Hi All,

I am looking for some tire opinions.

Currently my situation is that I do a fair amount of travelling with my 14, I average 1200 km a month (750 miles). I ride her quite hard for a lot of those miles as well as do a drag day every 2 months or so, so I like knowing that I have good rubber keeping me right side up. That being said, I have yet to find a tire that gives me anything close to what I consider decent mileage. With regards to traction i loved the OEM tire, but the Pilot Power 3 is also not half bad on the strip and I get minimal wheelspin through first gear. Below are my experiences so far with regards to rear tires.

OEM Bridgestone (BT014/016 not too sure) - 1800 km (1125 miles) - 1 Drag day - Shocking Mileage!
Pilot Pure - 4200 km (2625 miles) - No Drag days
Pilot Power 3 - 5100 km (3200 miles +-) - 2 Drag days and so far my favorite out of all of them but it's pricey.

Now i have been considering the newish Pirelli Angel GT for the rear in order to get better mileage and keeping the Pilot Power 3 Front for grip, but I have concerns with regards to cornering grip, I'm no Valentino Rossi , but I do enjoy getting the beast at a nice lean angle. My better half's father runs with Angel ST's front and rear on his 2009 ZX10 and his only complaint was that they take long to warm up. Has anybody any real life experience with the Angel GT's?

Any other suggestions? Shinko 011 Verges maybe?

Feedback, opinions and experiences across the board would be of great help!

* Last updated by: GuyBaulch on 11/8/2013 @ 1:18 AM *

Continental Road Attacks

What is the mileage and grip like Towball? I don't see alot of bikes with Continental rubber on here in South Afrcia.

I was running conti sport attacks on my MT01 which was a torque bike and got 5k on the rear.
The road attacks are the next level up towards touring being 50/50 sport tour. Idd expect 5k on a zx14.

The problem is we will be comparing NZ volcanic rock road chip to whatever you have.

The conti race attacks would have been the best sport tyre I have run on. Followed by 2cts.
I would have been happy to run them on the race bike (road circuit races) if I wasn't running slicks.

I like the conti tyres because when they do slide they can be controlled without snap back on the rear.
A tyre that holds a long time then lets go and bites back isn't always a good tyre.

My 14r still has the bridgestone s20 tyres on it as im only at 2500km but they will be replaced with conti when they are worn down. Idd say the bridgestones have about 1500 left in the back now.

* Last updated by: Towball on 11/8/2013 @ 1:34 AM *

Might give the Angel GT's a shot...decent mileage and excellent grip.Imma kind of in the same boat as Tow with the road surfaces.Chip seal here.Like a meat grinder on tires....

Phoned a few local dealerships and the Conti's aren't stocked. Guess it's back to the drawing board.

Angel GT heats up fast.

I'm not sure how one would accurately describe the roads in SA....they are an asphalt mix, quite course. I feel I got good mileage out of the pilot power 3's, especially considering the drag days, but i got them at a steal when they were released locally. I only payed 2680 rand for the set, now that the tire has become so popular, the local dealerships want 2200 - 2500 rand just for the rear.

I can get my hands on an angel GT rear at only 1730 rand which is a very reasonable price in my opinion.

Timely post for me. I've been looking @ the new Angel GT thinking it may be the way to go. I have @ 3500 miles on my 14r and have a few miles left on the factory rear (most of these miles were with traction control on and pre ecu flash exhaust). I'll probably replace it with the m5 and then replace the front and rear with a longer lasting set of rubber. I previously had Angel ST's on a Concours14 and got pretty good mileage. If I can get 5k miles out of a rear tire on the 14r I'd be very happy. I'm not sure if it's possible riding without TC enjoying the feeling of the tire spinning through 1st, 2nd....3rd...

I hope you get the GT's, looking forward to the feedback.

