Dunlop Motorcycle Tires

We test tires because you just never know. Bikes are different, riders are different, seasons are different and as we are finding out, tires are different. Much, much different. We test tires by attempting to control for everything- riding the same bikes, at the same time, with the same riders and same fuel loads following each other all season. We even order the same coffee, all in the name of accuracy. Sometimes the results are predictable and other times, as in this test, the results are shocking.

One Hundred

by Ted Edwards | Jul 29, 2024 | Ride Life | 3 |

Riding motorcycles in my youth, I idolized moto-journalists and dreamed of being one. Odd really, probably born from me spending too much time absorbed in motorcycle magazines in my formative years, which took way too long to form. What a cool job they must have, I reflected, getting to ride the latest machines, talking to famous people, testing the latest gear, traveling the country. My house was forever littered with bike periodicals. Like sand from the beach they were everywhere, well-read, pages dog eared, covers worn, food spilled on them. One day that will be me, I thought, one day…

Dunlop Roadsmart IV vs Shinko Verge 2X: Mid-Life Update

by Ted Edwards | Jul 10, 2024 | Bikes & Gear | 7 |

While all motorcycle tires are round and black, they are not the same. Even with technological advances one would think that modern sport touring tires are all very similar, but there are differences. A few years ago we here at Road Dirt Motorcycle Media started a quest to find those differences and pass that information on to you.

Dunlop Q5S Long Term Track & Street Test

by Ted Edwards | May 30, 2024 | Bikes & Gear | 0 |

I wondered how the stellar Dunlops would perform long term as both a street tire and trackday weapon. The Q5S tires have a harder center compound for street mileage so I kept them on my Honda Superhawk for the duration of the 2023 riding season for commuting, touring and canyon sprint miles, using them as most riders would for a whole year. Then, last week, after a full year with the tires on the bike, I returned to MotoAmerica’s early summer race venue, The Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington for a second thrashing to see how they would fare after a full season of use.

Motorcycle Tire Spotlight: Shinko 016 Verge 2X

by Ted Edwards | Apr 15, 2024 | Bikes & Gear, Nuts & Bolts | 6 |

If you haven’t heard of Shinko Motorcycle Tires, I don’t blame you. Shinko does not have the brand name recognition or racing pedigree of major manufacturers like Dunlop, Michelin, Pirelli or Bridgestone. However, their rubber roots run deep having manufactured bicycle tires since the end of World War II, then purchasing motorcycle tire technology from Yokohama in 1998. They claim to manufacture about 200,000 tires a month.