M900 tyre recommendations

[NattyBoy]

Finally getting round to using the 900 this year and figured I best Swap out the 17 year old dunlops unless I want to end up in a hedge lol.

Bit of a Pirelli fan but Interested in recommendations ..

Cheers nat

[Mr Gazza]

Diablo Stradas are rather good, if perhaps a little old fashioned now.
Good in the wet too and should last you 6000 miles.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pirelli-Diablo-Strada-Pair-120-70-180-55-ZR17-DUCATI-SPORT-CLASSIC-1000-2006-09-/172580384750?hash=item282e97afee:g:XnYAAOSwuTxV-VH9

Angel ST are even better, a more modern tyre with dual compound.. also good in the wet.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pirelli-Angel-ST-120-70-ZR17-58W-180-55-ZR17-73W-Motorbike-Tyres/301954686013?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%2 6asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3Daa6b3fd187b84b20bf4 a78f802bd70b1%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D6%26 sd%3D152442873304

Those Ebay tyres are very cheap, they often sell off old stock, marked down.
Make sure you ask the seller for the date stamp on the tyres that you will receive.
It is a 4 digit code. 1st 2 digits are the week number. 2nd two are the year.
So 3415 will be week 34 of 2015.

You shouldn't use a tyre more than 5 years old, so just check that you will have them worn out no more than five years from the code date.

Some tyre fitters are funny about fitting ebay tyres, and they won't fit them at all if they are out of date.... It's about £10-£15 a wheel for fitting and balancing.

[slob]

Diablo Rosso 2/3 for your style of riding Natty

[Flip]

Hey Nat, how's things?

A Pirelli fan here too if I am honest and particularly so on the Monster.

Only eighteen years of ownership to go on though so here goes:

When I got my Monster from my mate that bought it new it was still on the original Dunlops- horrible, horrible things!! Never ever got on with them on the road or on my race bike (but I know others must like them or else they'd be out of business).

But junked them soon after getting the bike and after loving Pirelli Dragons on a couple of sports bikes previously, I put on a pair of Dragon Evo's which were their successor. Along with playing around with the geometry a bit raising the back end (the forks were already through a bit at this point) to get it to turn and hold a line like I knew it was capable of.

Loved them and got through a few sets as I was using the bike a lot at the time, roughly getting 5k out a rear and 7k from a front.

Then they went obsolete and were replaced by the Diablo which again seemed to work really well and were very confidence inspiring in all weather.

Fast forward a bit to 2015 and after a few years of not doing many miles (my daughter was born in 2012 so bike time was limited), I was again able to get out on the Monster more often so it was a refresh and new tyre time.

At that time I asked very similar questions to you and based on what people were using and recommended along with various reviews in the motorcycle press and on the net I went for a pair of Michelin Pilot Road 3's.

However, this is probably party my fault but during the refresh I had the forks reworked by Maxton, my rear Nitron shock fully serviced (after almost ten years without one) along with a few other bits and pieces. The bike needed an MoT and I was due to be going on a mini tour through France, Belgium and the Netherlands so had little choice but to fit the Michelins before I went.

I blame the tyres as changing the geometry again has resolved the issues but of course with so much done at once it is a little more complicated than that and plenty of people swear by them so they can't all be wrong- can they?

But for me at least (tyres are very personal aren't they?) they turned my once sweet handling, quick steering Monster into a lumbering beast feeling like it had been on a weight gain 3000 diet- especially in slow turns and when flicking from a right to a left (or vice-versa in Europe) such as negotiating round-a-bouts.

I couldn't fault the grip though- but suspect I couldn't on any of the current crop of tyres to be honest and few are really going to stress the 75/80(?) horse power that a 900 Monster produces unless you make them lose traction on purpose.

More to follow.......

[Flip]

So once back from my trip I set about playing around with the geometry again to get it back to how I like- a couple of goes at raising the rear some more and then changing the head race bearings to ensure everything was perfect I got my sweet handling Monster back!

One thing I will say about the Michelins other than they appear to lasting very well is that I know people rave about their wet weather performance and don't get me wrong they do grip very well but there is something odd when braking quite hard that makes the bike feel a little 'squirmy' for want of a better term which I never experienced with the Pirellis- it may be that the geometry is a little more extreme now than it was with them but none the less a little concerning at times.

One point to note is that I have never bought, nor felt the need to fit the 'extra grippy' variants of any tyres being of the opinion that not only do they need more time to warm up they also cool down faster thus having less grip in real world road conditions.

So to finish, if I were buying tyres now, with the information and experiences I have had I think would be buying a pair of Pirelli Diablo Rosso II's which appear a very similar tread pattern to the old Diablo which although not a particularly exciting one (if you are bothered by such things), I suspect would suit the Monster very well- they also come in the correct 170 section for the rear too which is a bonus.

[Fuzzy]

I'm guessing dry weather use and sporty riding?? Metzeler M5 interacts or m7rr they stick like **** to a blanket... pilot road 3/4 are good too

[Saint aka ML]

Metzler m7rr and I think track day discount also apllies to them.

Great tyre and works all weather, last long as I done now 4k on hyper and feels like I can do another 4k legally

[Pedro]

Metzler m7rr and I think track day discount also apllies to them.

Great tyre and works all weather, last long as I done now 4k on hyper and feels like I can do another 4k legally

I had Metzler M7RR tyres on the Multistrada 1100, imo the worst tyres ive ridden on in many years, very little feedback and not confidence inspiring at all.

Nat - always found the Pirelli's work well on early 900s, mine has a set of Diablos on and I think they suit it well.

Ped

[Yorkie]

I have just fitted some of these to my ST2 engined Monster project:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172247249319

I am going to put some on my 916 as well, just to try them out.

Yorkie

[Saint aka ML]

Maxxis were good when they first came out but they are not now. A set I had on m695 lasted 4.5k miles on rear 5.5k front. Initial set I had on m900 lasted 6.5k and 8k. Price also gone up.

Pedro Metzler is Pirelli and I have 100% opposite opinion. Since last year my entire usual pack moved to Metzler.
BTW I had no tyre feel from my multistrada 1000ds at all on Michellins. Maybe not tyres hehe

[Pedro]

Maxxis were good when they first came out but they are not now. A set I had on m695 lasted 4.5k miles on rear 5.5k front. Initial set I had on m900 lasted 6.5k and 8k. Price also gone up.

Pedro Metzler is Pirelli and I have 100% opposite opinion. Since last year my entire usual pack moved to Metzler.
BTW I had no tyre feel from my multistrada 1000ds at all on Michellins. Maybe not tyres hehe

You may be right there, I've ridden a couple on different tyres, the Metz were horrible, one on michs was ok! Go figure!

All academic now, the 1200R has supercorsa's on, they're flipping ace!

[Saint aka ML]

I loved supercorsa on hyper till it started raining and got cold.

**** my self few times

[Fuzzy]

I loved supercorsa on hyper till it started raining and got cold.

**** my self few times

**** myself a few times on the Rossi Corsa on my Street Triple R never mind the SC lol