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Dunlop Trailmax Mission Adventure Motorcycle Tire Reviews

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ShutterRev

   1 of 1 member found this review helpful 1 / 1 member

I ran these at the 2019 Geico Adventure Rally in Julian (Nov 7-10), and on the road and trails after that for over 7,000 miles total - still had plenty of usable tread, I would guess could make it 8k easy with bite left - These are fantastic tires, homerun Dunlop. 

The Breakdown... 

Handling, profile, cornering:  I have been a sportbikes & track days rider many, many more years than I have been playing at getting my tires dirty. These tires on my adv have excellent street manners, you can chase down crotch rockets on your way to the trails just fine. They don't have as aggressive a fall-in while cornering as some of the other tires I have run, the front seems to have a gentler profile, just took some slight getting used to and they are fantastic on the road. 

Noise: None


How do they work off-road?: I am just an Average Joe+? ADV rider, I will easily call these tires worthy of 50/50 title, all day, take it or leave it. I rode out to Font's Point and back which was relatively sandy the entire way with no "line" to speak of, and as long as I kept giving gas, I didn't fall on my ass, no herky-jerky feedback in the sand from the front, just pushed right through. Did Boulder Creek to the falls or whatever it's called and up to Eagle Peak, and that fap-worthy hard flat high speed dirt after that.... on the fast routes you can just riiiiiiiiiiiip, for the more technical black diamond bits, I never felt like the tires let me down. All the other blue routes we ran that had good-good dirt I think my buddies I was riding with would agree I was having a blast ripping around on these tires, the rear has such a consistent and predictable spin when grabbing throttle that you can probably get too comfortable going faster than you should be on a not knobby tire off-road. That being said I never felt like the rear or front were going to danger-level step out on me. 

Tire wear: At 700 miles, can't tell if any tread-depth has been used at all... the fuzzys are gone though. The edges of the treads are rounded off slightly from sand, and wheel spin in dirt, but I think after I street these back and forth to work for a few weeks they will be sharpened back up. The tread didn't tear, or chunk out at all during the rally despite being used.

Sidewalls: The tread extends down the sidewall I am not an expert dirt or sand rider at all, but the tires did well in the sand I was in at my average level of sand things, I did feel more confident than I have in times past... Not sure if that's just a good day, or maybe these tires are doing something right with the extra grabby thingies on the sides. For you air-down types, these might be a good tire... seems like at least the rear has a much stiffer sidewall than I'm used to. 

Do they wobble in rain grooves: Nope, NOT ONE BIT... YAAY!... Not while cornering well north of 80 on grooves either. 
Do they look rad: Yes, I also rode them to the local dealership and you might say they brought all the boys to the yard. 
Speed test: If I was a betting man, I would bet that if someone had tested them in this manner... these tires are just fine above 3 digits. 
Balancing: I use a static balancer, these took a lot less time and weight to balance than big blocks, probably just luck but the rear needed zero weight. 

In summary, they did really well at the Rally, and continue to be great daily commute and weekend trail warrior tires at the same time. We hit easy, medium, and black diamond at the rally and I was never anywhere thinking to myself "F these tires", instead I was continually surprised at what I was getting away with that they were just doing the things that needed doing for being 50/50 - after 7,000+ miles they never lost their bite, and still had plenty of tread depth left. Eric just put them on for the next part of his SA trip... lol they might take him damn close to the end. In summary I will say these are absolutely the best 50:50 tire out there, and every bit deserving of that designation. They are NOT knobbies, they will NOT perform like full knobs, but if you want a tire you can comfortable cruise freeway speeds on all day, and then get away with a lot more than you might think off road all weekend... all while having ridiculous high mileage... then give these a shot. 

TIREPORN: 
Fresh set: 

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Mounted on the 800:NDJ_5007.jpg.c64b580f4f293b8ca66bb1e0b27e6d21.jpg.a4c29632034c1d8aa1189bcef422c556.jpg

Rear tire tread shot: 
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The Front tire tread: 

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Balanced easily: 

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End of the 2019 GEICO ADV Rally in Julian:IMG_2098.jpg.4496c3dfe2321ade68e101876934f8b1.jpg.5d526b2c46429abd6f184a7cffbd1346.jpg

Rear tire with over 7,000 miles on it: 
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Jmackie411

· Edited by Jmackie411

   1 of 1 member found this review helpful 1 / 1 member

I’m a tire snob and a tire whore.. let’s start there..

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2nd, I have a tendency to ride faster than one probably should on a loaded out ADV bike, especially on the street. I am not throttle conscious as it pertains to “save the tires”, I subscribe to the “fun meter” way of thinking and the meter is generally set on 11.. I am a tire ruin’er put simply..

