Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128137
Dunlop 0773 Motocross Tire (Above) Security was tight for the D773 intro. (Below) Riders gather around for the tire/track briefing. (Above) Team Honda's Nathan Ramsey (25) was one of many top pro riders who attended Dunlop's bash. (Left) Tire changers were in high demand, as Mike Alessi looks on. (Above) The author does his best tiretester impression on the sandy MX Compound track. (Left and right) The new Dunlop D773 soft-terrain tires feature a very aggressive tread design. By Desert Storm, gave me a thorough once-over and made sure my "papers" were in order before allowing me to proceed into the Compound. Once inside, another "soldier" greeted me, but this one had a smile on his face that I recognized - it was Dunlop's Broc Glover, who, along with all of the other Dunlop representatives around, including Brian Fleck and Mike Manning, was decked out in the desert military garb. "Hope the guy at the gate didn't scare you," Glover joked. "We're just trying to have some fun." Dunlop dubbed the intro "Operation Enduring Traction" and it all KIT PALMER PHOTOS BY FRANK HOPPEN :1':'\ unlop recently invited LI. Cycle News and other members of the motorcycle media to MX Compound, a private motocross facility near Temecula, California, to tryout the company's latest tire offering - the D773 soft-terrain (sand) tire - but upon entering the park, I started wondering if I had made a errant turn and arrived at the wrong compound. The guard at the gate, decked out in military fatigues and toting a very real-looking machine gun, appearing as though he just got back from 28 JANUARY 16, 2002' eye I e n e _ s began making sense - Operation Enduring Traction, Desert Storm, MX Compound, the D773 tire - you know, it was a sand thing. The new D773 tire is Dunlop's latest soft-terrain tire that replaces the D752 and D755 tires, and Dunlop basically threw a big trackside party to introduce its new sand and mud rubber. And there weren't, it seemed, too many people that Dunlop didn't invite, as the relatively small facility quickly filled to capacity with media and industry people, as well as many star motocross riders, some of whom you've probably heard of: Brock Sellards, David Pingree, Nathan Ramsey, Ernesto Fonsceca, Ivan Tedesco, Mike Kiedrowski, Ron Lechien, and Mike and Jeff Alessi, to name a few. After a brief riders' meeting, the perfectly groomed track was opened for business and so was the opportunity to experience the new D773 tires. Unfortunately, the motorcyclesto-tire-changers ratio wasn't very good, so the wait to have the D773s installed was quite long - so long, in fact, that I'd though I'd get out of line and just start riding. After all, the moist and sandy track was so inviting that I just had to get out there before the track whooped up; plus, it would give me the chance to compare the D739 and D756s on my stock RM250 to the new D773s. After a fairly lengthy session, I came back in hoping the tire-changing line would be shorter, but it had instead grown, so I went into plan B-1 changed the tires myself, with the help of Dunlop tire tester Doug Dubach. We got the job accomplished fairly quickly (though ISDE rider Shane Watts would not have been very impressed), and I was ready to go out on the new D773 tires, which, as you can see in the accompanying photos, have a very aggressive knobby pattern and (that you can't see) newly formulated rub- ber compound. I must admit that I'm probably not the best tire-tester in the world, but I could easily feel the difference between the stock (intermediate) tires and the D773s; in fact, it was quite amazing. The front-end stopped wandering around in the turns, and the back end really did hook up quite well. Had my RM been fitted with the outgoing 0752 and D755 tires earlier in the day, I'm sure the difference would not have been so noticeable, but it certainly was obvious going from the stockers to the D773s. In fact, the tires worked so well that I made up my mind right then and there that I'd haul the RM to Laughlin, Nevada, to compete in the WORCS off-road race that weekend, since I had heard it was going to be a sand race. The Laughlin race did, in fact, live up to the rumors (and more so), and the D773s worked extremely well in the beach-like sand. I was perhaps most impressed by the way the back end hooked up and that you could actually feel the bike surge forward while accelerating out of the ultra-soft turns, after which the bike remained quite stable down the fast, whoopedout sandy straights. Dunlop claims that the D773s work just as well in the mud, but mud in southern California is hard to come by and we haven't yet had the chance to give the D773s a try in the real wet stuff, but if the way they work in the sand is any indication, then the D773s should do quite well when conditions get sloppy. The D773s should already be available in stores and will come in seven sizes: 90/1 00-20, 80/1 00-21, 100/100-18,110/100-18,100/90-19, 110/90-19 and 120/90-19. For more information, you can call Dunlop at 716/639-5200 or visit their Web site at www.dunlopmotorcycle.com. eN