Tires for the Multistrada already? The bike has only 1,500 miles on the clock, but I haven’t been very fond of the Pirelli Diablo tires that were fitted at the factory, and I wanted to try something new and different for the benefit of our readers. (UPDATE: The Pirellis are/were apparently called simply "Diablo", not "Diablo Corsa"; see comments section below).

It’s nearly impossible to conduct an objective evaluation of motorcycle tires -- or any tires for that matter. That’s why published tire comparison reviews are very rare. There are too many variables and it is extremely difficult to get the kind of repeatability necessary to objectively evaluate tire performance in a meaningful way.

Sure, it can be done, but only under controlled conditions, where the environment and testing procedures are "scientific" and repeatable. This means that consumers have to assume the tire manufacturer’s data -- if any is provided -- is accurate and useful.

Instead, what we're typically faced with is some narrative spun out by the marketing department in the form of a press release, which naturally claims that Acme's new RoadBlaster Grab-n-Go tires are, no doubt about it, the greatest thing since carbon black.

Notice I used the word "objective". There are plenty of subjective motorcycle tire reviews around -- they're known as opinions, and you're reading one right now. But true objective testing, with real data on grip levels, wear and temperature charts? Very rare indeed.

So all I can do is provide a subjective opinion for the Michelin Pilot Road 2 tires recently fitted to the Multistrada. Since this is an opinion from one rider about a specific tire on a specific motorcycle, my findings may vary considerably from other Pilot Road 2 owners using the tires on the same or other motorcycles. But since webBikeWorld readers typically have a voracious appetite for information, and since our mission is to help our readers make informed purchasing decisions, I think this narrative will indeed be useful.

Background

The Multistrada 620 came with the original version of the Pirelli Diablo tires. Pirelli now has another version, called the Diablo Corsa III, that may indeed be different from the version described here.

I noticed right away that the Pirellis felt like they had a "hard" compound; apparently, Ducati's primary goal was to outfit the bike with a decent set of relatively inexpensive tires designed for basic riding and for long wear; nothing wrong with that, actually.

It also seemed to me that the tires took an exceptionally long time to warm up, but I have no real data to back this up. I would describe it like feeling that I had to tiptoe around on the bike for the first few miles of every ride -- longer than what I consider to be normal -- until the tires offered decent grip. But even then, I never felt 100% comfortable that the tires were providing all of the grip that the bike could handle.

The combination of the basic suspension on the Multistrada 620 and the "hard" Pirelli Diablo tires also gave the Multi a feeling that I would describe as slightly "jumpy" or "jittery" or "nervous". Not to an extreme, but the Multi didn't feel as solid and secure as I thought it should or could.

Now I might not have noticed any of this if it weren't for the GT1000 that I could compare it to, which, even though it also doesn't have the world's most sophisticated suspension, felt "smoother" and "silkier" and definitely more "solid and planted" than the Multi, especially in the turns and especially when the pavement was less than perfect.

The Diablos also seemed to have a profile that was slightly too "sharp"; in other words, the turn-in felt too sudden, and the bike moved around a bit more than I’d like, especially in slightly bumpy conditions in turns. It certainly wasn't as rock-steady as the GT1000 with its understeering-but-lovable Michelin Pilot Classic tires.

Left: Michelin Pilot Road 2 Rear Tire (160/60ZR17; 69W). Right: Pilot Road 2 Front (120/60ZR17; 55W)

Pirelli Diablo (left); Michelin Pilot Road 2 (right), size 120/60 ZR 17.

Original Pirelli Diablo rear.

Michelin Pilot Road 2 rear tire, size 160/60 ZR 17.

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I described this in the Multistrada Blog not long ago, and after some research, I was considering spooning on a set of Metzeler Sportec M-1 tires. But one thing led to another, and I ended up with the Pilot Road 2's.

My logic went something like this: I have a great deal of respect for Michelin products (especially after my experience with the Pilot Classics on the GT1000), and I could source a set of Michelins easier than the Metzelers, and the Pilot Road 2 is a pretty new tire, and it's claimed to have dual-compound MotoGP technology, and I wasn't able to find many owner opinions about the tire, so I thought webBikeWorlders would be interested in learning more.

As good a reason as any to try a new tire, no? So a set of Pilot Road 2's it was.

The Mulitstradino takes a relatively standard sized 120/60-17 front but a slightly narrower than normal 160/60-17 rear. The front was $133.46 and the rear was $166.30 through our friends at Revzilla.

Motorcycle tires are always way more expensive and wear out much quicker than I think they should, but three's nothing we can do about it, unfortunately. I have no idea whether the price we paid is the lowest for these tires, but the skins were available and ready to ship, and Revzilla also carried the set of Avon Storms for Chris' FJR1300 that we wanted (which we'll feature in an upcoming article), thus is was more convenient to place the single order.

