Today we are out here at Parrish Raceway and we are testing out the all-new MX 53 tire from Dunlop these are brand new and this is their intermediate heart-packed terrain tire these replacing the MX 52 which has been around for a lot of years and in my opinion I think the MX 52 is kind of long overdue for a change and it wasn’t the most popular tire it was great in really hard pack square edgy conditions the problem was is that when the track in the morning time was soft and low me maybe an over water kind of muddy it just really didn’t offer that much more that much performance.
What is the main goal of the Dunlop Geomax MX53 tire?
So riders really didn’t want to sacrifice performance in those soft loamy conditions and just wait till the track out square edgy and hard pack and so one of the main goals with a new MX 53 is they wanted a broad in the performance spectrum of this tire they want to have more intermediate performance and then also obviously get that performance when the track gets hard packed and square edgy like Parris got today so we got here today they tilled the track really deep they had a lot of water on there so I rode this tire when the track was super wet really deep you can say muddy and then we got through it to the end of the day and it’s super hard packed blue groove in a couple spots and overall I think they actually did a really good job with the improvement of the tire so we’ll talk about the rear and then we’ll talk about the front so let start out the rear tire so first off let me just say sizing is a big deal for this because they actually came out with all the sizes all at once which is nice.
What are the sizes of Dunlop Geomax MX53 tires?
They have your sizes for your big bikes all the way down to your minis and also with the rear tire they have a 120 90 19 and so the 90 19 is gonna have a taller sidewall and if you look at all your Supercross racers majority those guys are running the 90 because the taller sidewall just offers more material so you’re gonna have a little bit more squish just gonna offer a little bit more comfortable so I like that that did they did include that size in the range but when you look at the rear tire you’ll notice the tread design is pretty different compared to the 33 you’ll they have what they call their tornado design so the lugs are actually staggered as you go around the center of the tire and with a hard packed rain tire what you’re wanting to do is get as much rubber to the ground at all times as possible that’s gonna give you that traction that bites when that track is hard packed and with this rear tire the goal for them.
I think they accomplished this is they didn’t sacrifice any of the performance when the track is hard packing square edge EU and then what they really wanted to do which is broaden the range so that when the track is soft and low me like it was today you get that out of performance but then when the track does start to dry out you’re gonna get that even more performance and I think they did a good job with that so you got to really think about where you ride the type of dirt you’re riding in here in California or for us in Utah you know for the first hour and a half two hours of the day the track could be deep and low me tacky dirt but eventually you know it’s gonna dry out it’s gonna get hard pack and that’s really who this set of tires is bait is for is for those riders that deal with that type of dirt conditions if you’re over on the East Coast and you’ve got soft tacky lomi dirt basically the whole day MX 33 is probably gonna be the better option for you but I was actually really impressed with the tire as far as how it did perform when the track was at his deepest.
The first thing in the morning I really didn’t feel like I was sacrificing that much performance compared to the MX 33 but as the track did dry out and get hardback is when I could trust the tire even when they threw down some water on the lips and they were hard I still trust that the tire was gonna grip and not break loose on me so it was nice to have that performance as a track got in worse shape throughout the entire day so they did make the side well on this talk there’s tire taller and they made it thinner as well so they also want to add some comfort and as far as the negatives the only nitpick that I have with the rear tire is you got to make sure that you’re running the correct psi they had a start at 12 and a half psi.
And even like Chris Kiefer we were talking about it we think that 13 to 13 a half PSI is a better range for this rear tire if you run it too low what tends to happen is coming in maybe a jump face or coming off of a landing it squishes a little bit too much and it wallows under acceleration it gives kind of a vague feel so what I would recommend is just go up to 13 or 13 and a half and that kind of helps fix that feeling that I got with the rear tire better than that the tires really good all day the side lugs on the sidewall are also larger than the MX 33 so again when you’re leaning the bike over it getting more rubber to the ground better bite and better Drive moving to the front tire for me today was honestly the biggest surprise because it was really good under braking that’s something I really noticed with this tire when you’re coming in they did increase the height of the tread lugs by one millimeter.
Are you satisfied with the Dunlop Geomax MX53 tire?
Just to add a little bit more you know bite to the tire but where I was really impressed is that regard whether the track was soft and low me in the or when it was hard pack square edgy they’re throwing some water down later in the day I could come into a corner hard on the brakes and it would have a predictable slide to it in other words I could just trust and feel like the tire was just really glued to the ground it didn’t want to skate on me it didn’t want to break loose and push I didn’t want to break loose then catch a knife on me and then overall the entire day it was actually just really predictable and if you were if it were up to me I actually would prefer this tire over the MX 33 in the front just because of that reason I think it just gave better performance throughout the entire day and for me I just liked the predictability and the performance of the front tire if you look at it you’ll notice to you they have a horseshoe shape on the center lug Dyne design that’s new and that’s where that braking performance really came in that.
I was talking about today one thing that might take a little bit of getting used to it looks the profile the tire just looks thin it’s the same standard profile it’s at 80 121 it just seems thin when you look down at it so that might take a little bit of getting used to but as far as when you’re coming into a rut you’re leaning the bike over it stays planted it tracks through the corner so overall the performs of tires is really good and as far as who these are for well it really depends on the riding conditions that you’re gonna be in if you’re like I said out here in California like we are in Utah or in an area where the track could be soft wet over-watered in the morning but eventually it’s gonna get hard packed then honestly I think this would be the better option. Overall I think much improved from the MX 52 so again just kind of ask yourself what type of condition do you ride in most often that’s gonna help decide if the 53 or the 33 is going to be the better option for you.
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