I am a long time (4 year) pmt. tire fan. Not because the tires are the best (they are great tires) but because up until 2003 pmt. was the only "non-Chinese" brand of Pocketbike tire available here in the U.S.
Now we have two.
I was contacted by Mr.Denny Arroyo from Sava West ( http://www.savawest.com ) the new kid on the block for the U.S. Pocketbike tire market to do a review on a set of Sava tires.
I chose a set of "MB" tires (more on the different spec below). I knew the Sava tires had a much smaller width than the PMT's, but I did not realize how much of a difference there was between the two brands. In fact, when I first opened the box I thought Denny had made a mistake and set me two front tires. Upon further inspection I realized that the rear Sava tire was almost as small as a front pmt. tire. From racing sportbikes I know that a smaller width tire will allow the bike to "turn in" faster in the corners so I was excited to try them out as my riding style benefits from fast direction changes in the corners.
I decided to mount this set of tires on my lucky7 Chinese Pocketbike as my ATM still had a set of PMT's on them with plenty of wear left. One warning, when putting the Sava tires on your rims you will need a lot of air pressure to get them to bead right. In fact I had to use 160psi worth of air pressure to get the tires to bead. Other than the extra pressure required I had no problems with installing the new rubber.
If you are used to the wider PMT's or the Chinese tires take it easy in the first few corners with the Sava tires. I knew the bike would turn in faster with the smaller circumference but I was shocked to find out how much of a difference these tires make. In the first two corners I almost lowsided with the MUCH faster direction change the Sava tires give you. After a few laps I was happy to see that instead of having to "push" to get over into the corners with my old PMT's the Sava tires let me to "dip" into the corners and allowed me to concentrate more on my throttle control and carry more corner spead through the corner as I was also able to pick the bike up faster on my exit and get back on the throttle much quicker. As for grip they felt a little softer than the comparable PMT's in this class (T4's). I did notice that the looked a little more worn after a day of racing than with the PMT's but nothing that would make me worry about the life span of the tire.
Another great thing about these tires is they are cheaper than the PMT's (as of the date of this review) so I can only guess once the Sava tires become more well known pmt. is going to have to drop their prices or lose a lot of customers.
In comparing the Sava to the PMT's, if you are a racer of any type of Pocketbike the Sava brand tire is the new king:
They turn into (and pick up out of) the corner faster.
They stick better.
They wear about the same.
They are cheaper.
It looks like pmt. has some serious work to do as I am now a dedicated Sava customer for all of my Pocketbikes.
Sava Tire Class Specs:
MA / MB / MC / MW…………….normal carcass; optimised for riders up to 16o-170 lbs of weight.
MRA / MRB / MRC / MRW……..reinforced (stronger) carcass, which is mainly used by heavier riders.
MA / MRA racing tires
VERY SOFT RACING TIRE
-suitable for cold weather, and on smooth surfaces
-outstanding grip and optimal stability
-great price / performance ratio
MB / MRB racing tires
SOFT RACING TIRE
-suitable for warmer weather, and on rougher surfaces
-very good grip,
-efficient power transfer,
-excellent price / quality ratio
MC / MRC racing tires
MEDIUM RACING TIRE
-acceptable grip,
-low rolling resistance & tire wear and consequently very long lifetime;
-ideal price / service time ratio
MW / MRW racing tires
RAIN RACING TIRE
-for driving on wet surfaces (slight and heavy rain) and also for driving on smooth and dirty surfaces
To purchase a set of Sava Tires visit
http://www.savawest.com 