TKC 80’s lasted less than 1000 miles on my bike on the AZ BDR, Kenda Big Blocks 1200mi in and around Death Valley, Pirelli MT 90’s 3400mi on a pavement assault of Northern and Central California, Motoz Adventures I can typically get 1800-2000 miles out of..

3rd disclaimer.. I received a set of Dunlop’s new Trailmax Mission tires at no cost to test and review thanks to Eric Hall, XLADV and Dunlop.. that said I have zero obligation to report anything here on these tires but reality..

So.. on to the tires.. I am 2000 miles in this far.. just got home from their first trip. 7 days in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. 90% scenic backwoods pavement carving, 10% mountain fire roads putting up dust. Think, Teton pass, yellowstone, beartooth pass, dead indian pass, going to the sun road, lolo pass, bitterroot valley.. etc etc..

My setup was this for record. 2016 Africa Twin CRF1000L. Leo Vince full system and DynoJet Power Vision 3 Remapped ECU. The bike makes a bit more hp & tq than stock. Total weight with rider comes in right at 900lbs.. bike weighs 550lbs wet, luggage and accessories come in at 110lbs, I weigh 210 and wear 30lbs of gear.. pressures set at 38lb rear, 30lbs front.

So.. to recap Dunlop Trailmax Mission tires. 2000mi of scenic twisties, open hwy and fire roads, 900lb bike with rider, 100hp on tap, giving it the goat...

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Install. Tires feel a bit heavier duty in the carcass than all other 50/50 tires I’ve ran. Carcass is more Motoz ADV than Pirelli MT90. Rear was a challenging install even with a tire stand, proper tools and copious lube, uber stiff bead and sidewall. Proof I believe this tire is built to last. The front was a typical 21" install most could do blindfolded. Front and rear both balanced with just 1/4oz. of weight with the lite spot dot aligned with the valve stem. The least I have ever seen, further proof of a superior manufacturing process and product result. Looks wise I think they look smashing on the bike..

First impression. My first miles on these tires was a pre-trip shakedown run out of Vegas to the Hoover dam and back. I noted two important details.. #1 this is the first tire I’ve spooned on my Africa Twin that induces zero head shake oscillation at 90+mph.. anyone that rides an Africa Twin at the upper nend of the speed spectrum knows what I’m talking about. This tire is planted.. period, right up through 120mph where the Africa Twin says enough already. #2 noise.. or lack thereof. Asphalt, seal coat, smooth concrete, grooved concrete, none produced any detectable road noise. Turn in is predictable and linear. They feel slightly heavier than Pirelli MT90’s in rotating mass but that’s a just barely feel and not a hindrance in my opinion. They have a lighter feel in motion than Motoz ADV's.

Off to see the wizard. We trailered to Idaho Falls from Vegas, as our launch point for the ride North. Days 1-3 were all high speed mountain passes and backroads through Jackson Hole, The Tetons, Yellowstone and Cody, Wyoming. We did a bit of dirt two track to camp on night 1 that included a steep and totally blown out hill climb that was about a mile in length. There were rocks, dust silt, holes, gravel and hard pan. This was my first foray with the Trailmax Mission’s off road. I was very very pleased in their performance.. I found them to be lacking nothing. Forward drive was great, the front provided ample feel and the rear broke loose on command when desired but remained highly controllable with throttle input. I was able to step out the rear on the exit of dirt corners predictably, the rear did not show signs of high side danger from power slide slide lateral hookup when pushed, even when throttle was chopped mid-drift. Pavement manners were absolutely brilliant.. I pushed and pushed and pushed these tires on the road. Loading the front tire hard mid apex at speed by chopping the throttle, upsetting the chassis at lean angle, the front never seemed to care in the least. they were as reliable as a tires could be. 100hp and 75lb ft of tq isn’t a lot but with traction control off, its enough to spin up a rear on the pavement once a tire is heat soaked and pushed with irresponsible corner throttle control in the case of most tires. Especially when you are transferring the weight of 900lbs through the corners. I tried diligently on multiple road surfaces to break the rear out of corners. Simulating even the most panicked mid corner squid moves I could muster. I was never able to break the rear on any non dirt road surface, they seemed totally un-fowl able.

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Wear. One issue I’ve always found to be true with tires on my ADV bike is that they don’t go the distance. I am generally a rear tire per trip guy and front tire per 2 trips. Heavily loaded and flogged adv bikes are really hard to keep tires under. Guys that claim to get 5-6k miles out of tires I wonder if they are even having any fun? These tires showed very little signs of wear 1000 miles in, despite my attempts to bludgeon and beat them mercilessly.

