John Allsopp tests the intellect of Dunlop’s Roadsmart IV over 6,000 miles
Making sports touring tyres is possibly the biggest challenge for any tyre manufacturer. They have to be good at doing just about everything well, while suiting a huge variety of bikes, their power delivery, weight and handling characteristics.
Tyre performance has to remain good whatever speed, weather condition or temperature they’re subjected to. On top of that they need to wear well too. It sounds like an impossible task, but after 6,000 miles testing these Roadsmart IVs, these are my findings:
Firstly, although it may be considered an evolution of Dunlop’s Roadsmart III, it differs completely, with a unique tread pattern, profile, compound and construction, and it comes with a mind-boggling number of acronyms too to describe all this, including MT, SC-JLB, RPC, CTCS, JLT, DFF…
Anyway, I don’t mind riding in the rain and enjoy the challenge of trickier conditions, but even though recent rains had flooded sections of road I happily and confidently pushed on. Dunlop claim the new tread pattern and compound give extra wet weather grip; the front an extra 10% and the rear an extra 25%. I can’t vouch for the specific figures but can say that in the wet I have zero complaints. The only thing that limited my speed was personal bravery because the Dunlops felt rock solid beneath me.
When the road is dry I can take on the twists and turns with more aggressive riding and still feel totally safe.
As well as excellent grip, the feedback and feel of the rubber lends itself well to taking things a bit faster in absolute confidence. I was using ‘GT’ spec tyres, which Dunlop say offer reduced steering effort on heavier touring machines. There’s also an ‘SP’ spec for enhanced stability and feedback on sportier models.
Repeated early morning rides, often with very cool temperatures and greasy-looking road surfaces, saw me view these Dunlops in equally good light. Again only my bravery dictated how much I pushed, as the warm-up appeared almost instant, another aspect of what can only be termed a brilliant all-round, all-weather real-world tyre.
As someone who rides all year regardless of the weather it’ll be interesting to test Dunlop’s final claim; that these Roadsmart IVs maintain their performance right up until they require replacing. At 6,000 miles I’m not there yet.
The new Roadsmarts come in 17, 18 and 19 inch diameter fronts and 17 and 18 inch rears, and as mentioned also in two versions, the GT for heavier touring machines like my R1200RT and the SP for lighter, sportier models. Find out more here.