[Fustern]

So the Dunlop stock rear on my DRZ400SM caught a nail. Luckily the tire was very close to the wear bars with only 3000miles or so on the odo. The front still looks pretty decent. Maybe another 1200miles or so of tread left.

I've relly had no probs with these tires at all. But it appears there are better tires out there (i.e. contiforce SM, Distanzia's, etc)

Ideally, I'd like to get a full setup of Distanzias for the occasional dirt fire roads I ride, but the cost is $$$ compared with a single rear replacement now.

I'm curious how the Contiforce SM rear would work with the stock Dunlop front? This would be ridden entirely on street (no tracks). I'm only doing about 200miles per month now on the SM so I still have a god 6 months of tread left on the front that I'd like to not waste.
TIA!

Nate

 

[supertireguy]

You can use most any sport bike type tire in the one size larger 150/60/17 size. I think the stock DRZ-SM tire is a 140. Not many choices in this 140 size.

Avon, Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Metzeler, Michelin, Pirelli, etc.

Plenty of choices. Nice to have but not important to have a 'SM' specific tire like the ContiForce SM. Some people who commute on their SM use sport-touring type tires.

 

[Z06jerry]

I'm curious how the Contiforce SM rear would work with the stock Dunlop front? This would be ridden entirely on street (no tracks). I'm only doing about 200miles per month now on the SM so I still have a god 6 months of tread left on the front that I'd like to not waste.
TIA!

Nate

I did exactly that, put on a rear 150/60-17 Contiforce with the stock Dunlop front which still had lots of life. The combo worked fine. I planned on using a Contiforce on the front too when the Dunlop wore out, but I have since sold my DRZ400SM.

 

[Fustern]

I did exactly that, put on a rear 150/60-17 Contiforce with the stock Dunlop front which still had lots of life. The combo worked fine. I planned on using a Contiforce on the front too when the Dunlop wore out, but I have since sold my DRZ400SM.

Thanks Jerry! Just what I was looking for. I hate wasting $120 unnecessarily on a new front installed.

Anyone with any BAD experience with this combo?

 

[gapp'r buell]

I have yet to hear/read of someone not liking the Conti SM. The way I see it, they are designed FOR SUPERMOTO not sportbikes so why get anything else. The tire profile is slightly different between the two. I am on the 2nd rear and soon to be second front and I love these tires. I am a heavy guy who pushes WAY to hard sometimes and the tires have never let me down.

 

[chrishillwashere]

you can get a full set of race takeoffs for cheaper than one new rear.

 

[Deadend]

I have yet to hear/read of someone not liking the Conti SM. The way I see it, they are designed FOR SUPERMOTO not sportbikes so why get anything else. The tire profile is slightly different between the two. I am on the 2nd rear and soon to be second front and I love these tires. I am a heavy guy who pushes WAY to hard sometimes and the tires have never let me down.

this is good to know. I'm 228lbs and with only just over 1.4k on my SMR im almost due for new rubber ( no chicken strips either! ), I REALLY like the OEM rubber that came with the 08 690 SMR, but im not a fan of the rear's life span ( i've had better rubber life on my cbr900rr ).

I saw a pair of these on a litre Duc touring model, so i was a bit leery of picking some up for myself. Can you score some pics of wear patterns you're putting on the tire please ?

 

[ObiWan]

I replaced the Dunlop rear with a Contiforce SM as well. Still have the Dunlop front on there. Rear lasted 3700 miles. I now have 4900 and front is still going but getting close to time to replace. I also plan to replace the front with a Contiforce when the time comes. (wont be much longer)

Just curious why a nail made the rear tire unusable? I got 2 flats on my stock dunlop (a screw and a nail) about 500 miles apart and just replaced the tube and kept riding on it. I didn't have any problems aside from forgetting to remove that magnet that kept attracting metal objects to it, hehe. So did it totally shred the tire or was it just down the the cords anway?

 

[reddeth]

You can use most any sport bike type tire in the one size larger 150/60/17 size. I think the stock DRZ-SM tire is a 140. Not many choices in this 140 size.

Avon, Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Metzeler, Michelin, Pirelli, etc.

Plenty of choices. Nice to have but not important to have a 'SM' specific tire like the ContiForce SM. Some people who commute on their SM use sport-touring type tires.

While I agree it's not critical, if you do any kind of 'fast' or aggressive corner riding, GET A SM RATED TIRE. A sportbike tire is, while the same size, designed for a MUCH heavier bike. They take longer to heat up with less weight, so if you go for a ride up into some twisties your tires aren't going to grip as much (with a sportbike rated tire).

Now, if you just use the bike for commuting and such, then supertireguy is right, just go for a tire that fits your bike.

Also, glad to hear the Conti rear works with a Dunlop front, I have to do the exact same thing in the next few weeks haha.

 

[motostrano]

Bar none, the best tire you can stretch on to your street SM.

 

[Fustern]

I replaced the Dunlop rear with a Contiforce SM as well. Still have the Dunlop front on there. Rear lasted 3700 miles. I now have 4900 and front is still going but getting close to time to replace. I also plan to replace the front with a Contiforce when the time comes. (wont be much longer)

Just curious why a nail made the rear tire unusable? I got 2 flats on my stock dunlop (a screw and a nail) about 500 miles apart and just replaced the tube and kept riding on it. I didn't have any problems aside from forgetting to remove that magnet that kept attracting metal objects to it, hehe. So did it totally shred the tire or was it just down the the cords anway?

Well, first of all the tires tread is a knats hair from being at the wear bar, with 2700 miles on it IIRC. With the cost of R&R'ing a tire being $30 around here I figured I'd just get a new tire and not waste the $30-$40 in labor to R&R and patch said tire only to have it last maybe 500 more miles if I'm lucky.

I don't hold much faith in patches or plugs on my bikes tires anyway.

I thought our bikes had a tubeless setup??

 

[lbMOTO]

I like the Conti SM. i've run stock/avons/PDCs as well and i'm sticking with the Contiforce. trackdays on both Contis and PDCs.

a word of warning... while i had no issue on the street with the Dunlop F/ Conti R, on the minimoto track you could feel the front not grip anywhere near as well as the rear. now that i am running Conti/Conti that doesn't seem to be an issue.

 

[ObiWan]

Well, first of all the tires tread is a knats hair from being at the wear bar, with 2700 miles on it IIRC. With the cost of R&R'ing a tire being $30 around here I figured I'd just get a new tire and not waste the $30-$40 in labor to R&R and patch said tire only to have it last maybe 500 more miles if I'm lucky.

I don't hold much faith in patches or plugs on my bikes tires anyway.

I thought our bikes had a tubeless setup??

Nah man, most of the time spoke wheels = tubes, unless you convert to tubeless with a kit