anybody use pirelli tires?  By  bigggroovy (Read 1,230 times)

I have never ridden them on my bike but I have on other people's bikes they work well... They are on par with any of the big names...

I have used them on cars and will be getting some Pirelli SL26s for my 2T scooter this spring . The HP tires can have a softer compound which will grip and ride better along with having a higher speed rating and support more weight but not last as long . The elcheapo tires are often hard , not good when wet and last a while . It may be the best option to go for a midrange tire like Shinko which I did on my Echarm and WOW it handles soooo much better along with a better ride . The stock Cheng Shin tires had a zig zag pattern in the middle that would wobble when going over edges of patches and cracks in the road where the Shinko has a straight line in the middle dividing in into two halfs on the tread pattern and does not have the wobble effect which was very sketchy at times for me . Kendas are another good brand as many like them and I have not tried them . I decided to go with Pirelli after doing research and polling peoples opinions on tires . The SL26s are rarted up to MPH beyond what my scooter can do so it will be safe from me pushing it to it s limit as many scooter tires are J rated which is up to 62 MPH . When I had several cruiser streetbikes I had the best of luck and enjoyment with Dunlop tires but they are limited in scooter sizes and expensive as I wanted to stay at 60 or less per tire as I like to install in pairs . My Echarm I replaced the rear at 8xxxx miles and replaced both at 12,000 even though the rear had more life in on it I decided to do it anyways since I like to go fast at times but mostly cruise just above the speed of traffic on the roads as its safer to be alone than among cagers .

When I bought a TaoTao the front tire had such a knot in it I was back at the dealer within a half mile as it was unriddable . He replaced it with another generic tire and it was way better but bounced . I bought my Echarm with 16s on it and it rode much better but still had a lil bounce at highway speeds . I tightened up the spring dampening on the rear shocks it helped alot . I then paid to have the tires balanced with an old school bubble balancer and WOW it was such an improvement . Many shops can balance as well as mount tires to the rim as it is a pain sometimes and worth it to remove the wheels and take to a shop to get tires mounted and save the R&R fee by doing that part yourself . www.cyclegear.com has some high end tires and they charge 20 to mount and high speed balance with a computer for 20 per tire if bought from them or 30 if you bring your own tires from elsewhere .

When I took Auto Repair classes my instructor said " If I only teach you two things , its always get the best tires and brake pads you can afford and avoid the cheap stuff "

I am so shocked and unhappy as how fast scooter tires wear out compared to a car which weighs so much more and goes faster too . Your speed and if you have a passenger are important factors in the life span of your tires .

FYI I was a scooter dealer where they had a used scooter that was laid down on one side for sale . The owner put tire dressing like Armour All on his tires and wiped out in the first turn from his home . So only use water and soap to clean but do not use any tire shiner stuff .

We have several Michelin Tire plants in my area and Michelin is well know for making such a great tire for cars , yet the only Michelin I have used on two wheels was on a Tomos pedal moped and it blew out the sidewall in less than a mile and n it was not over inflated . This was in the 80s and I know Michelim Xrays every tire to check for defects and they have several QC checks before it is allowed to leave the plant . I know many have used and like Michelins on their scooters as it is a quality brand but just thought I would share that as it was odd to me that mine blew apart

Pirelli tires are very high quality. You could squeeze the Chinese OEM stuff in your hand like a kid's rubber ball. Trying to do the same with a set of Pirelli's was like squeezing a block of wood. (nice smooth ride too.)

I have been a big fan of the Pirelli S26 tires on my scooters. The tires are more stiff and the bead tends to stay in place better. Once I had a flat on the way home from work but I rode all the way home and didn't figure it out until the next morning. On the way home the scooter felt sort of squirrelly, I stopped twice to check the rear tire and it felt Ok doing a simple bob up and down on it and a simple kick test, so I figured I must be imagining things. it was definitely flat the next morning though. But the tire stayed on the wheel good and the tire's bead didn't come loose like it does on some other brands. So it was rideable.

Now I don't reccomend riding on a flat tire as it might cause severe handling problems. But I was nonetheless impressed though.

The rear tire does seem to wear down a little faster, but the rubber formulation is more sticky for the road surfaces, so it works better having a better grip, especially in the turns.

I do my own tire replacements on my scooters and I can tell that the tires are more difficult to put on and take off, due to the more stiff beads and sidewalls on these Pirelli tires. The tires are really well made and are so round and nice that I don't even bother balancing them on the wheels.

The Chinese OEm no-name brand junk tires pretty much almost fall off the wheels after you let the air out with weak soft beads and thin sidewalls and poor rubber compounds that have little to no grip on the roads especially when wet. Plus the Chinese tires tend to be lumpy, out of round and next to impossible to balance sometimes.

I don't know if this is a pirelli tire or not...just wanted to post the video ;D
Just in case you were thinking of doing it yourself

Danno, that tire install that went bad was hillarious.

The wheel is supposed to be locked down and the guy in the video didn't lock it down. You also really need to use the four foot long tire tool as well as the two to three foot long tire irons. One thing is the odd ball size wheels on some of the scooters require drilling a extra hole or two into the big red tire install removal tool so you can lock the wheels down better. The large red tool in the pic comes stock for 12 inch and 14 inch wheels but it needs a extra hole or tool to lock down the 13 inch wheels. Some smaller 10 inch scooter wheels may need some mods made to the tool as well. I use liberal amounts of extra soapy water as a lubricant as well.

But I will say that last bit of tire bead is a bear to pop in place even with a five foot long tire tool. I also cut up a old plastic laundry detergent container to get the plastic pieces to use as wheel rim protectors so that I don't scratch up the wheel rim too much. One thing to help is to use a C-clamp or two to squeeze the bead together opposite of the last bit to pop over the wheel rim. You want to try to get the tire angled so that the bead is in the center more deep part of the wheel where it has that little bit extra room to help allow the bead to slip over the rim.

I will say that the cheap Chinese tires go on so easy that you almost don't need tools to install them. But that troubles me a lot though. if you get a flat the tires will come off the wheel easily then, causing you to crash.