Dunlop 218 vs Dunlop 208

get the 208, 218 is shit

So a 208 in the rear and 218 in the front will not be an issue?

On my R1, I have a Pilot Power on the back and the stock 218 on the front.

The only thing you might run into is when you have the bike leaned completely over at fairly high speeds and need to make a line adjustment. Reason being is that the shape of the tires is different. This shouldnt be an issue though if you ride even moderately aggressive on the street.

The dealer will try to sell you a matched pair...pay them no mind...you'll be fine with the mis-match!

Thanks man...this helps a lot :cheers

I recently bought an '05 R6 and I see that you say the D218 is crap. Why is that? Also, I've read several mag articles that claim the '05 handling is severely upset when changing away from the D218 because of height differences in the tires. I've heard a lot of good things about the Pilot Powers but I was wondering exactly how I can check the height difference between the Power and the D218. Any ideas? I would need to be precise in the measurements because the mags were saying there was only a 3mm difference between the 218 and the 208 and it severely upset the handling of the bike.

The previous models, 03-04 handled fine with the 208, I can't forsee it upsetting handling that much.

it upsets the handling if you have a 218 on front and a 208 on rear (or visa versa) because of the height differance. i read somewhere that if you were to put the 218's on the 03-04 you would have to raise the rear 8mm or somthin like that so it might be the reverse if you were to put the 208's on the 05 (i think i read it on highbim's site but don't qoute me on it)

I really wouldn't mismatch tires, especially for a 208: great traction, takes a few to get warmed up though, overall pretty damn good agressive street tire.

218:.........crappy crap stock


Mixing those tires would suck ass, one tire could grip, the other would want to dump you

If the 218 is crap, why would Yamaha use it on the 05' and what excatly is the difference from a 218 to a 208. Besides hight difference. Are there any advantage or dissadvantage over a taller tire?

the tread is different (lol) and i beleive the front is a little wider also

If you are thinking about getting some new tires, I would check into some Perilli Diablos....Me and all my friends ride with them..they are great!! :cheers

pirellis and 218's

I have an 05r6 and even though I'm still in break in mode I've noticed the 218's seem stiff and slippery. I read somewhere the reason they went with the 218's was mainly unsprung weight savings. I will be changing to the 208's as soon as possible. I'm hoping a magazine will do an indepth article about the change in handling the 208's create. I had dunlop 205's on my old suzuki. they were stiff and squirly like these 218's. Bought pirelli diablos and holy s---t! what a difference. The higher profile let the bike tip in easier, overall handling improved. Took em to track day and put em to the test. have nothing bad to say about diablos either.

its nice to see a chick that knows the meaning of true rubber, haha

I know a few guys who roll with a 208 218 front/rear combo, its fine.

as far as the comparision between the pirelli diablo and the dunlop 208, which one would ya'll prefer? i need a new back tire asap and i can get a pirelli diablo for about 20$ more then the dunlop 208. what do ya'll think? i the front i still have the stock 03 tire (dunlop 208 i believe). thanks in advance for the help!

the reason people had to raise the rear or lower the front on 03-04 is because the bikes had 65 series tires and they replaced them with 70, the 05 yamaha finally put a 70 series on stock. And the 218 is supposed to be a replacement for the 208.

B6bydesign said:

as far as the comparision between the pirelli diablo and the dunlop 208, which one would ya'll prefer? i need a new back tire asap and i can get a pirelli diablo for about 20$ more then the dunlop 208. what do ya'll think? i the front i still have the stock 03 tire (dunlop 208 i believe). thanks in advance for the help!

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Pirelli

I had a blow out on my rear 218 and replaced it with a 208. I still have the 218 front. She handles just fine to me. I don't like mismatching tires, but I didn't have the money to drop on two tires at once and the dealer didn't have another 218 rear. I rode the sh!t out of my 218 rear, no chicken strips at all and never had one problem with it slipping or becoming squirly. Just made sure I warmed it up real good.

B6bydesign said:

as far as the comparision between the pirelli diablo and the dunlop 208, which one would ya'll prefer? i need a new back tire asap and i can get a pirelli diablo for about 20$ more then the dunlop 208. what do ya'll think? i the front i still have the stock 03 tire (dunlop 208 i believe). thanks in advance for the help!

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If you havn't bought it yet, Diablos are pretty bad ass. I forgot, what tires have the Elephants on them? They are cool too.