Michelin Pilot Road 4 Tires Review

[Canadian FJR]

This video does a good job of explaining the differences and also helps me understand the front end feel I get in the twisties with the PR IIIs.

Canadian FJR

 

[TomInPA]

Mine handled very well. They felt awesome and stuck as well as anything I have ever tried. This may freak some out, but they stuck and handled very similarly to my Roadsmarts that I loved. They also lasted almost exactly the same mileage but cost $20 more per set.
Honestly I could have gotten maybe another 500 miles out of them, but I was over 1k from home when they literally disappeared in one day. I left my house with 5k on them, fully expecting 10k by the way they looked and measured. At 7500, they were on the floor of Ray's shop.

I would have felt like a lone idiot, but two of us that were running PR3s left home with the same expectation and had to ride to Bend OR to buy replacements. TominCA's PR3s evaporated also.

They were nice tires, but for the same mileage and feel, I'll run the Roadsmarts...After I finish these current Angels. I really like them but I'm betting I see cords before 7k and they're not cheap.

Completely agree, and we were at the same mileage. On my tires the front sides were gone and the rear center was so thin you could just about put your thumb through it. Even Ray didn't want them as take-offs, and he will run anything with a few miles left on it. When I left home I had decent tread, and that just evaporated in about 1K miles. The pr2 replacements I got in Bend are going to need changed out this spring, but again I got pretty good miles out of them, and a change is driven by wear on the rear tire, fronts are fine.

 

[kebo123]

I have PR4 GT on the bike couple since this week. First 50 km I had very strange feeling from front wheel. Something like "floating" but than it disappear. May be first layer was too soft???

I rode today in the rain and I did not realize instability or sliding. I am wonder about mileage of these tires because I am starting to like them (first time Michelin for me - before only Metzeller and Bridgestone).

 

[Bokerfork]

A couple of things.

First to Tom In Ca and HRZ.

I am wondering if your tires really did disappear in the last 1K miles or if it was an optical illusion that I similarly experienced. When I left Denver heading for the West coast a couple of years back, I figured I had enough rubber to make it home. At the first gas stop I checked the rear tire and was surprised how much it "appeared" to have worn. Checked at the next gas stop and couldn't believe my eyes. The damn thing was wearing at an alarming rate. Well, at this point I'm nowhere near a tire dealer no matter which direction I go, so I muster on. I get to the next gas stop and am oddly relieved. The wear seems to have abated. This goes on until I get home. Hardly any more apparent wear.

The illusion? The first couple of gas stops, the sipes near the center were rapidly receding toward the edges, giving the appearance of advanced wear. Once the sipes reached the point where they were no longer contacting the pavement, the "apparent" i.e. visible wear ceased. BTW, these were PR2's. YMMV

Second point goes to those of you who experience nirvana when new rubber is installed. Try a set of BT-023's. These have felt better and better from day one to the wear bars and beyond. I used to experience the same new tire nirvana with Michelins, but with the 023's it was nirvana all the way through. Again YMMV

Mark

 

[TomInPA]

A couple of things.
First to Tom In Ca and HRZ.

I am wondering if your tires really did disappear in the last 1K miles or if it was an optical illusion that I similarly experienced. When I left Denver heading for the West coast a couple of years back, I figured I had enough rubber to make it home. At the first gas stop I checked the rear tire and was surprised how much it "appeared" to have worn. Checked at the next gas stop and couldn't believe my eyes. The damn thing was wearing at an alarming rate. Well, at this point I'm nowhere near a tire dealer no matter which direction I go, so I muster on. I get to the next gas stop and am oddly relieved. The wear seems to have abated. This goes on until I get home. Hardly any more apparent wear.

