Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128320
~; ~:t~; r.~; eROII.II_ESS REPORT; Glue You To The Ground Pirelli's Diablo eorsa sport tires fit our middleweight shootout bikes like a glove... or is that shoe? O ne of the things that we always try to do with any of our Cycle News shootouts is to eliminate some of the variables that may influen ce ou r teste rs in a negative way. The manufactur ers in the industry use a wide variety of tire brands for their products; there is always the chance that a part icular tire may perform bett er than one fitted stand ard on another bike. To eliminate this variable, we asked Pirelli to provide tires for all five bikes in our Middleweight shootout, However, we wanted something that we could leave on the bikes w hen our day at the racetrack was over. It just so happens that Pirelli has two excellent products that are not o nly capable of providing amazing grip at the track, but wear we ll enough that there is still plenty of tread life left afterward. There are two tires in the Diablo range, the Diablo and Diablo Corsa. We decided to go with the grippier Corsa for our shootout. The primary difference between the two tires is that the Co rsa has a diff erent carcass construct ion and tread pattern that provides significantly better dry grip at the expense of some wet-weather traction. The tire slots in between the company 's excellent Supercorsa race tires - which guys like Michael Barnes, Geoff May and oth ers have been carding excellent racing res ults on this seaso n - and the standard Diablo. The Cors a's compo und is very close to that of the company's Supercorsa, but with far better wet-w eather grip and better mileage. Our shootout too k place at the Str eets of Willow Springs, which has a nice combi nation of tight and fast corners, hard braking zones to tax the front tire's stability under braking, and plenty of rough tra nsitions to test the tires' stability in gene ral. Not only did the Diablo Cors a impress us in terms of pure grip, but it met all of our expectations when it came to stability. For our own selfish reasons we love tires like the Diablo, because it's always a pain to have to change the tires when the shootout is over so you can ride them on the street; nor mallythey' re way too roached. And on that not e , ou r tires look li ke t hey have plenty of mileage left in them. The Diablo is a perfect tire for people w ho like to do track days but can't afford to buy a brand-new set of tires exclusively for the track every time they go. Hell, there's no reason that you can't get two tra ck days out of t hese tires and ride the m on the street for a month in between. The t ires wou ld also be a great choice for the novice- to inte rmediate -level club racer on a tight budget. The Diablo Cors a is available in two rear sizes with t he suggested retail price in parentheses: 180/55Z R17 ($2 17.95), I 90/50ZRI 7 ($252 .95); and the front is only available in a I 20/70ZRI 7 ($ 177.95). To cast your vote, log on to www.cyclenews.com. WEb INSiYE Cyclenews.com reader poll question of the week l!! Oliver Tie§ The Knot After winning five 250 Grand Prix Championships and 71 races in that same class, Rich Oliver decided to hang up the Kushitanis - at least for now - and try on a suit of a different kind, a tuxedo. Oliver married Karin Kelsey on March 27, 2004, at an outdoor ceremony held on the couple's property in Auberry, California. Oliver has remained extremely busy with his Rich Oliver's Mystery School, wh ich runs two-day fun camps and an intensive five-day riding/training camp for riders of all disciplines. For more information on the camps visit, www.richoliver.net Who will win the opening round Africa, this coming weekend? A. NorickAbe H. CarlosCheca I. Colin Edwards B. Nobuatsu Aoki C. Alex B arros J. Sete Gibemau D. Tr Bayliss oy K. Nicky Hayden L. Neil Hodgson E. Max Biaggi F. Shane Byrne M.A1ex Hofmann N.John Hopkins G. Loris Capirossi of MotoGP in Welkom, South a.Jeremy McWilliams p. Marco Melandri P. Shinya Nakano Q. Kenny Robem Jr. R. KurtisR oberts S. Valentino Rossi T. Makoto Tamada U. Ruben Xaus On-line poll results from last week With Ricky Carmichael's rece ntly announced move to Suzuki in 2005, how do you think he 'll fare in Yellow? The brand doesn't matter; he'll keep winning like he always has. 2412 (51.67%) He'll struggle to adapt to the new team and machine but eventually get back on form. 1060 (22.71%) The dark cloud that has hovered over Team Suzuki will continue. 1196 (25.62%) Total Replies: 4668 www.cycl enews .c o m CYCLE NEWS • APRIL21 ,2004 105