Well, I wheeled the VF out of the shed the other day to finish fitting the Oxford tank bag and thought, is it just me or is this bike very hard to push around? I thought it was me, as I have lost a lot of physical strength in the last 18 months.
But no, the front tyre was nearly flat and the rear had 8 psi in it! The front air loss was due to a faulty valve extender, since removed. The rear was caused by a piece of staple penetrating the carcass, I have no idea how long its been in there for but since the rear tyre is 'squared off' and well past half worn, and the front is past half worn and is also showing cracking due to age I'm replacing them with a set of Pirelli Demons in the correct sizes of 120/80-16 and 140/80-17.
http://www.google.com.au/search?lr=lang_en&client=ms-optus-au&hl=en&site=imghp&tbs=lr%3Alang_1en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=980&bih=496&q=pirelli+demon+sport&oq=pirelli+demon&gs_l=img.1.1.0l2j0i24l3.897.5634.0.11275.13.6.0.1.1.0.271.271.2-1.1.0....0...1ac.1.19.img.KF5LRTS54ao
The bike is fitted with Bridgestone BT45's, that are a radial tyre though the bike was designed for cross ply rubber originally. I ran the BT45's on my last big bike, a 2007 TDM 900 and the front tyre on that bike wore badly just like this one has. The pressure was always correct, though I did make them work in the corners! I've read where radial tyres put a lot of extra stresses through the bike's chassis, which is fine for the newer machines designed for them, but not so much for the older ones, like my VF.
I've read many good things about the Pirelli's and many riders mention the high level of grip they posess which is important to me rather than outright longevity. Nobody wants to ride in straight lines eh!
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