120/70ZR/17 and 160/60/17 fit 2000 Skorpion?

[J-Ball]

Hi guys afer MUCH delibetion I've pretty well narrowed my tire selection down to the Pirelli Scorpion Syncs. I've looked at many tires trying to find one that will work well on both pavement and dirt/gravel roads. It looks like the sync is about as close as it gets. The front would be a 120/70ZR/17 and the rear would be a 150/70ZR/17 or a 160/60ZR/17. Anyone know$ if these will mount up on a 2000 Skorpion Tour without any problems? Anyone have experiences with these as far as mileage and dirt road ability. I'm concerned that with a "street" tire the gravel roads around here will chew them up quick but it looks like this is my best option. Any adivce would be greatly appreciated.

other options I've considered;
--Metzler 880. Decent sizes in 17", pretty hearty tire but made for way heavier bikes than mine, not quite as "dirt road-able" as the Sync.

--Anakee rear with an MT-60 up front. Both of these look like killer tires, but the Anakee isn't availible in the front size and the MT-60 is a soft compound so it won't last long. The combo might work pretty good though..thoughts?

Thanks guys...
J-Ball!

[aah5]

Hi there, J-Ball, Good to see someone not afraid to do a bit of dirt with the Skorpion. I'm running Continental 'Road Attack's on mine,purely road tyre but not afraid to go on some back roads.Gearing on mine is 16/43,tyres 150/70(up from 150/60) &110/70. When I went to the /70 rear it felt like I had gone another tooth up on the engine sprocket,great for cruising but seemed to be be a gear worse off, Don't get into 5th ,comfortably, until doing 60mph, run around in 4th mostly. Putting the 120/70 on the front would alter your speedo reading,you end up going faster than what it says,but the bigger tyre would certainly feel better in the dirt.

[J-Ball]

To complete this "tire selection adventure" I thought I'd post what I ended up with and how it's working out so others will know what I have learned. I ended up with an Avon Distanzia front 120/70/17 and a Michelin Anakee 150/70/17 rear. The font being one size wider than stock and the rear being one size taller than stock. I know to most here this seems like an odd choice but for me and my riding conditions it's working out great!

The wider front did impact the speedo, now it shows that I'm going about 5 mph slower than I am actually going. The taller rear did impact the final drive ratio of course and made a noticeable change. Now the bike loves to cruise about 65-70mph where before it was "wound up" just a little. At 55mph I have to shift to 4th gear to keep the engine at appropriate rpms. Of course this also means that taking off in first gear requires a bit more throttle to get things rolling. I've been clocking the miles with this set up and for what I do I think I'll keep the gearing as is, I like the fact that I can ramble down the highway at 70 with ease. The bike still has plenty of low end umph to keep the ride fun.

As far as my odd ball choice in tires for this bike (Dual Sport Tires) , I'm loving it! Now I can go where ever the roads take me. If it's dirt, gravel, paved, man holes in the city, rain grooves, what ever... I'm there, no problems. NOT an off-road bike. On the pavement the bike sticks to the road great and handles all the "twisties" as fast as I would have ever gone with my sport tires that I used to run. Those tires lasted 1500 miles in the conditions I ride in, the new ones should last 8-10,000 miles! I'll post pics at some point for you to either say WTF! or Sweet!

Ride on!

[J-Ball]

Oh and btw AAH5, you were right on with your comments. Thanks very much, as it did help me in determing what sizes would work and how they would effect the Skorps performance. Did you ever do to a 15T front sprocket? If so how did it work out?

[aah5]

Hi J Ball, Did have a 15/43 combo for a while, but was a little too revvy in 5th when touring. Prefer the 16/43 as it suits my style and the riding conditions. Bike has 99,605klms on at present,just done a service, new tyres and battery and am going to Phillip Is for MotoGP on Monday, 2 weeks of touring SE Australia and around 6000Ks.Post some photos on my return.

[J-Ball]

Well here she is for all to see....

2000 MZ Skorpion Tour "Sport Adventurer".....a.k.a. "The Hill Country Rambler"

So far.....too cool for school! Does great for my commute (60 miles pavement = 50+ mpg), fun on the windy roads, does great on the gravel roads I take to get to the places I want to be...(middle of nowhere) Love it. I wouldn't trade it for a V-Strom, KLR, Versys, or X-Country.... (well maybe the Beemer...)

Front 120/70/17 Distanzia

IMG_8052.JPG (794.44 KiB) Viewed 2607 times

Rear 150/70/17 Anakee

IMG_8053.JPG (757.43 KiB) Viewed 2606 times

MZ Skorpion Tour

IMG_8054.JPG (933.46 KiB) Viewed 2603 times

[aah5]

Looks good, think about putting a guard screen on the radiator for the the backroads. Made one from expanded steel mesh for mine and it has paid for itself many times over.

[J-Ball]

Hey aah5, that's a good idea I hadn't thought of....just to protect the radiator from flying rocks etc? I have been thinking about a "roll bar" around the radiator, something to mount some forward foot pegs on, maybe some lights or even wind deflectors when the commute gets colder this winter. I think I could make it look like it came from the factory with it if I scratch my chin long enought about it. This bike is lots of fun to ride, I might as well make it work better for me..Right?

Oh.. sorry about the super hugh pics too....