Fitted to the Kawasaki 9oo RS Cafe, the Pirellis work brilliantly: it’s normal for tyres to be updated / revised every few years, but it’s really hard to imagine how these could be topped – they are that good.
When a reviewer apparently goes overboard about a product, the reader / viewer should handle with extreme caution. All I can say in Bikerglory’s defence is that I don’t make a habit of getting over excited, and in the interest of balance one or two mild disclaimers need to be issued. So:
- Road tyres don’t normally require a huge amount of warming up. Although the DR4s worked perfectly adequately in the depths of winter, as soon as the ambient temperature started hitting a relatively modest 17c, allowing the tyres to warm up that bit quicker once we got op the move, the rider suddenly became aware of extra levels of grip – most of us recognise that confidence inducing feeling, particularly welcome if you happen to live in the UK. All tyres improve when they aren’t stone cold, but these were a revelation with a little bit of warmth in them. I haven’t had them on track yet but reckon they’ll do just fine: the point being that the degree of ‘improvement’ experienced in warmer conditions was particularly notable.
- They may be better suited to lighter and medium weight bikes. The RS weighs in at 214 kgs fuelled up, has average (unmodified) suspension units in situ, and massively appreciated the contribution these tyres made to proceedings. They are perfect for the bike: how they would perform on anything north of 250kgs wet is obviously speculation, but the nature of the tyre suggest most sports bikes, nakeds and lighter sports tourers would be the ones to obtain maximum benefit.
And that is pretty much that in terms of contextualising the performance. Obviously in the wet you dial back your pace, and any fears that the DR4s might be little better than uncut slicks – given the demands of the local coast road in November – were absolutely unfounded. The relatively high silica content in the Diablos may account for this, along with the longitudinal ‘flash’ cuts for clearing water. The tyre shoulder is steeper which means a bigger contact patch in the centre of the tyre and quicker turning in. Sections of 190 and upwards use Pirelli’s trademarked Lyocell wire in place of cords, and smaller sections get a stiffer Rayon cord vs previous incarnations. Pirelli claim that these developments ‘optimise footprint geometry’: all I can say is that I the 180 rear section I was on might just be my tyre of choice (along with its companion 17 inch front) for making progress on the road. My tyre of choice, that is, over half a century in the saddle. Gulp.
