Tires and quality of the ride

A topic not much discussed directly on this forum - the impact of tire brands/models on the ride of the XJ series bikes.

Because of a nail in tire, I replaced a rear Dunlop Elite II with a D404 last weekend. I had already put a D404 on the front a couple years ago.

After several years thinking my jarring ride was from bad rear shocks, I find the different rear tire completely changed the ride. No more spine jarring bumps over cracks and small pot holes. Ride is very much improved.

A $129 tire did what I was thinking of buying $500 shocks to do.

Has anyone else experienced this drastic an improvement by changing tire models?

 

Good topic.
Always run the D404's, but am intrigued by other posts that also discuss handling characteristics.

 

I have found Dunlop tires to have a less flexible case giving a firmer ride but giving quicker steering response as a result.

 

There certainly appears to be a difference in sidewall stiffness between the Dunlop Elite and the Dunlop D404.