Starting in Austria, the annual Cannonball Bike Run seeks out some of the best riding roads on the Continent, with attendees reportedly covering more than a million miles since it’s inception just over ten years ago.
In their February 2016 edition, Simon Roots of Fast Bikes magazine heads down to Vienna on his BMW S1000 RR to take the event in for himself.
The Cannonball promises to be a bike rally, motorcycle tour and lifetime adventure combined, and with an epic first day of around 200 miles to get from Vienna to Leoben, things looked promising.
The 2nd day saw groups head out from Leoben to Riva de Garda in Italy, a distance of around 400 miles. To put that into perspective, the M1 is around 200 miles long, so double that, and then factor in all those twisty alpine roads.
After the distraction of a powerboat ride on Lake Garda, day three saw them cover another 180 miles to the town of Bolzano in Italy, notable for the fact that many of it’s residents speak German. In fact, it’s only been a part of Italy since World War One.
For the trip, Simon fitted a pair of Dunlop SportSmart 2 hypersport tyres to the big BMW, and was impressed by the performance.
He says:
“Picking the right rubber is crucial to the enjoyment of the Cannonball. Too sporty and it’ll be wrecked by the time you reach the start. Too tought and the whole reason for going will be ruined. But don’t think of the SportSmart 2s as a compromise as the offer the best of both worlds. Even I was expecting them to square off on the 900-mile trip to the start, but they really did look box fresh on the startline. Then the grip they offered in both wet and dry conditions was bang on. Stable at speed, confident on the brakes and providing so much grip on the rear that the traction control light was all but redundant meant that over 1,500 miles later I was happy that I’d made the right choice of rubber.”
Simon’s still got plenty more miles to cover, as in the next issue the trip continues into Croatia with it’s beautiful Baltic coastline.
Pick up the latest issue of Fast Bikes, or keep an eye out on our website for further details!
Find out more about the Dunlop SportSmart 2 here.
