After a couple of hairy moments in the rain of his Speed Triple 1050 R’s original equipment Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tyres, Motorcycle Sport & Leisure’s Tony Carter has decided it’s time for a tyre change.
As a replacement, he’s opted to fit sister company Metzeler’s Racetec RR K3 – their equivalent of the Pirelli, and the most extreme road tyre in their range.
In the magazine’s January 2017 issue, Tony says:
“The RRs have a new tread pattern that’s fine on the road and in the damp, or short shower type rain. The rear dual compound hoop has a 100% silica construction that gives an extra level of chemical grip in the wet and dry.
The Racetecs have been made to get into corners quickly, which they do. In fact I’d just say that if you weren’t used to this sort of tyre on this sort of bike then initially the sheer speed with which the Triumph drops into a corner on the road would actually catch you out. It’s that fast. You’d soon get to grips with it of course, but the turn- in is that light, that instant, that it’s worth noting.
When you do get the bike into a turn, the amount of grip and feedback that the Metzeler gives you is astounding. It’s a cliche but it’s a reality of riding on this tyre that you can feel everything that’s happening beneath you.
As we’ve seen on various other tyres, the Metzeler also gets a zero degree belt that’s wound around the carcass to prevent deformation at speed, while also keeping the tyre’s shape to prevent it flexing. That, combined with the excellent grip and superb straight line stability makes this a brilliant tyre.
A rained-off track day has meant that I couldn’t test these tyres hard, but I’ve had them over pretty far through favourite corners on the road and, honestly, I’m convinced that the Metzelers would open up another world on the Speed Triple.”
View the full Racetec RR K3 range here.
