New Tyres

H

Hasty

New member
Am looking for some advise on new tyres for my SF2. Have been running BT45s front & rear. Good allrounders but not impressed with wet weather traction at the front. Which is a bummer as I live in Victoria, Australia (4 seasons in one day) & love to ride in the Otways & Great Ocean Road which has some of the highest rainfall on the continent. Looking for the sickiest road tyres available & not too concerned with mileage as I don't clock up that many miles & the SF2 is no tyre shredder.
am considering Pirelli Sport Demons 100/90 18 front, 120/90 18 rear (don't know if 120 is the maximum I can fit to my Std Borrianis?)
Any advise welcome.
Hasty
 
Hi
I have used Pirelli sport demon`s for four years now and have always had good front end feel in the wet of the IOM , on normal roads!! and damp track sessions. Also always liked the Avon roadrunners I had on two Laverda`s. The front end feel is always a strange subject, but if you do not have that confidence with your tyres, then the above tyre makes "do it for my feel".
ian
 
Like Paul I had a set of GT501's on an SF2 some years ago and they were great scratching tyres - the bike just itched to get into corners.  Didn't use that bike for any distance, though.  Overall I prefer the Sport Demons, decent mileage even on long highway trips and good in the wet.  A recent interesting combination (on a Honda) was Sport Demon front and BT45 rear, this worked exceptionally well particularly on the odd bit of shingle.  120 is as big as you should go on the standard rim, you might actually find a 110 is better if you ride solo.
 
I've used Sport Demons for a number of years on my '73 SF1 and also on my '78 Jarama and '83 RGA Jota. We mostly ride dry roads here in Colorado so I can't speak to wet weather performance but in the dry they are very good. Tire life is around 4000 for the rears (I replace them when there's still a bit of tread left), maybe 6000 for the fronts. I've been very happy with them.

mcnicol said:
Cosi, how well do the Sport Demons hold up for highway use? The nearest mountains for me are almost 1000 km of highway away  >:(.

Ken
Click to expand...
 
Hasty said:
Am looking for some advise on new tyres for my SF2. Have been running BT45s front & rear. Good allrounders but not impressed with wet weather traction at the front. Which is a bummer as I live in Victoria, Australia (4 seasons in one day) & love to ride in the Otways & Great Ocean Road which has some of the highest rainfall on the continent. Looking for the sickiest road tyres available & not too concerned with mileage as I don't clock up that many miles & the SF2 is no tyre shredder.
am considering Pirelli Sport Demons 100/90 18 front, 120/90 18 rear (don't know if 120 is the maximum I can fit to my Std Borrianis?)
Any advise welcome.
Hasty
Click to expand...

Very different from my experiences... probably the grippiest wet-weather road tyre short of all-out race wets.

120/90 will fit the rear rim, just.  Doesn't give a good profile, you'll only be using about 50% of the tread offering only a quite small contact patch.  110 is better suited.  Personally, I've stuck to 3.50 and 4.00 on my 750.  Is what the bike was designed with and works very well.

piet
 
Thanks for your replys. Good to get 1st hand experience. Think I'm going for the Sport Demons but one small problem. Here are the following available sizes:-
The rear looks great:-
  120/90-18 M/C 65V TL.  i.e. Vrated & a 65 weight rating.

However the front  is either:-
  100/90 -18 M/C 56H
  110/80 -18 M/C 58V
  110/90 -18 M/C 61V
The 100/90 is the tyre of choice for a 250 ninja but my old SF2 is either the same if not heavier than a triple with the same brakes. Leaves me with a 110/?. Will it oversteer? How will it handle?
Any advise.
 
H and V are speed ratings.
Not sure a 750 would NEED a V rated tyre.

Back in the day I used Pirelli Gordons on my 3C and they were H rated.
 
No problems at all using a 100/90 on the front, the closest to what was factory-fitted.

If you want to quicken the steering, go for a 100/80, or even a 90/90, looks a little forlorn under the stock mudguard though.

"V" rating is for speeds above 210kmh/130mph, don't know of many Breganze twins that can top that...

Speed index wouldn't be what I'd be looking for, load index is far more important.  Unless the bike hasn't been built into a "full-dresser", something around 55 for the front, and 63 for the rear would generally be more than enough.

piet
 
I am very suspicious that for some brands the main difference between H and V tyres is that you pay a bit more for a bit less tread depth on the V version in the name of high speed stability and/or reduced heat build-up.  Have just gone through some of my old information and note that when I had a 110/90 Avon rear fitted it measured 120mm wide.  My notes also confirm I preferred the 100/90 and 110/90 combination on the wire-wheel twin.
 
Thanks for ALL advise. Super interesting. Yes, I was more concerned more about weight rating than speed rating & don't worry I won't be threatening 210Kms anytime soon! Thanks to Nick NZ. You raise some things I hadn't considered and may go to the heart of my problem. I always thought that Vrated tyres offered:-
*    A greater safety margin. (maybe yes)
*    A sportier, more performance tyre, i.e. stickier. (maybe no)

I hadn't thought about it, but it makes sense, that in order to cope with the higher speed rating the tyres need to be harder. My current BT45 Front is Vrated & only heats up after VERY enthusiastic riding. In the wet it is (of course) water-cooled & the pilot (me) is so devoid of confidence he won't corner over 80kPH. (Seems it's even driven me to write in the third person)
Mark.
 
Now Mark I see the problem here you need to go harder mate come for a stroll with me Sunday morning and we will get those tyres a sticking,  :o :owhat pressure are you running maybe too high I never get the BT 45s to move much in he wet.
M.
 
Hi Maurice,
  went for a little 350km trundle on Friday. Fantastic! Even got a nice smile from the police women doing the bretholizer in Lorne as she she waved me through. Probably thought Laverda Rider, they never drink! Would love to catch up next Sunday.
Mark.
 
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