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Here they are! The new Trailmax Mission adventure motorcycle tire from Dunlop being launched today in Lake Arrowhead, CA.

 

They are saying it’s a 50/50 tire. Mike Thomas got a set in December and will be posting a review soon.

 

I will have more details later today on pricing and sizing...

 

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Nice looking tread pattern.  I selected 2017 BMW R1200GS and the tire won't fit my bike.  They appear to have a 170 sized tire so I am not sure what is up.  I'd like to see a comparison between this tire and the Heidenau Scout K-60 by an objective reviewer, if such a thing is possible.

NC

Edit:  Dunlop also needs to update the bikes in the drop down menus as they don't show Africa Twin either.  

Edited by Numbercruncher
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A few more tidbits from the presentation that stand out...

As far as mileage claims go we always have to take them with the caveat of “your mileage may vary” or YMMV. Dunlop says their test bike, a V-Strom 1000 got 8,000 miles on a rear. For the higher horsepower bikes such as the GS (~125 hp) on up to the 1290 (~160 hp) they are confident will see mileage in the 5,000 mile range.

Additionally, their 17” and 19” fronts have additional traction features that help with these bigger bikes from sliding out. Their 21” front doesn’t need the extra features.

Their site shows seven fitments: three fronts and four rears.

90/90-21
110/80-19
120/70-19

140/80-18
150/70-17
170/60-17
150/70-18

All are TL/TT or both tubeless and tube type.

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Pricing released today in this PR piece:




For Immediate Release
October 10, 2019


Dunlop Introduces the High-Tech Trailmax Mission Adventure Tire



Buffalo, New York: Today, manufacturers have bolstered their adventure and scrambler lineups with more offerings than ever. The high-performance of modern large displacement adventure bikes rivals that of sport bikes, yet they are also capable of offering impressive performance in the dirt—an amazing breadth of abilities that results in an unprecedented challenge to tire designers.

With the proliferation of new ADV bikes, it was time for Dunlop to reinvent the 50/50 tire. Enter the all-new Trailmax Mission.

“This is a very difficult segment to tackle because of the wide variety of uses and fitments, but I believe customers will be surprised that the Mission delivers such a high level of grip no matter the surface and will also exceed their mileage expectations,” said Mike Buckley, Senior VP, Sales and Marketing.

Re-Inventing the 50/50 Tire
Engineers and researchers attended consumer shows, rallies and various events for years gathering data, and more than ten rider surveys were conducted among a vast audience.

The result of the research showed Dunlop that the existing offerings in the 50/50 tire category presented riders with the ultimate compromise. You can have “this,” but you will give up “that.”

The Falken Connection
For the first time in its history, Dunlop tapped into newly available resources. Dunlop Motorcycle Tires’ re-acquisition by Sumitomo in 2015 gave the design team access to the engineers at Falken tires. Falken, a Sumitomo brand, has had tremendous success with the Wildpeak A/T3W, an off-road oriented light truck tire that puts a premium on ruggedness without sacrificing street performance. The Dunlop team was ultimately able to incorporate several Wildpeak elements into the all-new Mission.

Development
Two years in development, the Mission delivers knobby-like performance off-road, has impressive grip on the street, plus great ride quality and stability everywhere it goes.

One of the primary goals was durability. Several months were spent piling on the miles—on the street, at the Huntsville Proving Grounds in wet and dry conditions, on gravel roads, trails, tire-shredding rocky terrain, and every condition Dunlop test riders could find. Dunlop also utilized a high-speed testing oval in Texas to put the Mission through durability torture.

The result: Consumers can expect to get double the miles of some of the competitive rear tires, and more than that from the front. The production version of the Mission rear tire delivered 8,000 miles in testing.*

A Mash-Up of Dunlop’s Best Street and Dirt Technology
Combining the best of Dunlop’s dirt and street tire technology, the Mission is one of the most versatile tires Dunlop has ever made.

