Pirelli tires

I was just on the Pirelli website looking for info on the MT21 vs the Rally front tire for use on my 950SE. Interesting that neither is acceptable to Pirelli for use on my bike. Hmmmmm :huh

I wonder why? I run the Rally on my 950 Adventure. Great tire.

We are on our second MT21 now and luv em, speed tested to 196 and they held together

i have the pirelli scorpion rally front tire, and it is awesome. very good offroad, and surprisingly good onroad, even wet tarmac. very impressed with it

Scorpion rally. Even worn out, it's a great tire!

Sa

Agreed! I'm a fan. Stiff enough sidewall for off road riding at 20-ish psi. 34 on the slab.

my guess as to why pirelli doesn't officially "endorse" the other tires is two fold: 1) their website is just a bit outdated. :eek1 2) the speed rating on the tires. The OE on the ADV is the MT90AT and is a 54V (149mph) rated tire. The majority of the other DOT legal front tires (90/90-21 size) are a 54R (106mph) or 54S (112mph).

legally they probably don't recommend it because there could be a failure at sustained high speeds, but realistically it's fine to run any of them because how many of you are running 100mph+ for sustained periods??

for the SE it only had a 54R rated tire (Karoo T in most countries) but also had a sticker on the top triple clamp that said max speed 100mph or something to that affect. They assume that if you are buying the SE then you aren't paying attention to things like that anyway.

I know I've been running the Pirelli off road tires (all their MX/XC front tires are DOT legal) for the past few months. The rear MT16 didn't last on the freeway (stupid fun off road but not happy with pavement) but the front tires have been excellent. they wear quickly but stick well off road.

I've used the MT21 before and liked it. While not sustained, I've run it above 100 a number of times for minutes at a time and no problems. I was on the website looking at the rally tire and thought since it was a "rally" tire that it would perhaps be better for a bigger, faster, heavier bike. Not sure now whether Pirelli thinks it is so or not.

I have to chime in and mention that I love the stock MT90 Scorpions so far. They handle great on the road in wet and dry conditions. They also offer pretty darn good traction in gravel and mixed packed dirt. Of course in the mud or sand they can't do much, but overall I'm pleasantly surprised by them. And the price is a bit better than other tires too.

Well, at least you got your moneys worth out of that one :eek1 :eek1 :eek1

I just ordered 2 rear and 1 front MT21 for my 690 from the Motorcycle Superstore since they're running a good sale on them. http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/392/5416/ITEM/Pirelli-MT-21-Rallycross-Rear-Tire.aspx

Very nice tire and so is the Rally front which I run on my 990.

I was at Chaparral and I went into the tire section to get my new front tire. I asked about the Rally but they didn't have it in stock but they did have the MT21. The Chaparral guy wasn't sure about the difference between the two tires. But it just so happened the rep from Pirelli was there teaching employees about Pirelli tires. The rep came over to talk with me and explained that the rally was a 90/10 dirt/road tire and the MT21 was an 80/20 dirt/road tire. He said the MT21 is made from a harder rubber compound and would last longer especially on pavement.

As to neither being recommended for the 950, he explained that in fact it was possible that both might be recommended for the 950 in other countries. However, the litigious nature of the USA may prevent it being marketed for a particular bike here. He gave me a specific example of a front tire used on the Yamaha Tenere in Germany which is sold with a "105" sticker which is to be put on the speedometer to indicate the maximum safe speed for that tire. He said that would be a lawsuit waiting to happen in the USA.

just bought a scorpion rally front for the 990. got it put on today. i have 2700 miles or so on the clock so im hoping i get to atleast 6000 miles on this front tire. i havent switched out the 908rr rear yet. its been a pretty good tire. 2700 miles and it still looks like ill get another 1000-1500 miles out of it. ill write up a tire report and a few hundred miles and let yah know what i think.

I'm a little confused; I went to 3 sites that sell the MT 21, including Chaparral, and they all list it as a 90/10 tire. I wonder if the Pirelli rep was blowing smoke or, if indeed, it has a harder rubber qualifying it as an 80/20. Rocky Mtn has it for $80, btw.

got mine off of motorcycle-superstore.com for like $76 bucks i think and free shipping. i did the standard shipping and got it next day at the door. cant beat that!

2010 990r

I have been very happy with running a MT21 in the front and the kenda big block in the rear. The idea was to have the front last through two rears and it actually worked out that way.

The front now has about 7k miles on it and is ready to be replaced. Got 4k out of the first big block and about 3k out of the second.

The front is really grippy off-road and handles going gown to about 22psi just fine. Also the on-street handling is surprisingly stable - you have to get used to it "falling" into corners and being a bit squishy when it gets really warm but good consistent grip and no surprises.

Cheers