Road tyres - Dunlop Roadsmart

[ChrisH]

In 5 years of GS ownership I have only ventured off-road once and even then there was little if any need for off road/dual purpose tyres. I mentioned to my local BMW dealer I was thinking of road tyres and he told me he 'strongly advised against them' . But I decided to try some Dunlop Sportmax RoadSmarts anyway.
I simply cannot sing their praises enough, what a fantastic tyre they are on my 1200GS. They are very planted and feel just great for chucking about on the twisty's. In the wet they are far better than any dual purpose tyre I have ever had and I think I've been through most of them now. My last duals were EXP's which were crap in wet, got really bad mileage and were unpredictable at best. I cannot comment on wear for these Dunlop's as I have only had them on for close to 600 miles.
I can only guess that my BM dealer must make more money from the various dual purpose they sell and probably don't even stock the Dunlop's
May I just point out that I do not work for any tyre company etc.
Hope this helps boys n girls.

Chris.

 

[corsicandreamer]

Hi Chriss, thanks for the post i am looking at exactly the same thing myself and was wondering what you paid if that included fitting and was it a nationwide tyre co. or one local to you, i am in the north west, cheers Ken.B.

 

[ChrisH]

I bought mine from M&S in Newcastle - top guys and very helpful.
I paid £221 which included everything, I simply rode the bike in and they did it all.
I really cannot tell you how pleased I am with them, far better than any dual tyre I have used. My only worry now is that I feel too confident and push it too far if you know what I mean.


Chris.

 

[MarkShelley]

I bought mine from M&S in Newcastle - top guys and very helpful.
I paid £221 which included everything, I simply rode the bike in and they did it all.
I really cannot tell you how pleased I am with them, far better than any dual tyre I have used. My only worry now is that I feel too confident and push it too far if you know what I mean.


Chris.

Time to hit the road on sunny Sundays to embarrass some sportsbike riders I reckon

 

[FatAl]

I've had them fitted to my Tiger 1050, they are excellent tyres in the wet and dry. I got about 6000 miles out of the back one, the front is good for about 8000 miles.
Fitted at TST tyres in Risley for about £200.

 

[ChrisH]

I had a play about with two sports bikes on Thursday evening in the wet. I am not going to say what they were because I can't believe myself that I not only beat the pair of them but it was embarrasing to be honest. They kept shooting past on the straights until my friend said they gave up once they lost site of me. Although I would hope the result would have been very different in the dry.

 

[sherpatensing]

I can only echo what Chris has already said. I have just fitted Roadsmarts to my 1200GS (£220 so similar price) and they are brilliant. I changed to Dunlops after a couple of sets of Conti Road Attacks. Contis behave well, but I found the rear wears out too quickly.

 

[stolzy]

Anybody put these on an 1150?

 

[JoeC]

I bought mine from M&S in Newcastle

Are Marks and Spencer's now stocking tyres?

 

[Schtum]

In the wet they are far better than any dual purpose tyre I have ever had and I think I've been through most of them now.

Did you ever use the now discontinued Dunlop D607? I had them on my previous GS and found them to be excellent in the wet and in the dry they stuck like the proverbial to a blanket. Only about 4.5K miles out of a rear on abrasive Scottish tarmacadam but well worth it.

I'm wondering if their replacement, the TR91 is as good, if not better.

 

[HeatedGrips]

I've had road-biased tyres on my GS for about 20,000 miles now, Bridgestone BT-021 and 023s. The most immediate improvement for me over my old Metzeler Tourances was the ride quality, it was so much better. Handling and grip are in a different league too.
Mileage is down, I get around 10,000 from a rear compared to over 15,000 on the Metzelers, but it's a price worth paying.
I too will be trying the Dunlops when it's time to change.

 

[oldnfat]

Anybody put these on an 1150?

Yep...just replace my pilot roads which were excellent....these are better. Quieter, great turn in and better in the wet...go for it. Not sure about durability but holding up well after a 3000 mile tour.

 

[Tony T]

I have a Roadsmart on the back of my bike after I traced a "howling" noise from the rear to my part-worn Michelin Pilot Road. This is a problem that a couple of other friends have had too.
Very happy so far with the Roadsmart.

 

[RSavage]

I have a Roadsmart on the back of my bike after I traced a "howling" noise from the rear to my part-worn Michelin Pilot Road. This is a problem that a couple of other friends have had too.
Very happy so far with the Roadsmart.

Hi Tony

Any particular speed(s) for the howling? My 1200GSA howls at 50 and 100 with an earsplitting noise. This is quite distinct from the exhaust note peak. The bike has only done 5,100 and has howled all of that time. Rear tyre is fairly worn in the centre after 2,400 miles to and from Andorra. I did try to record the noise but the mic on the camera was overwhelmed by all of the ambient noise.

There's also the whine which sounds like an alternator and the 'thrumming' when overrunning. Ah, the joys of GS ownership.

Regarding the tyres: Fast Bikes tested a GSA and two others in a run between Lands End and John o Groats in the October issue. All three bikes were fitted with Roadsmarts. The testers said they were great.



Looks as though I will be fitting them too.

Richard

 

[oldnfat]

I noticed mine after about 4000 miles....kicks in at 35-40 ish and just got worse as speed and mileage increased.

 

[corsicandreamer]

roadsmarts

Just had mine fitted courtesy of rudimoto of this site will report in the next couple of weeks when i am back in France and on the roads that will truly test them cheers K.B.

 

[RSavage]

I noticed mine after about 4000 miles....kicks in at 35-40 ish and just got worse as speed and mileage increased.

Hmm

Mine did it from new and the howl is confined to 50 and 100 mph. I did wonder if it was the FD In fairness to SLM at Caterham they didn't dismiss the suggestion out of hand


R

 

[Rasher]

I was very happy to discover Roadsmarts available for the GS12.

Been running them on my sportsbike and they are extremely good on that, stacks of grip and loads of feel, will almlost certainly put them on GS.

They have won loads of tyre "shoot-outs" in magazines, were launched to the press on wet / dry tracks with competors products to test side by side and Bike magazine did their own wet weather test and the Roadsmart was a clear winner.

Considered sticking with dual purpose tyres, but figure they are probably not good enough for proper off-roading and inferior on the road compared to Sports Touring tyres, as I will spend 99% of my time on tarmac and the other 1% on nothing owrse than unpaved roads the Roadsmarts should be ideal.

 

[mark-a]

roadsmart

Hello all,

I've just been convinced by this thread - and the very nice person (Michael) at 'Marks and Spencers' in Newcastle, I am getting a pair of roadsmarts fitted to my 1200gs on Monday for 235 quid, fitted to the bike not loose wheels. I think that sounds like a good deal. I don't offroad - or haven't yet - and won't be for 6-8000 miles anyway.
Looking forward to trying them out tho'

Cheers guys

 

[Sky]

Anybody put these on an 1150?

I've just put some on mine, after 40K miles on Touratechs. A huge improvement, the bike rolls into corners more easily and can be placed more accurately. I find it easier to leave the turn-in later for better view into the corner. I've only done a couple of hundred miles and only a few in the rain, where I didn't notice them at all (which is good, yes?), so too early to comment on wear rate. However they're so much better, I can't see myself going back to dual purpose tyre unless the wear rate is really bad. I think they are dual compound, so this shouldn't be a problem.

£220 ride in, ride out from M&S Newcastle. Kicking myself for not trying them earlier.