With the rubber on my venerable Yamaha looking very second-hand – and the rear worn out in the softer shoulder section indicating hard wear while cranked over, it was time for some new tyres, and I wanted some with sporting prowess, despite the bike being considered a tourer by most Australians.
It might have panniers, but it goes hard.
A quick browse of the Pirelli website gave me plenty of options, including the Diablo Rosso IV Corsa, but I rejected that one because I really don’t think they would suit such a heavy bike as the FJR (wet weight around 290kg) regularly used with a passenger.
The Diablo Rosso are sticky and suitable for hard-charging riders on the street and track.
Interestingly the Pirelli website also recommended Scorpion Trails and the MT 60 RS, but I’m not sure who puts adventure tyres on an FJR… yanks who do too much highway riding occasionally put car tyres on the rear, but I think that’s nuts!
That leaves the Pirelli Angel GT and Angel GTII, and I went for the latest model.
While there’s the standard GTII, there are also versions marked (A) at the end of their names: these are the built for heavier bikes like FJRs, BMW RTs and, really, any large capacity sports-tourer which is going to carry a passenger regularly.
The ‘A’ after the tyre description indicates the versions built for big, heavy touring bikes.
With only a couple of shake-down rides under the wheels of the bike so far I can’t say how long the new Angels will last, but I’m so far very happy with the steering, feedback and grip levels of the GTIIs.
Being built for the high-performance big bikes out there today, I’m sure they will cope with the relatively tame 145hp of the FJR, while the dual-compound construction of the rear should give me good grip with long life.
– Nigel Paterson
For info: https://www.pirelli.com/Tyres/en-au/motorcycle/homepage
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