Pirelli Angel GT

Takson · Apr 2, 2014

I've bitten the bullet and off to Micheldever Tyres tomorrow morning to have a set of Angel GTs put on.

It came down to Rosso II or Angel GTs in the end as I have always liked Pirelli over Michelin. Given that it is still spring and I am off to Spain/France at the end of May, I thought I would go for the more sports touring rather than sports tyre.

I'll report back when I have run them in.

SteveJ · Apr 3, 2014

The Angel ST's are meant to be ok.

So you didn't look at the Metzeler Z8's or the Bridgestone BT023's then?

Biggest hassle owning older bikes is that it is hard to find decent tyres when you have a 18 inch back wheel :frown:

Takson · Apr 3, 2014

I must admit I didn't even check out the BT023's, which is a bit of a miss as I recon the best tyres on my old CBR 600 for a mix of wear and grip were the old BT56's.

My old man has a set of Metzlers on his Trumpet Thunderbird. He has nothing bad or good to say about them, they are just....there. Although I am sure they are different to the M8's, it did put me off a bit.

First ride was interesting. The Diablo Super Corsa SPs that came off had about 2k miles on them. The rear was squaring, but the front looked ok.

The Angel GT's seem a bit more stable, but do take more effort to turn in. With SPs, you only had to think about changing direction and it started to happen. With the Angels, it takes a bit more.

It started to rain on the way back, with about 30 miles on the Angels, bit there was no significant difference in tyre feel compared to before. The is a world of difference with the SP's which seemed to change characteristic pretty quickly if it was more than a simple shower.

so, 70 miles in the Angels are doing a good job. I wouldn't mind them turning in a bit quicker, but I'd rather have a slower to turn tyre at this time of year than be picking brambles out of my butt after a slide.

I was expecting to not really feel a difference and think that something like the Angels would do all year round, but I recon that is going to take some convincing.

Im off to do the BikeSafe assessment and 15 minute track trial at Castle Combe next week, so will get to know them much better through that. Given that the Journalists recon it is not a bad tyre for road and the odd slow to medium group track day, maybe I need more time and practice.

SteveJ · Apr 4, 2014

Yeah had a really good run with the BT 023's on my 09 Fireblade (but were not really used in the wet)

Had the Z8's on the Speed Triple and they were another step up and also meant to brilliant in the wet (but I don't really do the whole riding in the rain if I don't have to so couldn't say from experience)

In all honesty all these top range tyres are pretty good it comes down to personal choice really

Shagrat57 · Apr 4, 2014

I traded my Tbird in last week for an ex-demo Tiger Sport. This came with a pair of Angel GTs and so far I've done about 400 miles on them in both dry & wet weather.

On dry roads they're the stickiest tyre I've ever had with amazing grip especially when putting the power down early coming out of a corner. Hard braking is no problem either. In the wet I'm leaning more than my Tbird in the dry with no hint of any loss of traction, although you can just feel the back start to lose adhesion if you're a little heavy with the right hand when coming off a roundabout, but it's a very controllable movement with no sudden breakaway.

I'll definitely be fitting these again when the time comes!!

Takson · Apr 9, 2014

300 miles in, and I agree with Shagrat57.

They may not turn as quickly as the SP's did, but the grip and stability at all points of riding is simple outstanding so far. Overbanding, white lines and man holes don't seem to upset them, even when damp.

Let's see how well they last.