I just bought a set of Dunlop D404's ...

100/90-19 front, 130/90-16 rear, did I make a decent choice for my 1980 KZ750H1 LTD?

To clarify I suppose I need to describe my ride style .... I mostly putter around town and on country roads with the occational 50-100 mile jaunt on the highway .... I rarely exceed the speed limit with the exception of a hard throttle blast down a strait, smooth, lonely county road. two-up riding happens but only rarely and usually just to give one of my kids a ride around a big country block.

My bike currently has a Cheng Shin Marquise on the rear ... it was/is fairly new and seems to track OK ... the front tire is another story however !!!! When I bought the bike it had the original Dunlop Qualifier on it and it was weather checked real bad ... so I bought a used (in pretty good condition) Kenda Challenger. The Kenda seems to be skiterish on dry pavement ... don't track very well going straight or in turns. Sunday I rode my KZ for the first time in the rain !!!! The Kenda was just plain scary !!!!

So after asking around a bit and comparing pricing I bought a set of Dunlops ... new, matched set. I hope I made a good choice !!!!

Dale,are they by any chance "RWL" (raised white lettering)??

I'm Still looking for a rear RWL.My friends out here run a bike shop,and they want to thank me for doing some stuff for them,by getting a new rear tire for me,but none of their suppliers carry any RWL in my size(130/90-18)

I don't think D404 has any raised white letter options, all blackwall. They are an "OK" tire, nothing more. I wrote a review somewhere on the tire. It was either Dennis Kirk or Bikebandit I think. To quickly summerize, the tire is extremely easy to mount, mostly because it is almost like a bicycle tire in flexibility. I always thought of this a little, not really worried, but I know in a pinch in the past running "better tires" (Dunlop K591, Metzler ME88,99 ect), if need be I could ride on a flat tire for several miles at city street speeds at least. Although riding on a flat tire is never a particularly smart thing to do, there are times where it is far better than walking through a dark street in the middle of Newark, NJ at 2AM for example. Without air a Dunlop 404 is going to be a flopping mess of rubber, I doubt could be ridden on, not that that is all important, but by the same token if it did suddenly deflate in the center of a turn, it would be much harder to control than a better tire. The tire wore pretty good, I'll give that high marks. Sizing was smaller than better quality tires in the same advertised size. The main objection I had was that after a few thousand miles the tread becomes very slippery. I've never had a tire get this slippery. Any little bit of moisture on the road I could spin the rear at 20mph just by barely giving the throttle on the 650. Every turn felt like the front was going to wash out. I changed out the tires for new Continentals and there was such a difference, I would never go back to the 404.
You did OK, Not all that bad of a tire. I think it is really comparable to the Cheng Shins. It's not a $150 tire, you get a decent tire for a decent price.

Sandy ... nope ... blackwalls. RWL's are getting very difficult to find. It's like there's no longer a market for them or something ??? I like RWL too ... all I could find were Bridgestone Spitfires in RWL ... they were just out of my price range / budgit .... so I opted for the Dunlops ... Good Luck !!!

Ron .... thanks for the review ! I'll run these tires this season and maybe over next winter, if they don't suit me, I'll get something better. Overall price and the immediate need to remove the Kenda drove my decision at this time.

And, like I said, I'm really not a very aggressive rider anymore soooooooo .......

2M4Dale wrote:

I like RWL too ... all I could find were Bridgestone Spitfires in RWL ...

Is that a typo Dale,or do you actually know where a person CAN get a RWL spitfire?:huh:

I found 'em on Ebay

i bought a pair of RWL spitfires from bikebandit last summer. Those were 16 and 19 inch. BB had pretty low prices and fast shipping.

Same here, I just ordered a RWL Spitfire from Bike Bandit. I checked the usual online sources and made some calls and yes indeed, the RWL Spitfires are being discontinued. Seems like the RWL rear sizes are more scarce. Call first to confirm the availability of the size you want. Good luck!

Dennis Kirk has 'em listed in the big catalog. I'd call first.

This is funny, when I bought my 550 it had a Cheng Shin on the rear and a Kenda on the front. I totally agree about the Kenda being skitish even on dry pavement. Stay out of gravel with it....

I replaced both with a set of Dunlop D-404's. It's been about 2,000 miles and I'm very happy with them. My riding style is very similar to yours. I use the 550 mostly as a commuter.

Bob, I think yours is the review I was hoping to see posted about the D404's .... someone that rides kindof similar to me with about the same size bike and the same tires.

Like 'em or not I'm putting them on this weekend ! Anything would be better than the junk Kenda !!!

I have 404's on my 550 and they have been perfect so far. I don't push that bike real hard but definitely more than a commuter ride. Seems most bias ply's get hard and slippery after a couple of years of riding. Dunlop's in particular have been critiqued for flat spotting down the middle so that when you roll up on the sides a bit you feel it and it changes the turn dynamic. My feeling on that is too much straight road riding, move out of the flatlands! :laugh: