Leads on Cheap PR2's

[someguy]

id love to buy locally. even give them a chance to earn my business. no joy. not even close.

so i buy from a guy near the Dragon, Wheelers, and though i pay little more, hes a great guy and does does honest work for a bargain.

so he's earned my business until i can buy my own machine.

 

[dcarver]

Thanks for the input guys. Since I like dealing with little peeps, looks like it's going to be Murphs!

 

[RPrice]

Sounds good!! FWIW I just walked out and looked at the side of my new PR 2 rear tire, and just beyond the size (180/55 ZR 17) is MC (73W). So, it is the same tire advertised on Amazon for $140.00, which now appears to be an excellent deal! I know this tire is not "B" rated.

So, is my ZR 17 tire Z rated or W rated?? Who knows?

 

[dcarver]

I've run the B spec and non-B spec and can't tell any real world difference..

 

[Ed Sidders]

Bud returned 3 sets of pr2;s to Amazon.....Each pair Old and dried out....Gave up and ordered pr3's , nice and fresh...

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

Bud returned 3 sets of pr2;s to Amazon.....Each pair Old and dried out....Gave up and ordered pr3's , nice and fresh...

Yep......I'd make them verify the date code before you buy them.

 

[Fred W]

https://www.amazon.com/Michelin-Pilot-Radial-Motorcycle-Touring/dp/B005J88E9C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376408571&sr=8-2&keywords=michelin+pr2 $141.00

Careful - seems to me that the '73W' means that the tire has a lower load rating.

Did some poking around and found this - go to post #6: Hayabusa.ord link-a-roonie.

Looks like that '73W' has a load rating of 805 pounds. I figure one my FJR is loaded with me and Sooze and all of our crap, we'll be well over 805. I have no idea if the '73W' thing will make a difference or not, but for me, the extra $13 isn't worth it.

For the record, I recently (last week) bought a new rear PR2 off of Amazon that was shipped from MotorcycleSuperstore. I woulda just bought it direct, but, by purchasing Amazon gift cards at a local grocery store, I get discounts on gasoline, which is always a good thing.

If someone smarter than me says that the '73W' doesn't mean squat, so be it.

Andy,

805 lbs is plenty of load rating for you and Sooze, even after a couple of big plate of poutine. Remember that only half of the weight of the bike is on each tire.

FWIW I have been running PR2 rears with the BT023GT fronts and really like that combination pretty well. The only thing that I've noticed lately is that my past two PR2 rears have gone away in only ~7500 miles, whereas they used to last ~9500. Neither Josie or I have gained any weight, so I'm starting to wonder if its the "old stock" of PR2's has anything to do with the quicker demise. The date code on the current tire is 21/11, and there is no dry rot or other outward signs of aging.

They have seemed to wear pretty evenly, as you can see in these pictures. A bit more on the left side which is completely normal:

This is about the point that I always change out my tires, once I get past the wear bars. I do not run them down to the cords as you never know when you'll be out on a ride and get stuck in the rain.

FWIW - I have been buying my tires from Jake Wilson lately and have a new rear on the way in the brown truck for $153.99 shipped. I'll see how fresh that one is when it gets here

 

[John d]

I'm getting less miles than I used to on the PR2s as well. It could be that many of the roads around me are being converted from well worn good pavement to chip seal.

 

[Fred W]

Replying back that the "new" PR2 I just received from Jake Wilson also has a date code of 21/11. I wonder if it is just Jake Wilson that has a big back stock of these, or their supplier (Tucker Rocky, probably?), or maybe Michelin has not been making any PR2's since week 21 of 2011?

Has anyone received a PR2 with a 2013 date code?

 

[El Toro Joe]

The last set that I put on (spring of 2013), the date code for both tires was 2012. Purchased from www.sprotbiketrackgear.com

 

[RPrice]

Replying back that the "new" PR2 I just received from Jake Wilson also has a date code of 21/11. I wonder if it is just Jake Wilson that has a big back stock of these, or their supplier (Tucker Rocky, probably?), or maybe Michelin has not been making any PR2's since week 21 of 2011?
Has anyone received a PR2 with a 2013 date code?

I ordered a new Rear PR2 in May stamped 1312, and a new front a couple weeks ago stamped 2612. Both from motorcycle superstore.

 

[Fred W]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll have to see how this new one wears. Maybe it will be worth sourcing my tires elsewhere if the 2011 PR2s are all wearing faster.

 

[hppants]

Bumpsie..... Time for a new set of PR2's for my bike.

Cheapest I've found is Amazon for the front ($114.00) and Jake Wilson for the Rear ($142.00) - both with free shipping.

Anybody know of any better deals out there?

 

[Fred W]

Do yourself a favor and put a T30 GT on the front with that PR2 rear. Jake sells the T30 GT front for $102 and its a better tire than the PR2 front. You'll thank me later.

 

[08FJR4ME]

I should have a set of PR2's coming in tomorrow. I will post back later with the dates. I bought them from competition accessories. I had a 12.95 customer credit that needed to be used up. Dam they keep me coming back that way.

Dave

 

[Niehart]

Do yourself a favor and put a T30 GT on the front with that PR2 rear. Jake sells the T30 GT front for $102 and its a better tire than the PR2 front.

You know I hate to agree with Fred but this is a great setup. escapefjrtist also like this setup.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Well my PR2's showed up today. I am having a hard time finding a date. Nothing on the stickers. There is a little oval with a 4 digit number in it. the last two digits are 13 on both tires. The first two digits are different. I assume these are 2013 tires. They smell rubbery at least.

Dave

 

[MCRIDER007]

Well my PR2's showed up today. I am having a hard time finding a date. Nothing on the stickers. There is a little oval with a 4 digit number in it. the last two digits are 13 on both tires. The first two digits are different. I assume these are 2013 tires. They smell rubbery at least.
Dave

First 2 numbers are the week of manufacture (01-52), the last 2 numbers are the year.

 

[hppants]

I did a little research on this a couple years ago. What I learned at the time is that the tire manufacturers make each tire at only 1 location world-wide. If a particular model of tire has a different spec for a specific part of the world (say a European spec, for example), it is usually given a different connotation/designation and may be constructed elsewhere. Each tire is batch built at the same time.

So if the re-seller is decent sized, and moves a considerable amount of tires, the likelihood is that regardless of where you buy it, you are going to get the same date code. When I was riding Nighthawks, the Bridgestone BT-45 was a good buy - I conducted an informal poll of enough data to draw a conclusion and it confirmed my thinking. Regardless of where you bought the tire, the date code was the same for a 9 month-ish period. Then all of a sudden, everyone starts getting a new date code - signifying that the manufacturer made a fresh run of that tire.

I suppose the possibility also exist that you will pick up a tire from a "mom and pop" that was sitting on the shelf for some time, but that would be an oddity.

Regardless - there's nothing like a twisty blue bird sky day trip in the mountains on an unloaded bike with a FRESH set of tires.

 

[08FJR4ME]

I am pretty sure PR2's were made in two locations. In fact this is the first time they both came from Spain. I believe the front tire always came from some other country previously. I will check the ones I pull off this weekend to confirm.

Dave