Recent Dunlop TR91 and other GS tyres magazine review

[Sam555]

Am looking to fit a set of Dunlop TR91 tyres to my GS Adv and a posting on the 650/800GS Twins page has this review:

The German magazine "Das Motorrad" tested 7 enduro tyres in May 11, and the TR91 came first place. Especially performance in the wet was convincing, and the overall handling, roadholding, grip, and precision of steering. also shortest braking distance of the lot.
They geared up 7 1200GS's and took them to France, Spain (pyrenees) and to the special circuit in France where they could test the tyres under wet conditions.
2nd was Trail Attack, 3rd Tourance EXP, 4th Scorpion Trail, 5th Battle Wing, 6th anakee 2, 7th avon distanzia.

Link: http://news.gibgummi24.de/reise-endu...test-2011/545/
It's in german though, maybe someone can translate??

Conti Trail Attack close behind but too many UK dealers have said to me they have quality issues especially with front tyres. Not sure who looks after these forums but if you are reading this could we not have a dedicated 'Tyres' sub-forum please??

 

[claw]

I've just fitted some TR91's on Saturday. They replaced my Tourances which i was happy with.

I'm very impressed with them so far.

 

[Rasher]

With the help of translation websites I got english words in the worng order, I think the jist is thus:

The magazine "Motorrad" put the latest enduro road tires under the microscope in spring 2011. On a 5500 km long journey through Central and Southern Europe, plus many miles on the Goodyear test track in Montpellier / France. These following tires were tested:

1.Avon DISTANZIA
2.Bridgestone Battle Wing
3.Continental Trail Attack
4th Dunlop Trailmax TR91
5.Metzeler Tourance EXP
6.Michelin Anakee 2
7.Pirelli Scorpion Trail
8.Außer competition: Continental TKC80

Test motorcycles: eight identical 2011 BMW R1200GS


The conclusion:



Dunlop Trailmax TR91

1st - 421 / 500 points

"Offers great performance with the TR91 Trailmax on wet and dry roads, the best pairing for GS riders. High wear rate"


Continental Trail Attack

2nd - 420 / 500 points

"Crap in wet. But performs better in good weather and scores with low wear. "


Metzeler Tourance EXP

3rd - 406 / 500 points

"Great on wet and dry asphalt. The Tourance is a great road tire. The high quality declines with wear. "


Pirelli Scorpion Trail

4th – 401 / 500 points

"Under optimal conditions shines with stability and grip. The wet performance is still okay, - got stuck here:-no joy, however Abribbild that. "


Bridgestone Battle Wing

5th - 398 / 500 points

"The Battle Wing is a little slow, but it has good stability and acceptable wear values. When wet, however, total crap, easy to see why the British call the Deathwings "


Michelin Anakee 2

6th - 386 / 500 points

"The second Anakee works well in poor conditions. On curves with the heavy bike they become increasingly unstable. "


Avon DISTANZIA

7th, 375 / 500 points

"Will last ages, and longer than the rider if he tries riding them in the wet "

 

[Nico]

Interesting review, thanks!

I will also need to replace tyres soon, does anybody a TPM friendly garage in the London area that sell Dunlop? I'd like to avoid the dealers/stealers at least for a tyre change but I've heard stories about damaged sensors, etc.

 

[timmo29]

When I picked up my 2008 GSA a couple of months back, it was fitted with fresh TR91's. The sales guy in the dealer (who is an ex racer and current trackday instructor) was raving about them and has them fitted to his GSA. So far they seem excellent, but I haven't really pushed them in the wet yet. I had a couple of sets of Battlewings on my previous GS without any problems. Was always well aware of their reputation in the wet though, so I was mega careful in the rain!

The only thing that concerns me about the magazine article is the reference to the high wear rate . Time will tell I suppose.

 

[Sam555]

I think higher wear rates are to be expected as enduro style tyres begin to have rubber, synthetic compounds more similar to their sports bike cousins, hence the Tourance EXP has a higher tyre rate than the standard Tourance but grips in the wet and dry better. I have had Tourances and Battlewings but I don't compaire their grip to proper road tyres accepting a better wear rate instead. This new generation of enduro style tyre is much more road orientated and I think manufactured for GS riders who hardly ever go off road but want the look of an enduro tyre, depends what you want and how you ride your bike?

 

[luckylucian]

I've accept I'll not be going offroad apart from easy gravel trails and have fitted road tyres - which easily outperform the best "road/trail" tyre

 

[BlueBird]

trouble is with road tyres is they cut up easily when on forest gravel tracks etc,

I have just fitted (yesterday) a set of TR91's after trying everything else (Dual purpose).

I have never got more than 4k out of a rear so if they are on a par with that and give better grip etc I will be happy.

I will let you all know.

 

[yamonda1]

After reading rave reviews I fitted TR91's last month but during a recent back road ride to Slovakia I found no difference to the Distanzia's and Anakee's fitted previously. All seem the same to me but again I'm just a steady rider who doesn't 'push it' in the wet, or dry come to that ... I think there's maybe a few clever folk who can perceive the differences in modern tyres, I'm not one of them .... Wear rate on a par with all the others too ...

 

[Giles]

I've had them on for about a thousand miles and I really rate them. They're very good in the wet and feel absolutely planted. I've dropped the pressures in them compared to other tyres I've used, maybe the have a stiffer side wall compared to some of the other stuff I've used (Conti's, EXP's...) i'm not sure, but the standard 36 42 gave quite a hard ride. I'm now on 34 39 and will stick at that.

