MAXXIS SUPERMAXX SPORT AVON VIPER SPORT MICHELIN PILOT POWER 2CT ...

T H E B I K E T Y R E T E S T A T A G L A N C E
Sunny day, 2008 Blade, eight sets of tyres to test. It’s a hard life
MAXXIS
SUPERMAXX SPORT
Typical price (pair) £140
Weights (kg)
front/rear: 9.5/14
Temperature after riding (°C)
front/rear: 54/82
Best lap time 1:11.32
Track temp 20°C
Conditions moderate crosswind
What are they? Singlecompound
sporty tyre using
conventional technology.
Tester says No problems with
handling, stability or agility. But
you’re instantly aware that you’re
using them – they’re heavier and
slower to turn than the other tyres
on test. You have to ride around
them; you have to wrestle the
bike into some fast corners.
That’s the benchmark of a really
good tyre; once you’ve started
turning, can you change direction.
You can with the Maxxis, but it’s
hard. And we found another
problem – the rear tyre was
turning on the rim. Only by a few
cm in a 30-minute session, but
it shouldn’t be happening.
Rating ✱✱
Contact: www.maxxis.co.uk
164 WWW.BIKEMAGAZINE.CO.UK JULY 08
AVON
VIPER SPORT
Typical price (pair) £175
Weights (kg)
front/rear: 10/13.5
Temperature after riding (°C)
front/rear: 56/75
Best lap time 1:11.09
Track temp 20°C
Conditions moderate
crosswind/tailwind
What are they? The Sport’s
rubber compound has been
specially formulated go the
distance while retaining a good
grip of the road. Its carcass design
gives a large footprint when the
bike’s cranked over in corners.
Tester says Nice tyres, a bit slower
turning-in than some of the other
tyres in the group, but still
very good. They’re similar in
character to the sports touring
tyres we tested last month – it
feels like the range was developed
together. There’s a long, fast
corner that you go into at about
140mph – the Vipers felt a bit
heavy going in but they’re very
stable at high speeds like that.
Rating ✱✱✱
Contact www.avon-tyres.co.uk
MICHELIN
PILOT POWER 2CT
Typical price (pair) £201
Weights (kg)
front/rear: 10/13
Temperature after riding (°C)
front/rear: 42/69
Best lap time 1:11.61
Track temp 17°C
Conditions strong crosswind
What are they? Another MotoGPdeveloped
multi-compound tyre,
the 2CT uses a tough centre with
a grippier compound on the
shoulders. Claims to o� er 22%
longer life and improved wet grip,
combined with good feel.
Tester says They steer well – you
can put them exactly where you
want to. There’s great feel from
the front and they get right over
onto their side, even at high
speed. Up to about 80% e� ort
they’re as good as the rest, but
when you’re really pushing – and
you’d have to be a fruitcake to ride
that fast on the road – the back
moves about. They all move a bit,
but where the others are
progressive this is more erratic.
Rating ✱✱✱
Contact www.michelin.co.uk
BRIDGESTONE
BT016
Typical price (pair) £229
Weights (kg)
front/rear: 9.5/14.5
Temperature after riding (°C)
front/rear: 39/65
Best lap time 1:11.10
Track temp 16°C
Conditions strong crosswind
What are they? Bridgestone’s
multi-compound replacement for
the popular BT014. Developed in
MotoGP, it features a tough centre
strip with a stickier compound on
either side, then stickier-still
rubber on the edges.
Tester says With any sporty tyre
the agility and stability of the
steering is critical and this tyre’s
really good. It really turns and
tracks where you want it to. It’s
ace into the chicane, with the fast
direction change – I’m able to
consciously let o� the brakes and
still turn hard and get hard on the
drive. Feedback is total and
stability is good everywhere. At
full throttle it does move about,
but it’s not spinning.
