If this was a video featuring Dunlop SportSmart Mk3 tyres, it would begin with a recommendation to watch part one, and then I’d point at the top of the screen to highlight the link to follow.
If you would like the whole back story – Click Here. The short version is that Dave is exploring how far advancements in motorcycle tyre technology have come by running a pair of Dunlop SportSmart Mk3 tyres on his Ducati 1200S Multistrada through winter.
The first set of data was from riding on roads covered in that damp winter slime, while what follows comes from a cold and dry day where the previously unseasonably warm – a relative term – temperatures have finally dropped, and Dave is riding in temperates between 1°c to 4°c.
Don’t feel any sympathy for him. This was his idea.
| Dunlop SportSmart Mk3 Winter Test | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles from Cold | Nil | 14.8 | 42 |
| Road Surface Conditions | Cold and dry with a few damp patches. Air temperature 1°c to 4°c | ||
| Road Surface Temperature | 2.2°c | 3.0°c | 3.7°c |
| Front Tyre | |||
| Centre Temperature | 10°c | 22.8°c | 25.5°c |
| Left Edge Temperate | 10°c | 16.1°c | 16.3°c |
| Right Edge Temperate | 10°c | 21.3°c | 24.0°c |
| Rear Tyre | |||
| Centre Temperature | 10.9°c | 18.2°c | 27.8°c |
| Left Edge Temperate | 10.9°c | 20.1°c | 23.5°c |
| Right Edge Temperate | 10.9°c | 19.5°c | 25.0°c |
Interesting Stories
Our “scientific” approach to running Dunlop SportSmart Mk3 tyres through winter has drawn out some interesting stories. The one that stood out was about a French Endurance Racing team who needed an intermediate wet tyre.
At the time, Dunlop didn’t manufacture an intermediate race tyre, and the track conditions were such that the full racing wet was chewing up quickly. This was throwing a spanner in the pit stop schedule, as the team would need to stop earlier and more frequently than a good race pace required.
Slick tyres would go the fuel stop distance, but they would be a long way from the required race pace, assuming that they didn’t throw the bike at the scenery while running slicks in the wet conditions.
Applying some lateral thinking, the team opted to run the “W” rated SportSmart Mk3 tyre (270Kph/168Mph) in the place of an intermediate wet.
Whereas winning would have made the story the stuff of myth, folklore and Hollywood films, they finished mid-pack and in line with their pre-race expectations, according to the retelling of the story I enjoyed.
What Next?
With this being winter in the UK, rain is guaranteed. Riding in cold and rain are the sort of conditions we expect at this time of year.
The issue so far this winter has been the volume of rain we have had in Lincolnshire. Roads are closed due to flooding, rivers are overflowing, and a new series of lakes that were once farmers’ fields have appeared.
This has put a dent in the tyre testing schedule, which also means that completing the refresh on the Multistrada by replacing the eight-year-old standard brake lines with a set of custom brake lines from Venhill will have to wait.
We think Dave may be the only motorcyclist who is looking at the weather and hoping that once the floods have subsided, it will rain again. Strange chap.
2 responses
Despite being labeled as a road sports tyre it is very good on damp cold roads. A feature of all the Dunlop tyres is the speed with which they heat up and become supple.
In the rain we never found the limit of the grip but given the weather at the time we weren’t pushing hard.
We fed the data back to Dunlop and they said thank you, which I took to mean … All is as expected
were there any final conclusions? did Dunlop get back to you regarding the measured operating temps?