In another thread these two guys got me thinking about fitting an upgrade SupeMotard 120/70/17 front tire on the KLX250SF (D-Tracker 250 & DTx250):

So earlier this week i decided to take a gamble on fitting a 120/70/17 Diablo Rosso II front tire. I also replaced my 140/70/17 rear tire at the same time.

This combination is fantastic & IMHO a marriage made in SuperMoto heaven! Kawasaki must have been trying to save money by not fitting a 120 as OEM.

CONS:
The 120/70 tire costs a little more money than the 110/70

120/70 is slightly heavier than the 110/70.

The 120 IS NOT being pinched on the rim but I can see by the curve in the tire that the SF rim could do with being a 1/4"inch or a 1/2"inch wider to really accommodate 120/17 tire in a perfect world. Don't kid yourself that the 120/70 is getting a larger contact patch.....IMHO it isn't as the tire is being very slightly distorted into a curvier curve but the tire works better on the road. Seriously don't worry about this.


PROS:

Looks chunky like a real SuMo from the front now!

I was astounded when swapping out the stock IRC Road winners (F)110/70 & (R)130/70 with Pirelli Diablo Rosso II (F)110/70 & (R)140/70 this was a very good upgrade in stickiness & better handling!! Now fitting the (F)120/70/17 with the (R)140/70/17 has that same upgrade feel & is very noticeable better on the road...wow

Riding my bike back from the tire shop was fantastic.....It really felt like I had fitted a high quality unobtrusive steering damper!! The chunky front tire was soaking up bumps on the road way better & the front tire was not tending to follow ridges, ripples & white line on the road.....very impressive

Low/med/high speed cornering is much improved. The bike is falling into corners much more predictably with incredible feel & feed back. Quick direction changes (flickability) is still fast & easy but feels safer & better controlled now!!

To put my thoughts into perceptive, if someone offered me a free Diablo Rosso 110/70 when it comes to replacing my front tire in the future or me buying a new 120/70 from my pocket......I think I would pay for the 120/70...







EDIT: After 2 weeks of riding with a 120 on the bike i can confirm this will heal your speedo into giving a very accurate reading.....I am now having trouble hitting 100mph (160kmh) on the clock with the bigger diameter tire! My bike is spot on accurate at 65mph riding alongside my mates Harley with GPS speedo reading.

 

Yeeeeeah buddy! 120/70 is the best. Much more control, smoother ride, responsive but not twitchy. I'll never buy a 110 again, not to mention the choice of 120 are much greater.

 

Huh i'm really curious about this. Because when I got my 140/70/17 rear d rosso II put on the tire shop guy said the extra curve given to the tire because its a little too big will negatively affect my handling. Its hard for me to compare between sizes tho because the rosso II's are just sooooo nice and grippy

 

The D Rosso II does have a slightly curvier profile in general. My friend put the correct size D Rosso's on his ER-6 & they had more of a curved profile than the OEM Dunlops fitted originally.

Like I said in my first post the 120/70/17 looked to have more of a curve than I would like but it handles great.

I rode a stock SF not so long ago with the OEM IRC's 110 & 130's fitted and have been riding my SF with D Rosso's 110/70 & 140/70 fitted for a year. Now i'm on D Rosso's 120/70 & 140/70's for just over week now. It just gets better & better from those skittish, shaky, grippless old IRC's.

It's just my opinion but I love them....the bike handles better at any speed!! I've been in the market for a Scott's steering damper for a while now but with the 120 making the front end way more steady & predictable, i'm not gonna bother getting one now.

I will not be fitting a 110 again on my bike.

 

A friend of mine just rocked up on his 331 D-tracker (SF) to show off his new tires.

I have just been seriously out trumped in the exotic "Track" SuperMoto tire department!!

He has fitted a 110/70/17 Diablo Supercorsa sc1 on the front




A 150/70/17 Diablo SuperCorsa sc2 on the rear. BTW it fitted perfectly, with a good centimeter between the chain & the tire.


They are the most sticky track tires I have ever got my nails into but on the down side they won't last very long. At least my Diablo Rosso's will be way superior in the rain . The Supercorsa's are basically cut slicks with less silica content than the Rosso's & should be pretty scary in the wet.

He is off now to try & scape his foot pegs on the twisty mountain roads.....that's if he can get them up to full race super sticky operating temperatures of 110°C(230°F)......Good luck

He also wishes he got a 120 SuperCorsa on the front after seeing mine in the flesh!!

EDIT: Been looking on other forums & cannot find any other SuperMoto riders with Dialbo Supercorsa sc1 & sc2 tires on a D-Tracker 250 (klx250SF).....very unique i recon!! I will add a report in a few months on how long these super soft tires actually last on the road.

 

Hey man, been thinking of my next set of tires after my distanzias wear out (not really liking the rear dual sport tire, it is slipping and sliding with the heavy engine brake of the 351) how are you liking those diablo rossi ii's? how are they wearing? how are they in the rain?

 

They wear well on our light weight under powered machines. I got over 12,000km out of my last set & i'm always riding & braking hard. Heavier 800cc+ bikes with lots of torque chew through them much quicker!

Had the same engine breaking slip-sliding thing going on with the original IRC tires with the 331 BB. The Pirelli tires are a 100% improvement on the light rear end squirming issue!!

The Diablo Rosso 2's are incredibly good in the dry & very good in the rain considering how few tread grooves are in the tire! Soft sticky duel compounds with a healthy amount of silica thrown in the mix, for the wet. I really can't fault them & wouldn't even consider trying anything else at my next tire change.

 

Just what I wanted to hear! Tire that lasts more than 4000 miles with good dry and wet grip. I know my next set of tires! Thanks Joel!

 

Hello...1st post on this forum...i have a d-tracker 292cc 1999 model and i wanted to ask if i can get a 120/70/17 tyre on a 3'' rim.Also im thinking of a 150/60/17 tyre at the rear rim which is 3.5'' but i think that its too big for it.so any suggestions??Thank you in advance...

 

Go to a converter and see what 120mm is in inches