Dunlop RoadSmart III Rear Tire
$207.18 - $253.24
Dunlop RoadSmart III Rear Tire Item # 541736
Description
Motorcyclists are often used to compromise. A tire that is good in the dirt suffers on the tarmac, a bike that can turn a nine second quarter mile will take far longer than that to pull a U-turn and a sport-touring tire will either last a long time or it will be fun. We rarely end up with everything our little hearts desire. If you are a sport-touring rider, those days just might be behind you. The Dunlop Roadsmart 3 Tires provide excellent wet weather grip, thanks to Dunlop's Interconnecting Groove Tread technology, yet also provide great handling, excellent longevity and a confidence inspiring feel thanks to their MultiTread compound.
Features:
- Dunlop's exclusive MT Multi-Tread™ design binds a high-mileage compound to the center, and high adhesion compound to the lateral flanks for high cornering grip.
- New front and rear tire compounds enhance wear resistance, and include an innovative resin that increases wet grip.
- Rear tire profile designed to increase the footprint and improve mileage.
- Optimized construction for mileage and wet performance.
- New sidewall construction helps to provide superior shock absorption and precise handling.
- Innovative new cross groove tread pattern achieves better drainage in the wet for more grip.
Part Numbers for Dunlop RoadSmart III Rear Tire
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Reviews
Rated 5 out of
5
by
ROAR from
14,000kms and still going, with a compromise
This is a followup to my review 5 months ago.
These tires have given me excellent performance overall in the almost exclusively dry summer of this year with a single two-hour rain ride at night. Longest single ride (Sport Tour): 2,500lms in three days.
Notable characteristics:
1-General. They require a good warmup. The rear will spin easily if powered hard when upright and cold, even after a short rest break or fuel up
.
2-Rear. The rear is wearing very well with maybe another half season (for me) remaining.
I estimate about 19,000km, for the set as the absolute maximum, but that is unproven until next year.
3-Front. The front has given me warning once, with notable rumbling and sliding slightly on a 36degree temp. day on a surprise decreasing radius curve. It could have been trouble if the road was cooler. The rear has always stuck well on curves.
4-Agility. The steering remains some of the original light and easy feel. The front tire now has some scalloping on the surface tread about the 10 and 2 o'clock position but has very good tread remaining in the centre. The feedback from the moderate scalloping reduces my desire for hard cornering because of the rumbling sensation it produces. The scalloping is due to a 600km day with -7lbs low air pressure error from a new and defective pressure gauge. The weather was in the high 30's with hot sun baked road surfaces. Luckily the high road temperature had helped to pressurize the tires. The road was twisty with few straights. The rear tire did not suffer from the low air. On the next morning I checked pressures with another gauge. I stomped my gauge into the asphalt.
-In summary; Great tires for use as Sport Tour, just as Dunlop says. I would have these on any Tour Bike or if I want an extended distance tire with durability. For use on my bike I may not choose these again because the (front tire) does not have the stickiness I want and both tires have become more (due to wear) unrewarding to corner with. The rear tire has lots of tread left with about 1/3 of original center tread depth but the rounded profile has typically flattened somewhat. Certainly, this is a condition of a worn out set of tires in the way they turn and steer, still outstanding considering the distance they have run.
-For my future purchase/usage I see that I could replace my rubber more frequently to maintain the tread profile that I want, with tires that are stickier and warm up faster even though they may need replacing sooner. My other choice could be to change from a 190/55 rear to a 180/55 and to maintain a more rounded 'wear compensated' rear profile and remember the warmup they require. One set of these tires per season or each 14,000km+ is still great value.
I will continue to ride these tires for the remainder of this season and possibly early next season. I must note that previous set of Metzeler M7RR's the rear was bald before this distance and poor handling after 8,000kms, but stuck like glue.
Like it's been said about eating cake...
Date published: 2017-09-29
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Nick from
Great tire
I have ran through a set of RS III and wanted to leave a note.
I used the tires on a Kawasaki Concours, C10 with 17" wheels. It scales at 700 lbs with my everyday kit, about 50 more when touring, plus me, probably as near to the tires weight limit as I would go.
I found the bikes handling was light and sporty with no surprises. exceptional left to right transitions when in the tight twisties. Wet, dry, way fast or slow always a great tire. Rear 160/70ZR17 went 9 000 miles ( 14 400 km). Front 120/70ZR17 went 11 000 miles ( 17 700 km).
My current tires are Michelin Road 5, same response and ride but 100 bucks more /set. If they don't offer more mileage, I will go back to the Dunlops.
Date published: 2020-03-27
Rated 3 out of
5
by
eNiMaLx from
Class-leading mileage but...
