Hi, Nearing the end of my physio rehab after breaking my arm, and desperate to get back out on the bike. at the back end of last summer (last time I rode it), I got a new set of Pirelli Angel GT fitted to the 998s (some may chuckle at the choice of tyre, and not being a more "race" based compound/design, but given I don't ride anywhere near the limits of a trail bike tyre, I think the Angel GT will be a fine compromise between grip and longevity). Before I get back on it, I would like to make sure the tyre pressures are right. Can anybody enlighten me as to what the preferred pressures are for these on a 998s mono with a 14st chimp onboard? Cheers, Pete
As it's a novel but not necessarily bad choice for a full-on sports bike, you may not find anybody on here who actually knows - have you tried the Pirelli website??
Interesting as I'm thinking about putting exactly the same boots on my 749. I ran BT-23's on mine last time and liked them got me to Venice and back the long way and squeezed a week round France on them.? I'm seriously considering them as a alternative choice
Got a pilot road on the back of my 999 at the moment. Works for me. Sticky mich on front. Gone a couple of psi up on both. 37-35. Fair bit of 2up use.
Angel GTs have been getting some good press lately. KTM use them as the OE tyre on the 1290 GT. That's got the same chassis and engine as the SDR and the journos raved about them at the GT launch when it was cold and wet. No reason why they wouldn't be just fine on a 998. Surely you should match a tyre to the type of riding you actually do not the type of riding the bike might do. If you're not laying it on its ear all the time you're better off with a good sports touring tyre. I'm thinking about putting them on my SMT.
buy all accounts (well the accounts i have read) sports touring tires are better for the road as a full on sports tire takes longer to heat up/get sticky and unless riding a a decent rate of knots constantly (unlikely on the street) will cool off/lose stickiness and the longevity of the tire is less.. i have bt30's on my 748 and love em. bought em on the strenth of a write up about ron haslem's school and what they use. talk of a sports tire on a sports bike for the sake of it is crazy.. use of the bike should be what dictates
Quite agree. If a sports tyre profile is like the sharp end of an egg and a sport touring profile more like the blunt end, clearly sports tyre, if not used across its full surface will square off and be ruined much quicker than a sports touring tyre. Having said that almost all manufacturers make sports tyres designed for road use and these are much better at building and retaining temperature than more focussed track tyres. And they are far better in the wet. I bought a Speed Triple once with only 500 miles from new and it was shod with Racetec K3s, apparently by the factory. It was a terrible choice of tyre for an all-round road bike. It was very hard to get them up to an even temperature without tyre warmers and if you did manage it a few minutes stuck in traffic would see the temperature plummet again and when the pace picked up they were horribly squirrely. I thought they were plain dangerous. My SMT which is an upright supermoto style bike with long travel suspension and good ground clearance has Dunlop Roadsmart II sports touring tyres and when pushed to the edge of the tyre boots will get scuffed if you don't keep them out of the way. There's no shortage of available lean angle. I am changing them to M7RRs for a track day though, but for road riding I've never had any complaints with the Roadsmarts (except the trademark Dunlop slow warm-up time).
thanks for the advice. @Old rider your reminder of the obvious worked - the website shows; 120/70 ZR 17 M/C (58W) TL - 2.2 BAR FRONT 190/50 ZR 17 M/C (73W) TL - 2.4 BAR REAR which equates exactly to what @duc996r wrote, i.e. 32/35 psi front/rear (+/_ 0.1 psi). as mentioned above, the choice of tyre was more to do with the fact that I will likely have chicken strips and a partially squared off tyre due to UK road use, and the build of the tyre is supposed to have a harder centre section to reduce the squaring off a little. Cheers, Pete
New set of Pirelli Angel GT's fitted to my 900ss ie by previous owner Great tyre - loads of grip, sharp handling....chicken strips shrinking rapidly.......not really tested wet/cold weather grip as the Ducs very much a summer bike. As good as the BT23's on my Beemer........just got to see how they compare in terms of wear (6k/10k b/f for the BT23's). BT23 wet/cold grip is second to none (or my riding is much more sedate than the tyre's capabilities!)
Angel GT seemed to be the sports touring winners in the tyre review supplement in MCN today. I'll keep the m7s on the SMT after the track day but I do a lot of general riding and bimbles on that bike so if they're going to waste and getting squared I'm definitely going to give the GTs a go next. Apart from the slow warming I'm very happy with the Roadsmart IIs. If the GTs are even better they'll be a bloody good tyre.
