TOP: A topographical study of a used “slick” tire. RIGHT: The auto-
mated blending of rubber compounds and control of the curing
process are a key improvement in modern tire making.
A
Although it’s hard to tell by looking at them, those black
rubber hoops that your motorcycle rolls on have evolved
dramatically in the past decade. And they have to: Faster
bikes with more power, complex rider aids and ever-im-
proving suspension and brakes enable riders to go farther
with greater comfort and performance than ever before.
Tires are expected not only to keep up with all this but to
enable the overall progression of motorcycle performance.
They are as key to the overall systems as can be
because—preferably—those contact patches are the only
place your motorcycle touches the road. The best tires
today offer near-peak levels of grip, hot or cold, wet or
dry. So while tires aren’t as glamorous as the spec sheet
of a Ducati Panigale V4, they are no less impressive.
Especially the secrets they hold inside that make bet-
ter riding life possible. We got special insight into all this
during a trip to Pirelli’s proving grounds in Sicily, where
we sampled most of the company’s tires. We roosted
across sand washes and up lush island hillsides on the
off-road-ready Scorpion Rally STR and Trail II duo, then
burned rubber on Pirelli’s road-going offerings.
The, ahem, peak of our trip was rallying to the snow-
capped top of Mount Etna rolling on Diablo Rosso III’s.
But we also ripped around the retired—but forever
gorgeous—Targa Florio road course on machines shod
with Angel GT II touring tires. After that, we upshifted
to sport- and naked bikes rolling on the Diablo Rosso
Corsa II and the ultrasticky Diablo Supercorsa SC at the
ultrafast Autodromo di Pergusa.
“Competing in all segments requires constant work
and a diverse operation,” says Silvio Frare, product man-
ager of Pirelli’s moto division in Milan.
76 / CYCLE WORLD