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Dunlop Makes Its First Tire for Drag Racing Motorcycles

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A form of motorcycle racing that doesn’t really ever get its proper time in the limelight, the hyper-niche of drag racing motorcycles is often overlooked in the two-wheeled world.

This means that in many cases, motorcycle drag racers have had to make do with what’s available to them, and for those who race in a Pro Street Bike class that requires a DOT tire, that has meant a world of compromises.

Dunlop hopes that is about to change though, as the tire-maker has just released its first purpose-built DOT drag racing tire for motorcycles, the Dunlop Dragmax.

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Podcast

Brap Talk Podcast #23 – Early Morning

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Episode 23 of the Brap Talk podcast is now out for your two-wheeled audio pleasure, and as always, it is packed with some interesting motorcycle discussions.

In this show, we get an early morning start on things, which may or may not have been a good idea. Our main topic of discussion centers on the new ADV tire lineup from Dunlop, which is both intriguing and disappointing at the same time.

From there, we get into a long conversation about our favorite bikes, tracks, and motorcycle experiences. Please let us know yours in the comments!

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Dirt

Dunlop Finally Steps Up Its ADV Tire Game

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It has always surprised me that while Dunlop is a huge player in the US motorcycle tire market, the American brand hasn’t really latched onto one of its domestic market’s biggest trends on two wheels: adventure-touring.

I am sure that if you asked the tire gurus at Dunlop if they had an ADV tire in their arsenal, they would reply with several models to choose from. The graphic near the bottom of this story seems to support this notion.

But, diving deeper into Dunlop’s lineup shows really a strong showing of DOT-legal dirt bikes tire, but with plenty of white space on the board when it comes to the sizes and expectations common with today’s big ADV bikes.

Well, that needle is moving a bit today, with Dunlop’s latest news in the adventure-touring space. This is because Dunlop has two big announcement for its ADV tire offerings.

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Products

Dunlop Releases Racing Slicks for Small-Displacement Bikes Too

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It was just a few weeks ago that we told you how Pirelli was making purpose-built tires for the 300cc racing category, and now we get word that Dunlop is doing the same. 

Creating the all-new KR448 front tire, and KR451 rear tire in sizes and compounds for bikes in the 300cc to 400cc range, Dunlop its making sure that it has a firm grip on the small-displacement categories that are filling grids on race tracks around the world, but especially in the United States.

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A&R Pro

The Story About How Asphalt & Rubber Got To Ride the Indian FTR1200 Before Everyone Else in the World

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Today, I am going to share with you a look behind the curtain - a look at several sides of the motorcycle industry that you don't usually get to see. Our story concerns the Indian FTR1200 street tracker motorcycle, which just debuted in Cologne, Germany at the INTERMOT show...but really, this story started three months ago, back in the United States.

It starts with a leaked photo of the Indian FTR1200, taken from a production event in Los Angeles, which was then sent to Asphalt & Rubber by a loyal reader. This turned into A&R finding its way to Minnesota to ride a prototype of the FTR1200, and us being amongst the first to ride this highly anticipated motorcycle.

An exclusive media event, Indian's plan was to have the largest publication from each critical market present, to give an early evaluation of this ground-breaking machine for the American brand.

While there were sole-representatives from the UK, Italy, Germany, Australia, Asia, etc - because of our efforts, from the United States there would now be two publications. Sorry for partying.

I have no doubt that the coverage from these other publications will read like initial reviews, part critique and part marketing pieces for the Indian Motorcycle Company. That's not a slight to my colleagues, that is just the reality of the situation. How do you evaluate a prototype motorcycle?

"I have no idea what they are talking about," I told an Indian staff member, while our post-ride video reviews/debriefs were being filmed. We had just ridden for a half a day on a motorcycle that we knew nothing about, and now we were expected to stand in front of a camera, and espouse our impressions of it.

Because of the looming weather, our tech briefing was after the ride, which is a frustrating thing when it comes to evaluating a motorcycle. As such, our impressions would be limited and relative. The power felt "good"...the brakes were "ok"...this exhaust looks like the work of a drunk plumber.

With no specs, no prices, no production volumes, no set list of features...what were these journalists talking about in their videos? I still don't know.At $9,000, the FTR1200 could be one of the best motorcycles on the market, but at $20,000 Indian would have clearly missed the mark.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the $13,000 / $15,000 price points for the base and S models, respectively. It feels high...but we will get to that in a minute.

To continue reading this story, you need to have an A&R Pro subscriber account. If you have an A&R Pro account, you can login here.

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Bikes

Behold, The Indian FTR1200 Street Tracker Is Here

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They did it. They actually did it. Debuting today at INTERMOT, the Indian Motorcycle brand released its newest motorcycle, the 2019 Indian FTR1200.