A few hours with the No-Mar Motorcycle Tire Changer (review), the Handy Motorcycle Lift (review) and the very nice Tachyon motorcycle tire balancer (review) and the deed was done. Of course, these quality tools made the job about ten times easier than it could be, but to be honest, there's not much to swapping out a set of tires on the Multistrada 620.

We had no experience removing the tires on this particular bike, but it was a simple matter of loosening the rear axle nuts and chain tensioner, pulling out the axle and removing the rear tire (with the bike held up by a jack under the engine, of course).

Removing the front wheel is, interestingly enough, very similar to the process for removing the front wheel of the old BMW R65; loosen the two pinch bolts on either side, loosen the axle nut on the left-hand side, pull out the axle and you're done.

The Tachyon balancer is a joy to use, and the Michelins, as expected, didn't need much weight to balance (although we should have checked the balance of the wheels without the tires first, which would have provided a more accurate indication of the balance of the tires alone). We got them to within a couple of grams (less than 1/8 of an ounce), which is good enough in my book.

I'm not as fussy about tire tread patterns as others, but I will say that the Michelin Pilot Road 2 pattern looks more modern and aggressive than the Pirelli Diablos. I have come to the (unsupported by fact) conclusion that tread patterns must be more for show than go, because you would think that by now the manufacturers would have discovered a particular tread pattern that provided optimum performance.

But since every tread pattern I've ever seen on both motorcycles and cars is different, I can only conclude that it doesn't make much difference -- although I'm sure the manufacturers would disagree, as their new and fancy tread pattern is the most visible distinguishing characteristic of the tire that makes their tire different -- and better -- than the rest. Right?

►Riding Impressions

My feeling is that it takes at least 1,000 miles to really develop a good understanding of a new set of motorcycle tires and how they perform after they're fully broken in and under a variety of conditions and heat cycles. So I'll add my impressions to this list as I get more experience with the Michelins.

Michelin Pilot Road 2 with sprue nubs from tire mold Same tire with sprue nubs removed.

250+ Miles: A strange thing happened on the way to 300 miles! As I've reported below, the Michelin Pilot Road 2 tires just didn't seem to be providing the grip and confidence I expected. Then it all suddenly came together a couple of days ago...

The weather had finally warmed up to the nice and sunny 70-degrees that it should be in late May. I was riding around, just enjoying the day, and ended up turning on to an old paved back country road I had nearly forgotten. As soon as made the turn, I discovered that the roads maintenance crew had, for some reason, decided to cover the entire paved road with a layer of "bluestone".

This is a small sharp stone used in the mixture with asphalt, and sometimes laid down on a soft tar road to create a quick and cheap surface, but this is the first time I've seen it used on what used to be a slightly rough but serviceable paved road.

The road was completely covered with the stuff. Perhaps they thought the stones would work their way into the pavement somehow during the hot summer? This is not a well-traveled road, and serves only a couple of farms and remote homes, so it's not like there will be a lot of traffic working the stones into the pavement.

I had to take it easy on the bike, because the surface was very loose -- like riding on sand. I eased up on my death grip and let the bike go more or less where it wanted -- fortunately, there were no other cars coming or going. This lasted for about 3 miles, believe it or not -- 3 miles of curvy, hilly loose stone on top of hard pavement. I had a couple of interesting moments, but I just took it easy and came through without a problem.

Now what happened afterwards may be a complete coincidence, or I may be dreaming, but here's what happened: The road finally ended and I turned on to clean pavement, and after about a half-mile or so when the dust finally blew off the tires, the "greasy" feeling of the Michelins that I reported below was gone. The tires all of a sudden seemed to grip like I had hoped and expected they would!

Then as the tires warmed up again and all of the dust and dirt from that back road finally disappeared, the tires definitely felt like they came into their own -- like they had finally become "broken in".

The rest of the ride was amazing -- the bike now feels very confident and controlled in the corners, and I can lean the Multistrada way, way over -- which is a looong way when you're sitting upright on that bike! -- and it feels like there's and enormous amount of grip and confidence and controllability that was never there before, either with the Michelins or certainly with the old Pirellis.

I have since mentioned my experience to a couple of local very experienced long-distance riders who live nearby, and they agreed that it's not uncommon for some brands or a particular manufacturing lot of new tires to take several hundred miles to really "come into their own".

Apparently, my initial impression that this particular set of Michelin Pilot Road 2 tires felt "greasy" was, in fact, due to the mold release, which -- possibly because of the cool and damp spring weather I experienced just after they were installed -- took much more time to wear away than might be expected.

The abrasion caused by riding 3 miles or so on the loose and sharp gravel over the paved road, along with the stone dust (which is also used to absorb oil spills), was, I think, key in removing the last of the mold release, allowing the rubber to finally take over and do its thing.

