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Michelin Pilot Road II vs. Pirelli Angel ST
I’ve gone through my first rear Pirelli Angel ST tire this week, and I can now report that, compared to the Michelin Pilot Road, the Angel ST just doesn’t get it done.
First off, the mileage was terrible. My last mileage on a Pilot Road II rear tire was 6,800 miles when I replaced it with this set of Angels. I burned through the Angel rear tire in 5,700 miles. The Michelin is a few bucks more than the Pirelli, but the extra 1,100 miles in wear more than compensates for the slightly greater cost.
In addition, the Angels, while acceptably grippy, and with better wet-weather traction, detracted slightly from the handling of the bike. Certainly, the Angel ST provides much better handling than the leaden Bridgestone BT-021 OEM tires. Sadly, it also provides noticeably less sharper handling than the Pilot Road II. Granted, this may not be true for all makes of motorcycle, but it is certainly true of the FJR1300.
The Michelin Pilot Road II is hands down the winner in comparison to both the ANgel ST and the BT-021. It transforms the handling of the FJR, making it noticeably more responsive and easier to steer just with body movement. The extra mileage over both the other two tires also makes it a better value.
Unfortunately, my front tire is still good, so I had to match up the rear with another Angel. Next, time, however, I’m getting the Pilot Road II, and I’m sticking with them. The only reason I got the Angels in the first place was that the shop was out of stock on the PRII. if that happens again, I will go to another shop that does have them.
I’m sold on the Michelin Pilot Road II.
“Unfortunately, my front tire is still good, so I had to match up the rear with another Angel.”
Possibly stupid question from someone so cheap he wears socks with holes in ‘em:
Why? Why not accept the slight degradation in handling for a few miles and wear out the Angel, then make the switch? Seems to me you’re disappointed with the handling of the Angels anyway, so the next few miles will be spent anticipating the next change, one way or another. Does something truly evil happen to handling when you mix/match?
Well, It might handle worse with tires that have two different profiles than it would with just putting a rear Angel on.
The Angels aren’t BAD, they just aren’t as good as the PR2s. They’re still better than the BT-021s I used to ride on as the OEM tire.