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Dunlop RoadSmart II

Dunlop’s ambitions are simple: produce a tyre that will work in all conditions, on all types of bikes, on the roads. A tyre that installs confidence in the rider regardless of the weather, and also be capable of going the distance. In other words, it wants to produce the ultimate all-rounder. And it’s calling that new rubber the RoadSmart II.

How do they perform on the roads?

Hot on the heels of its award-winning sibling, RoadSmart I, Dunlop claims its new version is an evolution, rather than a revolution of the popular sports-touring tyre. But a glance at the tech would make you think otherwise. Everything from the II’s carcass (new JLB steel belt technology) to its compound (it now features liquid polymer in the make-up) has changed. And a new tread pattern has been introduced that’s claimed to improve wet grip levels by a substantial 10%, plus longevity’s been improved by 25% (thanks to better silica dispersion).

So it all sounds good on paper, but how do the new RoadSmarts cut it out on the roads? Very well is the answer, as we discovered on the 160-mile launch around the mountainous Mediterranean island of Corsica. Armed with the option of riding everything from the heaviest touring bikes to the lightest supermotards being shod with the new rubber, the route allowed us to sample the tyre’s agility on twisty mountain Tarmac, while also gauging its stability on high-speed carriageways on our six-hour long test. And it impressed from the off. We were only a few miles from base when we came across the perfect agility testing ground; a town. Complete with pedestrian crossings, tight turns, traffic and mini roundabouts, the pace was predictably slow, but feedback was impressive and it was easy to appreciate just how neutral the tyre felt. It didn’t want to turn aggressively, yet neither did it require bundles of effort to get the bike flicking over when necessary.

We were then on fast dual carriageways, where the pace would be best described as enthusiastic. Tucked in behind my VFR800’s screen, the Dunlops dealt with the high speed direction changes effortlessly, keeping the ride stable, even when road imperfections did their best to upset the bike’s suspension. But the real test of the tyres came when we headed up into the mountains. With the roads more dilapidated than Tutankhamun’s clothes, it really was pretty impossible to ride them faster than 30mph.

Loose gravel was everywhere and so too were wild kamikaze pigs, who were trying their utmost to dismount riders at random. In short, the conditions were pretty extreme and I nearly jumped off on two occasions, firstly when I lost the front on gravel mid-corner and then when I clipped a white line under gas while coming out of one. Both situations registered as heart-in-mouth moments, but the Roadsmarts provided enough feedback to warn me, with time to react on both occasions – impressive.

MCM INTERVIEW: Mark Sears - Dunlop’s brand support manager

What makes this tyre better than its rivals?

The RoadSmart II’s biggest strength is how universal it is. It works well in all conditions, at all speeds, on all types of bikes.

How have you achieved this?

We’ve built on the success of our previous RoadSmart – it was the perfect benchmark for us to improve from. People love the original, but we knew it could be made better. We analysed the competition and put our product against them in direct comparison. That way, we knew the areas we had to work on to make the tyre better than its competitors.

Why did you make the RoadSmart II?

Technology never stands still. Every day, new breakthroughs allow for more and more possibilities in tyre development. We launched the original RoadSmart in 2009 and a lot has happened since then. We’ve learnt a lot, having developed new compounds and carcass technologies, all of which would be wasted if we weren’t to introduce them into a production tyre.

Can you still buy the original RoadSmart?

Yes. We will be producing the original RoadSmart for a while yet. Eventually, the RoadSmart II will supersede it in around a year’s time. We take into account the fact we have customers who trust and depend on our tyres and to simply pull an existing tyre from under their feet wouldn’t be fair.

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