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[ST] Negative Handling Report for Dunlop 205's



I missed the Eastern Rally and wound up going from New York to Tallahassee the week after to run my son to Florida State, where he is starting college this year.  On the trip down was, we were, unfortunately, pressed for time, so we took I-95 from Washington DC south.  This has to be
the ugliest, most boring, miserable road on the face of the earth.  We were loaded to the gills with us 2-up, panniers and top box, including stereo, computer, clothes, etc.

I had put new Dunlop 205's on the bike about 2 weeks before leaving, and was fairly happy with the handling on the various back farm roads up around here.  However, on the trip down, the ST handled like a total pig - absolutely horrible.  I kept stopping and adjusting the pre-loads,
and found that handling changed from terrible to just bad within 1/4 to 1/2 turn of either front or back.  Since I had made the same trip (but over different roads) just last April, also 2-up, but with the stock Bridgestone BT-57's, I had some baseline for comparison.  On that trip,
once I got the bike's attitude settled with the proper pre-loads, it handled just fine, even passing double semi-trailers.  However, this time, with these tires, I was scared out of my wits at times passing a double trailer while behind another truck up front.  The bike just felt
totally "twitchy" as though it wanted to dump me at the first excuse.  Thoughts of being run over by the other truck behind us has a way of focusing one's attention, however.

On the run home alone, I kept re-adjusting the suspension, and again found that something like 1/4 turn on the pre-loads meant the difference between aweful handling, and excellent handling.  I managed almost 350 miles on the Blue Ridge, and on those types of roads, the tires handled
excellently.  Actually, for the last run, where I had to cover distance to get home in time on Sunday, I hit I-81 in northern Virginia, and basically blasted home, holding about 85 the whole way.  I had either tweeked the suspension just right, or was finally getting used to it, but
that part of the ride was not that bad, 1-up, with no extra weight.

After 6 days and 3,000 miles of riding on these tires, under almost all conditions, I came to the conclusion that the Dunlop 205's basically suck on this bike.  I think I know why.  The Sprint is a very quick handling bike.  I remember from the Trophy that going to the Dunlop 205's
quickened the steering considerably, as compared to a rounder-profile tire, like the stock BT-54 or Z-4's.  The 205's thus suited a slower steering bike like the Trophy perfectly.   However, I think on the Sprint the opposite problem exists, in that it is already a quick-steering
bike.  The rounder profile tires, like the BT-57's (or 020's or whatever the new replacement tire is) actually work better, in that they tend to slow the steering.  In fact, from my recollections, I would say that the Trophy with 205's steers about as quickly as the Sprint with
BT-57's.   The Sprint seems to be a much more critical machine in that its rake/trail numbers are closer to critical values.  I found that small differences in the suspension settings transformed the bike from the worst handling machine I have ridden, to the the best.  My experience
has been that this machine needs to be properly set up, and once those settings are found, leave them alone (for the same rider and load).  The Dunlops seem to have exacerbated this sensitivity, so that everything on the bike became more critical.  I had no complaints on the
backroads handling, and the tires did grip like glue, with light handling and quick turn-ins, on the twisty stuff.  However, as for straight-line stability (which we all have to do at times) the narrow profile Dunlops were horrible, until I eventually found just perfect suspension
settings, where I felt comfortable and stable at speed under cross winds and turbulence. However, I would never say the bike was rock-stable, especially in any turbulence from trucks and such.

Sorry for the long diatribe.   I always loved these tires on other bikes, however, on the Sprint, I think the 205's simply do not work well.  Someone had posted I think similar problems using the Conti Force tires, which I understand are very similar to the 205's.  Has anyone else
had similar negative experiences on the 205's?

Rick Hartwick
South New Berlin, NY
00 Sprint ST


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