After two and a half months and 6.5K miles they were dead.

I chose the Q2 not really knowing what to expect after having done some reading and research...... as you do. Most reviews seemed positive.
One thing I hadn't considered though; How many of the reviewers I read rode a beef cake Hurricane? Probably none.

After experiencing some strange handling characteristics which I discussed amongst the learned brethren of this forum, our own very dear Shadow pointed out that perhaps these tyres weren't suitable for a bike as heavy as ours.
So the relevance of reviewing tyre and bike together becomes more apparent. Something I rather stupidly hadn't considered until then.

My short experience of the Q2s, riding a good mixture of road types, not just straight line motorway work:

First ride on them- OMG!!! Amazing. The grip levels are fantastic. I rode out with a very high wind blowing in across the sea. My old tyres would've had me turning back for home in no time. The Q2s felt like the bike was glued to the road and no matter how hard the gusts she just held the line unflinchingly.
Scrubbing in seemed an irrelevant concept. They just worked straight out of the box.
I completed a 1000 mile road trip within the first week riding over every kind of surface imaginable. Not once did I have to worry about breaking loose in corners or braking. The ride always seemed a little harsh though, like the walls were too stiff.
After another couple of thousand miles I started to notice a slight wobble in the steering when the tyres were cold. Ten miles or so and it would be gone, at least while going in a straight line.
A week or so later I had a nasty moment. Carrying a top box full of clothes and some tools after dropping my daughter off at school I approached a bend which had a scotch grip surface started to lean and to my horror the bars all of a sudden started locking side to side uncontrollably. By a hairs breadth I managed to come to a stop on the apex with my front wheel in the rough.
From that moment carrying any weight on the back was an ordeal. Passenger weight was not so bad but put so much as an extra sock in the box and I really know about it. A Constant wobble on the bars and very unpredictable cornering control
It got to the point where I started to question whether the suspension had suddenly gone sick on me.
Anyway, two and a half months and six and a half thou and the rear was down to it's limit, the front so badly worn, they had to go. The deal was rubber stamped by the fact that I got a small nail in the rear resulting in a slow puncture.
I've gone to BT021s and am loving them. My suspension isn't sick, my head bearings aren't worn. Everything is back to normal and I can fit several pairs of socks in my box and the travel anvil without a flinch from the front end.

About the front tyre:
Before taking the tyres off I checked the tread depth with a digital depth gauge and found a variation of 0.8 mm around the circumference which showed that the tyre had worn its self out of concentricity. This perhaps explains the wobble/shake effect on steering. The centre of the tread had also worn slightly off centre for some reason which again could explain the unpredictable characteristics in cornering.
I always suspected a mis match in profile between the front and rear, the front appearing to have too tight a radius. To get down to the chicken strips would have meant grinding the tips of the wing mirrors into the tarmac.

The rear:
Although it wore down to the limit indicators there was so much tread left that if I hadn't been trying to find that damned nail I'd probably have kept on riding them. The tyre was worn evenly across the surface including the edges which I know had done some serious work in cornering. The band of dual compound was plain to see and I think this tyre had done a good job, but there is still the question about load bearing. Changing pressures both up and down and adjusting suspension settings hadn't made much difference.

To sum up:

Would I fit these again?
For my style of riding and usage- no!
If I took her to a track then quite possibly. The first two thousand miles were very exciting and really uncovered some characteristics of the bike that I hadn't been able to tap into before.
They're not a cheap tyre. 5-6K miles does not meet my expectations for a set of tyres on the road and having to splash out for a new set twice as often in comparison to a sports touring tyre. It's going to get very expensive, especially if you're a high miler.

Hopefully this little summary will help other riders to make a considered choice before splashing the cash in Mr Dunlops direction.
If you don't do a lot of miles you can have some real fun with these but if you need to get more than 4K in a year and carry weight, steer well clear.

 

Henry, this is a good post and answers some questions I have had regarding my Q2s. When I got my Hurricane it had a set of worn out Michelins on it, so I had no comparison. Bought the Q2 front and rear based on having a quality tire.
What I have noticed is as you say the grip is excellent but the whole thing doesnt seem to have a feel in curves, it holds the line, no question but feels vague as far as feed back. I statred calling it "power steering" as I can put it on a line,the bike holds the line but I dont get the feedback. I chalked that up to not really knowing what I should feel.My head and wheel bearings are fresh( year old) and adjusted correctly by my dealer. Suspension feels ok, but I haven't experimented much with adjustment.
I know this is common, but the tires only place of real scary is crossing the tar strips in the cracks. The tire loses it and gives a scary moment when I cross them. Think this is common though.I have about 2k mile on mine and rarely carry a passenger or heavy bags on the back...my two cents, I had been wondering about my choice...

 

I've had Bridgestones Battlax BT 021 and 020's, Michelin PR and PR2 and Metzelers 06's on the bike. Best mileage was the PR2's at 13000 MILES but they were totally shot and dangerous when I threw them off. The Metzelers have done 3000 miles now and no apparent signs of wear yet - they do take a while to warm up, a bit longer than the PR2's I'd say.
And it's horses for courses - touring tyres for big old touring bikes I say
and you can load what the h...l you like in the top box.......................

 

I bet the front wore on the right side more than the left, that's normal for you. Here in the states they wear on the left because we ride to the right.

The road center crown and distance traveled in turns causes that off side ware.

On a recent trip, a Goldwing and a JFR1300 both had head shake at 45 mph just as I do with a top box loaded. I am starting to think that's normal now.

5,000 miles on bike tires is not all that bad when you figure that they have to be softer that car tires for the grip.

There is nothing as good as a new tire however. It seams that you fall in love with a new tire up front but then the love goes away.

 

Well Tim,
I guess you've summed it up.
I'll just finish off by saying that the two sets of Mezlers I had which covered 24K miles between them never gave any such problem with steering wobble. They were not up to the grip standards of the Dunlops or the 021's Im currently on but man, they just kept on and on. There's got to be a good compromise if you need to carry weight around. Tyre technology keeps improving. We've just got to remember though that our old heffers are not getting any lighter but the tyre manufacturers are always trying to match the newer, lighter machines. It may not be logical therefore that we should go out and buy the very latest new fangled hoop but rather stick to a more traditional, proven design which suits our riding style, of course.

 

Hey:

Well HenryM, I think you and TBT, both have it right on and think that Michelins and Metzelers, (also Avons,Continental& Shinkos) are great compromise tyes and may not give the Q2 or BT0xx feel, but give the same feel mile after mile till they are gone. That to me is what I look for in a M/C tire more than most other tire qualities and why I go with those brands only nowadays (Avon, Continental, Metzeler, Michelin,and Shinko)

Dub

 

i have the q2s on my track bike and i love em. they do get very hot though. i have seen lots of heat cycling compared to other tires