Hi everyone, I know there have been some great threads on here previously about tyres & in particular the thread about fast road/track day tyres. I have only been getting back into biking after a gap of 21 years, so I'am no where near the rider i was back then. Got back into biking earlier this year with a Triumph Street Triple & recently changed to a new 2012 blade recently. Have only done 340 miles on the original Dunlop Qualifiers. Now, I'am not a particularly fast rider & the these Dunlop's seem ok. My main riding at the moment is likely to be dry weather only sunday riding & maybe some long'ish ride outs with a local club. As I haven't ridden for many years it's hard for me to say how bad or good these Dunlop's are, but many on this forum pretty much all suggest ditching the Qualifiers for Sportsmarts, Pirelli, Racetecs etc. Bearing in mind I'am no Rossi & will be mainly riding dry Sunday's what are people's advice? If I do change I'am leaning towards the Sportsmarts. I shall bow to everyones superior knowledge. I know many of you will be much faster than me & will be looking for ultimate grip. Maybe changing tyres will give me more confidence etc. Sorry if much of this has already been flogged to death.
I would say if your your finding them ok don't waste your money Chances are with that bigger gap your prob not pushing the limits of your tyre so just ware them out first
Yeah good advice wear these stock ones out, I've got the same tyres on my 12 blade, and for my riding there's nothing wrong with them.
Wise words Martin. Sounds like a sensible move. I'am def not pushing the blade or the tyres which is probably why they seem ok.
My bike has the same tyres fitted and I haven't even tried them yet apart from a run around the local streets, the weather has turned crap ever since the bike was delivered. They may be fine but I have it in my own head that they are rubbish which does not fill me with confidence but I will give them a chance if I don't decide to swap them now. I personally have never liked Dunlops and have always fitted Pirelli. Just put Rosso Corsa's on my 848 before I sold it and they were great so that is more than likely what I will fit next just did not know if to change them now while the Dunlops are new and unused, that way I can get a decent price for them. I may try them and find them to be ok it is just when you have something in your head it won't go away !
Eye iang27. I know what you mean. To be honest they have been absolutely fine & have given me no reason to change; but then again I haven't really pushed the tyres too hard at all as have been getting used to this biking malarky again I think Martin's advice to keep the tyres I have & change them when they wear out seems to be sound advice.
If they are anything like mine you will wear them out soon anyway, my rear lasted 900 miles so run them till you need to change IMO and in comparison the interact K3 rear lasted 2800 miles with dyno run and a day at cadwell
I would definitely keep them until they are at the end of their life but I know I they did let go on me a couple of times in the wet! I now have Sportsmarts and they are utterly amazing wet,dry what ever the conditions my rear lasted just over 4k miles 2k of which was motorway miles, a trackday and a few times round the I.O.M mountain course and they give loads of confidence and feedback! They gave me ridiculous amounts of grip on a sometimes very wet 1000rr Tour of Scotland! They blew me away! I don't think I'll ever go past them they're just an epic tyre! As one the most important part of our bike, they keep us on the road! I can't rate them highly enough. P.s I ain't that fast a rider but they do improve your confidence no end
AA mate, I'm on my 3rd set of tyres on my new Blade since March this year! Mine came with Qualifier ll's on and I fecked em off at 450 miles for Michelin PR3's for one reason only in that they are not good at all in damp/wet/greasy conditions and I was due to go on a weeks tour to Southern Ireland with the Lads so I wanted a Tyre I could rely on whilst away. The Qualifiers were OK TBH in the dry and a few have Tracked them too in the dry, so if Dry weather Sunday Blasting is all you're doing at the mo then you may as as well wear em out. The PR3's were very good in the wet and the dry but were too hard at the rear for me so I sold em on to a mate after 2K miles (with 3K left in em) and bought some Pirelli Rosa Corsa's which are amazing in the dry (not tried em in the wet yet) these tyres won the very comprehensive 2013 Performance Bikes Sports Tyre of the year by some margin against all the following tyres. Mich Power Pures Dunlop Sportsmarts Metzeler Racetec K5's and a ruck of others that escape me just now. You should get around 1.5-2K out of the Qualifiers if you stick with em!
I know I have bridgestones on the new blade but I'll use them for now. I will be switching to Pirelli Diablo Rosso 2's as had them on the RR4. Awesome tyres like
Let me know how they turn out,really want to try them but unsure about wet riding with them AA,i was gutted when my bike arrived with the dunlops,but after giving them a chance they're not too bad. Wouldn't use them again tho,will either be the sportsmarts or the pirellis
The Pirelli daiblo corsas are actually really good in the wet once they have heat in them I found when inadvertently getting caught out in a downpour travelling 50miles back from Streetfighter show last summer! If I was after fast road and more dry tyres then I would go with the Pirellis or the Michelin power 2cts. I am just switching to the pirellis from the michelins for more sticky rubber for track days. PR3's are great for general road use in wet and dry but would say more touring tyres than fast road
