Pirelli Diablo Stradas

[savagehenry]

...I think of going back to longer wearing tyre, but once you've had the stick, it's hard to give it up...

KB

Amen to that, brother...

[Greg Field]

FWIW: I use a Pilot Power front with a D. Strada rear. They wear out at the same time and give a margin of error when trail-braking hard into a corner.

[BrianG]

FWIW: I use a Pilot Power front with a D. Strada rear. They wear out at the same time and give a margin of error when trail-braking hard into a corner.

Why didn't you use a straight Diablo, or even a D. Corsa on the front?

[quazi-moto]

I got the regular Diablo's. Not Strada or Corsa, but what a difference over the stock Bridgestones! The bike just feels so much more sure-footed through the corners and the steering feels a lot lighter also. I wish I hadn't waited so long to try them.

[Dan M]

I got the regular Diablo's. Not Strada or Corsa, but what a difference over the stock Bridgestones! The bike just feels so much more sure-footed through the corners and the steering feels a lot lighter also. I wish I hadn't waited so long to try them.

 

quazi,

How do they act in the rain? I haven't had the opportunity yet. As I said earlier, the Stradas were great in the wet. I'm hoping the Diablos are as good.

 

On a side note, the brit mag "Bike" tested several of the sport touring tires on the track. It seems the only criteria was lap times (not very real world), the good news is the Diablo Stradas came out nearly tied at the top with the Dunlop Roadsmart. There was only one tester trying each set on a Triumph Sprint. It would have been nice to get different opinions.

[Greg Field]

Why didn't you use a straight Diablo, or even a D. Corsa on the front?

 

 

In the old days, given matched tires front and rear, front tires were half gone when it was time for a new rear. Nowadays, given the same matching, the front is 3/4 to all the way gone when the rear is worn out. If you just change out the front, too, you've wasted quite a bit of life, but if you don't, you lose some of the bike's good handling because one of your tires is always significantly worn. Instead, I prefer to change both at the same time but go for a stickier front tire, which allows more margin of error for trail-braking and emergency maneuvers. Stockish V11s have enough power to be fun but not enough that you need top-shelf rear rubber to keep the rear end from stepping out under power. They can get by with a less-sticky but longer lasting rear. This rear will usually wear out at the same time as the stickier front.

 

So, I really like the Pilot Power front. It has a really nice profile, sticks well, even in the wet, and lasts in the 7,000-mile range. I didn't like the PP rear. It's carcass doesn't seem stiff enough for a porker like the V11. The Strada seems stiffer and it is reputed to last in the 7,000-mile range. We'll see. I'll be right at 7,000 miles when the V11 returns from the National rally in a few weeks.

[sullvarni]

You chaps did'nt even men'tion Avon,there storm tires are some of the best tires i've ever encounterd wet or dry conditions,ware and grip.

I've got near 50 years riding on a range of steeds and think the technol'ogy around today is amazing,"IE"dualcompound treads and such,i dont' like the BT 020s that are on now,as a lot of people seem to say they dont' inspire confidence,not something i can put my finger on"Weird"

 

The new Dunlop Roadsmarts seem to be getting good reviews and i'm inclined to slap a pair on when the BTs die which might be sooner than later,i've got the 180x55s on the rear and they seem oversized for the bike,any opinions on this?i see some of you have a more reasonable 160s or 170s on this seems a little more appro'priate size for V11s,maybe i dont' ride fast enough any more allthough some of the kids i ride with at the first stop for a beer or a puff say"Where's the fire Grandad" bloody cheek.

 

Cheers Stu.

[Skeeve]

You chaps did'nt even men'tion Avon,there storm tires are some of the best tires i've ever encounterd wet or dry conditions,ware and grip.

I've got near 50 years riding on a range of steeds and think the technol'ogy around today is amazing,"IE"dualcompound treads and such,i dont' like the BT 020s that are on now,as a lot of people seem to say they dont' inspire confidence,not something i can put my finger on"Weird"

 

The new Dunlop Roadsmarts seem to be getting good reviews and i'm inclined to slap a pair on when the BTs die which might be sooner than later,i've got the 180x55s on the rear and they seem oversized for the bike,any opinions on this?i see some of you have a more reasonable 160s or 170s on this seems a little more appro'priate size for V11s,maybe i dont' ride fast enough any more allthough some of the kids i ride with at the first stop for a beer or a puff say"Where's the fire Grandad" bloody cheek.

 

Cheers Stu.

 

The new Avon STorms might be worth a look, but Avon has a long-standing [ie, hard to live down] reputation Stateside for making slippery tires [admittedly, this is probably due more to their old bias designs which were right up there w/ Bridgerocks for their long-wearing properties]. My only exp. w/ Avons was w/ an AV46 that I put on the rear of my SV 650 daily ride: it handled nicely initially, but squared off badly in short order and moreover felt "greasy" in slightest hint of wet; ie, it was about the same level of performance as the stock MEZ4, but this isn't so surprising since the designs are of similar vintage, and just can't compete w/ more recent products like the latest Pirellis, Dunlops or Bridgestones.

 

WRT to the choice of sizes, the smart money seems to prefer the "next size down" for the rear from whatever the stock fitment was on the v11s: early v11s came w/ 170s stock, and handle better w/ 160s fitted, and the later [5.5" rim?] models came w/ 180s and like 170s, but that's just hearsay: I haven't yet swapped my stock 180 for the 170 I have waiting in the wings, myself, but you can tell where my support lies... w/ the many years greater experience of the experts here at v11lm.com!

[ALdad]

I've been running the stradas on my 2000 sport for 10k mi. I get about 5,300mi. on the rear on a strada which is about 1k more than the std Diablo. They seem to work fine in all conditions. I'm not a peg dragger but I go pretty good on the twisties. Most of my miles sadly are commuting in a strait line with lots of traffic lights. I like the extra miles on the Strada. If you like soft and sticky This is probbably not the tire for you. But they do handle nice. I run a 160-60 Turns fast and is stable at speed.