Introducing the new Dunlop D773 Soft Terrain tire (rear shown).

January 2002 It is every tire manufacturers' goal to create the best functioning tire on the market; that is a given. Whether they actually do produce a great tire, is always the question. Dunlop has always been the commanding force in all forms of off-road motorcycles, and its definitely not about to stop.

Dunlop's Senior Manager Broc Glover (yes, that Broc Glover) invited us out to test the new top secret D773 at the hidden MX Compound in California (well, its not so top secret anymore, you can see their new project at www.dunlopmotorcycle.com). Dunlop's objective was to show us a good time, and to show us what they believe is the best soft terrain tire on the market today.

Fonseca looked comfortable on his new Honda CR250...and the new D773s, of course.

Dunlop went all out when setting up the day for testing the new D773 front and rear tires; nice rental RV at our disposal, catered breakfast and lunch, and great weather all day long.

The day was basically a Dunlop whos who of American motocross, bringing out the 125 KTM Red Bull team - Billy Laninovich, David Pingree, and Brock Sellards, the Factory Honda team of Ernesto Fonseca on a CR 250, and Nathan Ramsey, piloting a CRF450. Among the previously mentioned: the Honda backed Allessi brothers Jeff and Mike, and Yamaha of Troy's Ivan Tedesco, and Rodrig Thain were anxious to cruise laps on the groomed SoCal MX track. Veteran Doug Dubach of Yamaha R&D was also in attendance, along with Dakar man Jimmy Lewis, hard at work. Maxima co-front man Ron Lechien busted out his CR250 to hammer out a few laps. Yoshumira Suzuki's new found off-road star Mike Kiedrowski was also on hand with his RM 250. Among the factory stars, of course all the regular print mags were there, including our friend DC from RacerX.

D773 Front

After breakfast, we attentively listened to Broc Glover and Brian Fleck give us the pitch as to what the day was about, and why we were there. It all centered around Dunlop's new soft/mud terrain tire, the D773. The tire is replacing the the D752 rear, and the D755 front tires. Brian said that the 773 front is slightly more aggressive for the ruts; it may want to pull out of the ruts, due to the new lateral pattern of tread blocks. The rear tire, as you can see, is nearly a paddle tire, which grabs the loamy, soft terrain by the throat

Here's what Dunlop had to say about the new tire:

Dunlop introduces the D773, the newest soft-terrain motocross tire.

Doug Dubach played a key role in the development of the new Dunlop tires.

Buffalo, NY--Demonstrating the depth of our commitment to motocross and off-road riding, Dunlop announces the addition of the D773 to our line of off-road tires. The D773 is Dunlop's latest soft-terrain tire, and it offers the race-proven traction that can help make you a winner. The D773 also demonstrates why Dunlop is the number-one tire manufacturer in America: It's the latest of nearly 40 tires Dunlop has introduced for 2002, more than any other tire maker.

• The D773 is the newest Dunlop motocross tire, designed for ultimate traction in the sand and mud.

• Proven racing pattern developed with top National motocross riders at the most demanding soft terrain tracks, such as Southwick, now available to the riding public.

Ohio native Brock Sellards of the 125 KTM Red Bull team was on hand to demostrate exactly how the tire should be used.

• New aggressive pattern and specially formulated compound improve cornering grip and straight-line traction over the D752 and D755 in the sand and mud.

• Available in full size range for Open-class motocross and off-road bikes, with two front sizes and two 18-inch and three 19-inch rears.

The D773 will be available beginning December of 2001, and will be produced in front tire sizes of 90/100-20 and 80/100-21, and 100/100-18, 110/100-18, 100/90-19, 110/90-19 and 120/90-19 for rear fitment. For additional information, visit Dunlop's Web site at www.dunlopmotorcycle.com, or call Dunlop Consumer Affairs toll-free at 1-800-548-4714.

KTM rider Billy Laninovich and David Pingree had a good time picking on the youth (Mike and Jeff Alessi).

After the post-breakfast speech, Broc and the Dunlop boys set us loose, to either pound laps on the beautiful MX Compound track, or wait in line to have the new D773s installed. We couldn't wait, and opted to hit a few laps with our current tires, just so we could easily see the difference in grip. The dirt at the MX Compound is some pretty odd stuff, mostly sand of course, but theres a metallic-looking gold dust in it also. Regardless, the track was groomed to perfection, and watered to keep any dust down.

After riding without the Dunlops for a while, we stopped for lunch, and let the Dunlop crew install their new D773 in the front and rear of our staff KTM. What a difference. It was much harder to keep the front end down with the new rear tire; as RPMs climbed, so did the front end of the KTM. But after some adjustment, the added traction was nothing but positive, especially in the near bottomless berms. The front tire was an improvement also, as we were able to dive much harder into the corners without having to worry about a front end wash out.

Throughout the course of the day, many of the riders egged on each other, in an effort to challenge one another for battle. Pingree and Laninovich had a good time messing with the young Honda recruits of Jeff and Mike Alessi. But the best battle for the day was Vet Pro Doug Dubach vs. Mike Kiedrowski vs. Ernesto Fonseca. For 38 years old, Dubach flat out rails, with no end in sight. Dubach, Kiedrowski, and Fonseca went back and forth lap after lap, all in good fun. Finally, Dubach pulled ahead of the other two, as Fonseca decided to see what exactly that mystery metallic substance was in the dirt.

The Dunlop 773 is a vast improvement of the previous 752/755 combo.

As the day progressed, typical fatigue began to set in, as the sun began to fall on the incredible photo-like back drop of the MX Compound. As Broc and the Dunlop guys would say, "mission accomplished" (a military theme was employed for the entire day - their gate-keeper was even armed with a Hummer and a machine gun!).

Dunlop has always been known as a strong force in motocross and supercross; that goes without saying. With each year, they continue to develop, test, and improve their off-road line of tires, with the goal of making our riding and racing experience that much more successful.

Kevin Gorzny