okay so i know this was in another thread but i couldnt find it so here goes..im pretty sure that a huge reason that the tires suck that come stock are because they do differ drasticly then the ones you buy off of the shelf. the ones that come stock are actually made by the sumitomo rubber corp in japan. the tires that you buy off of the shelf are either made in the good ol' USA or in France.. and are not sub contracted out to another company..so how i came about this.. i noticed the other day when airing up my tires that it said "sumitomo rubber corp made in japan" so i assumed this was normal and today i took my wifes car in to get serviced and we ended up talking about tires and i made a comment about sumitomo being the parent company to dunlop and he proceeded to explain to me that they were a german company and yadayada yada..so then im walking home while wifeys cars getting worked on and i had to walk by the motorcycle shop so i went in and looked at every dunlop qualifier they had (in the previous thread i believe it was shorrtbuss that had made a comment about them not sucking off the shelf) and sure enough every one was made in either USA or france. so then i went and looked at the hondas and every one said sumitoma rubber corp. japan. soo i think i cracked why they suck..any one else have thoughts on this??

 

LOL. I've been saying this (in a slightly different way) for a while now.

When I first bought my 07 600RR, I noticed the tread pattern was different than the regular Qualifier's I purchased at a dealer for my 06 600RR. So I did a little dabbling and discovered (though, not as detailed as you found out) that they are two completely different tires. The OEM "Qualifier's" really just use the name. Off-the-Shelf Qualifier's are the real, sticky deal.

Glad I'm not the only one out there noticing this kind of stuff. Good job.

 

Wasn't me that said that, but I'm never too proud to steal somebody else's ideas and take the credit

 

So Why would Dunlop want to earn a bad rep for their tires? I ride with a guy on an 08 600RR with stock qualifiers and he pushes the bike to its limits and never had any complaints with his stockers.

 

i think it may depend on the climate you live in. because i havent really had a problem with them either. but alot of other people have. i live in so cal so its never really to cold here. theres another thread that goes into what sucks about them..as i said on the thread my only gripe with them is that they dont dissipate heat very well.

 

heres the link to that other thread https://cbrforum.com/m_633465/tm.htm

 

Bike manufacturers usually work with tire manufacturers to come up with spacific versions of the shelf tire for each model bike.

 

I think many people just get it into their heads that they "suck" because they hear it so often.......but in actuality, they are pretty decent tires for being OEM. And yes, they are completely different tires from off-the-shelf Qualifiers.........which in my opinion are absolutely amazing tires. Track days, commuting, aggressive twisties and not to mention, track time at Laguna Seca.......all on Dunlop "off the shelf" Qualifier's, and I'm always amazed and never let down.

 

I still have what I believe is the stock qualifier in front and a Pilot power radial in back...how is that going to effect my handling?

 

^^ If i'm not mistaken those tires have2 different types of profiles and isn't recommended. Maybe somebody can give further insight into this for you.