The illusion? The first couple of gas stops, the sipes near the center were rapidly receding toward the edges, giving the appearance of advanced wear. Once the sipes reached the point where they were no longer contacting the pavement, the "apparent" i.e. visible wear ceased. BTW, these were PR2's. YMMV

Second point goes to those of you who experience nirvana when new rubber is installed. Try a set of BT-023's. These have felt better and better from day one to the wear bars and beyond. I used to experience the same new tire nirvana with Michelins, but with the 023's it was nirvana all the way through. Again YMMV

Mark

Mark, I actually sliced through the tires with a knife and had some remaining rubber. There were no cords exposed, but the idea of worrying about it for the trip back to Sacramento didn't make a lot of sense considering we had a rocking deal at the Pro Caliber Powersports store in Bend, OR (no sales tax), and a tire changer operated by FJRay. Even Ray wasn't going to keep the tires we took off. You could literally push your thumb into the belts on the rear, and the side shoulders of the front tires were gone. Not just the sipes, but completely smooth through the major tread with deeper rubber layers showing.

I just ordered the Bridgestone T30GT set today for $224.98 today from Jake Wilson. I have used up the PR2s installed by Ray and am using a set of take-offs I removed a couple years ago before a cross continent trip. I'm looking forward to seeing what the T30s can do. The Michelins do seem to ride like ass when they are in the last third of life.

 

[escapefjrtist]

<snip> Second point goes to those of you who experience nirvana when new rubber is installed. Try a set of BT-023's. These have felt better and better from day one to the wear bars and beyond. I used to experience the same new tire nirvana with Michelins, but with the 023's it was nirvana all the way through. Again YMMV

Mark

My experience exactly Mark. Every set of 023GTs I've run has provided very stable performance from beginning to end. None of the dreaded (here comes the truck) steering as Michelins do halfway through their life.

--G

 

[redneckj]

12,600 miles out of my pr3's. great tires with NO issues. Just installed the 8993 Penske with GP front fork upgrades along with the Pirelli Angel GT's. The angel's feel great. Turn in feels like the PR3's. So far so good on the Angels.

 

[GPRIDER]

You got that right on the truck comment. That was one of my big complaints about them. Running Avon Storms presently. Always liked the way they handled. Don't last as long as the PR2s, but no truck-like steering either.

Also have a set of the 023GT's ready to go after the Avons are toast. First try for them.

GP

 

[Forks Wet Rider]

I have a set of Dunlop 02 with 8,000 miles. The thing that bothered me when I bought them was the "last 100" miles home. I quite often get caught in the rainforest rain (you know when it is coming off the inside of the windshield pretty hard) and these tires don't have a lot of grooves for rain, but I have to tell you I have had them hold me on the road to avoid elk and other 4 leggers in the hard rain.

Pretty happy with them, but will need new tires soon. thinking of the Michelin Pilot Road 4 GT

 

[DHS1981]

Redneckj, how are your Angel GTs working out? I used them on a Suzuki GSX1250FA and loved them. Might go with them when the stock Bridgestones wear out.

 

[El Toro]

Well, this is obviously an old thread. But I did not want to start a new one on more or less the same topic. I just wanted to post that I put a set of Michelin Pilot Road 4 GTs on my '09 AE and my first impression is positive after I got by the stink. Seriously.

Pavement was damp but not wet, and pavement temperatures were in the 60's.

I rode at speeds up to 90 mph on I-40, and then at typical 70andabit on a twisty two lane climbing road.

As I slowed down and approached the barn, I could smell burning rubber. I had not been particularly aggressive, and I wondered if the installation had caused some rubbing somewhere that had not been obvious from the ride.

I got down on all fours and looked for any signs of a problem. The only issue was the smell.

I touched the tire tread, and it was quite warm on the contact region. It was sticky and soft, like a racing slick. And it was picking up sand and gravel.

Someone else mentioned that they'd thought that maybe their PR4GTs had been softer at the start, and maybe that is what's going on here.

I liked the performance aspect. I was replacing the original factory installed Metzeler Road Tec Z6 set that was way too old to keep on the bike in spite of the fact that there was still plenty of tread. On the '08 I've got a pair of relatively new Pilot Powers. My first impression of the PR4GT is that I like it better than the PP, but time will tell. I am getting better wear out of the PPs than I thought I would. The PR4GTs are supposed to give good wear characteristics too, but if that's going to be true, they'll have to harden up a bit I think.

A few mentioned that they'd have the experience where their tires seemed to go from good to worn out in a relatively short time.

I've seen this too with several brands on larger more powerful bikes. You look at the tire and it seems OK, and then you look at it again the next day and there is a white or metallic streak looking back at you where there used to be rubber.

