Dunlop 207RR “Race Replica”
Ultra High Performance Street Tires

How to stick your motorcycle to the ground.

Motorcycle suspensions have come a long way in the last 20 years, but one simple fact has remained to this day – No matter how sophisticated the suspension hardware is, its useless without good rubber to back it up. The Dunlop 207RR is an ultra-high performance street tire, which meets the needs of the aggressive street rider, as well as the weekend track racer. You don’t have to look to far back in time, to see the roots of this tire comes right from the legendary 207GP race tire.

One of the things I really like about these tires, is the type of feedback they give. I entered this particular right-hander that had recently had its cracks filled with sealer (the stuff wasn’t there the last time I rode). I was moving pretty fast, and the B12 was already pretty far over. I was positive I would have to break the rear-end loose on purpose to avoid flying into the trees. Little did I know.... If the 207RR’s are approaching a situation where they might break loose, they will hold on “dragging their finger nails” to the absolute last nano-second, all the while screaming “Hey! HEY! I’m gonna let go here!” This feedback allowed me to make steering and throttle corrections without losing any control at all.

Dunlop incorporated the renowned 207GP rubber compound on a 207ZR carcass. The result was a tire with fantastic grip on the road surface, and the endurance/rigidity of a solid street tire. The rear tire also utilizes Dunlop’s “JLB” (Jointless Breaker) belt technology, which adds additional stability at high speeds, and improves the tires responsiveness & stiffness. The best educated guesses seem to point to a tread life of 4000 to 5000 miles. This article will be updated as the RR’s progress though their life time.

The 207RR takes advantage of all the great features of the original 207GP tire, while adding better wear, and decent wet weather capability . In “aggressive” riding environments , the RR provides an amazing amount of traction, stability and control. This tire is as much at home on the track, as it is on pothole infested mountain back-roads. Expert or Novice, if you really enjoy attacking the pavement, the 207RR is a great weapon.

Update - 4/20/2002

Progress report - So far, the 207RR’s have performed quite well, and I dont have any major complaints about them. There are several aspects of these tires that have revealed themselves over time, and having tested the tires quite thoroughly at this point, it seemed appropriate to update this review. These observations are strictly from a street perspective, not a track perspective .

Observation #1 - I have always felt that a good high performance street tire should warm up quickly with “normal” riding, and the 207RR’s seem to do this easily. I have noticed, that when the outside ambient temperature is less than 60*F, they take notably longer to warm up (i.e. its not a little longer, its a lot longer). The tires make it obvious when they aren’t up to optimal operating temperature, the front-end will push easily under hard cornering, and the rear-end will most definitely slide when power is applied out of an apex.

Observation #2 - In several instances, I rode them in light and heavy rain conditions. The tread design does work well, and keeps the tires on the ground at freeway speeds without issue. Obviously, the tires cant warm up in this environment, so high levels of traction aren’t going to happen. However, “casual” riding maneuvers can still be done with confidence as long as the usual “wet weather precautions” are taken.

Observation #3 - The 207RR’s are wearing well. The tires currently have just over 2000 miles on them, and theres quite a bit of tread left. I’m going to estimate a solid 4000 mile lifetime, perhaps a bit farther. They seem to be resisting developing a flat-spot despite my frequent 20 mile (each way) commute to the office. I do frequent the twisties though, and also make it a point to hang every freeway off/on ramp I can.

Observation #4 - When the tires were 1st installed, they required a decent amount of weight to balance properly. 1.5 ounces in the front, and 3 ounces on the rear. Thats a little high, but still managable, and they balanced fine. At about 350 miles, the B12 developed a jitter on the front-end when entering the triple-digits. I had them balanced again, this time computer spin-balanced (initially they were hand balanced). The front still needed 1.5 ounces, but the weight was in a slightly different position this time. The rear required 3 ounces again, but also in a slightly different spot. My guess is that the belts finally “set in”, and changed the weight distribution dynamic, OR, the original manual balance was just too inaccurate. In any case, I still dont like to see that much required for balancing.

Conclusion - Assuming its a nice warm day (at least over 60*F), the roads are dry, the tires will warm up quickly, and they are very ready to go. The rubber compound is excellent, and provides an astounding level of traction on any typical road surface. No unexpected front-end pushes, no surprise rear-end slides, just a firm grip on the road surface. I am still impressed with these tires solid stability. Despite the B12’s formidable girth, I have yet to find a road surface variance that really unsettles the tires. The JLB system Dunlop employs for its belt design maintains the tires uniformity extremely well, even when its “hit” really hard. If I had to rate these tires for Performance Street Use, (scale of “1 to 100”, 1 being the worst), and would give the 207RR an “80”.

How I score - All tires start with a perfect score of 100, and lose points based on any negative characteristics. What knocked off points from the 207RR score was:
* Unusual amount of weight required for balancing
* Poor warm-up in cooler weather
* Limited wet weather traction

To be fair, a few positives:
* Rock solid stability
* Excellent rubber compound (traction & wear)
* Good wet weather tread design (anti-hydroplaning)

Griff, Maximum-Suzuki.com

Any speeds mentioned in this article which are above the legal speed limit, are complete fabrications, and the author is obviously lying.