In its latest ad campaign, Dunlop claims its Sportmax Roadsmart III tires last substantially longer than Michelin's Pilot Road 4GT. I ran them both on my commuting cycle to verify - tune in to find out the results!
Well done. The scientific method trumps subjective assessment every time. I'm using the Roadsmart III on my R1200RT as well. The front is showing a bit of wear and slight cupping after 4000 miles. I seem to get about 8000 out of pretty much anything on that bike. Texas roads must be abrasive.
As always, great video, Moshe. On recommendation from @Gunnert, I've been running the Roadsmart IIIs for the last year, or so, and have been quite happy with them. Living in the Midwest (with horribly chatted roads), I'm lucky to 6,000 miles out of any tire but appreciate your real-world comparison against the Michelins. Looks like I'll be sticking with the Dunlops for the foreseeable future.
I have run the major players in the sport touring tire market. The only ones that I couldn’t wait to ride to the end of their lives were the PR4s. I offed them at around 4,000. They lost their profiles early turning slow turns/u-turns into a wrestling match. They also lost some in the grip department along the way. Until the Dunlop IIIs came along, I found Metzler Roadtech 01s to work best for me. Now I’m riding the Dunlop’s. Not by much, but I have found them to provide better mileage and they retain their profiles to the end. They are also a bit more quiet than the 01s.
I won’t go near the PR5s given my experience with the PR4s. I haven’t totally abandoned Michelin, though. I am riding a set of Michelin Anakee Adventures on my R1250 and have found them to be excellent tires to date. Very sticky in all road conditions. They are relatively quiet and as neutral as one could want. Still have a way to go to see how they hold up in the long term, but with 3,000 + on them and little sign of wear, I expect that they will do fine.
I am riding a set of Michelin Anakee Adventures on my R1250 and have found them to be excellent tires to date. Very sticky in all road conditions. They are relatively quiet and as neutral as one could want. Still have a way to go to see how they hold up in the long term, but with 3,000 + on them and little sign of wear, I expect that they will do fine.
I found the Anakee Adventures on my R1250GS to be extremely noisy even with industrial strength ear plugs.The excessive noise did subside as the miles piled up. Other than that they worked great with excellent traction throughout their life. I changed them out at 9k but they could have easily gone another 2 or 3k. I switched over to Roadsmart III's and am very happy with them on both my bikes.
so, this thread was started under K1600...tires, wheels...., and it has some very useful information- if I only had an RT bike.
Just as he claimed it's foolish to compare mileage between riders, I wonder how foolish it is to expect similar results between an RT and a K bike (I already know the answer).
On my 2012 K1600GTL I am running my 2nd set of Dunlop SR3s after 2 sets of Michelin PR4GTs and 1 set of PR5s. With the Michelins I was able to get 10k miles but the front was pretty trashed the last 1k miles with pretty good tread on the rear still. They had a lot of push after about 8K miles due to the centers smoothing out.
With the Dunlops I am running my tire pressure @ 44-46 psi to prevent some cupping that I had noticed on the first set. I have gotten 10k miles with even wear front and back I could probably get another 1k if needed. They still handled fine with a slightly flatter but still round profile with almost no push.
This is interesting. So essentially, the my experiment on the RT is playing out on a lesser scale on your heavier K bike. The Dunlops are lasting about 10% longer?
On my 2012 K1600GTL I am running my 2nd set of Dunlop SR3s after 2 sets of Michelin PR4GTs and 1 set of PR5s. With the Michelins I was able to get 10k miles but the front was pretty trashed the last 1k miles with pretty good tread on the rear still. They had a lot of push after about 8K miles due to the centers smoothing out.
With the Dunlops I am running my tire pressure @ 44-46 psi to prevent some cupping that I had noticed on the first set. I have gotten 10k miles with even wear front and back I could probably get another 1k if needed. They still handled fine with a slightly flatter but still round profile with almost no push.
I just had my 3rd RSIII installed on the rear of my '15 K1600GTL, neither of the rears made it much past 6,000 miles. The fronts are getting around 7k. I suspect that living in Las Vegas, where most of my riding is on wide open, fast roads, like out to Death Valley, cuts my tire life considerably. What would you say is your average speed?
The addition of "GT" to a tire is a bit of a misnomer. The "GT version" only applies to a couple of tire manufacturers that choose to make 2 different rated tires with the same tread design. Manufacturers like Dunlop, Metzler, etc tires are designed from the get go for the weight and performance of bikes like the K1600, Concourse, etc.
Duane
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
BMW K1600 Forum
661.1K posts
23.7K members
Since 2010
A forum community dedicated to BMW K1600 Motorcycle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, accessories, modifications, touring, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!