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Dirt. On this 2000 mile trip we road approx 200 miles of dirt. Each section was a mountain pass two track road of hard pan, gravel, river crossings, open faced imbedded rock and dusty dirt highways. I pushed and pushed and pushed these tires. The rear I found to be incredible in its performance off road, despite its non-aggressive appearance. It performs off road as good as many much more aggressive looking tires I have flogged. The front was near equally impressive, I was able to find its limits off road only after trying to purposely find it. There were just two instances I was able to break the front loose off road. The first was on old backroad ranchy two track, my line to keep was filled with a mixture of sand and dust silt ahead a top hard pan. Loose sand and silt is always a difficult proposition on big bikes, this was no different. Maintain speed, add throttle when you hit it and power through.. the front hunted for center, wallowing a bit lefft and right. The second incidence of this was again on hard pan with heavy dust silt atop the hard pan.. aka dirt road black ice. Mid corner throttle chop loading the front tire I was able to tuck the front, it would immediately re-track and regain traction once throttle was re-applied and weight was rebalanced on the chassis. The second instance was only replicatable through sheer squid moves mid corner, in an attempt to find the limit. Would a more aggressive front have done the same? From my experience a more aggressive front such as a tkc80, Kenda Big Block, or Motoz dirt variant would have held out a little longer before letting go in this situation offroad, but probably not much longer. Personally those little tucks of the front when ham fisted in tough conditions off road I am more than happy to accept, in exchange for all of the other times and places these tires outshine the competition in the 50/50 tire segment.

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2000 miles in I couldn’t be happier with their performance. Their wear is barely showing and the wear that is occurring is very linear across the tread on both front and rear.

This weekend I will put another 1000 miles on them in the Sierra’s at High Sierra Rally. I will continue to report back on their performance until they are toast.

2000 miles in I give them 4.5 stars. They are to date the best well rounded do it all tires I’ve ran on a big bike. I have a feeling that opinion isn’t going to change. But we shall find out.

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Some video while testing. 

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mthomasadv

· Edited by mthomasadv

   1 of 1 member found this review helpful 1 / 1 member

I was fortunate to grab an early set of the Dunlop Trailmax Mission Adventure tires in January of 2019 for a 10 day ride from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas (and back) on my 2016 BMW GSA 1200.    The trip totaled 2000 miles and was about 20% dirt road with the rest tarmac.    I ran the tires at the recommended 36 PSI on dirt, with 42 on the road.   The bike was packed with panniers and tail luggage, and I weigh in at 150 lb in a birthday suit.  

Initial Impression

Upon first seeing the tires, I was immediately pleased with the style of the tread pattern.    We all want our bikes to look bad-ass and these do just that.   I had no challenge finding others to be impressed as well.  I heard words like “futuristic,” “Tron” and “meaty.”  You get the idea.   They struck me as a 70 (street) /30 (dirt) tire, but proved to be more toward 50/50.

Street Performance

I have ridden several “adventure tires” over the years and these are by FAR the most road worthy and predictable set I’ve had to date.  I have a second set of rims that I run street tires on, which is my setup most of the time.   Due to this, I’m very aware of what’s lost when I switch to a set of adventure tires, especially 50/50s.   The Dunlops, however, were absolutely terrific on the street!  At times, I even forgot I wasn’t on my street rubber.   They are amazingly quiet and super smooth going in and out of turns.   

Dirt Performance

We didn’t explore much sand or any mud on this ride unfortunately.   What dirt roads we did explore proved the Dunlops were worthy however.   I felt as sticky as I do on my TKC 80 or MotoZ Tractionator ADVs.   The absence of a lot of sand and mud didn’t allow me to push them too hard but I did have several moments in sand, or hairy situations requiring all the bite I could take, and they never let me down.   I was shocked at how well they were performing in the dirt after already being impressed on the road.   Personally, I think there will be debate over whether this is a 50/50, 60/40, or 70/30 tire, but I don’t have any problem calling them 50/50 so far.

Longevity

I started the ride with 10mm of rubber on the front, and 12mm in the rear.  This may not be the manufacturer’s technical measurement, but those were the readings on my tread gage.   What’s important is where they were after 2000 miles using the same gauge.  The answer is impressive.   The front came in at 9mm and the rear at 10mm!   Take the following into comparison.   One co-rider was on a pair of TKC 80s on a lighter KTM.   I didn’t start measuring those tires until the 500 mile marker where they came in at 9mm front, and 10 mm rear.   At the end of 2000 miles, that set measured 8mm front, and 1.5 mm rear!   Another rider on Shinko 805s was showing 1mm loss for every 500 miles.   As you’ll see from the pics, after 2000 miles the Dunlops hardly look worn.  

Conclusion

If I ran one set of rims, this would be my new tire.  No doubt.  I love the street feel and they provide a ton of grip in the dirt.   I’m still curious to see how they compare to the MotoZ or TKC in the deep sand and mud since I prefer to ride the tire best for these conditions on my dirt rims but one thing is for sure,   the Dunlops kill both of these in street performance and longevity. 

Pics

I’ve included pics of the Dunlops and TKC 80s at the 2000 mile marker.   The pics with my bike were at 500 miles.

 

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