a decent set of tires? I found a set for 258.00 with free shipping on eBay. I hear a lot of riders swearing by michelins and pirellis but these are more in my $$$ range. If they are garbage I'll spend the extra 50.00 but if their decent tires I'm going to get them.

 

A good friend of mine ran them last year on his R1. He usually runs Pilot Powers like I do, and has since returned to PP since then. He didnt like them at all. He never really had any issues with slipping, but said he couldnt feel the bike either. The profile is much shorter and doesnt offer the lean angle the Pilot Powers do. He spent the money so he ran em. He only got 4000 miles out of em before the belt started to show and he had to change them. He was getting around 7000 with his pilot powers. He has logged over 65000 miles on his bike and many sets of tires and he still runs the pilot powers.

I cant speak from personal experience on this one, but my riding style is pretty close to his and I trust his judgement. So I wont be running qualifiers any time soon. I'll be sticking with my Pilot Powers. I havent run a tire that can match the grip along with the longevity of the Pilot Powers. Of course, I really like the tires, so I probably wont be trying any others out any time soon. My bike had Pirelli diablo corsa's on it from the factory. I liked those and they did pretty well. They slid a few times, but nothing uncontrollable. next, I ran Dunlop 218's, and can say those are the worst tires I have ever had. They did not grip at all. I only logged about 300 miles on em before I swapped em out, they really were that bad. But, thats not to say all Dunlops are the same as those, they do make good tires, just stay away from the 218's. I then went to Pilot Powers and havent looked back. My all time favorite tire.

Im not sure if your running 190 rear, but if you are, here is a link on ebay to a set of pilot powers for 275 shipped.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Miche...Q5fAccessories

 

Thanks for the write up.... I have found some Michelins in my size that only cost $30.00 more and will go with them. I have a 180 rear but thanks for the link too.

 

Everyone is going to tell you something different. If you research any tire, there are gonna be people who like it and people who dont. I've heard of people switching from Pilot Powers to Qualifiers and loving it, and vice versa. People will just tell you what they wanna believe themselves. Its usually what they are already running.

Honestly for the average rider it really wont make a difference between qualifiers or powers. You cant go wrong with either.

I dont know how the other guys friend only lasted 4,000 miles on qualifiers. He must have been burning out all the time or something but it should last at least 6,000 miles or more.

 

I hear ya.... I actually just won a set of Pirelli Dragon Supercorsa Pro's for $52.00. They have 30 laps on them so I think its a pretty good deal. I know they will not last as long but for the price...

 

try metzerler M3's you can get those for 270 on kneedraggers i think. I personally love em, i wanted the Michelin PP but heard they have no feedback and iabsolutely love these, cold, hot, wet, dry there perfect.

 

There are two different models of Qualifier's. You have the stock Qualifier's that come with 07+ CBR's (which aren't bad, but aren't great). Then you have the "off-the-shelf" Qualifier's........which are the real ones.

The off-the-shelf Qualifier's are amazing tires. You get incredible grip and they feel amazing compared to stockers or other worn out tires. I took a California Superbike School class at Laguna Seca and used their Kawasaki track bikes. Halfway through the day, I was really liking the tires and was amazed with the handling and grip. So when we pulled into the pits, I got off to check them out to find out what they were (thinking they were some sort of DOT race tire or something).........nope.........just regular off-the-shelf Qualifier's. I was shocked. The same Qualifier's I had on my bike at home, were the same ones I was just WOWed by at Laguna Seca. So after I got home, I got back on my bike and the tires felt better.

There's a psychological aspect to tires. You hear a lot of people bashing the Qualifier's and you start to think they're a bad tire (as I did). So you start thinking they're bad, eventually they're going to start feeling bad because you a riding them differently now with the bias in your head.

So ,when I got home from Laguna Seca, I took my bike out (knowing full well what those tires were capable of) and was AMAZED with how much better my bike felt, and how much more confidence I had, and how much sticker they felt. Even though the tire didn't change from when I left to Laguna Seca, and when I got back, the psychological aspect of it helped me realize these are good tires.

So if you read all that, congrats. I have a way of typing a novel when I post. But yes, Dunlop Qualifier's are GREAT tires.

 

Rock on blue Fox ~ you just made me feel better about my tires
No complaints here about Dunlops.

 

My friend has em on his aprilia i had no problems riding the mountains with them.

 

I bought a new set for 238 shipped this year from motoxoutlett and I can't complain about them at all!