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Are the stock V tires really that bad?

55K views 184 replies 91 participants last post by  DK35vince 
#1 ·
Been reading up on the Dunlop 221 tires and are they as bad as most of the user reviews say they are? The 221's are the only experience I have with street tires and so far they seem adequate to the way I ride. I plan on upgrading to the Michelin Pilot 3's when needed however I may do it sooner than later if the 221's are a less superior tire than others.....
 
#180 ·
Stock Dunlop's

they are pretty good for me, really the only issue is they didn't last. I only got 2,400 miles out of them. Getting Michelin's PR 3's on it this week and will see the difference. I ride western NC roads that are alot of oil/stone and these are probably tougher on tires than smooth asphalt. Grip in both dry and wet seem reasonable on the Dunlops.

Chris
 
#182 ·
they are pretty good for me, really the only issue is they didn't last. I only got 2,400 miles out of them. Getting Michelin's PR 3's on it this week and will see the difference. I ride western NC roads that are alot of oil/stone and these are probably tougher on tires than smooth asphalt. Grip in both dry and wet seem reasonable on the Dunlops.

Chris
I did this last year, and it is a day and night difference. You won't believe the improvement in grip. They are also the best rain tires I've ever had.
 
#181 ·
They stuck well for me. They wore fast. I had 3500 miles on them when I got a nail in the back tire, so I replaced them both as they were close to out of spec. I did have an issue with the front tire. I had a headshake at 45mph. Nothing below that or above 50, but at 45 you could stand on the pegs and see the shake in the tire. After replacing them the shake was gone.
 
#184 ·
...Any conti motion users out there? How do they compare to stocks?
I replaced the Dunlops w/ ContiMotions on both my Vs (TWO times for the '08), and felt they were a pretty good tire, but I really had no issues w/ the OEM Dunlops (my BC V got to be ridden in the rain a bit more than my AZ V....), and changed them out around 10,000 miles for the AZ rear, 12,000 for the front. The BC one got changed to ContiMotions at 12,035 kms because I like them so much.

The Conti's were changed early (at 13,9xx kms) to get Tourance rubber on for D2D '13 a year ago, and I gave 'em away w/ LOTS of tread left.
 
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