RideFast Nov 2019

TYRE TESTING
ANOTHER GRIPPER
MITAS SPORT FORCE +
“SPORT FORCE+ is a safe, dynamic and rider
friendly tyre. It ensures immediate grip, fast
and easy steering and high corner stability.
It also helps to steer the bike and provides
consistent performance through its
lifetime.” That’s the official blurb from Mitas
themselves about their Sport Force + tyre –
a tyre aimed at sportbike riders for the road.
We decided to put them to the test
around the track – the perfect and easiest
way to put mileage and test the capabilities
of the tyre. While they are not track focused
tyres by any means, the Mitas Sport Force
+ felt solid out on track, exactly what one
would/should expect from a good sport
road tyre. Front end steering was easy
and agility was in abundance. The rear, at
full lean angle, was a bit more resistant
but never let go unsurprisingly. As you can
see by the pictures, grip was not a real
issue, decent amounts of lean angle were
reached. Heading into the corners was solid
and confidence inspiring, it was only at full
lean angle for a while where the tyres did
suffer a bit. But again, these are not track
focused tyres and you won’t be finding
yourself at full lean angle for long periods
out on the road.
As with all good sport road tyres, the
Mitas offer huge mileage with a harder
center, while the side walls are a slightly
softer compound offering grip in the turns.
The tyres heated up really quickly and
held the heat well. Stability under braking
was for sure the tyres best attribute out
on track, which is a good sign as that’s
ultimately what you want out on the road -
A good solid feel from the tyres.
We clocked up over 200km of track
riding and the tyres wear was phenomenal.
Typically, harder road pressures had to be
run to get the best out of these tyres so
we found them best set at 2.3 cold at the
front and 1.8 at the rear. Mitas has a full
breakdown of the best pressures to be set
for different use on their website - www.
mitas-moto.com.
We were left impressed with the Mitas
Sport Force + tyres, having never heard
about them we were very hesitant heading
into this test but they performed admirably
on the track which is not their home ground.
They are tyres aimed at the road sportbike
rider looking for grippy, long-lasting tyres
that are affordable and that’s exactly what
they are. AT only R2857 for a set of the 120
front and 190/55 rear that really is a bargain
and well worth a look next time you in the
market to replace your sportbikes tyres.
Mitas SA - 041 822 3344.
“Stability under braking was for
sure the tyres best attribute
out on track, which is a good
sign as that’s ultimately what
you want out on the road”
E X C L U S I V E S P E C I A L F E A T U R E
2020 BIKES
REVEALED
‘Naked’ is the new black for 2020!
There seems to be a theme ahead of the 2020 season.
Big, powerful, supercharged naked bikes with wings seems to be the
in-thing, with Kawasaki and Ducati taking the covers off their 200hp
plus hyper-naked machines.
While there a host of other machines recently released it was very
much the two big naked bikes that stole the show.
Ducati also revealed a host of new and updated models for 2020,
including a new V2 Panigale and their new range of V4 superbikes
which now come standard with wings - as if they needed any
more updates!
Over the next few pages we will bring you unrivalled coverage of all
the 2020 machines released from the past couple of weeks.
This is part one of our 2020 bikes special, next month we will bring
you all the latest releases from the EICMA Show, where hopefully
we will be showing off the new Honda CBR1000RR, amongst others.
20 RIDEFAST MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2019
RIDEFAST MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2019 21