Here's my take on Dunlop E3's!!

[Tnford27]

Figured I'd tell about my experience with the dunlop E 3's so far, they are quick, I mean they respond real fast to movement, must be the stiffer side wall or maybe the overall design of the outer tire, but they are smooth and handle great in the turns, I hope they last as long as some have said and the look isn't bad either, I took my tires off myself and went about a mile down from my house to a little indy shop to have them mounted and balanced for a whopping $25 for both of them, giving me a grand total of $239, bought, shipped, mounted, not bad for 30 minutes work.
Haven't tride them in the rain yet and don't want to but mother nature will catch me someday and I'll give you a report on that, this is a non biased report since dunlop want pay me for a ad, hope this may help someone make a better choice.

[farmstead]

1500 miles on my E3's, I love them and I will never go back to stock.

[ReformedHippy]

Originally Posted by farmstead

1500 miles on my E3's, I love them and I will never go back to stock.

I have had a few sets of the stock Dunlops and never liked them...always seemed to fight to go verticle in the hard curves....made riding the twisties seem like work....Metzelers are,IMPO,a much better handling tire....and AVONS are even better still..they will lay down in the twisties until you bring the bike back up....probably rode on a dozen other brands over the years....I just cant imagine a better handling tire than AVONs...now,I am talking HANDLING.....handling is WAY more important to me than mileage...that said,my last two sets of stock Dunlops were gone at about 8k....got 7k on the AVON Storms on the DYNA and they show very little wear...putting a set of Venoms on the EG next week

[Tnford27]

The tires I took off were Metz's, I loved the way the bike rode and handled, no complaints at all but the mileage was not to good on the rear tire, 7000 miles to a max of 7500, no tread left in the center at all, the front metz had about 16,000 miles on it and was showing some wear and slight dipping, the mileage was the reason for the swap in brands, I don't like the 402's that came on the bike at all, these E 3's seem to be more like the metz's than the other tires that I have seen, a freind had some avons and he got only 4000 miles on the rear, he swapped to Metz's and also like them, he has a fatboy so he might get a little more wear but he also doesn't care about that.
So we will see how the E3 expeirment works for me but for now I'm ok with the way they handle and ride.

[iclick]

From my experience the E3's have no downside and several virtues that will keep me buying them repeatedly unless something changes. Handling is excellent in wet or dry to the point of being confidence-inspiring, aren't nearly as susceptible to groove tracking as D402's, and the rear tire is wearing much better. I've only had an E3 front installed for about 7k miles so I can't make a wear assessment yet, but the rear has been on now for >16k miles and has 4/32" of tread remaining (new is 10/32" despite Dunlop's claim of 11/32"). For a comparison, my first two D402's lasted 10k each and I think this E3 rear will last 20k. I almost can't contain my enthusiasm.

[MadCity]

Does anyone have a take on the Michelin "Scorchers"?

[ReformedHippy]

Originally Posted by iclick

From my experience the E3's have no downside and several virtues that will keep me buying them repeatedly unless something changes. Handling is excellent in wet or dry to the point of being confidence-inspiring, aren't nearly as susceptible to groove tracking as D402's, and the rear tire is wearing much better. I've only had an E3 front installed for about 7k miles so I can't make a wear assessment yet, but the rear has been on now for >16k miles and has 4/32" of tread remaining (new is 10/32" despite Dunlop's claim of 11/32"). For a comparison, my first two D402's lasted 10k each and I think this E3 rear will last 20k. I almost can't contain my enthusiasm.

In my previous post,I failed to mention my having ZERO experience on the E3s...I have heard nothing but good things about them ...I find it interesting though that the mileage of the D402s varies so much between riders...I ride the hills of SE TN/NW NC/NE GA...I do ride moderately agressive but dont do burnouts or brake slides unless necessary...I have never got over 8k on a D402 before the wear indicators were plain to see.....best of riding on whatever tire you guys ride on...

[rayfeldt]

I am really impressed with the E3's also. I have about 15,000 on my first rear and will probably run it to around 16,000. To me, they handle as well as the Metz 880's. I haven't had an 880 on my Roadglide but on my Softail they only ran about 8000 miles.
Later,
Ray

[iclick]

Originally Posted by ReformedHippy

I find it interesting though that the mileage of the D402s varies so much between riders...I ride the hills of SE TN/NW NC/NE GA...I do ride moderately agressive but dont do burnouts or brake slides unless necessary...I have never got over 8k on a D402 before the wear indicators were plain to see.....best of riding on whatever tire you guys ride on...

