Here's the latest from my favorite Canadian physics/art history double major and motorcycle pedagogue, Ryan Kluftinger of FortNine....

He reviews 3 very different tires - all of which under the right circumstances, I could picture on my R1200 RS.

Fun and educational.

Watched that yesterday. The Dunlop was a pleasant surprise. Sounds right up the "cheap, round & rubber" path. Or maybe I said that wrong :-)

(01-31-2021, 01:32 PM)Duccrazydave Wrote: Watched that yesterday. The Dunlop was a pleasant surprise. Sounds right up the "cheap, round & rubber" path. Or maybe I said that wrong :-)

Round
Rubber
Rebate

There it is


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Interesting video no doubt. I will be in the market soon for tires for the S1000R but I doubt I will want anything less sticky or worse in the wet that what I have now. The Dunlop Roadsmarts (III or IV) still seem like a good balance for me.

(01-30-2021, 01:46 PM)Ray Wrote: Here's the latest from my favorite Canadian physics/art history double major and motorcycle pedagogue, Ryan Kluftinger of FortNine....

He reviews 3 very different tires - all of which under the right circumstances, I could picture on my R1200 RS.

Fun and educational.

I didn't realize you could review tires by hoisting them up on a shoulder and reciting product literature.

(02-01-2021, 04:01 PM)TriangleRider Wrote: I didn't realize you could review tires by hoisting them up on a shoulder and reciting product literature.

...and they rolled them and played games. (But, why weren't they shooting pucks through them like we used to as kids?)

Right you are. I think it's a Canadian thing this time of year to forgo extensive on-road tests on the 2021 offerings.

On the other hand, Ryan and company read and analyze the product literature - which is often more than I do before I buy a new style or model of tire. Without a lot of time, I usually buy the same tire I just wore out. If I feel adventurous, I usually ask the lead mechanic what the better riders are using, apply MrVvrroomm's 3 Rs (round, rubber, rebate), and make the purchase.

I think what impressed me most was that an unassuming but talented motorcyclist could talk about these cheap options in a way that makes them seem viable. Most reviewers would be a little more imperious and pedantic in their bid to steer us to the most expensive offerings. Remember - Fortnine is the Canadian equivalent of Revzilla. I mean - can you picture "Hi, this is Anthony from Revzilla" plugging these tires?

(02-01-2021, 05:14 PM)Ray Wrote: I think what impressed me most was that an unassuming but talented motorcyclist could talk about these cheap options in a way that makes them seem viable. Most reviewers would be a little more imperious and pedantic in their bid to steer us to the most expensive offerings. Remember - Fortnine is the Canadian equivalent of Revzilla. I mean - can you picture "Hi, this is Anthony from Revzilla" plugging these tires?

,,

100% agree with you...manufacturers don't promote these low margin tires and so we never see them in reviews. (The Roadsports are just about impossible to find even on the Dunlop site). So, kudos to him for presenting these as viable options. Still, it is weird to see him promoting tires that he hasn't actually ridden.

(02-01-2021, 10:10 PM)TriangleRider Wrote: 100% agree with you...manufacturers don't promote these low margin tires and so we never see them in reviews. (The Roadsports are just about impossible to find even on the Dunlop site). So, kudos to him for presenting these as viable options. Still, it is weird to see him promoting tires that he hasn't actually ridden.

I didn't see his video as a review at all. That, as you say, would require riding them and comparing them head to head for various characteristics.

instead what FortNine was doing is what no reviewers (who actually ride the tires) do, and that is make the case, based on some science and logic, for the tires that he selected for his comparison.

To me, that is just as valid as any typical review because we all have different riding styles and capabilities, and I would wager that none of us ride to the actual limits of the tires. So if we ride well within limits, then all tires are equal, and one might as well listen to the theory.

Which is why Mr.Vroom's rule is just as valid as any review - round, rubber, rebate.

I leave this great article by Kevin Cameron (of Cycle World) as sort of a case in point -> Is There a Best Displacement for Motorcycles?. I love his articles which are always technical, well written and informative.

(02-02-2021, 08:51 AM)Grumpy Goat Wrote: I leave this great article by Kevin Cameron (of Cycle World) as sort of a case in point -> Is There a Best Displacement for Motorcycles?. I love his articles which are always technical, well written and informative.

Grumpy - well summarized.

And I like your taste in writers. Is there a pattern here? Cameron is another physicist, though with a PhD (Harvard), he's academically up a couple notches from Kluftinger.

For those of you in the northlands that need additional reading - his sequel to Top Dead Center just came out in September - Top Dead Center 2 - Kevin Cameron - Racing and Wrenching with Cycle World's Kevin Cameron .

Kevin Cameron and Peter Egan. My favorite two moto journalists!

   

Well, my gut says "I want a Kawasaki Z H2", regardless of what Cameron says. The only say my brain has on this is "you don't need another motorcycle". And just to stay on topic, look at the tires on that sucker!!

(02-02-2021, 09:25 PM)Duccrazydave Wrote: Kevin Cameron and Peter Egan. My favorite two moto journalists!

Peter Egan - yet another Minnesota/Wisconsin product. Are guys from the Northwoods simply better at telling stories?

(02-04-2021, 03:38 PM)runnerhiker Wrote: Well, my gut says "I want a Kawasaki Z H2", regardless of what Cameron says. The only say my brain has on this is "you don't need another motorcycle". And just to stay on topic, look at the tires on that sucker!!

To pull further at the thread, Ryan also has a recent video in which he reviews what makes a bike esthetically beautiful. I think the H2 checks a couple of the boxes.

I was looking for inexpensive tires, I am very conservative rider, so the main criterion to me are price and durability. I bought the Conti Motion front, but I couldn’t find the rear anywhere in Canada. So I found a great deal on Dunlop RoadSport 2, will report after few months of use…

(03-03-2024, 07:33 AM)Luma46 Wrote: I was looking for inexpensive tires, I am very conservative rider, so the main criterion to me are price and durability. I bought the Conti Motion front, but I couldn’t find the rear anywhere in Canada. So I found a great deal on Dunlop RoadSport 2, will report after few months of use…

Does this mean you are running Conti on the front and Dunlop on the rear, or did you put the Conti on the shelf and buy both Dunlop?

(03-03-2024, 02:41 PM)TriangleRider Wrote:

(03-03-2024, 07:33 AM)Luma46 Wrote: I was looking for inexpensive tires, I am very conservative rider, so the main criterion to me are price and durability. I bought the Conti Motion front, but I couldn’t find the rear anywhere in Canada. So I found a great deal on Dunlop RoadSport 2, will report after few months of use…

Does this mean you are running Conti on the front and Dunlop on the rear, or did you put the Conti on the shelf and buy both Dunlop?

Conti front, installed just before end of last season. Will install the Dunlop when new season starts. I mixed the radials before, no issue for me, but as I said, conservative rider here.

(02-04-2021, 05:27 PM)Ray Wrote:

(02-02-2021, 09:25 PM)Duccrazydave Wrote: Kevin Cameron and Peter Egan. My favorite two moto journalists!

Peter Egan - yet another Minnesota/Wisconsin product. Are guys from the Northwoods simply better at telling stories?

Long winters of ice fishing and drinking bad beer........