One of the things that make the Mission unique is that Dunlop did not create a one-design-fits-all tire. Different bikes impose different demands on tires, so Dunlop engineers tuned popular fitments of front and rear tires for a diverse application of ADV bikes so that the tires consistently achieved Dunlop’s objective of performance and longevity. These differences apply to both the tread pattern and construction.

Dunlop incorporated Staggered Step technology in both the front and rear tires. These steps give the side knobs more rigidity and lug stability to prevent flex, and create more biting edges so as the tread wears, the next biting edge “steps up” to grab hold of the substrate. In the rear, there are three different sizes and shapes of lateral blocks depending on tire fitment, a direct result of extensive testing.

Common Tread Elements
Front and rear tire patterns have more in common than differences. One visual distinction for both front and rear is the prominent wrap-around side lug inspired by the Falken Wildpeak. These lugs have several advantages; they add rigidity and durability in rocky terrain; allow lower pressures to be run off-road with less risk of pinch-flatting; they help provide steering stability in sand, mud and gravel surfaces; and they have an uncanny ability to allow riders to steer out of ruts off-road, even on the really big and heavy ADV bikes. Additionally, the sidewall rubber is thicker to add higher durability and puncture resistance.

Both front and rear tires feature a distinctly higher land/sea ratio with about 60 percent land for greater street performance compared to the dirt-oriented D606 at 30 percent land ratio. Increased tread depth over the Trailsmart adds to Mission’s superior off-road performance. These comparisons illustrate how different the Mission is compared to other Dunlop adventure and off-road tires.

Construction
To meet the performance and mileage goals, bias construction was used, with the line featuring a mix of bias and bias-belted tires as needs dictated. Bias construction is generally better for off-road since tread and sidewall elements are designed as one component. Engineers used heavy-duty ply material such as nylon, polyester and/or fiberglass belts that are similar to those used in tough touring tires such as the American Elite and Elite 4. The result is a tire with excellent off-road performance that delivers the desired stability at higher speeds.

Designed and Manufactured In Buffalo
The Dunlop tire factory in Buffalo, New York enjoys a long track record of building everything from high-performance racing tires to premium touring tires. The Mission is the first off-road capable tire designed and manufactured in Buffalo. The Mission tires incorporate a tread depth twice as deep as any other motorcycle tire made in Buffalo before, a huge manufacturing challenge.

Mission Accomplished
Dunlop tested many competitor tires and while there are a lot of good products on the market, no one tire can do all the things Mission does, as well as it does, on such a variety of machines. With the Mission, Dunlop stayed focused on delivering a higher level of performance, mileage and durability over a wider range of conditions and terrain than any other tire. Today’s ADV bikes, Scramblers and Crossovers make enormous demands on tires, and deserve nothing less than Dunlop’s best technology. The Mission delivers.

Expanding Dunlop's Adventure Tire Lineup
Within the Adventure/Scrambler/Dual-Sport/realm, Dunlop has targeted specific DOT applications, meeting a wide variety of riding needs with a broad selection of tires from the Dakar-ready D908RR to the heavily dirt-oriented D606, the new Geomax EN91,the road-oriented Trailsmart and Roadsmart III, and now the Mission, landing right in the middle, designed to cover it all.

Available in a wider size range than any of Dunlop’s ADV tires, the Mission fills a void in the line for ADV bikes, Scramblers and Crossovers that are ridden aggressively off-road.


MSRP will range from $131.21 to $285.23.

About Dunlop Motorcycle Tires
Dunlop is the largest supplier of original equipment and replacement motorcycle tires in the U.S.A. For more information on the new Mission, visit www.DunlopMotorcycleTires.com.

*Test conducted by independent contracted riders on a 250-mile mountain loop. Tire sizes 110/80B19 front and 150/70B17 rear, on 2017 Suzuki V-Strom.

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So, price range but no specifics on pricing yet

Edit:  So they put a range but best to check pricing at a retailer like Rocky Mountain ATV.

