My bike currently has Pirelli Rosso Corsa 3 tyres on with the rear being the 190/50 standard variety. Seeing as the tread is getting a bit worn and winter is approaching I thought I would get ready for those cold, wet commutes to and from work by putting some new rubber on the wheels. Reading through the threads on here about tire size choice, coupled to the fact I have the Diablo Rosso Corsa on my Suzuki, I decided that I would plump for the Pirelli DRC's in 200/55. Looked on Pirelli web site....yes there they are in the size I want...super . So a phone call to my local bike tyre place, "yes DRC's, £135 fitted, I'll just ring our supplier and call you back" said the cheerful voice. 10 minutes later, a little less cheerful voice informs me that "the tyres are out of stock but could be in in a couple of weeks" Ok no problem, not that desperate....however I call another place, one of the larger tyre and exhaust places, being a national company they're bound to carry more stock. After a returned call, I get informed that their warehouse hasn't seen any of that particular size/make of tyre this year and not expecting to till next spring...!! So...to internet shopping we go...after a bit of searching...bingo...there they are....so one swift card payment later, order complete, slightly higher price with postage..but hey ho... Nope....Email next working day, sorry tyres not in stock, no money taken from your card sir....ffs. Well my next call was to Pirelli UK sales and marketing, to whom I explained what I was after and the issues I was having locating the tyre. The explanation I got was that, although the DRC is a current production tyre and the 200/55 is part of the size range, it's a newly introduced size and wont be produced till March 2014, however the Supercorsa SC 200/55 is available currently and is in stock. Yep that makes it so much better, a track biased tyre for use in dry conditions you can buy right through the coldest wettest part of the year... So back to Google searching for 200/55zr17....aha...Dunlop Sportsmart2....good all weather tyre...new out....not available to next year, Continental Contisportattack 2....again not available till next year. WTF is wrong with these tyre companies, OK fair enough in the UK the majority of sportsbikes will be lounging about in fluffy dressing gowns in heated accommodation for the next few months, but there are some of us that still brave the elements to do what we have to do, plus what about bikes in warmer lands, Italy, Spain, Mid America etc etc...they still need tyres. But for now, I guess I'll just keep digging through the big steaming heap of dung till I find that elusive dropping....
get yourself a used wet track tyre for the winter, grippy as and you should be able to pick one up for about 50£ or less.... And why a 200/55 on a road bike??? besides your small c*ck of coarse
Proper trackday wets wont last a full winter on the road, theyll be useless after month, mine only last 5 laps on a drying track and now they are fecked. A friend of mine bought trackday scrubs, had a blow out and crashed. Youre better off not mixing road and track tyres. Road tyres on track arent so bad but other way round can be dangerous. Theyre probably not designed to deal with shitty surfaces and colder temperatures and sure theyre not road legal? Try a ROADsmart 2, awesome tyre and is a more all rounder than a sportsmart, will inspire confidence in the wet. I get about 5k miles to a rear and probs 8/9 to a front. Give em a go mate.
Use them here in belgium, plenty of guys do, last most of the winter, but do have to say that we only put them on when it's about 2-4°, warmer will ruin them quickly, but you can use them on dry roads with this temp and they won't ruin
Surprising conclusion to that Jamie Whittham Tyre test as the Dunlop Qualifier 11 that came OEM on my Blade were shockingly slippery and skittery in damp wet conditions, so much so I fecked em off at 450 miles and put PR3's on. Twas like night and day! Swapped out the PR3's at 2300 miles for the Pirelli Rosa Corsa's as I wanted a sticky Track Day tyre and I did have one criticism of the PR3 in that it was a tadge hard on the suspension at the rear and could sometimes feel a bit 'Crashy'. My mate bought the part worn PR3's for his Kwak S1000SX and is still running them a few thousand miles later!
Have to agree with Sinewave that the OE dunlops are pretty poor, my Michelin pilot pures were very good for a super sport tyre with loads of grip and surprising mileage from them (4500-5000 miles) but have Pirelli Diablo rosso corsa's and the level of grip on them is outstanding more so than the michelins which I thought couldn't be beaten
"Small Cock?".....dammit has my webcam been on again ?? Actually, I went for the 200/55 against 190/55 as it should correct the 20% under-read of my speedo, add to that the larger contact patch that I've read that it provides As for the small cock angle....after a frosty dark morning commute...button mushroom springs to mind !!!
My Pirelli DRC's in 190/55 with 34f/36r psi have corrected my speedo to 39mph when the speedo says 40mph and 68mph when the speedo say 70mph
My speedo reads 60 at 50mph, double checked the difference with GPS speedo, not only is the speed out but the odometer reads 20% over too...so the bikes really clocking up the mileage :-(
