Michelin Pilot Road-2

[madmike2]

This has been a pleasant thread.

Yes, it has been, and civil, too!

I have run the Pilot Power on a ZX-11 and a ZX-14 and they are awesome (have not tried the Power 2CT yet). However, they only last 3000-5000mi tops if I ride in the mountains of NC, West Virginia or Virginia much - which is exactly where I like to go to ride. I wonder if anyone knows how many more miles they get out of the 2CT's?

Actually, because my PR2 rear (9,500 miles, near the wear bars and Winter coming) was due I replaced it with a Power 2CT (And, because I got it at 1/2 price). The PR2 front is @ 11,900 and barely has a "V" shape. The Power 2CT is @ 2300 and still looks new. I'll replace them both when they're worn out.

Having the shop replace tires every 3000-5000mi totally sucks - extending things out to 10,000-11,000mi is not so bad. I truthfully wouldnt mind the reduced range if I didnt have to deal with the bike shop to replace them. One of these days I need to break down and get the tools to start doing them myself.

Many forum members have the means to change and balance their own tires. Many are doing just fine with the Harbor Freight changer and a decent static balancer.

Marc Parnes Balancer

No Mar Balancer

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Well, I'll throw in my hate of Z6 tires but ran them @8000 miles. Only got 5000+ miles from Storms but LOVED the grip in wet, dry, hot or cold. Put on the pR2's last year before NAFO and they went up and down mountains and looked great until the 7500 mark -- they are now at 8500+ and getting a little squared off because I have been more hesitant in the wet/cold grip of the tires. The front has a hint of cupping. I expect to get another 1-2K out of them as no wear bars showing yet in the rear. I agree with the assessments the tires run better in heat -- but for a long trip with mixed riding they are the tires I'd want. I might try some Roadsmarts next if they are that good in warmer weather and twisties. Many riders are more aggressive than I and YMMV. I tend to replace fronts with rears -- they tend to be shagged by the time the rears need replacing. -- maybe because I'm hard on the front brake in corners?

And a special thanks to Dale, who at NAFO suggested I run 42 front and rear. I'm running better and longer at those pressures.

 

[Allnight]

This really has been a great thread.

I let my front get a little low on pressure, and cupped it really badly...it looked like it had a mohawk, so replaced the orig BT with a PR2. That was at about 5400 miles. (Obviously, I don't push my bike nearly as much as the more vocal people here )

The rear still has a lot of life left in it, probably another 3k. Nice (sarcasm there) flat area down the middle, but still significant tread there.

Since getting the PR2 installed, the bike has felt different. I wasn't sure how to describe it, other than that it let me shrink the chicken strips down to about half of their size (still got a little over a quarter inch left on the BT021 rear).

I'd say I fall nicely into the less-than-85 crowd, and so far (nearly 500 miles) I'm liking this tire. My current plan is to match it when I finally do the rear, which considering the rain is coming will take a little longer.

Years ago I convinced myself that I didn't want to ever work on my bike (Nighthawk back then) if I had to pull a wheel. I had this mental image of rolling down a California freeway and having the wheel leave me behind. Just how irrational is that fear? I know that a lot of people pull wheels themselves...am I being overly paranoid? I'm very mechanically inclined, just nervous that I won't torque a bolt enough or put on enough loctite or something stupid. Maybe I just need to actually watch the guy do it at the shop next time, to see just how careful he is. Although that could backfire and keep me from ever riding again.

Mike

 

[dragonchef]

This has been a pleasant thread.
Tires are about tradeoffs. A tire that wears out faster (your Roadsmart fronts are wearing out over twice as fast) should perform better and have more ultimate grip. That is pretty much a no brainer. If a person wasn't concerned much about mileage and wanted to get the best performance, they could go with a Pilot Power or a Pilot Power 2CT. I wonder how those compare to the Roadsmart? You can get both the Power and the Power 2CT in FJR sizes.

I have run the Pilot Power on a ZX-11 and a ZX-14 and they are awesome (have not tried the Power 2CT yet). However, they only last 3000-5000mi tops if I ride in the mountains of NC, West Virginia or Virginia much - which is exactly where I like to go to ride. I wonder if anyone knows how many more miles they get out of the 2CT's?

I am on my second set of Road 2's on the FJR. I got 11,000mi out of the last set, however, even with tread left, they were performing sucky for the last 2000-2500mi or so. The new set is working fantastic like I would expect a fresh set to behave.

After spending hours reading, thinking and riding...I went with PP2CT's for the 2 sets I wore out last summer...5K on the first and 6K on the second. It was fun showing off to the R1 and CBR crowd.....they were duly impressed with my 2 up peg scrapping... BUt I am tired of a rear tire that is declining at 3K and dumpster ready as it goes past 5. This time it will be PP2CT front and PR2 back...but I'm a bit nervous after reading through some of the flack....once the snow melts and and the salt/sand clears, we will get a better Idea of where I stand...