I had a friend who continued to ride once this failure was visible, and he was in a curve when suddenly the rear tire just flattened due to catastrophic loss of air. On the bright side, he is a skilled rider, he was pillionless, and he brought it to a safe stop ... but he did need to change his shorts.

In any event, the PR4GTs seem like their pretty decent, and at this point, I suppose that there are quite a few who have tried them and have a better understanding of how they age.

 

[nkavanau]

I'm on my 3rd set of the PR4GT's since I switched from the Metzler Z8's. Just couldn't seem to get more than 7000 KM out of them (about 4000 miles) so figured a change was in order. Absolutely no regrets with the switch. Love the way they grip in the rain (Lots of that, I live in Vancouver, BC), and feel really tight in the twisties.

Also, have to give Michelin customer service a thumbs up as well. Had a GT4 rear tire fail after approx. 2300 KM. Contacted Michelin customer support who instantly asked if there was any bike damage, and had me take the tire to my regular bike shop. The rep gave me a file #, had me direct the shop to take pictures of the failure point and send it to them. My shop couldn't figure out why it happened, and Michelin covered the cost of the tire. Surprised and happy.

This summer (August) I'll get to see how they like the heat. Doing a ride down to Genoa (Lake Tahoe), then going to hang around there and do day trips. May have to ask for suggestions on where to go..

 

[art miller]

I have been running PR2's for quite awhile and have been getting 12-15K per set. They no longer offer 190/55-17 so I will move on to the PR4GT's next. I am not a "hell bent for leather" rider. At 74 years old I hope to ride for another eight or so years. Have any of you who ride more conservatively gotten similar mileage from PR4GT's?

 

[Abercrombie FJR]

I wish I could get half your Mileage Art. I would be a richer man but a would have less fun.

 

[Kneedragger55]

According to the spreadsheet provided by the last owner, my PR4 GT's got put on about 7200 miles ago. Don't think he was as aggressive as I've been the last few hundred miles, but my rear is already at the wear bar in the middle. Sides are perfect at 90%, of course... I really hate replacing tires just because the middle wears out, I never had that problem on sport bikes. You'd think for GT bikes they'd make the middle sections super hard, and sides super soft, I mean who needs sticky middles anyway? I love the handling of the PR4, and had a spirited run in a light rain storm a night ago and they're great. They had substantial heat in them when I got home. Maybe I'll get another 1000 miles out of the rear, but I can't see much more than that.

 

[Bill Lumberg]

I left with what looked like a 50% set of bridgestones one day. 13 hours, 3 states, and US129 later, I came back with air covered by little more than a condom's thickness of rubber. So bad I parked the bike until I could get a new set put on. I think there is a point where some tires start to give up. I don't know if that will be the case will PR4's when I try them or not. When I put the PR2's on mid summer, I'll order PR4GT's to sit in the garage, for fall installation.

 

[Kneedragger55]

That ole US129 will get ya!! My experience with ALL Michelin sportbike tires has basically been the same as far as wear. When you get to the point of questioning "how much mileage is left?", you should've replaced them 500 miles ago. They all just have super thin carcasses. Dunlops on the other hand, I've seen the opposite. I've worn some past having almost ANY tread left, and still had another 500 miles, with plenty of grip. Does Dunlop even have an equivalent of the PR4? Seems like I've heard no mention of Dunlop anywhere on here; are they existent on the touring scene? Seen some people running Pilot Powers on the FJR, anyone ever run Q3s?

 

[El Toro Joe]

Dunlop does make the Sportmax Roadsmart II tires...some folks have had good results with them (not me personally though).

 

[Uncle Hud]

Kneedragger55 posted: You'd think for GT bikes they'd make the middle sections super hard, and sides super soft, I mean who needs sticky middles anyway?

Not to be condescending, but that's what "dual-compound" means in a tire description. Harder rubber in the center, softer rubber towards the edges. Not unusual for tires marketed to touring riders.

......................

This will use up 4:30 of your life, but explains it a little, and mentions FJR 1300 by name:

 

[Bill Lumberg]

And sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but the battleax's that came on my eurotrash and the OEM tires that came on my '14 FJR were tragical. Vive le Michelin PR's.