G'day everyone,
I've owned my 906 since '91 and have enjoyed every moment I've been on it.It had done 2800 km when I bought it and it has only just clocked 41000.I've only just discovered the tyre saga as I was invited to a track day at Philip Island and decided to get some fresh rubber.I'm
not allowed to repeat my comments on this forum when I found out. Damn Michelin,they could've let us know before they stopped producing them. After searching the local bike shops with no success I got on line which led me to this forum,thank god for the internet I say.This is a great forum,there is a lot of threads and good advice here,I wish I knew about it sooner. Anyway I,ve decided to go with the 130/70/16-180/60/16 Bridgestones,seems like the easiest option.

cheers Ken

Ken, welcome. Take a 180/60 instead of a 180/70.

G.

Thanks G,it Should've read 180/60/16.I,ve been looking at so many tyres this past few days I,m going crazy.

Hi Ken
It's been a while!!
I believe I have been on a few rides with you back in the early-mid 90's when I lived in W/bool, I had an '89 supersport.

Well now I'm here in Adelaide, picked myself up a Paso a few years ago (to keep the 996 company), It was going cheap, and I couldn't refuse the bargain.

good to see you still have the 906

ahh yes, tyres. been there, done that... see my post on this forum (New Tyre on Paso).

look forward to chatting more

duckboy

G'day Warwick,
welcome to the wonderful world of Paso ownership.
Here is a couple of links about fitting these size tyres,the first one is mine.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3191
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3171
It wasn't too difficult and I kept the cost to a minimum because I could do all the work myself.I rode the bike on a track day at Phillip Island last week which was awesome fun.It started on the Monday in Melbourne and took us up through the recent bushfire region of Kinglake and Marysville.It was the first time I had been for a ride up through that area and it was great fun on the windy roads.We ended up at Phillip Island on the Tuesday for a full day at the track.I was very happy with how the bike handled on and off the track,the tyres out-performed my ability. While we were at the track we got to test ride some new BMW's,I was impressed with the new K1300R,a very nice bike I hate to say,not as good as my 906 though.
Alternatively,if you had some spare cash,you could convert your bike to 17 inch.There is a bloke in Crestmead,QLD who was selling a 907 swingarm and I think he still has it.He was wrecking his 906/907,might be worth a look and it would give you a bigger choice of tyres.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ducati-907-Swing-Ar ... 240%3A1318

Cheers Ken

I went for a ride today. It was the first real opportunity I have had to do a proper appraisal of the tyre.

I checked my chain last night and found the sprocket bolts had came loose, despite the fact I had used Nylock nuts on them, after only 250 k’s. this could have been caused by a number of factors, but I put it down to not being able to supply enough torque through a 5 mm Allen key to tighten the sprocket correctly. So last night, I ditched the spacer setup, and went with the normal chain and sprocket layout. This left a 2mm (chain/ tyre) overlap.

This morning I gently cut in the tyre (the chain took about 60 k’s to cut a decent groove).
The weather a warm 29 degrees, the roads were in excellent condition, clean and grippy.

The tyre Dunlop Elite 180.60/16 (rear).
I was impressed with the level of traction the tyre offered most of the time, it felt surefooted under acceleration (I couldn’t get it to break traction). Could only be described as confidence inspiring mid corner, it was as steady as a rock, and handled everything I threw at it, even with a bit of dampness on the apexes around the top of the hills. And as well as that, the bike now has more mid corner ground clearance.

However, this tyre was designed for a much heavier bike, and under brakes was a different story. The tyre offered very little grip under braking once the weight was offloaded. It would lock quite easily and skid, (I think it is called perimeter traction). The back end can come around quite quickly in an emergency braking procedure. And getting ambitious on the down change, into bumpy corners does tend to unsettle it a bit. It's not horifying but it is something to be aware of.

Although I have also noticed a clunk in my rear suspension, I’m not sure how much of a contributing factor that is to the behavior of the handling.

Anyway the Paso is on the road, and I’m out riding it. yahoo

It seems an excellent result.
I have always braked very little with the rear brake. So, for me it would be great!!!
Ciao

Its not perfect but it is a solution.

I wonder if the Avons are better. When I talked to all compaines producing a 180 16" years ago companies like Dunlop informed me that they don`t recommend it for the Paso. Avon was the opposite as the said they had developed their new model for customs, not tourers only, so it would be fine.

Like all tires they will build up grip when they reach a certain temperature. As the Paso is rather lightweight this will take quite a bit longer. The tires should therefore be driven with slightly lower airpressure.

Yes I felt that I could have dropped a few PSI from the rear, I was running at 39 psi rear, and 36 front. Although I don't think it is a good idea to run less pressure in the rear tyre than the front. Next time I will try 36, 36.
Having said that, the Dunlop sidewalls are so rigid, I reckon I could run at 0 psi in the rear, and the sidewalls would still not deflect.