The combination of the basic suspension on the Multistrada 620 and the "hard" Pirelli Diablo tires also gave the Multi a feeling that I would describe as slightly "jumpy" or "jittery" or "nervous". Not to an extreme, but the Multi didn't feel as solid and secure as I thought it should or could.

Now I might not have noticed any of this if it weren't for the GT1000 that I could compare it to, which, even though it also doesn't have the world's most sophisticated suspension, felt "smoother" and "silkier" and definitely more "solid and planted" than the Multi, especially in the turns and especially when the pavement was less than perfect.

The Diablos also seemed to have a profile that was slightly too "sharp"; in other words, the turn-in felt too sudden, and the bike moved around a bit more than I’d like, especially in slightly bumpy conditions in turns. It certainly wasn't as rock-steady as the GT1000 with its understeering-but-lovable Michelin Pilot Classic tires.

Left: Michelin Pilot Road 2 Rear Tire (160/60ZR17; 69W). Right: Pilot Road 2 Front (120/60ZR17; 55W)

Pirelli Diablo (left); Michelin Pilot Road 2 (right), size 120/60 ZR 17.

Original Pirelli Diablo rear.

Michelin Pilot Road 2 rear tire, size 160/60 ZR 17.

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I described this in the Multistrada Blog not long ago, and after some research, I was considering spooning on a set of Metzeler Sportec M-1 tires. But one thing led to another, and I ended up with the Pilot Road 2's.

My logic went something like this: I have a great deal of respect for Michelin products (especially after my experience with the Pilot Classics on the GT1000), and I could source a set of Michelins easier than the Metzelers, and the Pilot Road 2 is a pretty new tire, and it's claimed to have dual-compound MotoGP technology, and I wasn't able to find many owner opinions about the tire, so I thought webBikeWorlders would be interested in learning more.

As good a reason as any to try a new tire, no? So a set of Pilot Road 2's it was.

The Mulitstradino takes a relatively standard sized 120/60-17 front but a slightly narrower than normal 160/60-17 rear. The front was $133.46 and the rear was $166.30 through our friends at Revzilla.

Motorcycle tires are always way more expensive and wear out much quicker than I think they should, but three's nothing we can do about it, unfortunately. I have no idea whether the price we paid is the lowest for these tires, but the skins were available and ready to ship, and Revzilla also carried the set of Avon Storms for Chris' FJR1300 that we wanted (which we'll feature in an upcoming article), thus is was more convenient to place the single order.

A few hours with the No-Mar Motorcycle Tire Changer (review), the Handy Motorcycle Lift (review) and the very nice Tachyon motorcycle tire balancer (review) and the deed was done. Of course, these quality tools made the job about ten times easier than it could be, but to be honest, there's not much to swapping out a set of tires on the Multistrada 620.

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