So now allow me please to completely change my opinion about the Michelin Pilot Road 2 tires! They have indeed transformed the handling on the Multistrada 620, giving it the confidence and smoothness and control that I desired and expected.

One moral to this story then is that motorcycle tire mold release is a curios thing -- be extra careful when you install a new set of tires. And maybe try to find a nice gravelly road to scuff in the tires? ;-)

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100-250 Miles: I removed the sprue nubs from the tires; the front tire had many of them right along the centerline of the tire. This immediately seemed to stop the "squirm" I was feeling. Again, this is all very subjective, but my impressions so far aren't much different than I reported below from the first hundred miles.

I don't get a sense that the new Michelins are a dramatic improvement from the original Pirellis. They do some things better and some things not as well as the original Pirelli Diablos.

Many owners replace an old set of tires and report a huge difference, but let's face it -- replace an old worn tire with a new one of pretty much any brand or type and chances are the bike is going to feel dramatically better. In this case, the original tires had only 1,507 miles, so the differences in feel between the two brands of tires are much more subtle.

I believe the Pilot Road 2's have a more rounded profile than the original Pirellis. The original tires made the bike feel like it needed more effort to initiate the turn-in; the Michelins make the bike feel like it can roll back and forth more smoothly, without any sort of "step" off the centerline. I also think the Pilot Road 2 tires feel slightly more compliant and they do feel "stickier" than the original Pirellis.

The Multistrada does feel slightly more confident when leaned over, and one thing I can say with certainty is that the new tires allow me to make minute adjustments when the bike is leaned over in a turn, so I am able to place the bike where I want to with more precision. Where before the bike felt a bit nervous in a turn, and I had to take a set and stick with it, the Michelins allow me to make path adjustments and they accept this with no problem and the bike remains steady. This may be due to the softer dual-compound rubber on the sides that Michelin touts as one of the benefits of the Pilot Road 2 tires.

However, I still feel that on this particular bike, the Pilot Road 2 tires provide slightly less "feel" for the road. The Michelins still feel slightly "rubbery" to me and I keep getting this feeling like I'm isolated a bit too much from what's going on with the tires -- almost like there's too much compliance. The original Pirellis felt "hard", as I reported, but one of the benefits of "hard" was that they did give me good feedback for the road surface.

This "rubbery" feeling is difficult to describe actually, and I'll wait until I have several hundred more miles to really understand the differences. I don't think what I'm experiencing is tread squirm, because the Michelin Pilot Road 2 tread pattern doesn't really have any tread blocks that could move around.

So the bottom line so far is that I'm pleased, but not overwhelmed, with the results. I seem to be getting the compliance and reduction in nervousness I wanted, with a bonus of added precision when leaned over, but the tradeoff seems to be that the tires don't provide the direct feel for the road that I had before.

At this point, if you asked me if I'd buy the Michelins again if I had to do it over, I'd probably say no. But we'll see what the next few hundred miles bring...

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0-100 Miles: Motorcycle tires must be broken in very carefully, and the first 100 miles is critical (see this note in the Comments section below). There are many scary stories about slippery mold release residue causing loss of traction and a resulting crash when the tires are new. I have a friend who, after getting a new set of tires fitted, dumped the bike while pulling out of the driveway of the repair shop, so I'm pretty wary about this problem.

I usually scrub the tire surface down with a wire brush and/or a piece of Scotchbrite or heavy-grit sandpaper before the first ride. Some owners even wash the tires first with soap and water or they wipe the tires with a grease remover prior to giving them the wire brush treatment.

I don't know if washing or scrubbing actually does, in fact, remove the mold release agent, but I guess it gives me some psychological benefit. In any case, when I ride on a new set of tires, I'm extremely cautious for the first couple of hundred miles.

New tires typically have many sprue nubs that stick out like a week-old beard; they're an artifact of the tire mold. These little nubs are hardened sticks of molten rubber that are left over from the molten rubber that escapes into the sprue to prevent air bubbles and to promote more uniform distribution of the rubber over the tire carcass in the mold.

I don't know whether the nubs can affect traction, but I usually pluck them from the tires. I didn't take the time to remove them from the Michelins before the first ride; as a result, I swear I could feel them squirming under the tires as I rode.

My seat-of-the-pants impressions during the first hundred miles are this: Unlike some other tire swaps I've experienced, I don't notice a dramatic difference -- yet -- with the Pilot Road 2's compared to the original Pirelli Diablo tires on the Multistrada 620.

It's definitely too early to tell, but I think the bike feels slightly more "planted" in a straight line and that the tires are slightly more compliant and not as "hard" feeling as the Pirellis. The Michelins, I think, may offer a slightly plusher ride, but I do feel a touch of "squirm" or a slight "greasiness" even while riding upright.

