Time for new rubber

[andrew_b]

Hey Guys, looking for some recommendations for new rubber.

The sportmax's have been great but they are getting a bit worn and the winter is coming...although it's been an incredibly good summer so far here in the Northwest!

So what are people running - any suggestions?

Cheers
Andrew

PS - I enjoy the sweepers and twisties but I'm not a crazy hard charger - my current rubber is worn to within about a 1/4 inch of the edge if it helps figure out what sort of rider I am.

[ducinthebay]

I've become a fan of Pirelli Diablos, but they are being replaced with Stradas and Rosso. The Strada is their Sport Touring tire, so a bit more tread, and better in the wet, and quicker warm up. The Rosso is getting good reviews, but I haven't tried one yet. i just put a Strada on my Sport yesterday, and haven't broken it in enough to evaluate it. I like them on my ST4s.

Cheers,

[du907]

There are all kinds of opinions on tires. All you can do is take in the information and make your own decisions.
Michelin tires came on the 907. I used Metzlers for years and thought everything was alright until I let one of my racer friends ride the bike and he asked me how the hell did I ride the thing. I had to buy a Dunlop once while on the way home from Deals Gap. Anyway, my friend suggested that I put the Michelins back on. So, I did and man what a difference. The bike would transition from side to side with ease and much less effort. It has to do with the shape of the tire.
Another learned friend once told me "Ducatis are designed to run Michelins".

That's my 2 cents worth.
du907

[Tamburinifan]

Very happy w my Michelin Pilot Road 2CT.
Flickable, no surprises when leaning over & still much thread in rear after 7500 km.
And the winner of all last two years tests of sporttouring tires I`ve seen.
Superior in wet in all tests.

[Finnpaso]

I would "vote" for Michelin Pilot Road 2, as seems, that they least longer, than older Pilot Roads. With new set i can run about 15 000kms in rear and 16 000kms in front, as older least about 2000 km less in both ends. This all come from my dayly bike ST2, but cant be so different in 907IE... I drive long journeys currently in summer holidays and not so much anymore in race track.... Such set can be driven to end of life in 3 hours easily in race track....

[andrew_b]

Thanks guys - yes, we are spoiled for choice. Woe to our 750 brethren.

Thanks for the votes so far. I will read up on the pilots.

For what it's worth I find the sportmax's very "flickable" in the tight tuns as well as predictable and sticky.... I guess it is all relative and hard to know until you've tried a few tires, but after 5000 I tend to forget what the last set were like!

Of course these little metal circles the city seems to like putting into the road in my area do nothing for the traction!!

[Duc750]

Go for a tyre with a high profile
I've always found Pirelli (or Metzeler as they are pretty much the same tyre) good on twins.
Dunlop have a very flat proflie and can make the bike very slow to turn/ require more force to turn than other tires.
Bridgestone are a little better

I'm currently running Conti Road Attack and they have been excellent very smooth and easy to turn and wear very well too.

[Desmo_Demon]

Cycle Gear is running a sale on their Pirelli Diablos ($199 per set)...

http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=&L ... cmbo_pkg_G

I haven't run these on a Paso, but I've run them on just about everything else wihtout any complaints. This deal isn't too bad, but not as good as their deals in the past (they were $149 per set a couple of years ago). I find the Diablos quite comparable with any of the other tires in the same class, but naturally, some tires just seem more "right" on some bikes compared to others.

[injected]

I'm running Diablos on my 907 and have no complaints. The Diablo is the spec tyre for the Ducati 600 race series I competed in this year, and I must say for an ordinary tyre their grip limits and predictability in the wet and dry are very impressive. On the 907 I stayed with a 170 for originality rather than going up to a 180.