They say they have a "MAP" or minimum acceptable pricing program that will basically put it competitive to other 50/50 tires and "about 3% less than the Motoz GPS"

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On 10/9/2019 at 7:00 PM, Numbercruncher said:

Nice looking tread pattern.  I selected 2017 BMW R1200GS and the tire won't fit my bike.  They appear to have a 170 sized tire so I am not sure what is up.  I'd like to see a comparison between this tire and the Heidenau Scout K-60 by an objective reviewer, if such a thing is possible.

NC

Edit:  Dunlop also needs to update the bikes in the drop down menus as they don't show Africa Twin either.  

yeah a few have mentioned that.  I think Dunlop is aware of the issue but try Rocky Mountain ATV.  I know they carry sizes for that bike.

As for the K60 I can confidently say that ANY tire out there is better than a K60.  It's plastic and is horrible in the wet, hard to mount, etc...

This is a 50/50 tire that will compete with the K60, GPS and E07.  In my opinion based on what I've seen so far, it's a capable tire at a decent value.  I'm not a 50/50 guy so I can't say how it performs vs those other tires but I'm positive it's better than a K60.

Riding the AT yesterday in dirt and pavement (dry) the tire seemed pretty damn good.  No chicken strips for me on the pavement and I was very hard on them.  My goal was to try and "break" the tire and show how it slipped or chunked or somehow failed when pushed but it held up great.  Even a full street pressures I was expecting it to skid a bit off road or break traction but it never led to any loss of confidence.  It would break traction a bit when braking downhill on loose gravel but c'mon every tire does that too..

Like I said, I'm not a 50/50 tire guy but I would DEFINITELY use a 50/50 tire like this if I were going on a long trip like to Alaska or Cabo or Central & South America.

I'd really like to try the Motoz GPS because I've heard so many good things about it as well.  They were a sponsor for awhile and may return soon so I feel I need to experience it first hand so I can compare.

Mike Thomas tested the tire and will be writing probably the first review anywhere right here on XLADV so I'm curious to hear more about how it did in Baja and how many miles he got on it.

They say their test bike, a Vstrom, got 8k miles on a rear and they think even the higher hp bikes like the GS and the KTM's will still get about 5k miles on a rear.  That seems comparable to the GPS and maybe a bit less than the K60's.

Here are some more photos of the tires from their site

 

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Some people have been saying this tire "looks like the Shinko 705."  They do a bit (the rear tire) but you have to see them up close and you'll see a much bigger clean out space between the blocks as well as much better sidewall lugs for traction in sand and mud the 705 just doesn't have.  It's a different carcass too.  They said they went through 30 prototypes and years (at least two that I know of) research to get to this tire so they've done their homework.

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@Manybikes put this fantastic video together about our day spent testing the new Dunlop Trailmax Mission 50/50 tire.  He really is one of the best in the industry at these live action videos (vs studio or stationary shots like so many do).

Take a peek..

 

I'm not sure, as Kyle says, these will compete with Motoz's Adventure and RallZ but definitely will their GPS (50/50) tire.

Kyle isn't wrong when he mentions Michelin's Anakee Wild "50/50" tire but I think Michelin was high when they made that call or a cynical ploy to play in a much larger segment than 60/40 (dirt/street) where it really belongs.  Funny, they once said "it's really a 60/60 tire because it does both so well."  M'yeah right.  Is that why it's rated 3.0 stars at Revzilla?  lol

He makes great points I missed (because he's a pro) about a few things...  One is that at street pressure these tires are really forced to show their stuff off road and I have to admit they were great in cornering, accelerating and braking.  Really good actually.  Another is when launching off a lip to loft the front wheel, it does not break traction.  He also synthesizes the marketing message much better than I when he points out that the block design makes it the best on-road it can be whereas the side knobs help it bite off-road like a more dirt oriented tire should.  Best(?) of both worlds kind of.

