With small capacity sportsbikes such as the KTM RC390 and Yamaha YZF-R3 becoming more popular, tyre manufacturers are understandably looking at ways to grab a hold of that piece of the market.
These bikes are not only an affordable step-up from your learner legal 125, but they can also be a lot of fun – and without that sheer acceleration they can help riders to hone their skills both on the road and on track. Riders who buy these bikes are often looking for performance rubber too, so smaller versions of manufacturer’s premium products can be an attractive prospect.
With that in mind, US based Motorcyclist Magazine have been testing five sets of tyres, three of which are new to the market in the last 18 months on a track in California, to see which ones deliver the best performance – and the winner was the H-rated Bridgestone Battlax S20 EVO.
Being a US based magazine, they also tested some tyres which may not be familiar to the UK market, but the results were as follows:
- Bridgestone Battlax S20 EVO
- Shinko SR 880/881
- Pirelli Diablo Rosso II
- IRC Road Winners
- Michelin Pilot Street Radial
You can view the full test video with racer Ari Henning here.
So if you want big tyre performance for your small sportsbike, you need the Bridgestone Battlax S20 EVO!
