Ha! What's in a name? I got bored with my old Diablo Strada's so ordered myself some Qualifier 2's recently. Boredom may also be the sign of a 'bloody good tyre' , anyway......

A sign that it must have been a cool summer was the fact that my rear Strada had covered a remarkable 6752 miles before I took the wheel out. The front hoop has been there perhaps 50% more. Another positive is the front wheel bearings, which have been there since Maz fitted them 9950 miles and 19 months ago along with the head bearings. The rear wheel bearings are ok at 15232 miles.

I went to Chris Mullins Tyres in Gloucester after reading about them on the web. I also read some scary stories about my old haunt 'Pro-Tyre'. I must say that on my last visit a new chap there appears to have dropped my rear XB wheel and annoyingly put a small ding on the rim. I declined their lacquering service and fixed it myself.

Chris Mullins used to work at Pro-Tyre and set up on his own with a few others just down the road.
A number of them there are also bikers so take a special interest. The guy who fitted my tyres brought the wheels out to my car and wanted to talk more bikes, which is nice.

First outing on the Q2's today. Even just wheeling it around I could feel the characteristic understeer and falling over sensation, but it was ok once rolling. In fact they feel pretty good. Not as quick to turn in, but nice and secure line at speed. I think I may have to work them more at turning, or just think about it more, which makes it interesting......Old Buell? That would describe the response quite well, but it's early yet with more scrubbing in to do.

I love Quallie's Ed, but they don't last me too long

Don't like Michelins for their lack of feel but they last longer.

Have fun.

N.

i have qually 2's on the xb, great tyre
and sportsmarts on the 1125
i find them way more confidence inspiring than the pirelli's i used to swear by

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I've had qualifiers, sportsmarts and now running roadsmarts for winter. All really good in all conditions.
Which qualifier 2's have you got fitted? There was 2 different tread patterns. I found the 1st ones tipped into corners a lot easier than the newer tread.

I've got Q2s on this bike. Seem fine to me

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If your dreams don't scare you, they are not big enough.

I put an Angel on the front ( shop didnt have Corsas) it took a while to bed in but its ok and I've a Corsa 3 on the rear

seems to work well as i'm hard ish on the front and the back give good grip only thing i'm not sure of is in the damp front not quite there but in dry or wet its great

Seem's like a few takers here already. I spent some time looking for tyres and decided on the classic Q2 with the minimalist crescent tread cut. Found the pictures and part nos on the web and ordered tham. I saw some newer treads that looked halfway between Roadsmart and Sportsmart (tyres seem to be edging towards these techy fragmented arrows). Even the new Parelli Angel boasts 'aesthetically pleasing tread design' cos we like to at least look a bit sporty. Mine look like the ones on the new Fireblade in MCN, so maybe they are current.
Did a 300 mile shake down of the Q2s in Wales yesterday with a friend on her Street Triple in tow to keep the horizon right way up.....and it was good!
The sensation of understeer is just relative to the easy turning Strada. In fact stability is simply better. If you are a skiier the Q2s would be Giant Slalom, carving fast arcs, and if you want to do 'moguls', just turn and lean and they whip round without a fuss. The tyre feels happy to hang on to any lean angle with no sense of tucking in or washing out, so you seem to be able to lean over for longer. If you think your XB is too twitchy, these could be the job.
The XB may have a short wheelbase, but the Q2s seem to increase the 'focal length'. This also makes distance less tiring. Hope Dunlop keeps the mould of this one!

In no way related to my new tyres (honest ), but as it was at the due mileage, I jacked up the XBs front end again this week-end and...........like clockwork, the head bearings are on their way out again.