Pirelli City Demon Motorcycle Tyre Review
The Pirelli City Demon tyres (tire) were fitted as standard (at the
factory) to my Honda CG125 motorcycle when I bought it brand new (front disc
model).
2.75 - 18 Front, 90 / 90 - 18 Rear.
I have covered around 50,000 miles with tyres around those sizes
on several different bikes between 100 and 250cc,
over many years (I passed my motorcycle test a long time ago).
So I have experience in how such narrow tyres should perform (narrow tyres are normally found on most 50 to 250cc bikes).
I did manage to wear the Pirelli City Demon tyres out after around 8000 miles (mileage will vary depending on riding style and weight).
My review below might make you think the tyres or bike were
faulty or setup wrong,
I can confirm the bike and tyres were not faulty or setup wrong because,
I used the bike on a different make of tyre without any problems,
I tried an identical 2nd hand bike with Pirelli City Demon tyres on,
I also checked the tyre pressures and wheel alignment.
The tyres are not as bad as many of the unbranded (or Chinese
brands) of cheap tyres.
But I do not recommend them for anyone to use.
The Good
Never made me drop the bike, but that could have been due to me being so afraid
of them and so riding slowly.
In the wet they still gripped (but I always ride very carefully on soaking wet
roads).
They still grip well enough on painted white lines.
The Bad
As mentioned above the tyres and bike were not faulty or setup incorrectly.
Cornering (going round a bend) was terrible.
I swear the front and rear tyres did not want to go round a bend together.
For example, a bend where the average to slow car driver takes at 40mph,
the rear tyre would make the rear of the bike including the riders seat wobble
sideways (left and right) several times throughout the corner (very un nerving).
The front tyre had to be forced to go round the bend at that speed, requiring a
lot of leaning and wrestling the handlebars to force it round the corner.
The best way to describe the problem is by watching motorcycle racing, when
they push the tyres to far in a bend you see the back tyre wobble all over the
place.
If I took the bend at 30 mph there was no problem, but car drivers behind would
get very frustrated and get very close to the bike.
Braking.
For example, your in the middle of a city and approach a set of traffic lights
at 30 mph, they start to turn red at the worst time.
So you have to stop quickly, not severely (if you had you could legally go
through the red light in the UK).
The front tyre feels like it turns to jelly and squiggles left and right and
makes the steering almost impossible to control (you can keep it going straight a head).
Cornering (part 2)
When you go round a bend slow enough not to get the rear tyre wobbling (like in
part 1 above), you would still have the other major problem with the front tyre.
You get locked in to the line you have set the bike to go round the bend.
If you need to alter the line when your part way though the bend it is extremely
hard,
and its often impossible to be accurate enough (tyre overreacts or does not react
enough).
This makes for a really bad and dangerous riding experience if you find the bend
tightens up more than you were expecting or find something in the road.
A learner will suffer a lot from this problem, but even an experienced rider
will suffer.
Rolling Resistance and Feel of the Road surface.
The rolling resistance is bad.
The tyre also absorb lots of the feel of the road surface in a bad way, its like
having thick jelly, absorbs energy but also wobbles slightly.
Conclusion
After riding these tyres for around 8000 miles I can thoroughly recommend
you do not buy them (they are not even very cheap).
If you are a UK Leaner going to take the motorcycle test, I
would not use these tyres on the test, I would be concerned that.
If your lucky you would only fail the test, if your slightly unlucky you may
drop the bike, if your unlucky you could brake your bones.
If you pass your test on them, you are a much better and skilled rider than if
you had good tyres.
Compared to all the other makes and models of tyres I have used over all the years, the tyres are well below average but not the worst.
For my review of a tyre I do recommend see Michelin Pilot Sporty tyre review
For other universal tyre information (with some Honda CG125 specific information in as well) see my Tyres page.