For their July 2017 issue, leading magazine Fast Bikes have teamed up with Bridgestone to see just how much fun you can have on some of today’s sportiest tourers including the KTM 1290 Superduke GT, Kawasaki Z1000SX and Ducati SuperSport S.
All fitted with various Bridgestone rubber, the three bikes put in a lot of miles and even took a cheeky trip to Oulton park for some track action.
The Ducati was fitted with Bridgestone’s flagship Battlax S21 hypersport tyre, and here’s what they thought:
“From the off the S21s worked well on the Duke at Oulton. Grip was as good as I needed, and their sharper profiles helped the bike turn through the chicanes very nicely. In the second session though, I felt feedback was lacking slightly. Testing the other two bikes meant the track was a lot warmer by the time I gave them another go and the difference was obvious. With more heat the feel improved a hell of a lot, and combined with the Ducati’s excellent chassis I’d wager it was possible to do the best laps on this rubber – even if the V-Twin was over 60 horses down on power to the KTM.
More surprising was how well they fared along the wet roads of Leicestershire the following day. I can’t say they were as limpet-like as the T30 EVOs, but I felt very secure giving it some in front of the camera. Gary said Bridgestone has been specifically trying to improve the wet weather performance of the S21s, thanks to technical advances helping them to extend the mileage of the rubber to acceptable levels. Bearing this achievement in mind the tyre firm can concentrate on other aspects of the tyre’s performance to broaden its overall capabilities.”
Pick up the latest issue of Fast Bikes for the full article.
View the full Battlax S21 range here.
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