Got the old girl out for a ride for the first time in god knows how long, a bit rough to start with but an Italian tune up sorted it out. I also got to check the new oil seal and clutch push rod that I fitted months ago. Great fun.
Dry roads and the need for speed was just overpowering today so a blast of the cobwebs was called for... Nice ST4 at the Sauasage too, anyone on here? Fork preload fix has indeed made the corner holding ability of the Mutley much sharper and more confidence inspiring, it tracks in a constant arc without having to put extra small necessary corrections in and feels as though the skyhook is behaving better.. a well worth exercise in fork fiddling , so thank you for suggesting that. The throttle spacer I fitted is also an added bonus especially at slow speed manouvering,, no stalling today. Finally first ride out with the Motoairbag M1 airbag parachute malarkey, forgot I was wearing it which is usually a good sign something is working well and fits properly. All good love this bike a lot.
Yeah, the Conti’s are good but my current tyres on my Multistrada 1200s are Dunlop Roadsmart IV’s. I love the profile of the front tyre. It just rolls perfectly from side to side in flip flop bends. I found this tyre after using Dunlop Sportsmart TT’s on my Monster, which were absolutely fantastic but lasted me a week in the Pyrenees. I’m not quite so confident about the rear Roadsmart IV although I did give it a thorough caning going over the Central Atlas Mountains in Morocco recently. We really did get in the groove, empty roads, great tarmac and a variety of fast sweeping bends and tight low gear bends. My conclusion is the Roadsmart IV’s are a harder much longer lasting compound than the Sportsmart TT’s. Although the profiles feel pretty similar. So you take your choice, grip or mileage. Next time I’m going to try the Sportsmart 3’s. Hopefully they should land between the two. After years on Metzeler’s my favourite tyres would be a Dunlop front and a Metzeler M7RR or M9RR rear but I was wary of mixing brands.
Funnily enough it's the feel and grip from the front tyre that keeps me coming back to Conti Road Attacks on my KTM 1190. I can brake and turn really late and absolutely bury it in bends and the front grips the road like a horse's bite. I suspect the 1190 is a more lively chassis than the 1200 Multi. It has longer travel suspension (well, I think it does - feels like it) so there can be more weight transfer going on. Consequently I tend to rear trail brake quite a lot through fast bends when getting a move on to keep everything level, so the wear on my rear tyre effect steering response. When it starts to flatten off the steering slows and left/right flick-flacks need more countersteer. It's at that point that I tend to replace both tyres as the front will be started to facet and looks like a thuppenny bit when standing up on the pegs and looking down at it while it's spinning. I get about 4000 miles from a pair when I've got to this point, but most of that mileage will be flinging it around cherry-picked twisty roads. If touring when a lot of dual carriageway miles are unavoidable the centre will be very worn by that point. I think 4K from a big adventure bike that's ridden briskly most of the time isn't bad, but the Contis optimum performance starts to wane after 3K. I might try some Dunlops. Haven't used Roadsmarts for years and I'm sure the current version is a different beast. I actually really like the Diablo Rosso IIIs I have on the Diavel. They're the only option with a 240 section rear but I love them. Superb grip and feel and always feel composed even on the edge. But that is a dry weather bike so what they'd be like in the wet I don't know. The Contis are very good wet tyres and I imagine the Dunlops are too.