Rating ✱✱✱✱
Contact www.bridgestone.co.uk

CONTINENTAL
CONTISPORT
ATTACK Typical price (pair) £199
Typical price (pair) £190
Weights (kg)
front/rear: 9.5/14
Temperature after riding (°C)
front/rear: 39/66
Best lap time 1:11.59
Track temp 15.5°C
Conditions moderate headwind
What are they? Continental’s
single-compound sporty road
tyre. Claims to o� er excellent grip
in wet and dry, with excellent
high-speed stability and good
feedback. It’s not a new tyre, so
doesn’t use the latest technology.
Tester says Plenty of feel. There’s
a bit of movement from the back
end when I’m getting hard on the
power but it’s always predictable.
They’re a bit slower steering so
it takes a bit more input to get
them to turn-in as fast as the
others, but once you’re in the
corner the rate of turn is good
from mid-corner to the exit.
They’re stable everywhere and
they really deliver on the brakes.
Rating ✱✱✱✱
Contact www.cambriantyres.co.uk
DUNLOP
QUALIFIER D209
Weights (kg)
front/rear: 9/14
Temperature after riding (°C)
front/rear: 42/69
Best lap time 1:10.58
Track temp 14.5°C
Conditions moderate headwind
What are they? Launched late
2005, the Qualifi er is now the
oldest tyre in Dunlop’s line-up –
which shows how fast tyre
technology is evolving. Single
compound, but aims to deliver
grip, feedback and stability.
Tester says Excellent rear
feedback – getting on the power,
when I’m really pushing, I can feel
exactly what’s happening on the
edge of the tyre. The rate of turn
is really predictable and it’s quicksteering.
When the handling
circuit joins the straight you’re
cranked over going over a load of
bumps, but by the end of the runs
on these I had the faith in the tyre
to keep it pinned. Ace rubber.
Rating ✱✱✱✱
Contact
www.dunlopmotorcycle.co.uk
METZELER
SPORTEC M3
Typical price (pair) £206
Weights (kg)
front/rear: 10/14
Temperature after riding (°C)
front/rear: 41.5/60
Best lap time 1:11.67
Track temp 13°C
Conditions light headwind
What are they? Launched
in 2006, the M3 is a singlecompound
sporty tyre. Tread is
cut noticeably deeper than some
of the others here – Metzeler say
this is for enhanced wet-weather
performance and longer tyre life.
Tester says That’s a good,
predictable tyre. There’s plenty of
feeling for the rear grip. You get
a bit of movement – but you need
that for a good sporty tyre. The
important thing is that they’re
predictable. Ace for stability.
The bumps and surface changes
didn’t bother the tyres at all.
They’re a little slower steering
than some of the sets here, but
they do go exactly where you
want them to.
Rating ✱✱✱✱
Contact www.metzelermoto.co.uk
EIGHT TYRES,
ONE WINNER
This is not a test of wet-grip
performance or tyre life, just
dry handling. Track
temperature and wind were
particularly changeable on the
day and this a� ected laptimes,
so these should not be taken as
the sole guide to performance.
The tester’s comments are at
least as important. All the tyres
were good even at fast road
speeds, di� erences showing
only at really extreme speeds.
The Michelins struggled
driving hard on bumpy
surfaces. Only the Maxxis really
struggled, turning on the rim –
a pity after the sport-touring
version had done so well last
month. But at the end of the
test, we had one clear winner:
the new Pirelli Diablo Rosso.
PIRELLI
DIABLO ROSSO
Typical price (pair) £221
Weights (kg)
front/rear: 10/14.5
Temperature after riding (°C)
front/rear: 42/67
Best lap time 1:09.71
Track temp 17.5°C
Conditions light headwind
What are they? Developed not in
MotoGP but in World Superbikes,
the Rosso is Pirelli’s newest sporty
tyre. Unlike many of the new
generation tyres, it sticks with a
single compound – albeit a new
hi-tech formulation.
Tester says I was happy turning
in at whatever speed and they’d
hold the line, even on the throttle,
with minimal movement from the
back. There was just that little bit
more stability and they kept
driving forwards. They were
quick-steering, accurate, good on
the brakes, stable mid-corner. It
was like you’ve written with your
pencil all week, then you sharpen
it: they’re just that bit sharper
than the rest.
Rating ✱✱✱✱✱
Contact www.pirelli.co.uk
SH
OP
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