Michelin Pilot Road 3's are sublime

[wheatonFJR]

Do a search and you'll see that I probably would have gotten 20,000 from a set of PR3s had I not changed them in preparation for another 10,000+ mile trip in June.

As a side by side comparison...what have you gotten out of PR2s Bill? Or any other model of tire?

 

[Bungie]

My 2 cents.

I've run PR2's for the last 4 sets of tires. GOOD tires. But my all time fav's were Avon Storms. Great stick, great handling and ride. But they didn't last (4000-6000 miles).

A few weeks back with the SE Ohio Ramble approaching quickly I need to swap my 15,000 mile PR2 rear, and 8000 mile PR2 front for the trip. I gave the nod to the PR3's. Lucky for me the back still had a thou or two miles left on the back, the front was only half done and I found a buyer for them which offset the cost of the PR3's.

I gave them a good scrubbing and headed south for Ohio. Nice ride on the hwy inflated to 42/42. About the same as PR2's when new. SE Ohio was fantastic, made more so by the PR3's. I swear, if I shut my eyes, those are Avons! Great neutral handling and stick. Very confidence inspiring. The next day we did the west loop in an all day rain. At times were running slightly more vigorous than was prudent for conditions. The PR3's were *AWESOME* in the wet. Dangerously so! Several times I had to consciously dial it back. They were that good.

I did have a couple of minor slips in corners that shouldn't have been an issue. I'm blaming those on crap on the road (horse **** or fuel/oil).

If they last as long as the PR2's. I'm a convert. Time'll tell.

 

[03HiYoSilver]

Nice Review... Southern Ohio has some great roads for the test.

Thanks for the Review.

 

[jpcfjr]

I've got maybe 7,200 on my PR3 front and rear. I have gone through three sets of PR2 since getting rid of the crappy OEM Battlax 021 that came on the bike. Initially I thought the 3's were significantly louder than the 2's. I still believe that. I never had any complaints with the wet weather performance of the 2's. I screamed through the dragon in the wet on the 2's last year at speeds I never would have imagined were possible and never felt any slipping. And I got 10k miles out of my last set of 2's.

The 3's are a bit different. Louder for sure and I'm not sure I'll get the mileage out of the 3's as the front is pretty near baked at this point. At the dragon last month I noticed that significant effort was needed to turn the bike with the 3's. The back looks great but the front is noticeably cupped and feathered wrt the individual chunks outlined by the cross sipe grooves. I must confess that I had my front suspension hosed for part of this tire's life so it's not totally fair to say the tire is worn worse than a 2 would have. Now that I've got my forks dialed in (new racetech springs and valves took a while to figure out) we'll have to see how the next set works out. However, if I don't see better wear out of the next front I'll have to go back to the 2's or explore other options.

Since I do my own mounting/balancing, cost of the 3's is a totally manageable $297 out the door from Coleman Powersports in Hoodbridge, VA. Of course that only comes about if you bring in an online deal for them to match. Otherwise they will certainly charge you more.

 

[Ignacio]

I agree. I bought and mounted my first set of PR3 before the Cal24 a few weeks ago and have completed two full 1 day rallies at FJR nominal speeds plus the commute to and from each. They've worn well, very predictable and perform well, and only a bit of cupping on the front tire. Just a few years ago I couldn't do two rallies on an Azarro or a PR, but this one still has a few thousand miles left of life. I think they might be worth the premium over PR2s.

 

[cali_rider]

I just installed my pr3's....I liked them on my k1200gt do I decided to roll with them on the fjr....I didn't see anything better than many other tires but they were smoother and seemed to wear a bit better....oh, and they do look nice.

 

[NetDude]

As I'm about to replace my first set of PR3's I thought it might be a good time to update this thread. The tires lasted just over 7K miles for me, front and rear. The centers still have plenty of life left in them but the sides have zero tread left. Handling at this point is fairly unpleasant, taking significant effort to turn and hold a line. Overall, I'm very pleased with the PR3. Fantastic traction in the wet (and snow).

I'm going to order another set. I've added a more sporty ride to the stable so the FJR should see a greater percentage of touring miles than it has in the past.

 

[Old Michael]

Nearly all tires are sublime when they are first put on the bike. ...

'Zilla, did you use sublime in a sentence?

 

[HotRodZilla]

Nearly all tires are sublime when they are first put on the bike. ...