I ride like you and also am perplexed how others can get 12k or more out of a rear D402. One rider suggested it may be climate, as since heat is a big factor in tire wear maybe our warm climate in S. LA may encourage this. The problem is that one person who managed to get 15k lives in FL, which has a very similar climate.

I don't do burnouts and normally don't accelerate rapidly, although I do take the twisties in a spirited manner when the opportunity arises. I think cornering affects wear away from the center, so I don't think that's a big factor for me. Climate may not be a big issue, so what is left? Pavement surface? Could there be differences between states in the quality or type of pavement material used and could that make a difference in tire wear?

[Tnford27]

Originally Posted by iclick

I ride like you and also am perplexed how others can get 12k or more out of a rear D402. One rider suggested it may be climate, as since heat is a big factor in tire wear maybe our warm climate in S. LA may encourage this. The problem is that one person who managed to get 15k lives in FL, which has a very similar climate.

I don't do burnouts and normally don't accelerate rapidly, although I do take the twisties in a spirited manner when the opportunity arises. I think cornering affects wear away from the center, so I don't think that's a big factor for me. Climate may not be a big issue, so what is left? Pavement surface? Could there be differences between states in the quality or type of pavement material used and could that make a difference in tire wear?

iclick I get on my bike pretty hard going through the gears sometimes, like to feel it pull, that might have something to do with my poor mileage from the Metz's 880's, I like how these E3's take the twistys so far so I'm hoping they will do good on mileage also.

[Mavaholic]

My 06 RK has 9100 miles on the original D402 and no wear bars yet, although its doubtful I can get another 1K out of it. I will keep it on for now just to kick around town but I will replace them sometime next spring. The E3s look like a good choice. Wish they came in white walls.

[Al D.]

My E 3s took a **** after about 1300 mi. I was getting a wondering feeling at lower speed. Went threw everything on the bike thinking something was loose. Then we switch tires and all is well. Got a hold of Drag Specialty were the tires came from and they said there were a lot of complantes on them. They had a bad bacth of tires and had a recall on them. Put a set of Michelin commanders on and the bike rides better then ever!!! Only complaint is I wish I had these tires from the get go.

[sscherm]

Got stock 402 dunlop on the rear of my Fatboy. 10,000 miles and it is completely bald in the center...I know, it should have been replaced probably 2500 miles ago...which would put the actual wear to 7500 miles. (When it rains I weave back and forth alot to keep good tread on the road.)

Looking at Michelin commanders or or maybe the E3s...sounds like the E3s are getting some good reviews.

[arizaino]

Originally Posted by rayfeldt

I am really impressed with the E3's also. I have about 15,000 on my first rear and will probably run it to around 16,000. To me, they handle as well as the Metz 880's. I haven't had an 880 on my Roadglide but on my Softail they only ran about 8000 miles.
Later,
Ray

I'm also at about 15K on my first E3 rear tire......I'm heading up to Vegas from Tucson in a couple of weeks.....may think about going with a new E3 when I get back. It's been a great tire! I got 12K out of my OEM Dunlop in the rear (great from what I hear)....I'll keep runnin E3's

[FayetteFatBoy]

I also only got a max of around 7K miles on the original D402 and about the same from the next 2 of the 402s I put on my 03 Fatboy. I have had 3 D402s on the rear over the life of the bike. Never had any complaints on the performance of the 401/402 stockers other than rear tire wear. The front never has worn as much as the rear. This time I went with a set of E3s based on good things I have read here and elsewhere. Bought them over the internet at a great price, shipping was fairly cheap. $265 got both the front and rear with shipping from AZ to GA (which only took 3 days - ordered them on Monday evening and they were delivered on Saturday morning). Installed them myself this past weekend in my garage with my trusty HF tire changer. Will be trying them out this weekend in North GA/North Carolina on a long weekend "leaf color" ride. And FWIW, never had an issue with the Dunlop 401/402 originals as far as performance is concerned... just the wear on the rear tire.