Writing about the
Dunlop SportSmart 2 given
73% (180-55-17-W)
Driving on
a combination of roads for 1000
spirited miles
I'd say these are slightly better than the Dunlop Qualifiers (which are cheaper) but not that much better.
I have these one a F800R that I use to commute and I eventually take it to the mountains to do some nice cornering.
I have other bike (a beaten up CBR600F F3) that I use solely for the purpose of doing questionable public road riding and trackdays so I'm somewhat familiar with riding close to the limit.
The front behaves nicely enough — it does feel very planted and turns in a neutral manner, although with low feedback.
The rear is terrible. Slips way to easily in almost every single occasion when you do something. Coming out of a roundabout and give a good twist? It slips. White lines in the dry? Slip. Off the throttle on a turn while going traffic speed? Also slips. It slips all the time.
When riding fast and getting a knee down, the rear slips so much with the throttle on I'm almost turning supermoto style with the slippage and exiting almost every single corner with the bike nearly sideways, and having the rear dance all over the place on braking zones.
At least it does this in a predictable manner. Admitedly I've been told I look cool doing the whole sliding thing, but this isn't the fastest way to ride a street bike. I'm getting a Pilot Power 3 next or something of the sort.