Michelin PR2's

Although I loved my two sets of Avon Storms, I got tired of the cupping I was experiencing. Currently trying Michelin Pilot Road 2's, and loving them so far after about 1500 miles. Haven't gone on a long straight trip yet, so don't know if the back tire will eventually square off like most tires do, but still looking good so far. I suspect my previous cupping with Avons was probably my fault (maybe letting them get under inflated), so trying to keep air pressure up near max rating every time I ride.

Will update PR2's later after a few more miles.

As they square off they will get noisy when leaned over

I will tell you that the Pilot Road 2's are by far my favorite and I used the Avon Storms this last year and was very dissapointed.

I didn't have cupping problems with the Storm but, IMHO, cupping is a fact of life with the PR2s. I believe the noise in corners is the result of cupping. Regardless, I have burned off a few sets of PR2s and I have no qualms about them whatsoever. As a matter of fact I have another set ready to roll when needed. However, that being said, I would like to try the PR3s, perhaps the increased siping will mitigate the cupping problems of its predecessor.

:CanFlag1:

I'm on my second set of PR-2's. The first had 8500 on them and looked OK but I was headed on a ride and didn't want any issues during it. The PR-3's look good and Jerl is using them on a ST-3 with good luck. My point is the PR-2's are the best tires I have ever had and until something better comes along I'll continue to use them.
--Garry--

PR2s rears scallop pretty significantly and get buzzy as they wear in my experience. But they've good grip. I've a PR3 on the rear right now, and at 6500 miles it is scalloping less than the PR2 rear, and correspondingly a bit less noise. Between the two, the PR3 rear seems a bit better. But I've also learned to run the rear at ~45psi when loaded for multi-day rides. I've a new PR2 rear on the shelf, next up.

The PR2 front has worked quite well for me. They scallop a bit, but much less than the rear.

my rear PR2 now has almost 12k miles on it. It is scalloped/cupped. Nowhere near the wear bars yet. I figure I've gotten great wear from it, and will replace it soon as it is cupped fairly severely, although I can't say I notice it riding (???). maybe when the new one is on there I'll notice the difference. nonetheless, from what I've read about tire life, this tire has done very well, and I have been in really severe rainstorms with no drifting or planing or any other "pucker" moments. Good tire.

ksievers said:

my rear PR2 now has almost 12k miles on it. It is scalloped/cupped. Nowhere near the wear bars yet. I figure I've gotten great wear from it, and will replace it soon as it is cupped fairly severely, although I can't say I notice it riding (???). maybe when the new one is on there I'll notice the difference. nonetheless, from what I've read about tire life, this tire has done very well, and I have been in really severe rainstorms with no drifting or planing or any other "pucker" moments. Good tire.

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I have had the same results with the PR II's.
The Avon's only 5,000 miles on the back tire and had to get another to finish a ride. I couldn't get the PR III's at the time but they are on my list.

I just switched over from Avon STorms to PR2's. The STorms were nice, and got fair mileage, but I was haunted by the tread separation horror stories and the fact that they were not listed as approved for my ST. After reading so many glowing reports on this forum on the Michelin tires, I decided to give them a try. Since Saturday, I've only ridden them back from the shop, but even then I could tell that they felt taller than the STorms and seemed to track true. I am sure that proper inflation and good balancing play a large role in the performance of the tire, so I too am making it my New Years resolution to be more attentive to tire pressure.

It is understandable due to time passage but we often forget Avon produced the Storm before the Ultra II Storms. The first gen Storms were my all time favorite ST1300 tire. They wore well with virtually no cupping or noise and nothing else before or after has given the level of feedback the Storm AV55 & AV56 gave. Great tires, it was like you could feel right down into the contact patch and know what the traction level was from full lean to full lean. I could only get 6000 miles out of them though. The second gen Storm IIs were a letdown for reasons listed above.

