Pilot Road 2 review (at 200 miles)

[Gearbear]

I ride fast on the highway and semi-conservative in the twisties but I still lean it over enough to occasionally scrape my boots. My OEM back tire was a Dunlop 220, I rode it until it was almost bald, it lasted about 11,000 miles.

The new PR2 seems to move around more in buffeting winds on the highway. This makes my front end move around more too, front tire is an new Avon Storm I had installed some time before installing the PR2. Its not enough to bother me and I suspect this will change a bit as the tire wears in.

The bike feels like it falls into turns easier and holds a good line. Turning on the power while leaned over results in more forward acceleration and less drift than with the Dunlops. Generally the hook up and overall traction feel great but I can still do a bit of a power-slide in turns on smooth asphalt.

 

[ccryder]

FWIW it's kinda unfair to do a tire eval when you have a mismatched set. Tires are designed to run in pairs and braking that up will not allow them to work as good as they could.

With that said, my 1st set of PR 2's seem a lot more stable at all speeds and especially on the road in dirty air behind 18's and in windy conditions.

You are a better rider than me if you are doing power-slides on the ST (maybe it's just they have not been scuffed in or heat cycled enough to really break them in??).

Neil S.

 

[ST Dan]

Neil, how many miles did you get out of your PR2's?..or are you still on them?

 

[Speedracer612]

So where would one go to search the variables of two different tires? How would a mismatched set matter?

 

[nm6r]

So where would one go to search the variables of two different tires? How would a mismatched set matter?

It's not a fair evaluation of either tire. This mismatched set makes an even worse evaluation as the front tire is old.

Ray

 

[Gearbear]

My front Avon Storm has just a few hundred miles on it. I read a magazine review on the PR2s on another board, it was noted the back tire moved around a bit on the highway. I suspect what I felt the back of the bike doing would be very similar with almost any tire on front. On a positive note it moved around less on grooved pavement.
I think anyone who has a back tire that gets feathered edges over time is powering it in turns and drifting some and not realizing it.

There are a few favorite turns in my neighborhood I know very well. I like to lean it all the way over and hit the gas as hard as I can without sliding off the road. My Dunlop 220 late in its life would slide so much I 'd have to let off the gas or the back end would get too close to the asphalt drop off. I decided the old tire was really done when the whole damn bike swung around to the left as I gave it a little gas at the apex of a right turn.

Bottom-line, I like the PR2 and I'm looking forward to seeing how it does in the rain. It makes me confidence I can lean it over it tight turns and is not going to slip out as long as I do my part and take the turn at a manageable speed.

Oh yeah, I've been riding about 33 years, road and dirt, never raced. I've used Dunlops, Bridgestone and Continentals, this is the first time I've used Avons and Michelins.

 

[saaz]

You would probably like the Storm rear tyre then, as mine is really feathered up on the sides but still feels very planted (ST11). It does run the risk of wearing the sides out before the centre of the rear unless I do some more highway miles. I usually get 10,000kms out of rears, the Storm may match the 13,000kms I got out of the the Avon AV46, and it has better grip and manners (others used are D205, AV46, Z6). The front storm looks like lasting the best of any front tyre I have tried so far, it has over 10,000kms on it and still more to go, which is better than other fronts (Z6, AV45)

 

[ccryder]

I'm still on my PR 2s, close to 6k miles. Trying to find valid data on mis-matched sets is like finding, well you know, impossible.

Even at 2-3 sets of tires a year I try and change them as a set. Too many times in the way past I would try and eek out extra front miles. There is hardly anything better than a fresh set of matched tires, IMHO.

Time4Work
Neil S.

 

[Gearbear]

My front Bridgstone wore much faster than my back Dunlop - BTW - the bike came with these two different brands.

I don't mean to knock anyone's opinion about "matched tires" being designed to run together and suggesting they work best together BUT -

I see and hear the the sport bike guys experimenting with different tires brands front and and back. You have to admit there is a possibility of someone stumbling upon a great combination of mismatched tires. I chose my Avon Storm front and PR2 back based on a recommendation from a sport bike rider who has tried them all.

I have experienced the same in bicycle tires where the nuances of tread pattern, durometer rating, side wall threads...are all scrutinized very closely by competitive riders, they mix tires all the time.

Even the best 1-up reviews out there are just a snap-shot, not all that quantitative and even then are mostly relative to the other tires in the test.

There is so much subjectivity...but even with the personal opinions out there if the sample size was large enough and someone were to weight the commonly used descriptive phrases consistently and with a five-point scale it is possible to take some of the subjectivity out.

I read as many reviews as possible, talk to people and only give credence to what is noted consistently over time and from different riders, then I make up my own mind.

 

[Papa Bear]

then I make up my own mind.

I'm sorry but you can't be married! :duck:

PB

 

[Gearbear]

I'm sorry but you can't be married! :duck:

PB

Yes, I'm married, and yes, she makes up my mind on most things not related to motorcycles.