I was hoping to hear better on the PR4, my current PR3 rear has evaporated in 6,000 miles.
PR4 GT's
- Thread starter kevinlz
- Start date
the Ferret
Daily rider since May 1965
See my other post in PR4 thread. Just returned from 5424 mile ride to west coast and back on PR4GTs. Mostly slab. Tires still look nearly new. I measured tread depth before I left and this morning after returning last night. Measured 2/32 less rubber on rear than I started with 6/32 vs 8/32. This tire should go 15,000 on my bike at 5,000 miles per 2/32. Front still measures 4/32 which is what it measured new. Tire still looks rounded and in great shape. Amazingly so. Very pleased so far with PR4GTs (I ran 3's and 2's and a set of BS previously)
From what I have read and through personal experience--the PR3 is a crapshoot on quality. Some are good and some "evaporate very quick". It's for this reason I have decided to stay away from them. My last PR3 went so quick that I am leery about running any Michelin MT. I am and shall remain a Hankook V12 darksider for the reason of touring, I like the comfort of knowing my CT will last the trip.
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Bones
Your Humble Scribe
In the June 2014 Issue of "Motorcycle Consumer News" (U.S.), in their test of the 2014 BMW R1200RT with PR 4 tires on it -
"...our RT rode on Michelin's new Pilot Road 4 GT rubber, which appears to be designed for heavy rain. Both tires are heavily siped and the front features a pattern of cross-groves which divide the tread into innumerable small blocks. The front gives a very heavy steering feel at lower speeds and an unstable feeling mid-turn, as if the tire were underinflated (denied by the on-board tire pressure monitors but double-checked). ... Michelin's new Pilot Road GT tires didn't impress us with their squirmy feel and heavy steering. They are probably great rain tires, but they didn't help the handling of the RT."
"...our RT rode on Michelin's new Pilot Road 4 GT rubber, which appears to be designed for heavy rain. Both tires are heavily siped and the front features a pattern of cross-groves which divide the tread into innumerable small blocks. The front gives a very heavy steering feel at lower speeds and an unstable feeling mid-turn, as if the tire were underinflated (denied by the on-board tire pressure monitors but double-checked). ... Michelin's new Pilot Road GT tires didn't impress us with their squirmy feel and heavy steering. They are probably great rain tires, but they didn't help the handling of the RT."
the Ferret
Daily rider since May 1965
I never experienced that in the slightest. Tires felt great in every situation from the twists and turns of RT 58 from Bakersfield to San Luis Obispo, to the curves of the PCH to the dead flat plains of Western Kansas. No complaints here at all.
Were they road racing them?
Slydynbye
Will ride for Pie
Perhaps it's time to check date codes on tires that get Amazing good or bad mileage.
I have a theory about the age on tires:
Is there an mileage advantage to aging a tire and letting it harden to some degree?
Could the tires that burn up fastest be the freshest?
Other than that you might check country of origin and see if these amazing tires come from the same place.
I have a theory about the age on tires:
Is there an mileage advantage to aging a tire and letting it harden to some degree?
Could the tires that burn up fastest be the freshest?
Other than that you might check country of origin and see if these amazing tires come from the same place.
Bones
Your Humble Scribe
They just started making PR4GT's so the date is not likely an issue.
Slydynbye
Will ride for Pie
Perhaps it is if the tires burnt up fast, my theory is that they were under cured and therefore softer rubber.
Bones
Your Humble Scribe
There is also the possibility that the moto journos are right. (It's happened before.)
So far, every owner I have heard from about PR4's thinks they are brilliant, they grip well, they last well, a logical and actual improvement over the PR3...
One moto journo comes along, who may or may not write in an unbiased manner, says they are perhaps not that good.... and we consider setting aside or dismissing all the previous good reports?
I tend to take most motorcycle magazine articles with a pinch of salt.... if I didn't I would be riding something other than my NT700V as they pretty much to a man slated the bike over here in the UK/Europe as the Dullsville (it's called the Deauville over here)....