I quite often stick a different make of tyre on when the current lot are worn out, just to experiment and see how things compare. But having tried these, I can't see myself changing to anything else soon. very good tyre!!

 

[Richie B]

Its that time again, I currently have battlewings and am getting 6000 from a rear, never had any issues with grip wet or dry ( well normal wet , I did notice a couple of wobbles one extremly wet ride back from Folkestone). Does anyone have any wear reports on the TR91s ??
My uses are mostly road with some gentle off roading , tho I have noticed some small splits in my current worn battlewings.

 

[Aidan1150]

Does anyone have any wear reports on the TR91s ??

I have almost 7500 miles on the TR91's on my 1150 but the rear now needs to be replaced. 85 or 90% of that mileage has been two-up and loaded with luggage which probably hasn't given the tyre an easy time.

Better grip than a Tourance in the dry and much more confidence inspiring in the wet for me. Now that the rear has squared off it seems to find little ripples or imperfections in the tarmac and you can feel that occaisonally, but any tyre will do that when well worn I think.

The front is still pretty good so I will replace the rear with another TR91. Even though the Dunlop gives a bit less mileage than the Tourance I will stick with them as the pros outway the cons for me.

HTH

 

[claw]

I've just fitted some TR91's on Saturday. They replaced my Tourances which i was happy with.

I'm very impressed with them so far.

Just as an update, i've done since fitting them around 2k miles. Around half of that mileage was in really bad rain storms during a quick dash to Germany.

I'm more than impressed with them, even in downpours on the autobahns they helped me keep up a good average speed, can't see me changing to another type for a while.

 

[sybaseian]

Just replaced the original Tourance EXP on my Triple black after 7500 miles and four months - they were badly squared off and were awful when half worn, but they did start to improve a bit once beyond that. 95% was motorway commuting into London everyday and 5% urban.

Would love to have fitted PR3s but they are not likely in 19" until next year according to my contact.

Wanted a more road biased tyre as I only use the bike on road. Was after fitting Dunlop Roadsmart, but non in stock at the fitter so ended up fitting Continental Road Attack 2.

 

[qzr]

I just picked up my brand new bike here in Stockholm Sweden, it was mounted with the Metzeler tires. I think the grip is good, but have only ridden 350km on dry or intermediate asphalt.

 

[bmwrover]

Rather than opeing a new thread, I thought I`d stick to this "old" one.

I replaced the worn Conti Road Attack 2 with a new set of Dunlop Trailmax TR91 on the GSA 1200 and what a positive difference!

The rear tyre grip of the CRA2 was never an issue, but the front was quite bouncy, letting go when pushed hard. Never in the way of loosing the front end completely, but in a juddery outward motion. Not very inspiring. Also handling was a bit on the nervous side with slight vibrations in the handle bar.

The Trailmax on the other hand gives equal confidence in terms of grip, but the front feels very planted. And after an ambitious day in the Alps yesterday, both the front and rear have still a bit of chicken strip on the tyre edges, rather than driving over the edge as on the CRA2.

 

[Time Traveller]

I'm gonna try Maxxis DeTours - I have no idea if they are any good, but they're cheap and if I don't like them I can change them again...

unfortunately not on that test above.


as an aside I had Scorpion A/Ts on my KTM 990 Adventure - no complaints - I had three sets, (probably 99.5% on road TBH, (although many many miles on sub B roads with potholes and lose grittyshitty bits) and nothing worse than gravel farm tracks for the odd miles here and there, so can't vouch for true off road performance.

About 5.5 to 6K from the rear, 8K from the front.

 

[stick]

Dunlop Trail Max

Just used these for the first time so i thought i would post my opinion based on my recent trip from Worcester UK to the French Alps two up , 45 kgs luggage (fully loaded ) Total milage with new tyres fitted 2980

The Tyre offers great confidence and stability and felt good from the first off.
The grip is very good and feels confident even in the wet.
The tyre never seems to move even under heavy braking or cornering , again confidence is good.
Overall a great tyre and will be fitting another rear now.

Down side for me is that the rear is shagged but the front is fine , all the above 2980 miles were done without ever hitting one motorway or payage (scus the spelling) and mainly all michelin yellow scenic routes and many many cols.
The rear may do another 300 miles but for me the tyre is past its point even though, to be honest , you can only just tell as you ride it.

Fitting another rear to get the value out of the front

 

[(RIP) Johno23]

Sounds a great tyre, and have heard the're really good in the wet. But only 3000miles for the rear I would get nearly 8k from my trail attacks, and that's mostly 2 up & loaded too.
I've got 2 more trips to France this year plus trips around the UK.
Was looking forward to trying the Dunlops but not so sure now.

 

[stick]

Dunlops

Sounds a great tyre, and have heard the're really good in the wet. But only 3000miles for the rear I would get nearly 8k from my trail attacks, and that's mostly 2 up & loaded too.
I've got 2 more trips to France this year plus trips around the UK.
Was looking forward to trying the Dunlops but not so sure now.

Sorry if my post has put you off , but most tyres i use get the same milage and abuse.

Had Road Smarts again 3000 miles is
Tourances - 3500 to 3800 but grip limited for me
Never tried the Contis but have heard front end is eeerrrrrrrrm .
Tyre pressures check every time i go out etc etc

To add that most of the miles are done in two weeks of hard ridding in temps around 20 to 32 degrees , whether this makes a difference im not sure.
I do ride hard and never really cruise so maybe my ridding style leans towards tyre abuse. I have a KTM 990 sm and only get around 1500 miles out of a rear on it (one up) .