Maybe different manufacturing origin plants/quality control for US and UK product?

there will be a code on the tyre telling year and week of production - possible even which factory.

 

i would guess that Dunlop make them in one plant and ship them world wide. Michelin make a lot of their off road tyres in places like Thailand and then ship them worldwide. something to do with economies of scale and cost of the mould.

I`ve had a Dunlop GP on my gasser for six months no problems. Two weeks ago I put one on my sons Sherco with the morad rim. He rides hard and so far he loves it.

Edited March 31, 201610 yr by lineaway

Found the Dunlop's to be leaky around the rim. Not just on my Sons Ossa but another in the area. They do not seem to seat well on the rim. The IRC's suffer similarly but tend to "puff" it out when they hit something. Both Michelins are pretty good with the X lite giving grip without much running but not lasting as long as the X11.

 I'm about to replace my first D803GP with another one, it's mounted on an older Morad rim with the rubber band seal. I'm a heavier rider on a heavier bike running as low as 3psi, and it's never lost pressure.

 When mounting tires I lube them with tire mounting lube (oddly enough) and inflate them to 40psi or so to seat them on the rim.

Just my experience but I have had more problems with my Michelin X11 losing air than with Dunlop GP both on morad rims. In Canada so not warm like Scotland. I did find that the X11 has more grip at the same pressure as the GP but was able to run the GP about 1 psi lower so in the end both worked very well. I run in slick rock or slimy clay mostly. Both tires to me are a good choice. Price will determine which is my next tire.

What are Golden Tyres like, our importer only has GT555 rear, and GT355 fronts, what are they like?

My new bike came with Dunlop 803 GP's and the grip is fantastic. The rubber is soft, plus the side walls are very soft and they seam the wrap around the rocks. However, the first two times I went out the rear lost air, the third time I ended up using 8psi in the rear... It seems a lot of air but at 8psi it feels about the same as a X11 at 4psi. It still lost air..!

 

I ended up putting a inner tube in the rear and running the both Dunlop's at 6 psi.

 

Mounting a x11 you need about 50psi before it locates correctly on the rim. The Dunlop 803GP only needed 15psi..!

Edited April 11, 201610 yr by colin008

I've been running the Dunlop D803/D803F last season and didn't have a problem with them (I'm a novice rider) moved to X11's for this season. I'd say as long as you stick with Michelin X11/ Dunlop D803 or the D803GP you'll be right. I've been told that old X-Lights were a little bit fragile and prone to puncture and leaking due to cracks, but the new X-Light 'Competition' tyre fixes most of those problems. Being one of the highest spec tyres I'd say the X-Light still has some concessions compared to the 3 previously listed and that's part of the reason I didn't go with it myself. 

 

In terms of performance in descending order, I've generally thought of it like this: 

 

1. Michelin X-Light Competition
2. Dunlop D803GP
3. Michelin X11
4. Dunlop D803

Their price also reflects this order. 

Edited April 29, 201610 yr by jml

It's time for my new (used) bike to get new tires after buy. So moving arround to choose Michelin X-Light Competition or Michelin X11 Competition. Witch one for Amateur usage? I think I will be given some tires from Michelin for free (hope so) and don't know with one to choose? I want to use 1 pair / year or max 2 pairs.

If I was getting a set of Michelin tires for free I would go with the X11 Competition.  There isn't many left but not being an advanced rider there isn't really a good reason for me to have the thinner side walls of the X-Lite. 

 

If I was paying for a tire I think I would go with the new 803 GP as they have better grip than the older 803's and are way less than the X-Lite.

 

Hope that helps. 

Edited October 26, 20169 yr by jonnyc21

Yes, great info so I will go for X11 Competition

there will be a code on the tyre telling year and week of production - possible even which factory.

 

i would guess that Dunlop make them in one plant and ship them world wide. Michelin make a lot of their off road tyres in places like Thailand and then ship them worldwide. something to do with economies of scale and cost of the mould.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunlop_Tyres