I have the GT's.they have a wider contact patch then the pirelli Corsa, only have about 600km on them. The corsa's fall into corners these do not.I like the corsa's better but thy were only lasting 4 to 5000 km

It seems that nobody has finished a set of the Angel GT's. I am on the tread indicators on the pilot power 3's. So far they really are the best tires I've ridden with. I think I will try an Angel GT rear and see what the wear is like. Its not like I have a lot to lose granted the grip isnt bad enough to make me lose the backend. Worst case scenario is I'll be stuck with a bad tire for 4-6 months. That's one of the great things about SA, all year round biking weather. If the mileage isn't impressive then I will probably go back to the pilot power 3's.

Some guys were getting 10K out of theirs...IDK HOW they did that...but that's what they say.Fast and hard on the curves....reserved on the straights....they should give ya some good numbers;)They're the 'replacement' tire for the Angel ST's.I like mine...a lot.I haven't been running any of my tires this past year down to the cords....just haven't felt like 'squeezing' every last mile out of em.When I install my BST's...I'm spooning on new Angel GT's(again).Start fresh.See where the mileage goes with these much lighter rims.I've always had great results with Pirellis...always.

This bike absolutely LOVES to eat tires....

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 11/8/2013 @ 1:51 PM *

Michelin is my brand, running on all 3 bikes and love em, haven't tried angels yet, don't know if I can switch, if it aint broke I don't fix it.

Ya...that's what I thought as well...but I tried a few other ones along the way....I always come back to the Pirellis.Actually...one of the BEST tires I ever installed(twice in a row)was that BT003.Didn't last too long...but the grip was awesome!Rook had some on his.Tried em myself....they would have been my fav IF they hadn't worn out in like 2500 miles;)

Thats the truth, the 14's eat through tires. If i find a tire that can get to the 10k km mark I will be amazed!

I cant comment on the Angel GT yet, as mine go on next week. BUT I bet they will be a great tire.

I can also say that I was fairly pleased with the OEM metzler M5 interact that came on my 14r. I'm at 7400 miles, and they are shot, but always were grippy enough, and predictable. I don't push em to the edges on the street, just wore em to the elephants trunk, or slightly farther. The front did cup a bit, but never felt weird.

As stated above, cant go wrong with Michelin, or maybe give the Pirelli a try. It'll be spring before I have any meaningful miles on mine.

I had a set of the Angels on my 07, I think I got 5500 miles out of them which I thought was great. They do grip well. I am currently running the Pilot Road 3's on my 2012 and I have about 4800 miles on them and they are looking like I will easily get another 2000 miles before replacement. I can tell you the pirelli's have a grippier contact patch while the Michelin's are harder in the center so they do not grip as well. I guess that is the trade off for the extra mileage you get out of them! They both grip equally as well in the corners though.

Angels do have a cool tread pattern!

Pilot road 3's- wear like iron

Rod you got 7400 miles out of the stocker M5's. That is awesome. Im going back to the Metzeler's when my PR3's are done. They were great tires IMO. And they make a 200/50-17!

I ran 2 sets of the original Angels, and loved them. I think I got somewhere between 6-7k miles on them.

I will give feedback once I have put a few km's on the angels, I have ridden a busa with PR3's and I found the centre to be just too hard, the wheelspin on launches was really bad, but I suppose thats the price we pay for longer lasting rubber!

I have a set of BT023s to go on next.
I've had a few sets now and they have been an awesome tyre on my old bike.
I'll fit them when the oem st bridgies are toast.

1400R, What kind of lifespan do you get on the BT023's?

A friend recommended the Angel GT's and I was going to make them my next tire purchase, but I found another set of PRIIs for $200 shipped and couldn't pass that up. 9K on the current rear and it's finally down to the wear bars.

I've found I get more miles out of the same tire than my friends with ZX-14s because I tend to roll on the throttle rather than jack it open. A heavy throttle hand will tear up a tire quickly on one of these beasts.

I tried some avons on my 900 and loved them but wear was short of what i expected but the new avons are better in mileage, worth a look, not to mention the grip I got with those tires was outstanding.

GuyBaulch
12000 with heaps left.
Daily Commuting. Occasional Hard Punt.
The front wore better that the rear for sure.
I'm sure I could have stretched it to 15000 or 16.