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Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:35 am
by Lost Rider
Just as the title says...
Fellow member Doug rode my bike from Sacramento to Chicago, and it seems I underestimated the life of the rear tire for the ride. After getting a nail in a very bald and square Scorpion Sync, Doug purchased this tire to finish the trip.
The tread is intriguing to me being quite aggressive, but I'm very happy with my Syncs, and have a new one sitting here ready to go for this upcoming trip to match the new front I have....
I'm wondering if anyone has any miles on this tire to have a first hand opinion?
What do the experts say?

Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 12:30 pm
by crazyhorse
i have never used it, nor would i on southern california.
maybe somewhere it rained all the time.
more grooves = better water channeling but also less rubber touching road = less grip (on pavement, not talking about rocks, etc).
wes
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 3:40 pm
by deilenberger
crazyhorse wrote:i have never used it, nor would i on southern california.
maybe somewhere it rained all the time.
more grooves = better water channeling but also less rubber touching road = less grip (on pavement, not talking about rocks, etc).
wes
Wes - you might browse Joe's website. He does a lot of not-pavement, sometimes not even close to pavement. Puts the GS pretenders to shame..
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 3:45 pm
by crazyhorse
i know, i understand. i was generalizing to what most of us use a r12r for. personally i would throw on TKC80s or D606s if i was doing what he did...
wes
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:14 pm
by bobw
I think they were the original tires used on the Buell Ully prior to the Pirelli Scorps. There was a Triumph rider that posted 1-2 years ago on one of the Boards that said he liked the 616's, nothing other than that one report that I can recall. Try it out and swop if it sucks

Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:23 pm
by waynemathews
bobw wrote:I think they were the original tires used on the Buell Ully prior to the Pirelli Scorps. There was a Triumph rider that posted 1-2 years ago on one of the Boards that said he liked the 616's, nothing other than that one report that I can recall. Try it out and swop if it sucks

I had them on my '06 Ully. They worked well on on that bike on pavement, gravel and dirt. I am less aggressive a rider than Chitown.
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:55 am
by Lost Rider
Thanks for the input guys.
I'm still undecided as to whether or not to change the tire... I'm leaving tomorrow.
The thing I'm looking for the most is how many miles I could expect, even though that's a very subjective thing.
More than likely I'll just carry my Sync on the tail, run this Dunlop for the 2-3 day mad slab dash until I get to Maine, then change it regardless of it's condition before heading further North. I don't want go where I'm going on an untested, mismatched set of tires....
The tread does look good for my kind of riding though.

Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:33 am
by dderrig
Chitown, the pelican case you have on the back, is that mounted to the BMW rack and if so how did you mount it?
Thanks,
Dave
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 3:20 pm
by Lost Rider
Hi Dave!
I guess I can jack my own thread...
It's actually a HPRC 2300 case painted white ( the yellow one was substantially cheaper for some reason, and I thought I'd keep the hiviz, but keep with the B/W color scheme... not sure if I like it, but what the hell.)
Anyways... as you can see I don't have a rack on the bike and am using 4 small Rok Straps to hold it down on the seat. The pannier mounts and handles sticking up is part of the BMW tail rack, but without the rack itself. I choked the handle and went around the tail light assembly in the rear, and drilled some holes on the front to choke the box there, connecting it to the footrest frame.
With my experience I doubt I'll ever put anything of weight on a tail rack because of the substantially negative effect on the handling it has by placing something mounted that far back and up high. Plus I think having it on the seat might just help with shock absorption for my camera gear versus bolted to a rack.... but that's just a theory.
Right now my bike is packed for an open ended 2-3 week camping/fishing/photography/video/riding extravaganza. If it doesn't fit in the panniers it ain't comin'.... I want my bike to handle the best it can more than I want more crap with me.

Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 4:41 pm
by dderrig
Cool Joe, thanks for the detailed post. I have been waffling on if I wanted some sort of Case on the rack. I say this, no one improvises more than you and 9 times out of ten it looks good

(Can't give you %100 because your probably a cub fan and I am a sox fan)
Have a safe trip to the northeast and by the way "my precious" Wudo fairing should be shipping next week some time and by the time I get back from Chicago on the 16th (Gonna see U2 at soldiers field on the 13th) I should have it.
Dave
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 5:18 pm
by celticus
Joe, What model Canon is that?
Mark
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 6:18 pm
by Lost Rider
I can't wait to see the Wudo...
It's a 5D MKII.
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 6:22 pm
by celticus
I'd like one of both.
Mark
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:12 am
by mattbr
ChiTown wrote:
It's a 5D MKII.
Joe, just so you know - the screws in the zoom column of the 24-70 have a tendency to come loose with vibrations. it'll give you a nice, out of focus look to parts of the image. If you have a local (and decent and friendly) service center, you can get 'em glued in, which can help... you should be OK if you keep it in the pelican, but just sayin'...
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 12:35 pm
by sweatmark
No experience with the Dunlops, but having ridden a trackday in the rain with Scorpion Syncs on my Buell XB, I will attest to those tires' capabilities. I have a fresh set of the Syncs waiting for a chance on my Rockster.
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 6:37 pm
by Dr. Strangelove
Canon? Canon?
21mp talks big, but what happened to the Nikons?
John
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:46 pm
by spenserj87
ChiTown wrote:Thanks for the input guys.
I'm still undecided as to whether or not to change the tire... I'm leaving tomorrow.
The thing I'm looking for the most is how many miles I could expect, even though that's a very subjective thing.
More than likely I'll just carry my Sync on the tail, run this Dunlop for the 2-3 day mad slab dash until I get to Maine, then change it regardless of it's condition before heading further North. I don't want go where I'm going on an untested, mismatched set of tires....
The tread does look good for my kind of riding though.

Wow - the R looks quite a bit cleaner than when I left it with you
I guess an R should look more clean and pristine, the GS - full time mud.
I like the more naked look - nice to see it a bit closer to the original. You even took off the stickers! So, completely different personalities now - your R vs your GS. That is, of course, until you post a pic with the R covered in mud....
Have a great ride - looking forward to future pics and vids.
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 10:29 pm
by caprug
Now I understand why you had a Pirelli strapped on the back when I met you at Street Cycles in Falmouth, ME this morning.
Have a great trip. (check your email)
Harry
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 11:06 pm
by spenserj87
Glad to hear the Pirelli is on the back - let the slabbin' part eat up the Dunlop...wouldn't have been right to throw it away after only 500 miles. At least you'll always have a pic of that tread pattern.
Re: Oh, No - More Tire Talk... Have you ever used a Dunlop D616?
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:43 am
by rtallent
ChiTown wrote:Thanks for the input guys.
I'm still undecided as to whether or not to change the tire... I'm leaving tomorrow.
The thing I'm looking for the most is how many miles I could expect, even though that's a very subjective thing.
More than likely I'll just carry my Sync on the tail, run this Dunlop for the 2-3 day mad slab dash until I get to Maine, then change it regardless of it's condition before heading further North. I don't want go where I'm going on an untested, mismatched set of tires....
The tread does look good for my kind of riding though.

Sorry I found this thread so late. Where in Maine were you? I would have welcomed the rare opportunity to swap both R1200R and 5DII information with someone. I'm not far from Ellsworth.