Ducati 748 Tyre Choices?

[Hopalong64]

My rear tyre is now officially 'squared off' and i intend to replace front & rear tyres together as a pair.

My favourite tyres on my last bike (ZX9R) were Pirelli Diablos, so my natural inclination is to go for the same on my Duke.

Does anyone know anything about the new Diablo Strada's? May seem a strange choice for a 748, but I will be commuting (mad!) through the coming winter and have read that the Corsa's may be better in the wet than the standard Diablos?

Front tyre size? My current tyre is a 120/60 17, but the Pirelli site lists both a 120/70 AND a 120/60 as being correct for my bike..... Can anyone clarify this?

If I dont go for the Diablo Stradas, any suggestions, but must have reasonable mileage and cold / wet weather grip....

If I buy a pair by mail order, how much is it likely to cost me to get the tyres fitted onto loose wheels by a local tyre dealer?

I live in between Southampton and Portsmouth - where do you Hampshire guys go to buy your tyres?

THANKS !!!

[Dan]

I've seen the Diablo Strada's in the bike mags but that's about it, so can't help on that.

So far on my 748 I’ve had:
Pirelli Dragon Super Corsa’s
An excellent tyre in the dry but I thought they took a while to warm up, terrible if you’re caught in the wet. However these tyres were on my bike from the previous owner who’d used the bike on the track so the tyres were past their best.
Dunlop 208RR (Now the D208ZR I think)
By far the best tyres I’ve had on the old beast. I bought a pair fitted for £220, and these babies were excellent confidence tyres on the street. However I managed to get a nail in each tyre at 70mph (honest) on the A38, after they’d been on the bike for 3 weeks and I had to change them for the following.
Bridgestone Battlax BT-010
A good tyre for all conditions and bloody cheap at the minute. Gives reasonable confidence mid-corner, and although I've now done 2,500miles on them they look as good as new. But gonna get back to some Dunlops for next spring when I get my wheels repainted.

[Timk]

ive got diablo corsas on mine and found them to be great the only downside is the rear only lasted about 1000 miles