Well, not exactly, but almost. The UK magazine BIKE just reviewed cross-ply (non-radial) tires for a GS500, and they happen to be the exact same size as the stock tires for the 2008+ Ninja 250R (110/70/17 front, 130/70/17 rear). They liked the Pirelli Sport Demons for their sport feeling, and in fact got the best time on the track with them. But they also felt they wore very quickly and the rear started to feel much worse as it wore. Their favorite tires were the BT-45's, the GT-501's, and the Avon Road Riders. As far as I know, we still can't get the GT-501's in the US in the stock sizes for the Ninjette unless we pay insane prices to get the OEM-specific versions. Here's the review itself:

In case the pics below aren't readable, here are links to larger versions as needed:
Link to larger page 1 (http://www.smugmug.com/photos/421778173_r5kSp-X3.jpg)
Link to larger page 2 (http://www.smugmug.com/photos/421778222_97mdg-X3.jpg)
Link to larger page 3 (http://www.smugmug.com/photos/421778267_oz9pS-X3.jpg)
Link to larger page 4 (http://www.smugmug.com/photos/421778306_bGmAr-X3.jpg)

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/421778173_r5kSp-X2.jpg

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/421778222_97mdg-X2.jpg

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/421778267_oz9pS-X2.jpg

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/421778306_bGmAr-X2.jpg

thanks for posting this - and the review of the review!

Thanks, Alex. Confirmed what I felt about the BT45s that came on my bike. :)

Good read!

Thanks, Alex. Confirmed what I felt about the BT45s that came on my bike. :)

I agree... I can also say they do just fine for track use. At least at the level I'm riding at currently. They've still got tons of meat on them too after about 5500 miles and 3 track days. I know the bigger bikes can go through 2-3 sets of tires with that kind of mileage and use. So +1 in the longevity area.


The only issue I've had is I air my down some PSI for the track and I forgot to air them back up on the street and now the rear is a little flat spotted from riding the freeway. :( This hasn't caused me to have to 'fight' the bike leaning from one side to the other but I'm gonna get some new tires before I get out there again. Probably a radial bridgestone.

what pressures do you run on the track? I found 26/26 is about as low as I wanted to go before the tires started feeling mushy in the twisties.

28/28 I think it was.

This is too good an article to sit 4 pages back :p

:bump2::bump2:

Someone's buying new tires, eh? :D

Yeah I'm snagging the Avon's so I can be special :p

:thumbup:

Yeah I'm snagging the Avon's so I can be special :p

I had Avons on my Norton and they were a great tyre. I had looked at Maxxis for the Ninjette--they make our size, but have not heard of anyone using them. I have Maxxis tyres on two of my road racing bicycles and am very pleased with them for punture resistance, wear, and traction wet and dry.

thx for the pix

this information is very helpful, thank you for posting it. looks like sticking with the stock tires, bt-45 is the best choice when it comes time to get new tires.

i have the maxxis on the back of my 04', i am very satisfied for the price.. i got about 5500 miles out of it with several 600 mile trips and as a daily commuter, my only complaint is when i go on spirited rides (100 miles every wed) with the 600's and 1000's i find that it dances a bit on hard corner entry and at full lean there is limited feed back.. though it does break away very progressively which is nice. I am going for bt45's next because I still tend to wear the center faster then the sides.. or maybe i should lay off the wheelies and burn outs..

i have my heart set on the BT003 RS as my next set. But my stock GT501 will have another 10K miles at least...and then I bought an extra set of Gt501 (used 400 miles so virtually brand new) so the BT003rs will be awhileeeeeee :p

Df

k

i have my heart set on the BT003 RS as my next set. But my stock GT501 will have another 10K miles at least...and then I bought an extra set of Gt501 (used 400 miles so virtually brand new) so the BT003rs will be awhileeeeeee :p

Dang this thread is old. Had a change of heart, sold the 501 and changed my mind on 003es lol...
Posted via Mobile Device

Going to resurrect this thread

I'm trying to get new tires for my 09 250. I was originally looking at the Sport Demons, but a) no one in Canada has the rear in stock b) seems like the wear rate is pretty high.

So I was looking through this review, and thought about the other tires. I do about 500-600 kms a week of commuting, and 200km of twisties + ~300km to get there on the weekend. I ride hard and aggressive. I'm on the IRC stock tires, at ~11k. They'll be replaced next week when I do my 12k service.

I was thinking about the Michelin Pilot Activs; I can get those for a decent price locally. Can't seem the find the Avons, but I'll keep looking. Don't want to go for the Dunlops (no reason really though). In the Bridgestone, I think I like the BT-016 over the BT-45, but I'd have to up the rear to 140.

However, I'm now leaning to the Michelins, but if I can find the Avons, I might go for those. That said, can anyone sway me one way or the other? Is there an American source for the Avons? I can ship them stateside, and then pick them up from Canada.

Vex tried the Avons and thought they were beyond terrible, borderline dangerous. No experience with them myself, only his review. I see that his write-up isn't contained or linked from this thread, I'll try and find it. That said, that is in contrast to the high reviews by BIKE magazine, but then again they weren't testing them on a Ninjette.

Vex tried the Avons and thought they were beyond terrible, borderline dangerous. No experience with them myself, only his review. I see that his write-up isn't contained or linked from this thread, I'll try and find it. That said, that is in contrast to the high reviews by BIKE magazine, but then again they weren't testing them on a Ninjette.

