Dunlop GT501 sports-touring tyre

[Cruisin' Craig]

The Dunlop GT501 sports-touring tyre is the only type of tyre for which I can get a matching set to fit my 85 GSX-R750. That is, unless I wait for the next shipment of appropriately sized Bridgestone BT45s to enter the country.

Does anyone have any feedback on the quality/stickyness/wet weather performance/general goodness of the Dunlop GT501s?

Thanks :-)

[GaZBur]

They are a ply tyre not a radial and I have recently put them on the DR650 for motard racing. (110 front 150 rear). Not as sticky as most others like but I chose them coz they meant to be good in the wet and when they slide they will do so predictably rather than surprise you and put you on your ass. Only experience so far is Teretonga and at speed when they are warm you can ride to the very edge and feel safe. I expect they should wear quite ok too. Felt reasonable when on a damp track but I wasn't being a hero while they were cold. When first out they are a little slippery till they get some heat. So far I like em for track and round town. Will get the big test out on Sat at Levels so will let you know after that if you like.

[Skinny_Birdman]

I had them on my CBR250, where they were fine, and then put some on my '87 CBR600F1. On the 600 (similar weight to your bike?) they were OK up to a point, but even with my mediocre skills I wasn't happy with the amount of grip in the dry, particularly from the rear. I went to Bridgestone BT45s and was much happier on them. It's a hard road when you have odd sized wheels....

[erik]

I've got a 110/70-17 front and 150/70-17 rear on my bandit. I think they're about as grippy as the sport demons I used to have. They don't seem to get as chewed up on trackdays as the sport demons, so maybe they're a harder compound.
I think I've rolled off the edge of the rear twice now though at Taupo turn 3 after pit straight (resulting in a lowside). The profile of the 150 on the back doesn't seem to go around as much, there's no chicken strips and I'm not scraping the pegs yet. On the sport demons I scraped the pegs before getting to the edge of the tyre.

I'd say they're good for touring/commuting but be cautious if you're using them on the track. I'll be going back to sport demons the next tyres I get.

[GaZBur]

Is supect the Sport Demons are slightly softer and probaly grip better in the dry but would wear quicker.(Educated guess as I used Pirelli rear on the same bike)
I used the 501's at Levels in the wet, VERY WET. They are OK for my purpose as a hard wearing dry race tyre for a bike that obviously doesn't shred tyres with power and adequate wet performance. They were sliding at race speeds especially the back exiting under moderate power but it was only just a discernable slide not a wild thing at all. They did break away badly on one occasion. Coming into the left turn at the end of the main straight with neutral input the back slid out - caught again but when it snapped back broke the fronts traction which slid, it recovered but the back went again and returned repeating the front slide again. But was I scared ? - I would like to say no but in truth it shook me up for a few laps as it is the fastest place on the circuit to bin and it was a near thing. Fortunately I was using very conservative lines with a large margin for error - I used the whole margin and recovered at the very edge of the track.
So - to my mind they are a good allrounder - they do slide when pushed in the wet but the big thing here is they actually recovered from the slide - no it was nothing to do with skill as I was just hanging on!