Thanks for giving me a shout out on the video!  It's alway nice to see myself riding as I'm usually the one with the camera!

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Well a nice crispy new set of Dunlop Trailmax Mission tires fell off a Fedex Truck the other day... at my house :) This can be attributed to XLADV (thanks Eric, you rock)... Eric and I have been having several conversations back and forth about this tire. I assume many others (like myself) are always on the never ending hunt for the tire that can do it all, weekend hood-rat things with your friends off-road, and slabbing it to work every day on freeways. I still haven't found perfection yet.... but I gotta say these look promising.

I mounted Dunlop Trailmax Mission tires by hand this morning because I wanted to see how hard that would be, worried that the side-tread might stiffen things up a bit. The front tire was easy to mount, no more difficult than mounting a Shinko front tire (which is easy). The front tire also didn't feel incredibly heavy, or much heavier than the other tires. The Rear sidewall is fairly rigid, and the tire does feel heavy. Mounting the rear tire will just require you to really stay on top of ensuring the already mounted bead-walls are in the channel of the rim, and not near the bead at all, you will need every bit of play to get that last bit over the rim. The rear took more effort than the Shinkos I am used to, but it wasn't bad enough for me to be dropping MF's while mounting. Zero MF's for front or rear, but let's just say rear had me thinking the words, just not quite saying them.... lol 

I will be running my new Dunlop Trailmax Mission tire at the 2019 Geico Adventure Rally next week, afterwards I will be able to provide a good bit of review for the off-road bits, and some long fast slab at least from the normal daily-rider average joe ADV guy perspective...... 

**HOWEVER** ....I did do a short series of very important (to me) tests today... Mostly street/freeway, but some dirt/gravel...
The (my) first impressions... 

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. 
Handling, profile, cornering: They are brand new, I did get after them a bit today but I want them to break in a bit.. more later but so far - perfect. 
Does the front track in dirt/gravel: I whipped it through 2 *short* dirt/gravel roads twice today, the front tracked very well, seems to be doing its job. More after rally. 
Rear tire in dirt/gravel: The rear spin is really... nice? I mean it's a really predictable clean spin when the rear lets go, i slid the rear brake a few times, felt just fine. More after rally. 
Sidewalls: 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. 
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. 

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More later after the Rally... Because I daily commute, ride every day, and so on (<- shoutout - EDar) ... I'll be letting everyone know how long they lasted.. because I am really curious too.... so far though I'm excited about these. 

Also just for the sake of records keeping... Bike had 28,200 miles on it when I put the tires on.... so we will see how many miles we get out of these puppies. 

 

Edited by ShutterRev
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17 hours ago, Eric Hall said:

Im told tires will be in stock this week with Cycle Gear and Revzilla, others to follow shortly.

Google tells me these tires are listed here so far:

JP Cycles have my size in stock, one comes tomorrow the other comes Monday!  150/70/17 rear and the 110/80/19 front...

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Well, I have put about 700 miles on the Dunlop Trailmax Mission tires since the original post, and the majority of those were at the 2019 Geico Adventure Rally in Julian (Nov 7-10). I have some pics on IG (@shutterrev), including a short clip of how well they can brownout your trail buddies :) During the rally they were ridden edge to edge front and rear on the roads, and fared quite well on multiple levels out there on the trails. 

The down and dirty... (updates to my previous review)

Handling, profile, cornering:  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?: Really well for me, 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 too much a lot of fun browning them out with roost 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: Only 700 miles on the clock for these, 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. I have high hopes for mileage on these... so stay tuned for the end of life report for this set... 

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. 

In summary, they did really well on the Rally, and continue to be great daily commute tires at the same time. We hit easy, medium, and black diamond last weekend and I was never anywhere thinking to myself "F these tires", instead I was continually surprised that they were just doing the things that needed doing for being 50/50 - If these get the miles I hope they do, I will be buying another set after these are spent. 

- Nick 

Heading home from the Rally shot: 

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Edited by ShutterRev
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