Roadsmart II report after 9,300 miles

[janfmiller]

Just changed out Dunlop Roadsmart II's for Avon 3D Storm X-M's.

9,300 miles.  Pics attached of wear. 

Front is totaly shot, rear appears to have 500+ miles left it it but I was surprised to find it is extremely thin in the middle, and in reality totally shot too.

I run 38psi front, 42 psi rear nominally, adjusting if weird wear patterns appear ( 36psi front has always lead to cupping ).

I found the RSII's to be less than optimal riding straight-line.  They have a sort of 'riding on a knife edge' quality about them, not un-nerving but not rock-steady either. 

Corner handling was very good, perhaps a bit quick to turn in, but good, and also the handling did not degrade as much after 3/4 wear as most tires do, in fact, it hardly changed.  Most tires begin to 'fight back' on technical roads when well worn, but the RSII's didn't do so...

I rode PR4's for about 4 changes, liked them very much, but decided to try some different shoes to see what's improved.  Don't care for Bridgestones, decided to switch to Avons.   Used them before on my R1150RT, best handling tires ever, but life was a bit short.  Hoping the X-M's live up to their name.  So far, over a few hundred miles, the 3D Storm X-M's are exceptional!!! 

[trophied]

My Pilot Power 3's have quite a bit of life left, but I'm interested in your long term assessment for my next tire selection.  My P3's don't quite feel as good in tight curves as the Pirelli Angel GT "A" spec I put on the K1600 I had, but I don't ride agressively so maybe not an issue except in an avoidance situation in a curve for some reason.  I'm old so I try to keep from having those.

[AZBob]

Wow, that front tire is more than past its useful life. Good thing you changed it. Do you use the rear brake? I've never worn the front tire before the rear on a bike.

[janfmiller]

Originally Posted by AZBob

Wow, that front tire is more than past its useful life. Good thing you changed it. Do you use the rear brake? I've never worn the front tire before the rear on a bike.

Yes I use the rear brake... Both in fact... and,  they are partially linked..

I've not had a front wear out first either, but as I stated the rear was in a sense more shot.

These tires had a great deal of 'technical' riding on them in twisties which involves a lot of heavy braking approaching tight corners which may have contributed...

Stuff like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcxw5KDOwJo&t=10s

[Volfy]

You done wore that front WAYYY past its useful life.

I had a set of RSII on my VFR1200 and my impression was that they were more on the sport end of the sport touring spectrum, similar to the Pirelli Angel GT.  I had to change them out early because the front cupped fairly significantly, which could have been because I rode it like the gentleman's sportbike that it is, with lots of heavy braking.  Could also be the 35-36psi I ran the front.  Overall, not at the top of the my list of favorite ST tires, but performed well enough to be a solid middle-of-the-road.

In any case, I just bought another set of RSII from Chaparral on clearance, I'll play with the tire pressure to see if I can dial out the front tire cupping.  The newer RSIII looks like Dunlop is trying to compete with the Pilot Road series.  Might be interesting.

[janfmiller]

I had a shop that does nothing but motorcycle tires and brakes explain that cupping is usually due to too low tire pressure.  He recommended at least 38psi in front and to try up to 40psi on the TTSE front.  Appears he was spot on, because I've had no cupping in several sets of tires since upping the front pressure.

I was going to try the RSIII but I could not find them for sale anywhere...

[Volfy]

I believe you're right about low tire pressure causing cupping.  I don't think it's pure coincidence that I have not experience cupping issues with the 2 bikes I've owned with TPMS - C14 and TTSE.  Their on-board displays encourage me to keep a much closer eye on tire pressures.  Other bikes I don't check as often.

That said, I am somewhat hesitant to keep upping the front tire pressure to eliminate cupping entirely.  Higher pressure does affect handling and traction.  I can live with some front tire uneven wear as long as it doesn't severely shorten service life.  I always swap out tires early anyway.  With only 2 tiny contact patches, I prefer to ride on fresh rubber as much as I can.