Michelin Tyres

[Captain_Slash]

Its time to replace my rear tyre on the CB 500F.

The Michelin Pilot Road 4 is looking the best option for maximum tyre life, handling and good wet and dry grip, has anyone used one of these and if so whats the verdict?

My other choice would be an Avon Ultra 3D XM.

But I have been informed by my local motorcycle tyre dealer that here in the UK getting a puncture plugged on a ZR rated tyre is not something shops will carry out as its not recommended apart from on the Michelin as they guarantee their tyres when professionally plugged, the Michelin while more expensive might be the better option

 

[lung jack]

Hello Colin,
I ride a 2004 CB500,the one assembled in Italy.Lately,I had to change the Pilot Road 2 (very satisfied with it)
I was thinking of having a Pilot 4 fitted, but the mechanic,a friend,told me his main dealer might still have n°2
in stock. He had.. Cost me 130€. Quite happy,because the N°4 might be the good choice for a 100HP+ bike,
which is not the case.
PS, Some years ago,I've been following your "track" from CNX to the South on my faithful 250AX.
Cheers, Lung Jacques.

 

[Captain_Slash]

Thanks Jack.

I was chatting to a guy who rides a Kawasaki Z1000 quite hard and he said he gets 10,000 miles out of the rear Pilot Road 3 so I am hoping for at least 16,000 miles out of a 4 on my lighter less powerful bike

Here was what Michelin replied to my e-mail to them

Hello Colin,

Thanks for your interest in our tyres.

The Pilot Road is a single compound tyre, and though durable would offer slightly less mileage than the other tyres in the range, and doesn't benefit from having softer compounds on the sides of the tyre for better grip when cornering. The Pilot Road 2 and Pilot Road 3 are fairly evenly matched for tyre life, the big advantage of the Pilot Road 3 is it's better wet weather performance. The Pilot Road 4 builds on this, and according to our internal tests averages about 20% more life than the Pilot Road 3, so this should give you the best life.

The Pilot Road 3 has been the benchmark in wet weather grip since it came out, without any detriment to dry weather performance. When we develop a new tyre within a range it's key that the new tyre must be at least as good as the old tyre in all aspects, and improve upon it in the defined key areas that we've identified. For the Road 4 that has meant an improvement in dry weather handling, an increase in longevity and improving wet weather grip even further.

We generally look at all the competitor tyres and try to beat the best in each of it's strength areas to produce an all round top notch tyre. Every manufacturer moves the game on with each development of their tyres, so you really do get a good choice of quality tyres. Most specialise in one or two areas, and we consistently top the scores in independent tests on wet weather performance and braking, but we don't compromise on longevity in order to do that. We are still the only manufacturer able to create such a heavily siped tyre that lasts as well as anything else out there.

 

[LivinLOS]

16k miles !! Nearly 26k kms !!

Thats a hell of a lifespan..

 

[lung jack]

I did just over 22K kms(13K Miles)with my Pilot 2.
And now I'm not riding as hard as I used to.
Plus,it'not raining that much here compared with England.
Last Dec,I missed you by 2 days in Nan according to Tom, Nan Guest house,where I stay since 91.

 

[Captain_Slash]

16k miles !! Nearly 26k kms !!

Thats a hell of a lifespan..

Back in 1992 I had a Honda NTV 600 which took the same size tyres as a Suzuki GSX 1100 I believe, it was only about 50 hp and the Michelins I put on that enabled me to lean it the same in the wet as I normally did in the dry.

I never once lost traction and achieved 16,000 miles out of the rear tyre, since then Michelins and Avons have always been my tyre choices.

 

[LivinLOS]

I think I got something like 12k kms out of my pilotsports.. Look to be getting a bit more life out of the current Metzelers (sportec M3) which have been pretty confidence inspiring so far also.. As I dont ride crazy hard and do longer distance rides with that bike I cant put the real super soft tires on or one little trip can square them off on highway miles.

I was offered those Avon Ulta but told they were very soft.

 

[bikesncats]

Back in 1992 I had a Honda NTV 600 which took the same size tyres as a Suzuki GSX 1100 I believe, it was only about 50 hp and the Michelins I put on that enabled me to lean it the same in the wet as I normally did in the dry.

I never once lost traction and achieved 16,000 miles out of the rear tyre, since then Michelins and Avons have always been my tyre choices.

I used exclusively Michelin Pilot Road 3 on my FJR1300, 190/50 in the back, I was getting roughly around 7-9 thousand kilometers out of a set, but they were really unevenly worn...(but I'm pretty sure it wasn't because of the tires)...still one of my favorit tires for street use.

 

[Captain_Slash]

I was offered those Avon Ulta but told they were very soft.

The Ultra Sport and Supersport are probably soft, its the Storm 2 Ultra that is the longer lasting one, the new Storm 3D X-M is the one that is supposed to give an extra 15-20% longer life