'Zilla, did you use sublime in a sentence?

Hey...Don't judge me. I'm very complicated.

Oh yeah...Forgot to add: :****:

 

[beacher]

I've only gotten a couple hundred miles on my PR3's, but what I really noticed is how warm they get, compared to the. . . ummmmm. . .Bridgestones(?) I think that came stock on the 2008, which had 12K, when I decided to trade them out. I had no complaints with those tires, and I really didn't notice a noise increase with the 3s. However, if I only get 7K out of these, I'll be trying out the 2s, next time!

 

[RiderX]

+1. Extremely pleased in wet performance. I got 3 rallies, a BBG3k, 50cc Gold out of a front. 19k and only changing it b/c next event is approaching. I get about 10k (with some tread left) on a rear so very pleased overall.

 

[Alex]

Thanks for the reviews guys. Looks like they will be my next set of rubber.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Any comparison yet on the 3's vs the RS 2s?

 

[Geezer]

Any comparison yet on the 3's vs the RS 2s?

I have used up one set of PR3's and I'm about half way through my second set. The back tire lasted almost as long as a PR2, within about 10% under similar riding, load, and temperature conditions. The front lasted longer than the back, but wore very funny. I guess it is the same as cupping we get from all front tires to some degree, but there is so much siping on the front tire that the cupping made the tire feel unpredictable.

If the second set does the same thing then I think I'm done with PR3s.

Oops, sorry, I read 'RS 2' as PR 2. I have not tried RS2s.

 

[RiderX]

As Ignacio and Geezer point out, cupping occurs on the front. I notice around 12k. I found the wear was predictable and benign. Granted most of the mileage from 12 to 19k was fairly flat. In the mountains, I can feel the cupping but always with decent grip and performance. Quick story. I wondered at 13k (with the cupping) if I should ride 3100 miles from Ocean City, MD to Oceanside, CA. Yeah, there's plenty of tread. So I order a new PR3 front and shipped to California. I remember thinking, "I'll be sure to watch it close". I got to the Pacific Ocean and the tire looked exactly the same. dang. Just couldn't bring myself to put the new tire on with all that tire remaining. Threw another 4k on still at least 2k in tread remaining. :yahoo:

 

[topanga]

My experience wasn't so great. This is the front less than 4k. I hated them the entire time, I thought they were much less sticky than the PR2s. The PR2's are a better tire IMHO, although to be fair I never rode the PR3s in rain. As a side note I've also run through a set of Avons (they were good but only lasted 3k on the front). Currently running Continentals, which seem nice so far as tires, we'll see.

And to head off the usual, I am not fat, ride mostly solo, monitor tire pressure and don't load up the bike. I do however live in a canyon and ride 25 miles of commuting twisties everyday in addition to recreational riding. I have yet to get more than about 4500 miles out of ANY front tire. The reas seem to fair a little better, but I'd be hard pressed to get more than 6-7k there with the type of daily riding I do. I wish I did, trust me. I always find myself stretching the tires to hopefully fit between oil changes. I find myself posting these images a lot in regards to mileage, just so people see what happens to them in a different riding situation.

 

[phroenips]

too bad they don't make a "reverse" dual compound for you...harder (longer lasting) tread on the edges, and softer stuff in the middle...seems like you'd at least get more even wear with something like that :lol:

 

[SkooterG]

I do however live in a canyon and ride 25 miles of commuting twisties everyday in addition to recreational riding.

You lucky *******!!! I am so jealous. I'll NEVER wear out the side of tire first. Always the center for me.

Dude, and people think *I* am crazy! How long were you riding on that front with belts showing????

 

[HotRodZilla]

Hey Topanga James had very similar wear and mileage as you when he was living in Tokyo. So far for my mixed riding, they're working good for me. Looks like they wear much faster when pushed hard consistently.

Somebody needs to make the perfect tire! Ha!!

 

[topanga]

Dude, and people think *I* am crazy! How long were you riding on that front with belts showing????

it looks worse than the reality, it happened on the way home and the next stop was to get them changed. Although I guess that's 15-16 miles or so.

Still, it always catches me by surprise. I've had that happen on nearly all the PRs (like 10 sets I think). I always hope I can make it to the next 4k service, and rarely do.

I am liking the Continentals so far though, not as sticky as the PR2s, but very solid tire. My guess is they won't last any longer, but it is pretty hard to complain about living in the twisties.