Just put on some new tires and decided to go crash the bike since everything has been running so well as of late..... Ithe highside happened at around 30MPH in the wet as I was playing speedracer and powersliding the rear end around and through the curves. (WSB N. Haga I am NOT!) Many kudos to John Fitz at Powersports for the crashbars they worked GREAT!!!

Here is a snip from Jeremy Sagar's exellent Tiger page that I did a writeup on...

Blake Mantel, Dunlop D604 - If you are a novice / intermediate Tiger rider I second John West's comments, these tires require much more rider input to drive correctly. HOWEVER, if you can really ride the Tiger, onroad - offroad, straights, slides, skids, etc. these tires are GREAT!!! I knew that the T66's were bad in the wet, but when I changed over to the D604's I never knew how bad. First thing about these tires is that they need a few days to get a "set" to them. A tech responded that the kevlar in them contributed to this. I run mine at 36 PSI front and 38 PSI rear. So, if you put them on get ready for a tire that will change character for three or so days.

    Next, is that they have the "fall in" phenomena that some other tires have (Metz Enduro 4,Avon Gripsters, etc.) and will want to tighten a turn once it is started. But when they turn they stick! I have been trying to get the end sliding around in the dry and these tires just stick a lot better than the T66's. In the rain they stick much better as well.

    This lead me to my latest accident, a highside (OW!), after I had these tires on for a week. I was practicing power slides in the WET and curvy roads near me. I had slid the rear all the way over and was at full opposite steering and still falling down (start of a lowside) when I stupidly released the throttle, the D604's picked up traction (I still cant believe it) and flipped me and the bike completely over. Off-road use is vastly improved over the T66's as well, with stable leaned turns a real possibility in the soft stuff or grass. The T66's will suddenly loose traction when leaned over to far on soft surfaces. I have 2,000 miles on them now and the show no signs of the derided "pattern wear" and seem to wear very slowly. I will purchase the D604's again in the future!

Added on 01/15/01:
I have over 4,000 miles on the tires now and they are wering very nicely. Be sure to keep the front up to at least 36 PSI or a patterning wear pattern can develop. Also riding two up you need a minimum of 36 front and 38 rear pressure (I'd go to 38-9 for front and 40-42 for rear with 2-up riding).

Also I'd go with the 150 section rear tire as Mustang did in the future rather than the 140 the is standard.
 
 

Some comments from Mustang on Jeremy's Page:
Mustang, Dunlop D604 - (150/60/17 rear, 110/80/19 front) have just turned over 2000 miles on the Dunlop's, the wear is way way better than the T-66's, at present they are showing no sign of cupping at all and are wearing pretty damn even. Unlike the T-66's which were all chopped up at 1500 miles(front only).

    The first ride after mounting the tires you are going to ask yourself "Where did my happy Tiger go?", it feels like you are going to fall off the tire and fall over! Bear with it and give it a chance it does get much better after 100 miles are on them. The center crown wears down a bit and things settle down, also by now you should be getting used to a much better riding Tiger.

    The Handling is terrific in the twisties on pavement, the Tiger has a definite sport bike attitude you can flip the bike from side to side with no effort at all and the Dunlop's are stuck to the road like glue. On the other hand if you are going straight and not paying attention the Tiger tends to wander in the lane a bit at speed (70 mph +). Maybe I have the air pressure a tad too high. (I think a bit too low, Blake)

I'm running 38 psi rear and 34 psi front. Have not had a chance to really test in the rain for any length of time. Off road is certainly better performing also with the Dunlop's. They are fair in sand, don't like mud, and are awesome on dirt and gravel roads. On a dirt /gravel road you can travel at speeds that are ludicrous and the bike feels very stable up to about 65-70 mph then the front end starts to feel a little loose. But hey I'm doing 65 mph on dirt and I don't see to many other motorcycles that can run with me other than another Tiger!

    Have had the Dunlop's up to 120 mph indicated and they were very stable no wiggles or wobbles.  So far I am impressed with them and they are a much better tire for the Tiger although they will alter the way the beast behaves, but it is unbelievable performance and you wonder how you can lean this big ol top heavy
dirt bike so far over on it's side in a turn. It will bring out the hooligan in the Tiger.
 

TO BE CONTINUED......