An utterly biased review of the Dunlop K555
Written: Jan 11 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Comfort, longevity, quality construction
Cons: Not safe on wet roads
The Bottom Line: -
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| carnut2k4's Full Review: Dunlop K555 Rear * Oversize Item |
It's easy to neglect the tires on your car. They're there, they're round and they help the car move you down the road smoothly. We've all been guilty of riding around on tires which long should have been put out to pasture. It's easy to overlook them. But what if there were only two tires connecting you to the pavement and you couldn't help but see them constantly. Would you be a little more judicious about replacing them before the steel belts started popping out of the sidewall?
Get your motor running
When it comes to motorcycles I'm a lot more cautious about all the little things. I monitor the tread wear and air pressure of my tires constantly. Two years ago one of my bikes needed a new rear tire so I headed over to my local bike shop and had a Dunlop K555 Rear Tire mounted. My Honda Shadow 1100 calls for a 170/80 H15.
The boring lecture about numbers and markings
The 170/80 H15 breaks down simply. 170 is the distance across the section width or tread width in millimeters. 80 represent the aspect ratio or height of the sidewall. The 80 means 80% of the section width, which is 170 in this case, so the sidewall height is 136 millimeters. The 'H' is the speed rating which in this case is indicating that the tire is deemed safe at speeds of up to 130 MPH. In the case of the Shadow this is more than sufficient. In almost a decade of ownership I have never gotten above 115 MPH (which felt like 215 MPH on this bike). Lastly, that '15' simply means that the tire fits on a 15 inch rim.
I dunno - this all sounds pretty biased to me
What's that little marking on the sidewall over there? A closer look and I can see that it's the word "nylon" stamped right into the tire. Does it mean the tire is made entirely of nylon? No. Does it have something to do with pantyhose? No. It means that this is a bias ply tire. As in, this isn't a radial tire. The innards of the tire are comprised of rubber coated nylon belts stretched from bead wire to bead wire. The bead wire is the part that mates up to the rim. Another layer of rubber covers these nylon belts - that’s the part of the tire with the tread. So you may be wondering if all these belts are lined up perfectly parallel to one another. Nope. The plies criss-cross each other on a…..get ready for the obvious…..on a bias.
The last of the sidewall stuff
The word tubeless is also marked on the sidewall letting you know that you do not use a tube with this motorcycle tire. H77 is the last of the markings to be found. The 'H' part was covered already. The '77' indicates a Max Load of 412 kilos or 908 pounds. Motorcycle tires are much more sensitive to air pressure than car tires are. That max load can only be reached safely if the tire is properly inflated to 41 pounds - in the case of the Shadow.
Head out on the highway
The K555 is a directional tire meaning it can only be spun in one direction safely. There are arrows on the sidewall to show you which way that is. The black letter version that I'm using weighs in at 19 pounds, but strangely the white wall version, which is otherwise identical, weighs in at a much heavier 26 pounds.
A word thrown around in motorcycle lingo is contact patch. The K555 has a wide patch, something more than 6 inches. The tire is rounded so that in a straight line a good deal of the tread is not on the road but remember that on a bike the whole tire will be used in turns so that extra wide contact area is great to have. I typically take turns at a much scarier angle than most sane people would on a Shadow and I've never run out of tire. You'll find the footpeg kicking up sparks long before you find the edge of the tire. Out of the hole this fat tire sticks the launch brilliantly every time. I've never accidentally broken the tire free and the Shadow had gobs of torque. Even doing an intentional burnout is a bit of a chore. I've never felt unstable at any speed and when I spoke about being afraid to exceed 115 MPH on the Shadow that wasn't due to fear of tire failure. The bike itself just isn't cut out for triple digits. The traction and heat index are not given, but I find this tire to be somewhat lacking in traction as compared to some of its more 'serious' competition. This ones built more for longevity and comfort. I have close to five thousand miles in the K555 and the tread is a little more than 7/32" which ain't bad considering it started at 9/32".
I've gotten caught out in the rain quite a few times and have come to find this tire to be a hazard in wet weather. Dunlop touts it as an all weather performer but this one scares the crap out of me on wet roads. So much so that now I find a dry place and wait the rain out before continuing. You should too.
The most appropriate category to rate this tire in is also by far its strongest point. Comfort on straight, dry roads. The K555 is tops in this area. Road bumps are absorbed effortlessly by that big fat sidewall. Road noise isn't really a relevant topic to rate a motorcycle tire on so I'll leave that one alone and I'll end by recommending this tire with the one BIG caveat. If you log a lot of hours on wet roads stay away from this one. If it's dry in your area or if you're like me and don't have a problem waiting out a passing storm than this is a great choice to replace your OE rear tire. Retail is between $100 & $120 depending on where you buy it.
Recommended:
Yes
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carnut2k4
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Member: Jason
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The pool's in but the patio ain't dry
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