If I had to describe this tire in 2 words it would be 'outstanding mileage'. I got 6000 very aggressive (acceleration to red line out of corners!) km out of this tire. In comparison, I only got 8000 km at a moderate spirited pace out of Michelin Road 5's. The steering is very light and neutral giving good handling that also doesn't degrade as badly toward the end of the tires' life compared to the Michelin's. Grip in the rain is only average (and downright scary in <7° C rain) compared to the Michelin's, but dry grip is very comparable making for an excellent alternative if you only ride when it's dry. All that said, I cannot give this tire a high score simply due to how insanely difficult it is to install and remove the tires! If you pay a shop to do it for you, add back 2 stars to my score. The tire's excessively stiff sidewall makes for a very unpleasant installation experience without a tire machine even when heated up to finger-burning temperatures, and it doesn't get better when it comes time to remove the tire as it literally doesn't want to un-bead from the rim! The Michelin's were a dream to install and remove in comparison.
Date published: 2021-10-03
Rated 3 out of
5
by
Fily Bear from
More touring than sport
These worked well on my Bandit 1200 but not on my Ninja 1000abs. The rear does not grip well under heavier breaking and harder acceleration. Was looking for a longer lasting tire for touring but feel the ninja needs a sticky sport tire. Will probably be replacing before they wear out.
Date published: 2020-07-24
Rated 5 out of
5
by
ROAR from
3500kms and they still look new.
The Dunlop Road Smart III is the replacement tire set l've chosen over my normal Metzeler M7RR sport bike tires. Comparing is difficult because of rear tire size (180/55)and that the Metz front and rear tires were worn out with 14,000kms and were causing handling difficulties.
The biggest points that hit me:
The RSIII front tire steers with nearly no effort, even when cold at 6*c and its the lightest touch possible that makes this tire turn whether upright or at steep lean angles.
Initially my excessive mid turn input was causing me to oversteer and weave slightly. This effect was easy to adjust to once I stopped pushing the inside bar and just balanced my weight. Placed on edge the tire will stay exactly on the line where you put it. Mid corner line alternatives are effortless! Straight line stablity is great too. Over bumps in turns or upright it's got feel without harshness. With hard braking on dry surfaces the front tire makes a low pitched moan noise that's surprising at first. In the wet I have no complaint, I'm more cautious then anyway.
The 190/55 rear is a big change for me too. Previously I used the 180/55 option instead of the stock 190/50 to get a faster transition into turning. It worked well for a while until the centre wore down. After about 4000kms the wear was affecting the effort I needed to initiate a turn. Now with the RSIII rear being worn in some, there has been no change to the bikes' handling The tires' profile also puts down a bigger footprint than my previous Metz180/55.
Again as with the front tire, the feel from the rear is feedback without harshness. Compliance. In the wet the rear has squirmed once on a wet tar snake, not unexpected under heavy power.
Both tires I expect to be heavier than the racy M7rr's because of the deeper tread, but I'm not racing and ultimate traction and light weight are expensive to maintain and overall life is shorter. I'm looking foreword to getting some if not all of the mileage that is being offered with the Dunlop RSIII sport touring tires. Time will tell.
Last words on tire balancing beads: they worked ok in the M7rr's but were a complete failure in the Dunlops. I have had to rebalance with std lead because the inner surface of the tires was incompatiblewith the balancing beads I used.
Date published: 2017-05-05
Rated 5 out of
5
by
massiveuniball from
Great All Round Touring Tire
I've run these on my last 2 bikes. This is my third set. Wet weather handling is superb. Dry handling is very, very good, however does require a decent warm up. I've got excellent mileage on rears...around 13000-16000km. Fronts would definitely make it to 20000km but I always swap out as a set.
Date published: 2019-05-31
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Nick from
Great tires
I have ran through a set of RS III and wanted to leave a note.
I used the tires on a Kawasaki Concours, C10 with 17" wheels. It scales at 700 lbs with my everyday kit, about 50 more when touring, plus me, probably as near to the tires weight limit as I would go.
I found the bikes handling was light and sporty with no surprises. exceptional left to right transitions when in the tight twisties. Wet, dry, way fast or slow always a great tire. Rear 160/70ZR17 went 9 000 miles ( 14 400 km). Front 120/70ZR17 went 11 000 miles ( 17 700 km).
My current tires are Michelin Road 5, same response and ride but 100 bucks more /set. If they don't offer more mileage, I will go back to the Dunlops.
Date published: 2020-03-27
Rated 4 out of
5
by
Yellow Peril from
Good so far
I have previously used Bridgestone BT-30s, now BT-31s, but the size for my front was out of stock so I bought a set of these. I have done about 3500km on them so far and have no complaints to date. I have not ridden in heavy rain but on dry pavement and damp, construction grooved pavement they stuck very well and are very stable. I got about 15000km out of the Bridgestones. The mileage on these remains to be seen, but no noticeable wear so far. Assuming the wear and performance in rain turns out to be comparable I would use either, depending on price and availability with no concerns.
The tires I got were quite old, manufactured in week 3 of 2017 for the front and week 44 of 2016 for the rear, purchased in May 2019.
Date published: 2019-07-17