Hmm, well, I've got Pirelli's on the XR for mini racing, Demons. I'm a bit less than impressed, but don't have a lot of choice since i'm running 16" wheels, but I'm so used to racing rubber on the track it might just be the bridgestone ultra soft slicks I spooned on the KX are swaying my opinion of the Pirellis since I ride both bikes in a given weekend. If it rains, I've found I can carve those slicks with a tire knife and make 'em stick better than ANY street rubber, honest! I couldn't believe it myself. Last season last race at Katy I was going to just run the XR in sprints cause it had street rubber on it. It was raining like ****! But, the XR had a carb problem as practice was opening, friends were working on it, so I took out the KX on SLICKS. It wasn't puddling yet, just rain slick, and I was sticking one HECK of a lot better than the XR. Grooved those slicks and went out and won three classes that day. I won three classes at Denton last year on the bike on ungrooved slicks on a wet, but not puddling track, but Denton has a lot more straight that I can turn the KX loose on. It's got a **** of a lot of motor, even though there are a few bikes out there that rival it. But, that turned out not to be a fluke. Katy was not only wet, but COLD. Katy is a very tight track and horsepower really doesn't matter that much.
So, what that taught me is that compound is everything on a wet pavement. If it's stickier in the dry, likely it'll be stickier in the wet. Sure, grooving is important especially when the water is puddling, but it's not as important as compound. If you've ever felt full rains, they're like gum!
Don't know what all that had to do with sport touring tires...
I started out with Pirellis on my mind and it morphed into a wet vs dry thread...
The Pirelli Demons are, however, seem better than the BT45 I had on the rear. I can't really say how it stacks against the Avon race compound I had on the front because that was a 19" wheel and I'm now running a 16 on the front. That has lowered the bike and taken almost completely away the understeer it had. That understeer was so bad I really couldn't test the limits of the tire, but the compound was really good and soft. But, the Pirelli is quite stable now and there's no more push so effectively I have more corner speed with it. I can say one thing, had a 591 Dunlop on the rear for a bit and it was TERRIBLE! LOL!