Yikes. I was just getting excited since I found them, and they were a lot cheaper. Hmm... What about the Michelins?

No info myself on the Michelins. Plenty of info on this site (and positive reviews of all 3) about the BT-45's, the GT-501's, and the Sport Demons when it comes to 130/70/17 bias-ply rubber. Not so much from any other make.

No info myself on the Michelins. Plenty of info on this site (and positive reviews of all 3) about the BT-45's, the GT-501's, and the Sport Demons when it comes to 130/70/17 bias-ply rubber. Not so much from any other make.

Yeah, my searches seem to pull up the same info. So for me, the Sport Demons are out of stock and wear fast, but are great tires, despite BIKE hating them.

Avon sucks, despite BIKE loving them (Could be British bias?)

BT-45s and GT-501s have good feedback, and last pretty long. Out of the two, I'd lean towards the BT-45s. My only hesitation is that I was hoping for something better than stock, even though I have the IRCs and it would be an improvement.

As for the Michelin's... I'd be the first one to take the plunge on them. So depends on whether I want to do that or not.

EDIT: I ride rain or shine, so I need decent wet performance too...

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=22115&highlight=vex+avon

sport demons have killer grapping, but high tread wear, right?

thats what happens when a softer rubber is used.

harder rubber will = long tread life, but not as good for hard cornering.

I wonder if they did a review of IRC's (on my bike) what the stats would've been? :confused:

http://www.ex-500.com/index.php?topic=12245.msg142843

Good things said about the Sport Demons, Pilot Activs, and BT-45s in that thread.

I might bite the bullet and go with the Pilot Activs. I think I'm already into the wear bars on my tires, so I don't want to have to wait for the Sport Demons. If I keep my bike into next season, which hopefully I will, I will grab the Sport Demons then.

So unless someone can convince me to go with the BT-45s, I'm going to get the Michelins and provide a review.

EDIT: Changed my mind. Just noticed that the Michelin fronts have a centre tread line, like my RoadWinners. I hate when the tires track along tar snakes and grooved pavement. I'm going with the BT-45s to avoid that.

Just breaking in a new Pilot Activ rear tire, mostly because the little dealer near my new home in southern NB had one in stock (last one actually) and I got a decent price. It's working great so far but only a couple hundred km on it so far.

Just breaking in a new Pilot Activ rear tire, mostly because the little dealer near my new home in southern NB had one in stock (last one actually) and I got a decent price. It's working great so far but only a couple hundred km on it so far.

Yeah, it's not the rear that concerns me about that tire, it's the damn front. With a centre tread line, the IRCs like to follow tar snakes or grooved pavement. It isn't a problem for me really, since I've learned to get used to it. It's just damn annoying, and if I can get a set of tires to help minimize that action, I will.

I just checked out my tires before my ride home. I'll have to measure them tomorrow, but it looks like there's a LITTLE bit of life left in them still. The Sport Demons are on backorder until the 27th, so I may push it until then. If I don't, it's the BT-45s.

So I'm back.

I'm now debating between the BT016s (110 & 150) and the Sport Demons.

Decisions, decisions...

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but I need some clarification...

If the sport demons got such a bad review (worst on the page!) Then why does everyone seem to love them so much, am I missing something??? o_O

They perform great, they just don't last very long. Not a great idea for commuters, but a pretty good compromise for pre-gen owners that are looking for a sticky tire.

I admit I am sceptical about Pirelli products. But to be fair the test is six years old, compound and possibly other things are likely to have changed on the deamons since then. The test was done using a bike with an engine that is twice as big, and by running flat out on a typical short UK track. Remarks on the Pirellis were mainly regarding the rear tire wear and -performance.

So the results might not be relevant to a Ninja 250 used on public roads, perhaps not even on the track.

They perform great, they just don't last very long. Not a great idea for commuters, but a pretty good compromise for pre-gen owners that are looking for a sticky tire.

Ah, I see, so for a commuter such as myself i'd be better off with something like Avon Road Rider.
Thank you!

I admit I am sceptical about Pirelli products. But to be fair the test is six years old, compound and possibly other things are likely to have changed on the deamons since then. The test was done using a bike with an engine that is twice as big, and by running flat out on a typical short UK track. Remarks on the Pirellis were mainly regarding the rear tire wear and -performance.

So the results might not be relevant to a Ninja 250 used on public roads, perhaps not even on the track.

Thanks! That I didn't realize the test was taken with a bigger bike, I only read the individual reviews. I'm sure you're right. I've heard 250 owners claiming that they achieved 6k miles on their demons, which isn't great, but not crazy bad either.

I've run 16" BT 45's on my XR 100 thats prepped for asphalt racing on go kart tracks and I just love them. Long lasting, no surprises in the corners and cheap.

When my stockers on my 2012 wear out I'm going to BT 45's. Wardie

I put Sport Demons on my Pre Gen. Will get maybe 8K miles from the rear. They hook as well as any sport tire, are confidence inspiring, and give great feedback. They are actually classified as Sport Touring tires.

My Buell will shred a sport tire in 1,800 miles, so I think 8K is friggin' awesome.

On the BT-016. Great tire, awesome even. But the shortest life of any tire I ever ran, except maybe a Q2, or an S-20.

Sticky rubber and long life do not go hand in hand. Find you acceptable medium.:D