Pirelli Sport Demon rear tire

[pwhoever]

Just curious if anyone has tried this tire out for the front wheel yet. IMHO, the Avon Cobra Chrome trike tire is the best choice but it has been unavailable for quite some time now except for one place that wants over $300 for it. Not gonna happen. No word on when they will be made available. My other choice would have been the Michelin Pilot Activ rear tire which has been discontinued. The 3rd choice would be the Bridgestone Batlax. Wasn't too happy with my BT45 but had vibration problems and I have seen quite a few comments about out of round problems with the BT46 so I'm not really interested in trying that.

But I just came across the Pirelli Sport Demon tire that looks interesting. It can be found right around the $150 range which is reasonable. The specs on it are that it's a 63 load range which matches all the other choices and an H speed rating which I wouldn't be able to exceed anyway. It is a desirable rear tire which means thicker tread which is important for trikes. I think it could be an excellent choice for the front wheel but wanted to hear thoughts from others. Pirelli has always seemed like a trustworthy brand.

Here is one retailer that is offering it. Not recommending the retailer, just posting it for reference:

https://www.americanmototire.com/st...port-demon-130-70-18-63h-rear-1343400-mc.html

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My only negative would be that it is a bias ply instead of a radial. However the popular BT45 and BT46 along with the Pilot Activ are also bias ply and these have been pretty popular. I wish there was a suitable radial rear tire in this size but it doesn't seem like there are any so the only radial choice is the Avon trike tire but no info on when it even if it will be available again...

 

[Ghost Rider 2]

I was looking at that tire. I am new to a trike. Still have a G709 on front of mine. Looked at the Pirelli but I knew nothing about it. I ordered a BT46 just mounted it on my spare wheel. Hope to see some people post about the tire. Maybe my next new tire.

 

[pwhoever]

IIRC, when I first had my trike conversion done, I took was running a Bridgestone G709 on the front because that's what was on there already. I did put several hundred miles on that especially when I drove back home from the installer. I don't recall any real problems with it but changed it out almost immediately to a BT45. My reason was that the G709 is designed as a front tire which already had less tread depth than a similar sized rear tire like the BT45. I figured that since trikes basically travel on the center of the tread all the time, I wanted as much tread available to use. Also more tread depth means a little more cushioning so a softer ride. So the longer I can keep a deeper tread, the better it is

 

[Mick]

Here is one I looked at Earlier this year.

https://www.triketalk.com/forum/threads/62228-Possible-new-front-tire

I had good luck with Pirelli tires on my Intruder 1500.

 

[pwhoever]

Here is one I looked at Earlier this year.

https://www.triketalk.com/forum/threads/62228-Possible-new-front-tire

I had good luck with Pirelli tires on my Intruder 1500.

I took a look at your link and the thread talks about the Pirelli Phantom Sporstcomp. It does show a rear tire in the proper size. And a big plus is that it's a radial. However it seems to be just like the Avon tire and is out of stock everywhere... I'm really surprised at how hard it is to find rear tires in the 130/70R18 size. I'm curious to know what bike those are actually designed for because then it might make it easier to find other brand radials that are available and would work.

 

[Ghost Rider 2]

not sure about the radial. But the 130 70 18 was factory size tire on the ZG1000 Kawasaki Concours

 

[pwhoever]

not sure about the radial. But the 130 70 18 was factory size tire on the ZG1000 Kawasaki Concours

After doing a Google search, it looks like the 18" for Concours is the front tire. I was looking for bikes that use the 130/70-18 on the rear tire because of tread depth. There has to be one because the Battlax and the Pirelli are listed as rear tires and they must have done this for a reason.

 

[pwhoever]

I finally found a fitment section on one page so now I can possibly search easier. Another quick search and there aren't a lot of choices in this size

 

[Mick]

For the Connie they actually recommend a 120/70-18 front tire size.

 

[pwhoever]

For the Connie they actually recommend a 120/70-18 front tire size.

Looks like you are correct. But that's still considered a front tire which means a shallower tread depth.

 

[Mick]

On my trike I was looking for an Avon and at that time all of them were out of stock. So I started looking at alternates but I couldnt find anyone who used anything but the big 3 (Avon,BT45 and Michelin). I was waiting to be told my trike will burst into flame if I used anything but those 3. I wound up buying a BT46 which is sitting right next to my 03 Connies front tire waiting for a warmer weekend to mount them. I like the Avon but the BT45 wasnt a bad tire either.

 

[PosseRider]

On my trike I was looking for an Avon and at that time all of them were out of stock. So I started looking at alternates but I couldnt find anyone who used anything but the big 3 (Avon,BT45 and Michelin). I was waiting to be told my trike will burst into flame if I used anything but those 3. I wound up buying a BT46 which is sitting right next to my 03 Connies front tire waiting for a warmer weekend to mount them. I like the Avon but the BT45 wasnt a bad tire either.

Not until you mount it & ride 100 miles!!!:gah::xszpv:

 

[Mick]

I had no problem with them. The issue with the 1st one after I want to say I had tread cracking after 15,000 miles. So I replaced it with a brand new one and that fall the tread cracked on the new one also. So I replaced it with the Avon and that was over 7 years ago. Since the Missus passed in 16 I dont ride like I used to. Ive run them backward and forward and between those and the MPA have over 50,000 miles on non radial tires. The only difference on my forks is I disabled the ADV and Ive had Traxxion and then Progressive springs and 10 wt oil.