Similarly with my previous steeds, my two ST1100's, it's a boring no fun, though reliable and comfortable, motorcycle... that members of advanced riding groups ride and take annual holidays on.... and are usually either retired or about to be...
Tyres are very much a personal choice, though with experience we can make more technical choices regarding what we run....
Sometimes we run a particular tyre, not because it's the best we can get, but because it's the best we can afford.... I now run Michelin PR3 as the PO had them on the bike when I bought it and so far I think they are very, very good.... probably the first tyre where I don't think I want to explore the limits in the wet as they are possibly beyond that which I want to experience.... and I already have a new PR3 waiting to go on the front....
I do not wish to deride the journo that wrote the article, but suspect that most, if not every other rider that currently enjoys their PR2/3/4 or any other tyre for that matter, is not going to suddenly go out and find that their enjoyment of the bike has been shattered because someone else says their choice of tyre is perhaps not as good as they thought....
The journo is entitled to his or her opinion and I am just as entitled to ignore it..... particularly as I think it's wrong.... or in the very least, perhaps, biased...
Safe riding....
One moto journo comes along, who may or may not write in an unbiased manner, says they are perhaps not that good.... and we consider setting aside or dismissing all the previous good reports?
I tend to take most motorcycle magazine articles with a pinch of salt.... if I didn't I would be riding something other than my NT700V as they pretty much to a man slated the bike over here in the UK/Europe as the Dullsville (it's called the Deauville over here)....
Similarly with my previous steeds, my two ST1100's, it's a boring no fun, though reliable and comfortable, motorcycle... that members of advanced riding groups ride and take annual holidays on.... and are usually either retired or about to be...
Tyres are very much a personal choice, though with experience we can make more technical choices regarding what we run....
Sometimes we run a particular tyre, not because it's the best we can get, but because it's the best we can afford.... I now run Michelin PR3 as the PO had them on the bike when I bought it and so far I think they are very, very good.... probably the first tyre where I don't think I want to explore the limits in the wet as they are possibly beyond that which I want to experience.... and I already have a new PR3 waiting to go on the front....
I do not wish to deride the journo that wrote the article, but suspect that most, if not every other rider that currently enjoys their PR2/3/4 or any other tyre for that matter, is not going to suddenly go out and find that their enjoyment of the bike has been shattered because someone else says their choice of tyre is perhaps not as good as they thought....
The journo is entitled to his or her opinion and I am just as entitled to ignore it..... particularly as I think it's wrong.... or in the very least, perhaps, biased...
Safe riding....
the Ferret
Daily rider since May 1965
Well, I've only got 5500 miles now on my PR4GT's so I can't say definitively, but at this point they are the best tire I have ever had on the ST and I would replace them with another set of PR4GT's without hesitation. Will know more in another 10,000 miles.
nokesy
2007 ST1300A
I had put the PR4GT on before my trip to Texas, just over 5,000 miles on them and they were great in the rain, dry and they look just like new. no flat spots as like I got with the Dunlops and the PR2's. 500 mile days at a speed of 70 to 85 mph. mostly on Interstates.
So far I love them
So far I love them
the Ferret
Daily rider since May 1965
Motorcyclist magazine just tested a set and were quite favorable with their report.
PopJack
Die young, after a long life.
Is there another shortage of fronts? I was unable to get some even ordered at Cycle Gear.
As a rule, you can't buy them on the spot ... I've found that any shop I've called, or any online retailer, will show the front on back-order.
If you want these tires, you'll just have to order and wait. And if it's a tire you'll continue to use, you'll want to order two sets, that way if something goes bad with a front\rear, you'll have one on hand.
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the Ferret
Daily rider since May 1965
Now at 8500 and still looking very good.
I find that very surprising. I just had a new PR4 GT front installed Saturday (8/9/14) by my local shop in SC and the parts guy said he had dozens of them on site. They do however service all the SC Highway Patrol 1300s so that might explain why they have inventory.
My local shop has them in stock too. Unfortunately it is $40 more than Revzilla sells it but Zilla doesn't have any and they do. SO I may be chocking this up to a learning experience, One according to another member here, I should have learned a long time ago.