Dunlop Roadsmart 2 / Q2 Combo End Of Life Report

As usual I must report the passing of two more sport tires due to hard living in the Appalachian Mountains. They lived a good life so no regrets. I am at 1,800 miles and right front tread of the front Q2 is mostly missing. The rear RS2 is stressed on both sides but has tons of center tread.

I have a picture of the rear:

[image: Dunlop RS2 Side.jpg]

I am impressed by how well the rear has worn with one pissible caveat...at 1,600 miles the bike started to fall into turns unexpectedly. Now this may be from the front tire wear so I am replacing the front this morning and heading for the hills to see if the rear still handles great like it has since I installed it.

I am supposed to be tire testing the Michelin Power 3s for a local independent M/C shop so I am only going to do one run with the Michelin front before I replace the rear to run a matched set.

In 1,800 miles 1,200 were the hardest miles I have ever put a tire through and I only felt the rear lose traction once and that was on the dreaded 28 tar snakes. The tire let go and slid but I never backed off and it hooked up like a good tire always does with no additional drama. I won't go into detail on how fast i was going but I was in training for a Trace run so I was imagining a relentless RC51 was on my tail. I lost the front twice that day on tar snakes and of course the Q2 shrugged of my weak attempts at speed like it was nothing.

I don't know if I will ever run a set of tires this hard again. As much fun as it has been there is no future in stoppie-in-to-dragging-pegs-to-wheelie-out style of riding. I spent the last two weeks decompressing so the last 600 miles on the set has been somewhat less frenetic without being sedate.

If I were to do it again I might try a different front to see if there is any chance for more miles since the rear is so good. I will find out today if the fall-in issues was caused by the front...almost positive it is the case. I'll wrap up my tire review on these tires in thenext couple of days.

KEB

Have you reviewed the Bridgestone S20's yet on the VFR or did I miss that?

Have you reviewed the Bridgestone S20's yet on the VFR or did I miss that?

I think you missed it.

http://www.vfrdiscus...iew-2135-miles/

Thanks!  I thought he had done one...

Wish I had $220 to waste on tires for Tmac!  I just can't justify it for my usual type of riding though.

EDIT:  Note to self, if KEB can get 2000 miles, I could probably get 4000 miles...hmmmm

235 for the S20s I just ordered from Jake Wilson. I really wanted to try a Q2/Roadsmart 2 combo and thought seriously about a S20 Front/ Pilot Road 3 rear combo but if KEB can get 2,000+ miles out of a set of S20s then they may be the last pair of tires I purchase...

I put a pair of original Roadsmart's on the VFR today, and they suck for a DIY install without a tire machine!
Love me some Michelin sport tires for the install!

KPerham, on 08 May 2013 - 7:42 PM, said:

I put a pair of original Roadsmart's on the VFR today, and they suck for a DIY install without a tire machine!
Love me some Michelin sport tires for the install!

+1 Lay them out in the sun for a hour or two.


I have seen Kimball make a charge on the VFR, he takes no prisoners.

I bought some S20's about 2 months ago and used them for a track day on the GSXR. They are mounted on my spare set of wheels for the VFR now and ready for T-Mac. :biggrin:

Quick update on the RS2's. They now have 2,300 miles on them as I went down to Cycle Gear and looked at a new one and they have very little side tread depth to begin with. The front Q2 is massacred and I have a Power Road 3 on the front (stupid easy to mount...as in easiest ever!) which sticks well and cured the front end no-hand's shimmy the Q2's had but it has a completely different feel that than the Dunlop. Will update.

So the RS2 is the best wearing sport-capable tire I have used so far. I am removing it and saving it for a back-up tire for my FL or VFRD friends as I used my last one for a FL friend last night.

The Roadsmart 2 is pricey but cost-per-mile and grip (when warm) make it a buy in my book. 

Power 3's next.

KEB

Attached Images

• [image: Dunlop Front Q2.jpg]

Quick update on the RS2's. They now have 2,300 miles on them as I went down to Cycle Gear and looked at a new one and they have very little side tread depth to begin with. The front Q2 is massacred and I have a Power Road 3 on the front (stupid easy to mount...as in easiest ever!) which sticks well and cured the front end no-hand's shimmy the Q2's had but it has a completely different feel that than the Dunlop. Will update.

So the RS2 is the best wearing sport-capable tire I have used so far. I am removing it and saving it for a back-up tire for my FL or VFRD friends as I used my last one for a FL friend last night.

The Roadsmart 2 is pricey but cost-per-mile and grip (when warm) make it a buy in my book. 

Power 3's next.

KEB

  Me   PP3  too   ....