Motorcycle News were given an exclusive early test of the new Metzeler Sportec M7 RR Supersport tyre for the road and in this week’s paper branded it ‘impressive’ in terms of grip, feedback and warm-up time.

Chief Road tester Michael Neeves tested the M7 against the current Supersport reference tyre, the Dunlop Sportsmart 2. Neeves said “The Dunlops give our test Triumph a slightly harsher ride and they take longer to warm-up. The bike would also be more prone to kick its bars over the bumps, too. Overall, both tyres deliver top performance, but the Metzeler is the more comfortable’ of the two and gives you confidence more quickly.”

Neeves goes on to add, “In terms of outright grip, the new Metzelers are impressive and can handle aggressive acceleration with a high degree of lean. You can feel the soft compound rubber on the edge of the tyres giving you a feeling of being ‘plugged-in’ to the Tarmac at full lean. Grip and stability turning the bike into the corner and lifting it up again under acceleration is excellent, too.

The Sportec M7 RR lets our 675R test bike roll nicely into corners, offers a very plush, reassuring ride and excellent stability over the bumps. Under hard braking, it feels good to have a big confidence- inspiring contact patch to play with. Within a handful of corners out of the pits, from cold, the rubber starts working and you can start to lean hard. That’s handy on-track, but more importantly it means you’ll have more grip on your stop-start road ride where it’s good to know the tyres will have plenty of heat in them for that next corner.”

So strong praise for the new M7, a tyre developed on real roads but also directly from the Metzeler Racing R&D department; which competed in the major ‘Roads’ events in 2013. Pushed to the limit at the North West 200, Isle of Man TT and Ulster GP,

The new tyres also offer higher mileage than its predecessor, the Sportec M5, while giving class leading wet weather grip.