Just How Much Does Riding Style Affect Tire Longevity? Moto Mouth #70: Dunlop Sportmax III

[moshe_levy]

Back in 2019 (episode #55,) I ran a comparison between Dunlop's Sportmax Roadsmart III and Michelin's Pilot Road 3, 4, and 4GT over 60,000 miles of high-speed highway commuting, to verify if Dunlop’s ad campaign at the time (which boasted of a longevity advantage over Michelin) was true or not. In this new episode, I’ve got data tabulated with another set of Dunlop Sportmax IIIs, this time used for weekend leisure riding and slow suburban commuting. Just how much does riding style as a variable affect tire longevity? The results may be surprising to some riders, but they do indeed prove the adage that "comparing tire mileage between riders is a fool's errand.” Let me know your thoughts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4scJMbfO798

[Skywagon]

Moshe...had no idea you moved to Texas.  San Antonio is a mere 3 hours away.  Holler at me sometime and we can meet up.  I'm in Houston area.  Lot's of BMW folks here.

[realshelby]

Me thinks the chip and seal roads here in Texas are not going to "improve" your mileage! Welcome to Texas!

I completely agree with the theory about riding style having more to do with mileage than anything....

[moshe_levy]

9 hours ago, Skywagon said:

Moshe...had no idea you moved to Texas.  San Antonio is a mere 3 hours away.  Holler at me sometime and we can meet up.  I'm in Houston area.  Lot's of BMW folks here.

Will do!

[RandyShields]

Congrats on your move to TX.  Hotter summers than NJ, but overall nicer weather and more riding opportunities.  I hope you enjoy it.

[moshe_levy]

32 minutes ago, RandyShields said:

Congrats on your move to TX.  Hotter summers than NJ, but overall nicer weather and more riding opportunities.  I hope you enjoy it.

Already in love with it!

[lawnchairboy]

congrats on your escape!

[duckhawk64]

On 1/10/2023 at 7:27 AM, realshelby said:

Me thinks the chip and seal roads here in Texas are not going to "improve" your mileage! Welcome to Texas!

I completely agree with the theory about riding style having more to do with mileage than anything....

In  Dane county Wisconsin,  they went from pea gravel and seal roads to granite chips and seal.  The granite chips eat tires more than the pea gravel. 

[Hosstage]

I can feel certain abrasive roads just chewing on the rubber.

[old_farmer]

I'm seeing this play out in real time. About a year ago I moved from northwestern IL to eastern TN. It looks like my Road 5's are on track to go just a little over half as far as they did when I was based out of IL. My riding habits have not changed; I'm still a slow poke, rarely needing more than 4k rpm to get me down the road as fast as I care to go. But here you can't go anywhere without a lot of turning. And I'm guessing that the pavement here is coarser than in IL. Here they pretty regularly repave. IL, on the other hand, is broke and repaving is only done when absolutely necessary - so the pavement is worn shiny smooth.