You can blame the Dunlop Trailmax Meridians. If they hadn’t been so impressive through winter, then perhaps we would have looked elsewhere.
And it isn’t as if they were the only motorcycle tyres we tested. Last summer – yes, we did have one – we chewed through Pirelli, Bridgestone and a set of Dunlop Meridians as part of our summer-long tyre test.
With a training weekend in Wales with Jewell Motorcycle Training and the first extended road test coming up, we decamped to a series of motorcycle cafes to talk the usual waffle while trying to decide on the motorcycle tyres for this year.
OEM Motorcycle Tyres
The term is something of a misnomer. As far as I’m aware, the acronym stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer, and as none of the motorcycle manufacturers makes tyres, the term seems misplaced.
What it appears to stand for is “the tyre that the motorcycle manufacturer bought in bulk, that looks like a good tyre, but manufactured to a low price point”.
It is a strange situation. The motorcycle manufacturer wants a well-known tyre on their new motorcycle but wants them at a knockdown price. The motorcycle tyre manufacturer agrees to supply them, but to get to the required price, they have to lower the specification of the tyre.
I can never understand the logic in this agreement. The OEM tyres on my Kawasaki 1000SX fell into corners and hid the bike’s true potential. Early Africa Twins came on tyres that didn’t grip too well in the wet. In both cases, the tyres were blamed when perhaps we should have looked at the motorcycle manufacturer and asked why they did it?
If the brakes were crap, we wouldn’t blame the brake pad manufacturer.
Just because they are OEM tyres doesn’t mean they are rubbish. On the contrary, some are very good, and sometimes the tyres on your new bike are the genuine article.
It seems crazy. But just because the OEM version of a tyre isn’t the best, don’t dismiss it until you have ridden on the real thing.
Africa Twin and KTM 1090
I mention all of this because Roger has – until this year – had a fixed view when it came to what tyres to put on his Africa Twin. Having had a poor experience on a set of OEM Dunlops made in the far east, and to a fixed price, Roger was a little sceptical about Dunlops until he rode my KTM 1090 on the Dunlop Trailmax Meridians.
The KTM is a physically bigger bike than the Africa Twin, yet the Dunlop Meridian tyres made the bike feel lighter and didn’t squirm when crossing white lines in the wet.
After much debate through winter, a set of Dunlop Trailmax Meridians are waiting to be fitted to the Africa Twin, ready for the ride to Portimao.
This is a big deal, as Roger is a self-confessed tyre nerd and will have been all over the manufacturing and build specifications for the Meridians before committing.
As for the KTM 1090, there wasn’t a decision to make. After 4,469 miles on the Meridians – as of today – I’m about halfway through the current set, and a repeat performance is the only sensible thing to do.
The Trailmax Meridians heat up quickly, stick like glue and have never given me any reason to doubt them in the rain, more rain and even very cold rain.
The rear is showing the first signs of squaring off a little, but I can’t feel it, and the KTM handles just as well as ever.
Dunlop Mutants
As the rather good OEM tyres on the Yamaha 9 GT are reaching the end of their life after 5,000 miles, I have been digging through every road test I could find, looking for information on who is running which tyre next.
Motorcycle tyres are a personal thing. What works for one rider may not work for another. Whereas most of us know when a tyre is bad, getting to the edge of the performance of an excellent tyre isn’t something I’m likely to achieve.
Thankfully there are people out there who are more demanding of their tyres and described a set of Dunlop Mutants on a Tracer 9 GT as “Dreamy”. Considering the enjoyment the Dunlops on the 1090 are giving me, fitting a set of Mutants after the weekend in Wales is an easy choice.
Wales to Portimao
Last year we took all summer to road test the tyres. This year we’ll have a tyre report ready by mid-April, and we’ll know if Roger’s detailed analysis of motorcycle tyres agrees with my analogue seat of the pants rating.
Carle, meanwhile, will be testing the new Suzuki GSXS1000 GT across Spain and Portugal, and the only negative comment we have heard about the bike relates to the OEM tyres.
If we wear them out, I wonder if Suzuki would notice if we fitted Dunlop Roadsmart 4 in a 190/55 profile. After all, what could possibly go wrong?
