Dunlop Sportmax Qualifiers very slippery in cold/wet

[notbike]

Tldr: Tyres are shit, what are some good winter tyres?

Does anyone have these tyres?

They came with the R6 and they were alright in dry mild weather (above 10ºc) and I had no hiccups with them what-so-ever, but now I've started to hate them.

For the past few weeks where it's been a little colder & more wet, the tyres haven't been sticking AT ALL.

Front has only slipped once, and it was probably only a tiny bit but it felt scary as hell, never felt the front slip ever on a bike.

Rear has slipped too many times to count now.

The thing is, I've not been riding like a lunatic or jamming the throttle on/off or braking in any corners. Ever since it got colder I've had close to two inch fucking chicken strips on them so I've not been leaning the cunt over far enough to warrant it shitting itself on every corner.

Bike's at >900 miles. No oil on tyres. Tyre pressures are correct, manual says 42 rear 36 front. No matter how long I ride for to get them up to temp, they're still shit.

What's a good winter/cold/wet tyre to replace these with? Currently looking at PR3s, thoughts?

I'll probably only put these on again in summer.

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Sounds like the tyre hasn't got enough heat in it to start offering grip. Similar to the Supercorsa I had.
In my case I wasn't prepared to push the tyre enough so I went with a sportstouring type.

PR2/3/4 mainly get positive reviews.
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[kgm]

PR3s are the best all round road tyres I've found so far. Superb wet/cold grip. Can't comment on the Dunlop I'm afraid.

[chickenstrip]

Might be worth trying dropping the rear pressure to 40. That's what I have the Fazer at, a much heavier bike, and I pretty much keep it at that all year round. It's on PR4s, so it might not work for you, but if it were me, I think I'd give that a try.
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[ZX-7R]

I have been running Bridgestone BT016 Pro's and i ride year round.Great tyre and offer good grip in all weather.As its an older range tyre you should be able to pick them up pretty cheap.

I really rate them.
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[Copycat73]

how old are the Dunlop tires .. check the date stamp ..

and bt 016 pros .. they are a credible tire at a reasonable price .. that's whats on me R1.... for the last two changes..
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[P.]

OEM Dunflops?

Ditch. Pilot Road 3 or 4. Done.

[CaNsA]

[Al]

I've had Dunlops sportsmaxs for the last 3 pairs of tyres. I have a Qualifier on the front and an older D208 on the rear to last a little longer, I ride in the winter and find them fine.

Are they actually slipping or could it just be that the profile is not what you're used to and feels like its dropping away?

I run the pressures a little lower about 37 rear 33 front.
Maybe they are actually just crap and I've got used to them
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[notbike]

Ta for the input fellas.

Probably try lowering pressures a little then but if that fails will grab the PR3s. My mate swears by them & seems like the popular choice.

@CaNsA - I wasn't actually told, or rather didn't give much thought to what the stock rubber would be when I bought the bike so yeah, sports tyres in winter

@Al - Certain they're slipping because that feeling was never felt in the warm & dry. I also know how a slip feels by now, had plenty arse-over-tit moments & too many 'nearly' moments to count.

[NJD]

Same tyres the ZR7S had fitted when I took delivery at the tale end of November, and they're still on, and haven't had any issues with grip thus far both in the wet or dry nor while raining or oily/greasy roads.

90 miles, I've done more but how much I can't recall from memory, and have no problems to report. I only commute about 6-7 miles one way and have no issues with traction.

Pressures I run are what my owners handbook recommend and are adjusted from cold before I ride, every ride.

Suspension setup causing any issues with grip on the shite roads this time of year? I only ask, not that I know exactly what I'm talking about, because sportsbike. Has different modes? Anything else could be causing unsettling of the bike?

Don't think there's anything else to add.
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[notbike]

[Shinigami]

I've got Bridgestone t30s on my fz6, 2nd winter with them on and they grip well in pretty much all weather
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[sickpup]

[G]

I'll take the bait, again.

I have never said you should use the stickiest sports tyres.
I have said that some race (and sports) tyres offer great levels of traction from cold, even in damp conditions.

I've also said that some race (and I've heard the same for their sports) tyres offer absolutely dreadful traction from cold.
Pilot Race's are an example of this.

Recent experience has shown that Dunlop race tyres, at least of the wrong compound also aren't very good in the cold. (With Pirelli /Metzler you seem to get a lot more flexibility if you haven't got the right compound for the situation.)
I was doing fine on Pirelli slicks at Silverstone. Another lighter rider on Dunlop race tyres had a low side going slower than I was, despite warm tyres and so on. Couldn't work out why from the video, until we found others commenting that the Dunlop's just didn't work once the track temp got to the mid-teens.

[Jim Mc]

Dunlop qualifiers came on my 600rr when I bought it. They're a budget tyre, impossible to get heat into and offer no grip in the wet.

A few years back in the height of summer I was ragging the bike around with another lad, I mentioned the grip problem and we compared our tyre temps. His tyres were warm while the qualifiers were cool as cucumbers.

Had a few different sets since then, bt23s, mich power pures, pilot roads. Depends what you're doing, 23s are ok but I'd probably spend the extra and get a softer compound tyre from now on. I wouldn't let a set of qualifiers touch any bike I own.

[ADSrox0r]

I've had good results with BT023, BT028 and T30 EVO for winter riding (less so with BT023). Had a good handful of squirmy bum clenchers but really that's only ever been on frosty roads and/or my own fault for winding on. The T30 are great in the wet and are a bit cheaper than PR4.

For a good cost compromise I'd say BT028 are a solid option.
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[robertw95]

If your not feeling confident with the tyres i'd change to a set of pr3/4 and forget about them.. I'd say 90% of riders on the road will be pushing past a sport touring tyres limits no matter what they say otherwise
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[robertw95]

Suspension wise I'd get the sag set up for your weight most oem stuff is way oversprung unless you carry a pillion. Don't know how it is with road tyres but on track dunlops have a really stiff carcass compared to pirelli/metzler so suspension was always softened up to get it working properly
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[owl10]

Probably wrong tyre for the conditions, or the way it's being ridden.

Just to make things interesting some of the tyre manufacturers change compounds on the tyres they deliver to manufacturers vs the same tyre model number that is available retail (at least in automotive, think it's same in motorcycles) so it can be worthwhile waiting until you've gone through the second set before making a decision.

Dunlop are actually made by Goodyear (in the West anyway) for what it's worth, who tend to know a bit about tyres.

That said, rider weight, pressure, suspension settings all play a part
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[Snowdonia Rider]

I'm looking for new tyres too, my bike has Pilot Roads on which were on it when I bought it in summer. Like most tyres in summer they were OK but they are DREADFUL in this winter weather. They're the only tyres I've ever experienced the front wheel lose traction with, nearly laid a brick. I know they're the original Pilot Roads but I thought they'd be better than that. Shame as there's plenty of tread left in them, I feel like doing a huge burnout to waste them just to get replacements
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[chickenstrip]

PR2s on the Striple. No problems today. Cold, mostly dry, but rotting leaf mush, wet corners and gravel wash-out to contend with in places. Never felt squirrely, no lack of grip. I can understand if PRs aren't people's favourite choice, but am puzzled by those who find them actually poor.
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[woo]

if you dont want them ill have them off you
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[talkToTheHat]

Sport/touring tyres are the thing for winter. PR4s do the sticking thing well but do not feel particularly sporty. There's a youtube about somewhere of MCN blind-testing sport-touring tyres and deciding some metzlers had the best feel.
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