Adventure Motorcycle Tires

Pirelli introduces new sizes of the Scorpion Rally tire, 110/80-19 for the front and 150/70-17 for the rear.

These tires are designed ad hoc for high displacement enduro street bikes like the BMW R 1200 GS and Yamaha XT1200Z Super Tenere, which, besides being the preferred type of touring vehicle, maintain a strong propensity for off-road in their DNA.

The new Scorpion Rally sizes were designed to guarantee excellent off-road performance including better traction, tear resistance and less wear on the knobs, thanks to Pirelli's racing experience with the 90/90-21 and 140/80-18 sizes.

Nevertheless, the African deserts are far from our cities and in order to reach them long stretches of paved roads must be traveled. This is why the new Scorpion Rally sizes were also designed to provide high mileage and excellent road stability, even at high speeds and fully loaded. The rear tire also boasts better traction while the front capably transmits feeling and safety to the rider.

In order to ensure that the large enduro bikes enjoy the same performance that brought the Scorpion Rally to victory in the 2009 Dakar and, just a few weeks ago, to the Cross Country Rally 2011 world title with Portuguese rider Helder Rodriguez, the tread pattern for the new 110/80-19 front size maintains the same 4-5-4 layout of the blocks with a central prism.

The 7.7 mm height of the knobs was chosen deliberately to optimize handling, directional stability on sand and soft terrain, and to increase the life of the tire. The 150/70-17 rear size, on the other hand, has wider blocks with long traversal bridges designed to provide better traction on soft terrain and to reduce slides, so that the rider can have full confidence when leaning into turns.

The primary focus of structural development was to provide the rider with stability at high speeds, confidence and safety, especially on long range street and motorway trips. Stability at high speeds was achieved thanks to the use of a carcass with thick ply cords arranged with just the right angling to provide greater lateral rigidity, which helps to contrast the vibrations which are often associated with large enduro bikes at high speeds.

These structural characteristics of the carcass ply also guarantee a vertical rigidity which, together with the use of reinforcing elements for the tire's bead, provide a balance between the carcass and the tread which is itself softer thanks to the knobs. The result of all this is a tyre with a well balanced and reliable performance capable of providing comfort on asphalt in spite of a knobby tread pattern.

The new Scorpion Rally sizes also have an innovative compound, developed with particular attention to the dual use of this tyre. In off road use, the compound is highly resistant to tearing, preventing cuts and ripping which would be even more dangerous when riding on asphalt. Great effort was also made regarding mileage: the tyre now has a longer lifetime and wears more evenly.

Scorpion Rally tyres in the new sizes (110/80-19 for the front and 150/70-17 for the rear) are now available at your local Pirelli dealer. For more information on the entire range of Pirelli Scorpion tyres you can visit our website at pirelli.com. Also, like us on facebook.com/pirelli or follow us on Twitter @Pirelli_Media.