Pirelli Sport Demon

[Gookie]

I would greatly appreciate feedback from people who have purchased a set of these tires, and from people who decided against buying a set...

I'm really thinking of getting a set of these tires, searching the forums turns up a few odds and ends, but no good discussion on this particular tire, or a better option.


-What did you think about the price vs. other brands?
-What kind of traction did they give vs. Bridgestone Excedra's?
-What rear tire size did you buy? (130 or 140. I'm not interested in swapping the rear wheel at this point)
-If you decided against this tire, what tire did you buy and why?

I would GREATLY appreciate opinions on this.

Thank you!

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Price is good. If I was gonna do stickier tires, demons would probably be it, unless I was gonna do trackdays.

Supposedly they're amazing compared to the excedras. I tend to think ANYTHING would be amazing vs. the excedras (I have BT-45s, which are supposed to be better than excedras.. I'm ok with them, but anything less sticky would make me nervous)

Can't help with other stuff. I'm sure plenty of others will chime in.

[RVertigo]

The price was acceptable, cheaper than some, more than others.

My Bridgestones were REALLY old and REALLY bald, so they were more like skates than tires.

Stock tire size is 130, so I went with that.



...  If you want all the tire info you could ever want, read through GSJack's posts here:  link

And here is the GS500 Wiki article on tires:  http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Upgrades/Tires

[Wrecent_Wryder]

I5

[RVertigo]

braking hard with the rear, they don't really do that any better.

The same applies to dropping the clutch when you run out of gas and you're trying to start while you're rolling...   It just locked and slid.   

Still whoop ass though.

[Y2K6GS500F]

I was looking at both the Michelin Activ and Pirelli Demons.

I just purchased the Demons in the OE Size (130/70 and 110/70) a few days ago -Still waiting for them to arrive.

I chose the Demons because they are considered the best handling, stickiest bias ply tires in the OE size (aside from slicks).
A tire that holds better to the road can provide me with the shortest dry braking distance, and best accident avoidance. So, to me, it's worth giving up some tire wear for slightly more safety.

I chose the factory size because after reading many posts on GSTwin, it seems that going up a size does not seem to vastly improve the roadholding ability of the bike -unless you have a wider rear wheel and can go with a Super-Sport class radial tire.  I also did not want to negatively affect the gearing of the bike by increasing the tire diameter.

[pingpong]

I switched from the Michelin Macadam 50's to the Pirelli Sport Demons, and I must say, it's no comparison. With the Macadams, I really had no confidence at all with even conservative lean angles, but with the Sport Demons, they have absolutely awesome grip, enough so that I can now confidently and consistently scrape my stock pegs (although I try to avoid doing that on public roads, for obvious reasons). I'm on my first set, so I really can't say how many miles they'll give me, but after about 2000 miles they seem to be holding up just fine.

I got the stock set 110front 130rear from motorcycle-superstore for a really good price. I believe I got it total less than $185 shipped.

[frye]

perrelli is the italion word for puck sliding  i highly recomend them

[darb85]

perrelli is the italion word for puck sliding  i highly recomend them

Almost every word in this sentence is misspelled.

[Crucialval]

I run 110/70 - 150/ 60 Demons and they are bad a$$ they are really sticky. Quick in and out of leans good tires.

I used a 92 GSXR rear wheel, just swap the bearings and shave the rear brake bracket. quick and easy around $100. makes it a must do mod.

[gsJack]

Probably just a typo, but Demons and other bias tires don't come in the 150/60 size; they come in a 150/70 size.  Supersport radials come in the 150/60 size.

For what it's worth, the Ninja 500 guys seem to prefer the Demons in bias tires and the Pilot Powers in supersport radial tires.  The 150/60 will fit the EX500 but the 150/70 won't.

Can't imagine anyone not being happy with the Activs, Demons, or Lasertecs as replacements for the OEM Excedras; any of them are a world of difference better.

I wore out a set of the Lasertecs and found them to be very good tires, I chose the Lasertecs because of my preference for the Laser type front tread pattern that wears evenly for me.  Got about 10k miles from them.  Think you'll get a little more life from the Lasertecs and a little better stick from the Demons.

The Activs are the newest of the three and raves are just starting to come in for them.

I'm seriously thinking of trying out the new Avon Roadriders later this summer when my RoadAttack rear wears out.  Think it might be a real bargain tire for tire GS's, those Metzs are getting too expensive for an old man.   

[pbureau69]

I havent tried the Demons yet, and I may yet, but the BT's are just basic biased ply tires, I did go with the AVON Azera's AV45/46st (110/80 and 140/80's) and man what a world of differences, before I was not confident in turns, now I am no longer afraid to lean into one... 