I ran two sets of PR2s and like virtually everyone else I did not like the noise and weird wear patterns but they gave decent grip and lasted 50% longer for me compared to Storms (first gen) or Bridgestone 020s or 023s. I settled for their less-than-stellar feel in exchange for better wear mileage and probably better wet grip. (who knows until you fall down?). I am now on a matched set of PR3s after running a mixed set of a PR2 front and PR3 rear. I think the PR3s have solved some of the weird wear problems as the PR3 rear never got noisy in about 9000 miles. Magazine reviews have raved about the new tires' wet weather grip and since the PR2 was a good wet tire to begin with I think this bodes well for the 3s but I only have 1500 miles on this set and no real rain riding yet. In the dry they are the match of the PR2. FWIW to me.

For an 1100 owner it is tough to take reading all these testimonials about the PR's. I sure wish they made them in the proper size for the 11's.

Thanks for all the feedback.....I'll just keep up the air pressure and see how it goes; will watch for your reports on PR3's for the next round

Ken H said:

For an 1100 owner it is tough to take reading all these testimonials about the PR's. I sure wish they made them in the proper size for the 11's.

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Ken,
I know it is not popular with some, but the PR 2's are the only tire I ran with any sucess on my 1100.
When my friend had a 1100 he had the Z6's which were good but they did not last as long as the PR2's and I would push my 11 harder than he would his.

My most recent PR-2 is finally down to the wear bars after 15,500 miles...you know, those fabric ones. I probably should have changed it out before the last SeaSTOC, but heck, there's a good three or four ply still to go I changed to Continental Road Attack II's just because I had gotten good wear and handling from the Road Attack 1's (?), not because of anything at all bad about the PR-2's, except for that slight noise and because Two Brothers didn't have the PR-3's for the ST at the time.

John

I think you got your money's worth out of them tires.!!

jnsgardner said:

My most recent PR-2 is finally down to the wear bars after 15,500 miles...you know, those fabric ones. I probably should have changed it out before the last SeaSTOC, but heck, there's a good three or four ply still to go I changed to Continental Road Attack II's just because I had gotten good wear and handling from the Road Attack 1's (?), not because of anything at all bad about the PR-2's, except for that slight noise and because Two Brothers didn't have the PR-3's for the ST at the time.

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You need to use the sides more LOL seriously that is worn out!

Hey! I'm a member of the white stripes club too! The PR2's were mounted by the previous owner so I'm not sure the exact mileage I got. He didn't ride that much so i figure roughly the 12,000 I put on as the mileage before the ultimate wear bars suddenly appeared.

The wife says to me "I saw a white stripe on your tire but didn't want to say anything over the radio in case you got upset"
"How long ago did you first notice the white stripe?"
"I dunno, maybe 100 miles ago..."
Fortunately we were only 40 miles from home by then.

I had a Pacific Coast before the ST and the Dunlops on it always howled. I never noticed the noise of the PR2's and have been very impressed with their grip and wear.

Seriously guys... What makes it worth running a tire that far down? Isn't the peace of mind worth replacing it a little too soon, instead of too late?

I'll admit I expect and can afford new tires twice a year and know better than to let tires go that far normally. However we've had an exceptionally mild winter and I didn't expect to do another 700 odd miles in January! I was at the wear bar on January 1st and really figured I wouldn't put on more than 300 short trip miles over winter and could wait until my local dealer's Spring Tire Special (20% off tires + free m&b) in March.

But while the weather has been mild, the back roads are chewed up and I blame the accelerated deterioration of the soft compound edges on the PR2 on that. I was set up to fail by Global Warming

Terran Sin said:

I'll admit I expect and can afford new tires twice a year and know better than to let tires go that far normally. However we've had an exceptionally mild winter and I didn't expect to do another 700 odd miles in January! I was at the wear bar on January 1st and really figured I wouldn't put on more than 300 short trip miles over winter and could wait until my local dealer's Spring Tire Special (20% off tires + free m&b) in March.

But while the weather has been mild, the back roads are chewed up and I blame the accelerated deterioration of the soft compound edges on the PR2 on that. I was set up to fail by Global Warming

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I watch the weather back there because I have a son who lives in Dumfries, and from where I live it really looked "exceptionally mild".
I rode back there this last fall and enjoyed the blue ridge parkway.


I have to admitt that I have done the same thing with a set of my tires. The last little bit of just went away fast.
I was embarassed but then my friend who is fantical about his tires had the same thing happen to him.