Last year Pirelli unveiled their new entrant to the on/off-road adventure market, the Scorpion Rally STR.
Not quite as aggressive as the Karoo 3 from sister company Metzeler, it was billed as an option for off-road use with a small compromise in off-road performance than your traditional block tyre.
They are now being used by Ducati as an original equipment fitment on their Desert Sled, and have proved to be relatively popular with UK adventure bike owners.
After wearing out a set of Avon Trailrider rubber on his Tiger 1200 XRt long-termer, new RiDE editor Matt Wildee opted to fit a set of the Pirelli tyres to his heavyweight adventurer.
He already has plans for some gentle green-laning to see how they cope off-road, but in the latest issue he shares his first impressions:
“We had a pair in the RiDE lock-up and I was intrigued to see how their knobbly design would cope with a bike that weighs 280kg fully-fueled.
The answer has been mostly positive – with a much rounder profile than the worn Avons they behave themselves better over camber changes and steer well. Thanks to the high-silica content, their wet grip is very good too.
However, there isn’t quite as much feel mid-corner as there would be on a more road-biased tyre and during really quick riding and fast direction changes, you can feel the tread blocks flex. There is also less stability during hard acceleration to, too.”
Pick up the April 2019 issue of RiDE for Matt’s full article and updates on the bike.
View the Scorpion Rally STR range here.
