Dunlop D208 - Review Hot

Slowly being replaced by newer models the D208 was used on many sportbikes and sport tourers in their time, offering decent mileage they were perfect for Motorway munching.

Sportmax D208

Initial Thoughts

The first ZX6R I bought needed new rubber and for the price I decided to try the Dunlops, I never really gelled with them and felt like in the wet they slipped about a tad too much, they also did not have the outright grip in the dry I would have liked.  To be fair though when you were riding on them and they were up to temperature they were perfectly reasonable for a sporty touring role rather than straight up hooning, when the tyre decided it was letting go it was usually a controlled and predictable affair so not really dangerous but I do prefer a touch more grip - primarily as I live in Sheffield and the roads here are as badly surfaced as any place in the UK and also because I ride in Sheffield and the roads are not only badly surfaced but also covered with metal manhole covers, tram tracks and a whole host of biker unfriendly metallic objects.

Mileage wise I did get an awful lot out of them but by this point they were square, if you were looking for a motorway mile muncher then these would be ideal as the single compound makes no difference if your bike never sees a corner, total mileage out of the back tyre was around 4300 before they were so square the bike stood on its own.

Construction

The new sport road tyre for supersport, sport and sport/touring machines over 600cc engine capacity. Developed from the legendary World Championship winning D208GP tyre.

Original Equipment on some of the world's most exciting bikes. Honda VTR1000SP-2, Kawasaki ZX12R, Yamaha YZF R1. The new directional tread patterns improve dry grip by increasing the Land/Sea ratio and pattern stability in the shoulder, whilst wet traction is improved by increasing the groove area in the crown.

Improved tyre life is provided by aligning the pattern direction at the front to resist braking and steering forces, whilst the rear pattern is aligned to resist acceleration and cornering forces. Aligning the patterns in this orientation not only reduces stepped wear; it also allows the use of softer compounds to further enhance grip. Improved handling with progressive, positive steering characteristics is achieved by using new inflated tyre profiles. The new profiles are based on a single radius concept, which minimises changes to the contact patch areas and steering geometry, as lean angle increases.

The new Sportmax D208 tread compounds are derived from our racing programme, yielding high levels of grip, both wet and dry, with a short warm up period. The new compounds use Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SSBR) polymers reinforced with a new type of "Ultra Fine Grain" carbon black to enhance grip and extend tyre life. The rear compound is further reinforced with silica. The progressive, positive, steering response of the front tyre is aided by the use of a radial casing overlaid by two angled cut Aramid tread reinforcing breaker belts. These belts have high lateral stiffness to resist deformation of the tyre profile and contact patch during braking and steering.

The superb high speed stability of the rear tyre is provided by the use of a radial ply casing overlaid by a Dunlop "JLB" single Aramid tread reinforcing breaker belt. This construction improves the stability of the contact patch and reduces internal stresses in the tyre by resisting tyre "fling" at high speed.