Kawasaki ZX-10R Forum banner

Dunlop Qualifier Impressions

5K views 16 replies 12 participants last post by  Vio 
#1 ·
I have about 800 miles on my set of Dunlop Qualifiers and wanted to fill you guys in how they are performing.

Just to clarify, this is the retail version of the Qualifier, not the OEM garbage tires. These are much much better. 100 times better. They warm up very quick (probably equivalent to the ContiSports) and don't have the lack of feeling from the front that the OEM qualifiers did.

The grip levels are very good. They seem to grip every bit as good as the BT16 tires that I had before. In addition, the wear seems much improved over the BT16. I have not noticed any tearing or shredding of the tire like i experienced with the BT16. Tire wear looks very good so far. I suspect that the edges of the qualifier are better suited to handle the power of the zx-10r (I completely wore the edgest of the BT16s, front & back)

I am, however, experiencing some problems with headshake after fitting these tires. With the contis & bt16s I would get maybe a wobble or two on exit of a turn and thats it. With the qualifiers I am experiencing wobble for quite a long time. Probably 5 seconds or so. It is not violent but it is definitely not right and could cause problems on rougher pavement.

I have added a turn of front preload to see if it helps solve this problem, as i think the profile and/or height of the qualifier front tire is different than that of the BT16 and conti. It did take me longer than normal to get used to the 'feel' of the front end after fitting the new tires. Will post and update after i get a chance to work out this wobble and let you guys know what I had to do to correct it.
 
See less See more
#4 ·
Was able to fix the wobble. One turn of front preload and now the front end feels stable, no more shimmy. Like i said, the front tire felt really weird at first to me and I believe it is a bit taller than the BT16 or contisport front tire.

I am really liking these tires so far. They have good grip, quick warm-up and so far so good on tire wear.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the write-up, Vio! I have Bt-016's on my '05, and I have to say that I agree with you, they're great.. except for the wear! For me, I've noticed that these are the first tires I've ever used whereby the front wears more noticeably that the rear! Every other tire brand/model that I've bought in the past has usually been 2 fronts to every rear tire as far as replacing went. Maybe it's time I went back to Dunlop? (Last Dunlops bought were a Cycle Gear sale on D208's!)
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the compliments!

I did like the BT16s but they just wore out too quick for me on both ends. I have never had to change a front tire after a little over 3000 miles (much less rears at 1500!).

I assure you that the retail Dunlop Qualifier tires are MUCH MUCH MUCH better than the OEM tires. Those were absolute garbage. The retail qualifiers are actually quite confidence inspiring!
 
#9 ·
As of this moment it is probably a slight advantage towards the Dunlop. The contisport front tire doesn't offer quite the same level of 'feel' as the BT16 and Qualifier do.

Can't go wrong with either though! The contisports are an awesome tire, especially for the price!

One other addition:
I just got this month's Sport Rider magazine and they did a tire test roundup and had similar comments to say about the profile of the Qualifier front end, saying that they had to make some adjustments after installation.

It's a good article. I don't agree with everything they say based, on my experiences, but reviews are purely subjective anyway and everybody has different preferences
 
#10 ·
Nice writeup. I'm running off-the-shelf Quallies on my '07 10R right now - the first set after the OEM crappers. I'd run these on my old '99 ZX6R and was pleased with them on that bike, and at the time when I was looking for new tread for my 10R there wasn't much available locally due to the time of year I guess. I really wanted to try out the Pirelli Rossos upon the advice of Ervins, but couldn't find them in 190/55.

I completely hated the OEM Qualifiers. The profile was really weird causing the bike to completely fall into turns. I had to constantly fight against the handlebars to hold a somewhat decent line. At first I thought the problem was with the bike itself, and was glad to find that a new set of shoes cured that. One of the first things I noticed is that the OEM rear tire looks a bit flatter than the off-the-shelf flavor. The new tire looks much more round and neutral, which is exactly what I wanted.

I only got to take the new Quallies out in the twisties a few times before it started snowing in the mountains and the roads got ruined by mag chloride, sand and gravel. But the couple times I've been able to push them they've provided great feedback, really good grip, and warm up pretty quickly. I haven't done any track days or anything too crazy so I don't know how well they do in those conditions.

I haven't experienced the wobble at all yet, but I'll be sure to watch for that as they wear a bit more. Keep the info coming. It's going to be awhile before I get to ride at that "spirited pace" due to the weather and road conditions, and I'd like to hear more about how the tires are performing for you over the course.
 
#11 ·
Went for a good hard ride today. Loving these tires so far.

Glad you didn't experience the wobble. I only had it on hard acceleration and i think it just shows that setup adjustments sometimes need to be made when new tires are fitted. I believe the contisports and bt16s can be run on a very similar setup, but not the qualifier.

They have excellent feedback and seem to turn in quicker than the contisports or bt16s (although this could be due to the extra turn of preload i added to get rid of the front end wobble).

They look like they are wearing very well. No tearing or shredding at all. They look like a tire should after been run hard.

Feedback from the front tire is good but it doesn't seem to soften the effect of bumps in the road quite as well as the BT16 front did. I don't know that this is a negative, it could be looked at as providing more feel. That will probably depend on the rider and his/her preferences. I will admit that it did catch me a bit off guard at first but i have since adapted.

Grip from the rear is excellent with no signs of greasiness at all.

So far I am very impressed! I will give you guys another update soon
 
#12 ·
I remember the 208's. I hated them! Then the Qualifiers came out, love them!
 
#13 ·
Nice write-up and review Vio. :thumbsup:

I've been a Dunlop guy for a long time.... Though the OEM's on my '05 almost made me try something else. I don't know why Kawasaki has Dunlop make the tires to that spec. when the off the shelf stuff work so well.




Chris
 
#14 ·
My bike wear them too.
 
#15 ·
#17 ·
Somewhere around 2000 miles on the Qualifiers now and I could not be any happier. I have not had one single slide, oh-shit moment or anything with these tires. You tell them what to do and they will stick, bottom line.

I admittedly ride a bit harder on the street than i should and these tires are very confidence inspiring. Tons of grip on both ends and they are wearing much better for me than the Bridgestone BT16's did.

They also do not appear to be a finnicky about tire pressures like the BT16's.

I have not tested them in the rain yet, but that day will come soon enough since I am in Florida, but i am sure they will do okay. Will keep you guys posted.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top