 

[biknflyfisher]

I'm not sure why the Metz Z6s seem to get toasted by most users. I am approaching 4500 miles with probably a 60/40 mix of twisty to slab work, and I have zero complaints and rather like them (all solo riding - wifey no likey ridey).

The front tire will go before the rear, that I can clearly see. I will try something different when I do have to replace them just for interest's sake as they are a "wear item", and I won't be stuck with them too awful long iff'in I hate them.

Lots of fantastic info and opinions to be had here, which makes the FJR Forum the great resource that it is!

Be safe out there.

biknflyfisher

 

[spyderbret]

I am about 600 miles into a new set of PR2's front and rear. So far I really like them. I ran the original Metz to about 7500 miles. The front was toast but I could have gotten a little more from the rear. I changed both after reading this and other tire threads. I pretty much committed to the PR2's from recomendations and I am glad I did. This way I can just change one or the other instead of having to worry about changing in pairs.

These tires work perfectly for the way I ride.....

 

[ed29]

I have a dumb question. It is one that I posed to the folks at Michelin earlier today, and they could not answer it. On my PR2s the front wear is easy to gauge since it has grooves all the way across and obvious wear bars. On the rear PR2 though the grooves don't meet in the middle, and they shallow out in depth as they approach the center from each side. So now with 8K on my set, how do I tell how much life is left in the tire? I see some posts referring to wear bars, and those that I can find on the rear tire are well off from the center, which is where the commuter miles are starting to show up.

How have y'all determined that your PR2 rear tires are worn out, short of running them until the cord shows?

Ed

p.s. my Z-6 from the factory were toast at 4,500.

 

[BwanaDik]

Just got my wheels back from the shop. I had asked for PRII's to be installed. They installed Pilot Road (no "II") instead. They weren't familar with the RPII's but said they could order them.

Am I toast? Are the PR's any good? Should I mount them up anyway and go with the RPII's when these wear out? Been looking forward to the PRII's after the write-ups

nice riding weather here finally.....sigh......

What to do? (no shop bashing, they're generally pretty good. First screw up in many a visit)

 

[DeweyIsgod]

Just got my wheels back from the shop. I had asked for PRII's to be installed. They installed Pilot Road (no "II") instead. They weren't familar with the RPII's but said they could order them.
Am I toast? Are the PR's any good? Should I mount them up anyway and go with the RPII's when these wear out? Been looking forward to the PRII's after the write-ups

nice riding weather here finally.....sigh......

What to do? (no shop bashing, they're generally pretty good. First screw up in many a visit)

The PR is one of the recommended tires for the FJR according to Michelin's website. This chart may clarify a little where they sit in the Michelin family.

If the shop acknowledges it was their goof, I'd ask them to knock a few bucks off rather than waiting for the order to come in on the PR2s. The next couple days are supposed to be beautiful around here!

 

[HaulinAshe]

Just got my wheels back from the shop. I had asked for PRII's to be installed. They installed Pilot Road (no "II") instead. They weren't familar with the RPII's but said they could order them.
Am I toast? Are the PR's any good? Should I mount them up anyway and go with the RPII's when these wear out? Been looking forward to the PRII's after the write-ups

nice riding weather here finally.....sigh......

What to do? (no shop bashing, they're generally pretty good. First screw up in many a visit)

IMO, PRs only belonged on old pickup trucks. But it's definitely your call. They beat not riding at all.

Maybe they should sell you the PRs at cost/heavily discounted, then you get your next set of tires mounted free?

 

[C&C]

Before the II's, what do you think a lot of us were riding on. I got real good service out of mine (though I'm not an extreme rider; let's say an 85 percenter). Unless you want the latest from Michilen, I'd ask for a discount due to their error, and ride out the PR's).

 

[sportrider]

I am running PR's now, they lasted about 7000 miles which include a trip from NY to deals gap. I like them, stick real well in the twisties, not too impressed with them in the wet. Lost my confidence with a slide. I would buy another set, but am going to try the PR2. I feel they were a great tire, I felt as much confidence in the dry with them as I did with the pilot powers.

 

[BwanaDik]

A happy ending! Called the shop this morning after I found a set of PRII's elsewhere. The service guy said he had ordered a set last night after they closed and hoped they would turn up this morning. They did! Being mounted right now. They really went out of their way to keep me happy, it worked.

Riding with Sparky, my BMW friend tomorrow morning, to scrub the new skins in! :yahoo:

 

[BwanaDik]

The shop didn't charge me for the delta in the cost between the PR's and PRII's. Said it was a wash. Can't see how that could be, looks like they want to keep m business. Nice change of pace