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I just talked to the product manager of Pirelli for almost half an hour. The 150/70-16 is recommended max for a 4" rim so they will definetely not give any kind of approval. They won`t even issue an approval for a 150/80-16. They will stick to their datasheets and the recommended rim sizes. In certain cases they may accept that a rim is max 0,5" wider.
The main issue is that the one who issues an approval owns the full responsability if something goes wrong due to the tire combination.
That Ducati issued an approval for a 150/80 Metzeler was a surprise to him (Metzeler and Pirelli belong together) as they wouldn`t do that. But in this case Ducati obviously did some testing and takes over all responsability no matter what the tire manufacturer says.

G.

Good work, Gerhard!

Today, on the magazine "Mondo Ducati" two Paso owners asked the editorial office to have an official answer from Ducati about the tires.
The magazine has pledged his support.
I'll let you know if there will be some news.
Ciao

@ Gerhard,

Many thanks!!!

Maybe some action. Let's hope!

On Monday I visited the Dunlop stand at the UK Motorcycle Show and asked about the possibility of producing a limited production run of a 160/60 x16 tyre. I was surprised to hear that they knew all about the Paso tyre problem, but they said that it would cost about GBP 45,000 to make up a new mould set, plus the cost of production, plus the cost of safety testing and homologation. Because of the limited demand, the total cost would make it a non-starter. He suggested that the only possible route would be to persuade the previous manufacturers of this size tyre to restart production because they would not then have the additional safety testing etc, costs.

They did give me the following name if I wanted to discuss it further: Bryn Phillips, Product & Technical Support Manager, Motorcycles
I have his contact details available. If anybody wants them, let me know as I'm not sure if it would be acceptable to put them on here.

GT

I'm in store for a front