I would go with the pirelli's but the shop (which quite a few guys have tried the pirelli's) told me because of the heat in texas summers, they basically melt-of (figure of speach) and they only get about 5-6K on them,  too soft a compound for cement 100+ roads I guess... then again this is true of pirelli tires for cars as well, so not really dificult to beleive. They are the ones that suggested the Avons with the policy ride them for 1 month not happy bring them back and well put pirelli's on them if you prefer. (hey ...what can I loose..!)

[coll0412]

Pirelli Sport Deamons are plenty sticky. I did my first race weekend on them due to changing wet/dry track conditions and could easly get my knee down. 

In fact I will have the set off for next weekend and will be selling them, the right side is a little shaged(50%) but the damn centers have like 90% tread left

[Crucialval]

My bad I use these

http://www.ronayers.com/catalogs/tires/parts.cfm?secid=3&type=47

diablos opps these are vary good.

[MinnesotaCafe]

I don't know about the Demons, but I finally did my rear wheel swap (Thanks all for the parts!), and got a Diablo off e-bay with only 300 mi. on it. I threw a Pilot power on the front  about 2k mi. ago, and that was an AMAZING difference from the Excedra that was on there. I actually ran with the fabled DEADLY combination of radial front/ bias rear for those 2k, until I did my wheel swap. While I certainly don't reccomend it, and can see why it's not reccomended, I rode conservatively with no problems. Now that I've got the Diablo on the back, all I can really say is  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I was out cornering my friends Kawi Z1000 and a CBR 600, both with Pilots   

[sanjay]

I bought Demons in the stock size and like everyone else says, they are wonderful (especially compared to dry-rotting OEM tires).  But I spend far more miles in the hills than on the highway.   If I was doing long commutes or lots of touring, I would have gone with something else.

[liljon140]

I put a set of the Deamons in 110 front and 140 rear.  I love mine I have about 3000 miles on them and they wear more evenly than the BT-45's and they handle a great deal better.  I got my set for $50 more than the OEM BT-45's for my 04 so the extra money was nothing compared to the extra preformance these tires provided.     They saved my ass at the Dragon last year.  I just put the tires on and came around the corner HOT when I hit gravel and the bike slid maby 3 inches b4 the bit again and pulled around the corner.  Scared the shaZam! out of me but the tire did its job  I wont put anything else on my bike.

[RVertigo]

I have around 10K on mine...  I should probably replace them, but they still have some tread...

[Gookie]

Thanks for all the positive feedback on these tires!
Never thought it would be all so positive. Gonna call a couple local shops to get prices, then order a set today.

Thanks everyone!   

[Gookie]

Just thought I'd update after riding this rubber for a good 1500km.

Well, it's been around 1500km. Not sure exactly. I stopped counting after about 300km.

Price paid: About $130 CAD for the rear, and $110 for the front. ($1 per mm width... )
Size: (stock size) 130/70-17 rear and 110/70-17 front.

Right out of the box I'd say they had equal grip to fully broken in Excedra's. And within 100km the grip was notably better, and kept getting better...

These tires are just f%$king awesome! Where stock excedra's scared me in the past, these tires have held, and held, and held. And corners that I ride regularly, I've been increasing my entry speed by about 5km/h each time and I'm getting to the point where I'm getting scared before the tires are letting go. (Stock excedras I'd be comfortable with the speed, but they'd squirm and start to slide mid corner which would in turn scare the shaZam! out of me). I honestly don't think the GS500 is capable of out-cornering these tires. There's just so much grip.

Wear looks very good right now as well. Pretty much consistent with the stock excedra's. (I had to put a new rear on before I rode the bike, and it lasted me about a season and a half) Just the way this is looking after 1500km or so, it'll probably do about the same (Thinking somewhere around 8000km). I would also consider myself extremely hard on the back tire. I really thoroughly enjoy twisting that throttle off the line, and I know the tire is paying the price for it. Oh well, it's my toy, not my daily transportation, and I treat it as such.

I would highly HIGHLY recommend these tires to anyone looking for new rubber. Priced about the same as stock tires, but easily twice the grip.

What else can I say about these...

The rear tread looks badass. However, I guess my only complaint would be the tread design crosses the center line of the tire multiple times, and when you're coming to a stop, you can feel that vibration in the brake pedal. And that's my ONLY complaint (and it's not even really a complaint). 

Next time you need rubber, get a set of these tires. The bike may be Japanese, but those Italians sure know tires. Guess the Japanese know tires too, I just can't find Toyo's that will fit my bike. 



Next time you need rubber, get a set of these tires. Bottom line.