The only production street tracker currently available on the market, the Indian FTR1200 takes its inspiration from the Indian FTR750 Scout race bike that is dominating the American Flat Track series, and in the process brings the company’s first non-cruiser motorcycle to market.

Answering the calls of many, the FTR1200 production bike is visually very close to the FTR1200 Concept we saw several months back, and it will come in two flavors: the base model Indian FTR1200, and the up-spec Indian FTR1200 S. Expect it to drop, Q1 2019.

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Racing

We Are Exhaustively Covering the Suzuka 8-Hours

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The Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race kicks off this week, with the racing action coming to us this weekend. The final stop on the FIM Endurance World Championship calendar, Suzuka also happens to be the endurance race that all the Japanese manufacturers want to win.

To put Suzuka into perspective, this race means more to Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha than the Motegi round of MotoGP.

It means more than any domestic championship, the World Superbike Championship, and possibly even the MotoGP Championship as well. For the Big Four, this is big business.

It is no surprise then that we are seeing three official one-off factory teams entering this year’s Suzuka race, on top of the bevy of factory supported squads already in the FIM EWC paddock.

With so much on the line this year, Asphalt & Rubber will have boots on the ground for the 2018 Suzuka 8-Hours, bringing you content every day from this truly unique race in Japan.

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Products

New Dunlop Slick Designed Specifically for 600cc Bikes

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Motorcycle manufacturers may be abandoning the 600cc sport bike class, but the folks at Dunlop are continuing to provide support to supersport riders on the track, with a new KR451 slick tire.

For those who don’t know, the Dunlop KR451 slick tire has been the spec-tire for the MotoAmerica Supersport classes, in a 180/55 R17 configuration for the rear wheel.

Choosing now to develop the race tire specifically for supersport riders, Dunlop is releasing the KR451 to fit the 5.5-inch rim used on modern supersports. This has lead to the creation of a 180/60 R17 rear tire size for the new KR451 slick – in soft and medium compounds.

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Recall

Dunlop Sportmax Q3+ Tires Recalled for Air Pockets

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Dunlop Sportmax Q3+ tire owners have some worry today, as Sumitomo Rubber USA (the maker of Dunlop motorcycle tires) has issued a recall on its popular sport bike tire because of air pockets that may have formed during the tires’ curing process.

Sumitomo says that it has contained most of the affected 120/70ZR17 58W Sportmax Q3+ tires, which were made between April 27th and May 4th of this year, and that only four to seven tires need to be recalled from the consumer market.

Accordingly, Sumitomo will notify potentially affected Dunlop retailers and customers, and Sumitomo will offer replacement tires free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during June 2017. Concerned owners may contact Dunlop Motorcycle Tires at 1-800-845-8378.

After the jump, there is a timeline from Sumitomo on its discovery and quarantine process for the Dunlop Sportmax Q3+ tires. It makes for an interesting read regarding the internal QA process at the Dunlop tire facility.

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MotoGP

Dunlop Will Continue as Tire Supplier for Moto2 & Moto3

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Dunlop is set to continue as single tire supplier to the Moto2 and Moto3 classes. In a press release (shown below), Dorna announced that they have extended the current contract with Dunlop to remain as the spec-tire supplier to the support classes, for the 2015 season and beyond.

The press release does not make any mention of the duration of the contract, stating only that Dunlop will continue “from the start of 2015”.

Dunlop has been the spec tire supplier to both Moto2 and Moto3 since the introduction of the two classes, in 2010 and 2012 respectively. The announcement that they are to continue signals that both series will continue with a spec tire for the foreseeable future.

However, the intermediate classes had been a de facto spec series for a long time, with Dunlop supplying almost the entire field in the 250cc and 125cc classes which preceded Moto2 and Moto3.

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MotoGP

Friday Summary at Phillip Island: Special Tires for a Special Circuit, & The Rules for 2016

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Phillip Island is a very special race track. That has an upside – it rewards courage and talent, and has provided some spectacular racing – but it is also special in the more pejoratively euphemistic sense of the word. It challenges not just the riders, but motorcycle designers and racing teams as well.

Above all, it challenges tire manufacturers: with wildly varying temperatures, strong winds blowing in cool and damp air off the ocean, an abrasive surface, high-speed corners, more left handers than right handers, and the most of the lefts faster than the rights. It can rain, be bitterly cold, be bathed in glorious sunshine, or in sweltering heat. Try building a tire to cope with all that.

After last year’s fiasco, both Dunlop and Bridgestone tried to do just that. They came to the track in March to test tires and gather data to build tires for this weekend. The only minor problem is that the test came at the end of Australia’s long summer, and temperatures were much more congenial than now, as the country emerges from its Antipodean winter.

The tire selections brought by Dunlop and Bridgestone are much better than last year, but they are not quite perfect. At any other track, that wouldn’t be a problem. At Phillip Island, even being not quite perfect can land you in trouble.

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