Dunlop sportmax qualifier front tire is total $hit

[rojoracing53]

So after 7000 miles I finally pulled off my Michelin power one front tire and mounted up a dunlop sportmax qualifier I got for free during my last trackday from the same tire vendor that let me ride his 636 for a session. It's a damn good thing the tire was free because this thing is crap in every way. So first off were talking about a 120/70 OEM front tire off the current R6's, and its being used on my bike which has an R6 front wheel so there's no sizing issues.

It takes me all of a 1/4 mile to realize I had made a mistake mounting this tire right before heading to the mountains for a 4 day camping trip. So you know that headshake thing that nearly all ninja 250 do when you decelerate from 50mph to 30mph with no hands on the bars? Well now that is like 50 times worse and even with my hands on the bars I can feel it trying to shake slightly.

Then through the turns it hates loading the front end and scrubbing speed. The tire feels like it has to low pressure and wants to roll the side walls and on top of that it has that same headshake through the corners below 50mph. So when the bike is supposed to be centered and balance with minimal weight on the bars, the bars want to walk left and right and never settle.

I know the tire is balanced right and I even used less weight to do so then my last tire so there's nothing odd there. The tire doesn't seem to be out of round and the shaking is the same in both left and right corners. Even the OD of the tire is the same as my last one because the Speedo needed no adjustment to match the GPS. I think the shaking may be some kind of odd tire issue for this one tire but the feel of the tire mid corner reminds me of @Jiggles front tire on the ninja 1000 and that's not good.

So now I'm looking to buy a new front tire but do I go with the Dunlop Q3 on sale for $95 or get the proven pilot one for $140? If it was for a trackday I wouldn't even consider the USA made Dunlop a d just go with the Michelin but this so for the street. I can't imagine the Q3 or Q2's feeling like the oem Qualifier and getting any good reviews so I'm having a hard time deciding.

Meanwhile I still have the OEM IRC ninja 300 tire on the rear and loving it, go figure. Just goes to prove again the handling of the bike relies on the front tire so much more then the rear.

[CycleCam303]

Guess that means an actual race tire up front for me. Why don't you buy a new bike instead? I know of the perfect bike for. For serious, I'm pretty sure you could keep up with newbee on the rs125. 285 lbs last night after putting it back together.

[Alex]

Which specific model Sportmax are you talking about, Jason? The OEM versions that Dunlop supplies don't have a great rep. But the off-the-shelf replacement tires in the Q2 version and now the current Q3 version always get top ratings in just about every review I've ever seen. I had the OEM Sportmax Qualifiers, the first version, on my 10R and I'd agree, they were complete shite (as our UK friends say).

[rojoracing53]

Its a Qualifier not a Q1, Q2, or Q3

I think ill try a Q3 and if its crap I'm sure ill write another ****** review.

Damn I want that new MTB so bad and having to buy Moto tires isn't helping oh well at least its better then $400 a month in gas for the truck

[Jiggles]

You can have my ninja 300 front tire

[Alex]

Originally Posted by rojoracing53

Its a Qualifier not a Q1, Q2, or Q3

Yup - that's an OEM Qualifier. They didn't call 'em Q1's, that's just my questionable shorthand for them before they came out with the Q2's. I agree with your assessment. Compound, profile, and wear all were questionable.