Dunlop – Motorcycle tyre Sportmax Roadsmart III safety warning

https://ec.europa.eu/safety-gate-alerts/screen/webReport/alertDetail/10011252?lang=en

 

Oh Dear, this on top of the racing tyre issues. Doesn't bode well for Dunlop, I have lost confidnece in them.

 

Just to relate an old concern/recall, but to ease minds on this side of the pond...... back some years ago the Dunlop original Roadsmarts had tread separation issues, accidents and a recall...... supposedly fixed with the Roadsmart2. And now the Roadsmart 3 has issues? We swore back then we'd never have another Dunlop on our bikes........

Note, there are two manufacturing locations, Japan and France. All the issues have been from the ones produced in France. Probably somebody should get fired or should have been long ago..... There have been no issues with the ones made in Japan, and that's all we get over here (I think).

 

^^^ the dunlop plant that makes most US motorcycle tires is about 4 miles from me, and in the summer i see alot of bikes [mostly harleys of course] in their employee parking lot. i toured the factory a few years ago and saw tires being made, amazing machines and skilled hand labor.

 

Do you have any info on this? I remember when very few of their tires would lightly split at the seam (left to right) and that it caused no safety issues. Still, they replaced tires. I had a few of those. No biggie.

 

Back when I had an ST1300, that forum had reports of them, not sure if the archives still have those posts. Front tires would develop bulges from the outer tread separating from the cords. One incident I witnessed first hand, a group of us were headed to the Moonshine Lunch Run, I think 2008, and my riding buddy had one that had multiple bulges and went flat. We managed to get another tire in a nearby town. There was another report of a woman riding her ST13 on the interstate, the rear tread separated completely and balled up in the rear fender at speed, she went out of control and crashed in the median. That was the only rear I heard of. Again, these were French made original Roadsmarts. There was a recall and they would replace the tire with a Roadsmart2, which was supposed to fix the problem.

 

Interesting stuff. I was never a part of that, and used to run those tires a lot!

 

I prefer not to run Dunlops for another reason. They typically have hard compounds which get a little more slippy in the cooler temps and wet. On the FJR forum we had a few who also noticed this (Roadsmart III). I ran a set and couldn't feel confident as I had a minor slip out once. Just confirmed for me I'd rather have a slightly softer tire that grips well and may not last quite as long..... unfortunately, too many just want big mileage out of their tires, and that's OK if you're running hot and dry IMHO. I gave the Roadsmart 3's a chance a couple of years ago, but no more Dunlops for me.

 

Interesting stuff! I'm big D through and through...