Anybody try Pirelli Angel GT tires ?

[Marc K]

Searching for a decent mileage tire since riding with y'all eats tires ! Found several posts on the FJR website on Pirelli Angel GT tires. Mixed reviews. Hard tires, some complaints of low speed wobble / not tracking well. They are mounted stock out of the box on Ducati Multistradas. I can get a set for $278 from Comp Accs in Rock Hill. Any prior experiences. I mounted my new rear Conti Motion and ready to ride once this rains stops !

[Bob]

Mark, I typed "pirelli" into the search box and it returned 4 posts re the angel gt's. Give it a try--the search function for the forum works quite well. (You must be logged in to use it)

Of course nothing beats current real-time info either.

[Marc K]

I tried that and found the earlier posts. Nobody really seem to report a long term use. Looks like 007 had them on the front but no other mention. May try the PR4s since they are back out but hate spending a $100 more.

[yamadog]

Mark, I have a friend who just moved to Phoenix and while here, we road a bunch. He put Angels on his Gen 2 and has had good results. He rides one up but with side cases and a top case. He airs them at 42 front and rear and said they are very stable, dry and wet. He rides aggressive like use but less now that he has moved out west. As of today, he has 5400 miles on them and said there is still about 30 pecent tread left. Sorry, no pics. He used to run pr2s and went for a harder tire. Hope this helps.

[Bob]

Mark, re. the PR4's: I am currently running them and the handling is not as crisp as on the PR3's, I suspect the increased siping is causing some tread squirm. I will probably revert to the PR3's next go-around. I usually get 3300-3500 off a rear PR3/4--not very good but the cornering is nice.

[Marc K]

Mark, I have a friend who just moved to Phoenix and while here, we road a bunch. He put Angels on his Gen 2 and has had good results. He rides one up but with side cases and a top case. He airs them at 42 front and rear and said they are very stable, dry and wet. He rides aggressive like use but less now that he has moved out west. As of today, he has 5400 miles on them and said there is still about 30 pecent tread left. Sorry, no pics. He used to run pr2s and went for a harder tire. Hope this helps.

That sounds good. Obviously I ride two up - alot ! I will keep looking for reviews.

[LeeDavis]

Angels are moderate mileage tires with decent traction in the twisties. I've run two sets. An Angel rear with a grippy front, like a Pilot Power or Conti Motion, is also an excellent combination for this area and the type of riding we mostly do.

[Ed]

Have run both the first-iteration Angel, plus the Angel GT which are currently on the SV1k.

Absolutely 100% satisfied on all counts... they've all lasted and behaved well dry or wet (just rode a nearly-done GT rear through heavy rain yesterday, with zero slippage) and needed very little weight to balance. I'll definitely replace this rear with another Angel GT.

[Brick]

Ok there you go great endorsement from Ed on the Angel GT's!
Word!

[007]

Considering tire life and performace depends on a million factors including application, bike, riding style, etc. These are my impressions on my K12S, so please take the following with a grain of salt.

The GTs are good tires. Mileage is good, at least in line with PR2s depending on how aggressive the riding gets, and quality control from Pirelli (more on that later). I don't run any sport touring tires in general over the summer because the edge always wears much faster than the middle, causing the bike to fall into corners and leaving lots of unused rubber from uneven wear. They are some of the more neutral steering tires I have ridden, even towards end of life, compared to PR2s which are more unstable at end of life. I will run GTs or PR2s in winter due to better inclimate weather (wet/cold) traction and more even wear than sport tires which generally need heat to stick.

Of note, I have found that Pirelli GTs and Metzeler M5s (under Pirelli) seem to have some quality control issues verified by my own experience and other riders beyond my skill on VFRD. This was notable with mileage variation on the GTs (confirmed by the same rider on the same bike under roughly the same level of aggression). Grip/stability variation was a concern on the M5s, since I expected the front M5 to grip when it started to feel unstable. This was worse towards end of life and horrendous in even mild temperatures. Probably the worst individual tire I have ever ridden: slightly better than plastic in the cold. I considered giving away the second M5, but decided maybe it was just a bad tire. The 2nd front M5 felt pretty good, albeit temps were much warmer on the second go, but still nowhere near the overall versatility of any other tire. The rear M5 was great, but after I put on the Q3s, they were so much better I forgot about it. It was enough to decide I would not waste future money/time on the M5s, even if they start another promotion to give them away. Dropping tire pressure helped a bit, warm weather helped a lot, but 1800 miles questioning whether a tire would grip is not worth my time.

