For the past 119 years, Dunlop has been supplying the world with rubber, providing the necessary link between horsepower and pavement. Well, this may not be entirely true, since paved roads ceased to exist in the late 1800s. They got their start in the dirt and today continue to stir up dust and the competition with their dedication to off-road. Chances are your machine rolled off the assembly line sporting the Dunlop logo, and with the release of the new Radial Quadmax Sport, they intend to keep it that way when your ATV hits the track.
When choosing a new set of meats for your ATV many factors come into play: tire size, tread pattern, handling characteristics, visual appearance and, of course, whether or not they will pull you through that gnarly mud pit that always swallows your buddies. How the tread pattern got its design and why its handling characteristics perform as they do never cross one's mind. This is definitely not the case at the Dunlop test facility in Huntsville, Alabama. Here, a staff of professionals factor such things as sidewall stiffness, rubber compounds and lug size to bring you a product worthy of the Dunlop name. This leaves you with the ability to answer a few simple questions and get the correct tire for your needs.
It's not every day you get to go behind the scenes of a manufacturing or test facility, so when I received an invitation to visit Dunlop's Huntsville plant, I jumped at the opportunity. My bags were packed and away I went, enthusiastically driving four hours to reach Huntsville. Upon arrival I found myself at a locked gate of a seemingly quiet building bearing the Dunlop insignia. I soon realized the silence was only temporary, and once the staff was geared up the familiar sound of high-revving four-strokes filled the air. It was as if all my senses were simultaneously stimulated as the Honda CBR600s raced around the road course while the CRF450s created a dust cloud that rose up and above the supercross track. This would be a more appropriate story for our big brothers Dirt Rider and Motorcyclist-but it was the many quads sporting top-secret meats to be found in the garage that drew me to Huntsville. Before strapping on my brain bucket and taking the tour of the most action-packed 100 acres in Alabama, I was briefed and educated on what I would be testing.
I entered the facility with what I thought was basic knowledge of the tire manufacturing process. Boy was I wrong. It turns out that manufacturing is at the tail end; more than I would have ever guessed is involved in getting to this point. After much research, a basic tread pattern is designed, and this is where the fun begins. Believe it or not, the test tires are hand-carved from the basic tire shell or carcass, adding a new tread pattern to an existing design to rule out any unknown factors. If the tire sculptor is extremely skilled with his blade, he can whittle down two of these with extreme accuracy in a day. Not even with a Ginzu 5000 strapped to my side would I enter a pumpkin-carving contest against this guy. Once a few sets of these tires are completed, they are then shipped to the test facility to begin the grueling task of being tested.