typical road speeds. Straight off the bat I tried
accelerating hard out of corners, before the tyres
had a chance to get warm – which would normally
have a typical hypersports tyre starting to spin.
There wasn’t even the slightest movement, which
suggests the silica-rich compound in the centre
and 100% silica compound in the mid-shoulder
are doing their job of gripping from cold.
One thing I did notice was a lack of the road
vibration that typically comes through to
the bars from rough chip-seal surfaces. This
suggests a pliable carcass that’s conforming
well to the road surface. The tyre pressure for
the Monster was set at 35psi (2.4bar) front and
rear, which are good solo rider pressures.
Swapping over to a BMW S1000R for the return
26 KIWI RIDER
trip from the photo point showed some huge
differences between the two supernakeds, with
the BMW feeling much harsher over some of
the bigger road bumps. Where the Monster has
a punchy bottom end, the BMW is strong in the
mid to top end of the revs and has a much more
aggressive ride, both in terms of engine and
handling characteristics. The BMW on the Rosso
Corsa II was much more nimble and the engine hit
comes in harder, but the grip from the tyres was
still top-drawer, even through one section where
the roads had been soaked from a recent deluge.
Pirelli says these tyres fit into the hypersport
segment but I think that’s doing them a bit of a
disservice. Yes, this is a very sporty road tyre
but it’s also one you could ride to work on or go