I don't run advanced wet weather tires (PR3s or PR4s) because they are not sporty enough and I don't require extreme wet weather grip or to say I have the most expensive tires money can buy. I have seen pictures of aggressive riders with clumps of rubber falling off, and there are too many other quality tires to choose from, given my personal application of tires. These may work great for your situation, but I won't bring a knife to a gun fight. The tables would be turned in the snow or dirty road, etc, but I will buy a totally different bike for that application.

I can't say enough good things about the Dunlop Q3s. I used to hate Dunlop, but these things are amazing for combination of insane dry grip and respectable uniform wear. Wet weather is fair, but not adequately tested. The Q3 is likely to be my default year round front tire going forward, unless they turn to plastic in the cold (not yet tested). I bought 3 sets during the $40 rebate in June and July for about $190 PER SET out the door. The invisible girlfriend bought me a 4th set for my birthday. This tire has the best combination of tread life, even wear, feel, control. They seem to be impenetrable to sharp metal objects, more on that later. I will run an Angel GT or PR2 on the rear in the winter and call it a day.

I have a couple Pilot Power fronts that I plan to run. They are about the easiest tire I have ever mounted, but fronts triangulate with sporty riding and overall wear is poor, especially on my K12S. I will likely use them on my next sportbike. I combined them with Angel GTs and PR2s with fair results. Never ridden a rear Power.

PP3s (not PR3s) were good tires, but wear was average and uneven.

Personal Rankings:

Overall wear:
1. Angel GT / PR2 (tie; depending on whether Luigi forgets to add better wear compound to the mix)
2. Q3 (with extra points for puncture resistance)
3. PP3
4. M5
5. PP
6. Q2

Even wear:
1. Q3/Q2
2. Angel GT
3. PR2
4. PP3
5. M5
6. PP

Neutral steering:
1. Q3/Q2 (from beginning to end)
2. Angel GT (end of life starts to fade a little)
3. Miles later - all the Michelins (awful end of life, worse on the PP and PP3)
4. M5 (horrible end of life)

Wet/adverse conditions (limited testing on sport tires)
1. Angel GT
2. PR2
3. Dunlops
4. sport michelins
5. M5 (total crap)

Dry Warm Weather Grip:
1. Q3/Q2 (basically street legal race tires)
2. PP3
3. Angel GT
4. PP/PR2
5. M5 (too inconsistent and fickle)

Overall Value - factoring in all ratings above and overall "fun quotient"
1. Q3
2. Angel GT / PR2
3. PP3
4. PP
5. Q2
6. M5

[Ed]

Compelling write-up, Steve

I was also a Dunlop "hater" for years- their D207 was, in my view, the worst tire I ever ran- but got stuck putting a Roadsmart on the back of my Hayabusa a few years back, and actually had quite good service from it... there's a Roadsmart II on the back of the Bandit now, and it's held up very well too with good road manners.

Looking at photos of the Q3 on Dunlop's website:




...it's hard for me to visualize a tread design with that land-to-sea ratio being great at managing heavy-rain conditions, but easy to understand how it could excel at dry traction with the right compounding.

[Marc K]

Thanks Steve for the report. I only get 2K out of PR2s so that doesn't say much for GTs. Ed - never thought about Dunlops. Maybe a PR2 front and a Dunlop rear. I got 1950mls on that last Conti Motion but I really liked the feel.

[007]

I always thought it would be fun to run a straight touring / hard compound rear, but I can't find any in my size! 190/55 is just too big!
The loaner R1150RS at my last service had Conti Motions. Grip was fair, wear was near the bottom end. I didn't push nearly as hard since it wasn't my bike, but was almost sure I used half the tread on both tires in only 600 miles. The aforementioned VFRD buddy smoked a set in 1000 miles, which I could probably verify. Seem dirt cheap these days - like Shinko cheap. I was put off by the wear.

[Ed]

Ed - never thought about Dunlops. Maybe a PR2 front and a Dunlop rear.

I have a PR3 front on the Bandit, with the Roadsmart II rear. Not sure I'd recommend the combination; it's stable, but the two ends of the bike don't seem to completely agree with each other... something about the carcass design/layup, I suppose but you can plainly feel it.

This is the RS II, 190/55:



I had an RS II 200 rear on it for a while... great poser value, fer sher but it just didn't want to turn.

Bandit is around 500# wet, so as the saying goes- your mileage may vary.

[007]

So I was curious as to how the Q3s would hold once the weather turns. This review did it for me, although I won't be dragging any wet knees:

https://rideapart.com/articles/gear-dun ... x-q3-tires

[Ed]

Great write-up