In this month’s issue of Fast Bikes Magazine, Tech Guru Neil Charlton has been packing the miles in on his BMW S1000R long-termer, and an impromptu burn-out meant it was time for new tyres.
His new hoop of choice is Dunlop’s latest hypersport tyre, the SportSmart 2 Max, and in the new August issue of the magazine he’s been updating readers on his first impressions:
“I was impressed by how quickly the Dunlop’s scrubbed in and they’ve proven themselves to be a perfect fitment on the road, tackling all conditions without qualms and being surprisingly good in the wet, too. Okay, I can still get the TC light flashing if I’m riding a bit mental, but I’ve really had to push hard to reach that stage and that’s given me no end of faith in the bike and the rubber. I have noticed a weave from the front end occasionally when really hard on the gas, but to be fair the bike naturally feels a little edgy when I’m wringing it’s neck.
I’m keen to test Dunlop’s claims that these are the only tyres I’ll need for fast road and track days, which means I need to get a trackday sorted out. And with Cadwell Park being a stone’s throw away from me, it’d be bloody rude not to take her for a spin.”
Dunlop are so confident in the abilities of their new hypersport tyre that they’ve done away with their ‘Racing Street’ segment altogether.
Racing Street tyres, often based on a manufacturer’s superstock/supersport race rubber but with a more versatile compound for fast road and track work, were traditionally the most extreme road tyres you could get and were often used by people who would ride their bike to a track day rather than take it in the van.
With the latest raft of performance increases on their new tyre, Dunlop think the gap between their old Racing Street tyre and new hypersport tyre is so narrow that there is no need to keep producing both.
Many rider who were used to using Dunlop’s now discontinued D211 GP Racer on the road should now look towards the SportSmart 2 Max. The all-new D212 GP Racer, although road legal, is now marketed by Dunlop as a track day tyre with various compound options available to help more serious riders fine tune their setup.
You can find out more about the new SportSmart 2 Max here.