I have also noticed that on the initial transition to lean, the tires also feel like they're squirming slightly, which may be due to their newness, or to the many sprue nubs, or the mold release, or, most likely, to a combination of all three. I do not remember feeling this "greasy" or "squirmy" feeling on initial turn-in with any other motorcycle tires I've tried, so I'm concerned but hopeful that this feeling will disappear as the tires get scrubbed in.

At this point, because the tires are so new, I haven't come anywhere close to leaning the bike to anything more than very shallow beginning rider angles. But once past that squirminess that I feel on the initial turn-in, the tires do then give a feeling like they're providing good grip levels and more compliance than the Pirellis. This may be due to the softer section of the dual-compound tread that Michelin says makes up the sides of the tires.

Again, this is all very preliminary, and, as often happens, I'm hyper-sensitive to tire feel at this stage of the game, due to both my nervousness about new tires and the mold release problem and to my desire to compare the tires as quickly as possible to the Pirellis while they're still fresh in my mind.

So, the bottom line for my 0-100 mile impression is that the Michelin Pilot Road 2 tires so far seem to provide three different types of feedback: slightly more compliance or plushness when upright, albeit with what feels like some squirm and softness; a slightly unsettling feeling during the initial turn-in, where the tires feel slightly "greasy"; and the potential for good feel and control and grip when the bike is leaned over.

I'm hoping and anticipating that this will change dramatically -- for the better -- as the tires get scrubbed in, so stay tuned.

If you have any experience with these tires you'd like to share, or if you have some insight on motorcycle tires or tips for tire break-in, please send it to us at and I'll add it to the comments below.

Pirelli Diablo front tire.

Changing tires with the No-Mar tire changer.

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Michelin Pilot Road 2 - Background

According to Michelin,the Pilot Road 2 was intended to create a sport touring tire that maximized wear while providing optimum grip. Michelin says they used their "2CT" (Two-Compound Technology), developed in MotoGP, to combine different types of rubber on the tread to optimize performance in each specific zone.

Michelin claims that "this technology provides excellent traction on wet roads owing to the soft rubber on the shoulders and less wear at the tread center where the rubber is more resistant. As a result, the new Michelin Pilot Road 2 combines qualities that were previously thought to be mutually exclusive. Its excellent grip on wet roads ensures a safe ride while its remarkable wear-resistance offers unprecedented longevity."

Michelin organized a test of the Pilot Road 2 tires, which was conducted by CERM (Centre d’Essais Routiers Mécaniques)in 2006. They claim that the test demonstrated that the Michelin Pilot Road 2 effectively combines the two qualities (CERM is an independent organization that conducts tests and surveys for the automobile and motorcycle industries).

The Michelin Pilot Road 2 was tested against six competing brands and, according to Michelin, the Michelin Pilot Road 2 outperformed the other tires in wet grip and wear resistance. The Suzuki Bandit 1200 motorcycles fitted with Michelin Pilot Road 2 tires "scored the fastest times on a wet track and demonstrated superior longevity to the other tires" (size 120/70 ZR 17 front and 180/55 ZR 17 rear).

Michelin says that the Michelin Pilot Road 2 "combines soft rubber shoulders with a hard rubber tread center", and that they offer "all the advantages and none of the disadvantages of each rubber type in terms of grip and long-life wear-resistance".

Their press release for the tires claims that "The softer rubber compound on the shoulders delivers better grip and quick tire warm-up. The more resistant compound on the tread center offers greater longevity. The tread center rubber mix was developed to guarantee high mechanical resistance, not just for longevity, but also for traction and effective braking." ·

Michelin also says that the 2CT technology "ensures even wear across the tread, even in demanding conditions. The Michelin Pilot Road 2 uses three new silica-reinforced tread compounds. Developed from MotoGP rain tires, the silica component guarantees safety and progressive responsiveness on cold, wet surfaces.

The different rubber compounds used in the tread were positioned to achieve maximum tire performance. The front tires integrate a soft rubber compound, while the rear tires are made with a harder compound that can withstand greater demands during acceleration."

The rear tires "also have a relatively softer section, part of which is in contact with the ground even when the vehicle is fully upright. This facilitates warm-up and, consequently, grip,

The Michelin Pilot Road 2 is said to be "a combination between the tire’s predecessor, the Michelin Pilot Road, and the sportier Michelin Pilot Power.

The front tire has a sporty new profile to enhance GT motorcycle handling and guarantee livelier performance, offering both greater responsiveness and optimum stability for leaning and cornering. The new tread pattern on the Michelin Pilot Road 2 was developed for two purposes: to evacuate water effectively and avoid dangerous forms of wear."