are you running in your Z6s? What kind of riding do you do?

to start--i weigh 135 lb,gained a few in the past couple.around 36 lbs front&rear.riding here is99% flat straits.i rarely ride hard on the bottom end [once in a blue moon],although i do ride hard on the top.only use brakes in emergency.very concencious of shifting smoothly,so as never to cause wear.never a whelie or burn out.all that being said weight is the major factor