VOLUME ISSUE OCTOBER , P117
hardest setting of SC2, down to the
medium SC1, soft SC0 and super-
soft SCX. Lately, WorldSBK teams
have been able to make an SCX last
a full race distance, although this is
not the type of environment Pirelli is
marketing the SCX at.
These are essentially qualify-
ing tires, ones that you bolt on, get
mega-hot, pin it for two or, if you're
lucky, three laps before the grip is
gone and so are your lap times.
I took a few sets of SCX's with
me to Laguna Seca recently to see if
I could do a full race distance on the
beautiful Kramer GP2 890 RR.
You gotta be careful when
reviewing racetrack tires, as their
performance is inexorably tied to the
machine's setup, as proven by the
wizards in WorldSBK who can make
an SCX rear tire last 25 furious laps.
At Laguna Seca, fitted with an
SC1 front and SCX rear, I qualified
List price: Starting at $275
Website: https://www.pirelli.com
on a 1:33.877, although the cooler
conditions of Saturday morning
were not the best for getting the
maximum out of the SCX.
Also, the Kramer, with its 139hp
twin-cylinder KTM 890 Duke motor,
is so light (313 lb ready to race) I
started to wonder if I was putting
enough force through the rubber to
• HUGE GRIP RIGHT AWAY
• DEVELOPED IN WORLDSSP
• SURPRISINGLY LONG-LASTING
• HUGE GRIP RIGHT AWAY
• SUSCEPTIBLE TO TRACK
TEMP VARIATIONS
• REQUIRE A LOT OF HEAT FROM
THE WARMER TO GET IN THE
RIGHT ZONE
STANDOUT FEATURE
Incredible grip levels for
qualifying runs
RIDER ANALYSIS
Pirelli has been the WorldSBK
control tire supplier since 2003,
which has proven a great thing for
its consumers as the tires raced on
in the world championship are the
same tires you and I can buy.
Pirellis are characterized by a
softer carcass regardless of which
compound you choose in compari-
son to a Bridgestone or Dunlop tire,
for example. As such, there's more
of a squishy feel at the handlebars
that some love; others, who grew
up on harder compound rubber and
require the firmness from the front
under braking, not so much.
For me, as someone who grew up
racing on ultra-soft Metzeler Super-
moto slicks, I love the feeling a soft
Pirelli gives.
While Dunlop is the mainstay
in North American professional
racing as the control supplier for
MotoAmerica and until last year, the
Canadian Superbike Championship,
however, much of Pirelli's bottom
line from this part of the world
stems from club racers.
Pirelli's Diablo Superbike slick
compound range starts at the
SUPERBIKE
COMPOUND
Get these things
mega hot, and the
first few laps of
grip are unreal.
