Cycle News Staff | June 22, 2016
Dunlop recently introduced its new Trailsmart tire, specifically designed for one of the fastest-growing segments in motorcycling, the adventure (ADV) market, which is basically made up of on/off-road bikes like KTM’s 1290 Super Adventure, BMW’s R 1200 GS, and Honda’s new CRF1000L Africa Twin.
The Trailsmart tire, however, is focused more for the pavement than dirt, since most ADV bikes see more action on the street than they do on the dirt. The Trailsmart tire features Dunlop’s new XGT Cross Groove tread pattern. Dunlop says that the intersecting tread grooves rapidly evacuate water in wet conditions, and help find traction off-road. The grooves also aid in bump absorption, which helps the tires roll over small obstacles for greater off-road traction.
Dunlop’s new Trailsmart tire is designed for big-bike adventure riding.
The interaction and orientation of the Cross Groove tread pattern also has significant advantages on the street. The pattern provides a large footprint and equalizes pressure distribution across the tire, improving mileage and handling while promoting more even wear. Tread block rib angles help optimize block stiffness to reduce tire squirm and heat buildup through friction, thus reducing wear around the tread block edges.
Like Dunlop’s high-performance Sportmax tires, Trailsmart also employs Jointless Band (JLB) rear-tire construction. JLB uses a continuously wound belt around the tire that helps maintain a consistent contact patch and reduces distortion and excessive heat buildup, contributing to an enhanced highway ride and higher mileage.
The Trailsmart also employs a new silica-fortified tread compound that enhances traction in wet and dry conditions, promotes quick warm-up on cool days, and helps reduce rolling resistance for better mileage.
The Trailsmart tire comes in a variety of sizes for 19- and 21-inch front wheels, and 17- and 18-inch rear wheels.
The Elite 4 is Dunlop’s new rubber for street touring. Its main selling point? Longer wear, more mileage.
Dunlop also introduced the all-new Elite 4 tire, designed purely for street touring. It features similar technology as the Trailsmart tire, including Multi-Tread technology. It’s available in both bias and radial construction to fit a wide variety of touring motorcycles, new and old. The Elite 4, Dunlop says, offers improved handling, lower road noise, more even wear and higher wear mileage. Dunlop claims mileage has been increased by five percent over the company’s previous E3 Multi-Tread tire.
