Special Feature Tyres

ROUND, BLACK… AND NEW WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE WORLD OF TYRES? COMPILED BY STUART WOODBURY

Whether they’re round and black, or square and white (eh?), everyone needs tyres. They are the things that keep you from ending up in a box sooner than you anticipated, so having the right ones for your needs is essential to maximise your motorcycling enjoyment.

Tyres are ever evolving. More and more we are seeing multi-compound treads in all types of road tyres, where not too long ago a touring tyre (for example) would only feature one compound across the tyre.

We have compiled a list of some of the new tyres on the market recently, from the extensive range available from the great brands available in Australia. Unfortunately not all distributors got their information in on time before we went to the printers (hint!).

SHINKO

Shinko is a brand that’s still expanding into new areas of motorcycling, but for cruiser riders the SR777 is an amazing tyre at a highly amazing price. We’ve used a set of these on The Bear’s H-D Sportster and loved them. Also new to the Shinko range is the sport touring Verge 2X and for adventure riders, the E804/805 and E705 range has you covered. To fi nd your local dealer, visit www.bce.net.au .

HEIDENAU

This well-known brand from Germany offers some of the (claimed) best adventure touring tyres you can get.

The K60 Scout, which comes in different profiles and dimensions based on the size of the tyre, is a true 50/50 adventure touring tyre. The Heidenau K60 Scout brings a proven balance of performance on and off-road, with an improved tread and compound. To find your local dealer, visit www.bce.net.au

PIRELLI

Pirelli is a brand that we use over and over again. The consistency of feel and wear is what we love. Basically, we’ve used everything from their racing slicks to their adventure range and the latest in that particular range is the Scorpion Trail 2. Standard fitment on the new Ducati Multistrada 1200 DVT, we’ve ridden on them and love them. They are more of a road biased adventure tyre over the normal Scorpion Trail, which gives the majority of adventure tourers a tyre they’ll love. The ever popular Angel GT is now available in an “(A)” specification. This is suited for heavier road bikes and even some adventure touring bikes that won’t see any dirty stuff.

Pirelli’s range consists of the Supercorsa SP, Diablo Rosso Corsa, Diablo Rosso II, Angel GT, Angel ST, Diablo Strada, Sport Demon, City Demon, Night Dragon, MT66 Route, Scorpion Trail, Scorpion Trail 2, Scorpion MT 90, MT60, MT60 RS, MT21, Scorpion Rally and Diablo Scooter. So no matter what you ride and where you go, Pirelli has you covered.

CONTINENTAL

Continental is a high end brand that offers a wide range of tyres. Their range consists of the Sport Attack 2, Road Attack 2 EVO, Road Attack 2, Conti Motion, Conti GO, Twist, LB & K62, Milestone, Trail Attack 2, TKC70 and the ever popular TKC80. New for Conti are the TKC70 and the Road Attack 2 EVO.

Conti’s new RA2 EVO combines the performance of a true sports tyre with the mileage of a sports/tourer. The TKC70 is a specially developed tyre to fit where the majority of adventure tyres need it – with a 60/40 road/dirt focus, and thanks to Conti’s “Traction Skin”, they require no break in period.

See your local Continental tyre dealer or www.ronangel.com.au

BRIDGESTONE

Bridgestone has released quite a number of new tyres onto the market recently. The entire range covers everything from “Racing Track, Racing Street, Hypersport, Sport/Touring, Cruiser, Custom/Retro, Adventure, Off-Road and Scooter/Commuter”.

So no matter what you ride, Bridgestone will have a tyre for you.

The new tyres just released are the T30 EVO sport/touring, RS10/RS10R, S20 EVO, BT-39, Accolade, A40 and BW-201/202.

We’ve ridden on many of the new tyres, but the ones we can’t wait to try are the new T30 EVOs. The normal T30 is a great tyre and the improvements for the EVO should be excellent.

Watch for a review soon within these pages.

The RS10/Rs are high end sports tyres and both work very well, even as a track day tyre. The S20 EVO is a hypersports tyre with even more improvements over the previous S20. The BT-39s are for the smaller capacity bikes, like the Ninja 300 and R3. They give excellent grip wet and dry. For those custom and retro nuts, the Accolade range of old school looks with modern performance is just the thing to have. For the adventure touring market, Bridgestone has two new tyres, the A40 – a road biased tyre for the big bore capacity bikes and the BW-201/202, an on-road tyre for smaller capacity adventure bikes.

Apologies for not featuring all brands, but our lead time must have been a bit short for other manufacturers. We’ll try to get them in next time.

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