Michelin Pilot Road 2s make this bike

[deilenberger]

I have one PR2 on the front, ME880 on the back of my 1150RT. I loved the PR2 when new...It stuck like glue from day one.

However, it's NOISY at 6K miles and isn't wearing evenly, possibly at the compound change seam. I'll have to recheck it. Would I buy it again? Still deciding. I'm wondering what set of PR2s would be like if they were spin balanced rather than the mix I'm currently running with Dyna Beads.

Not much better. I make it a bit futher before they start howling (they might be humming, but can't hear them on my semi-naked R12R and with earplugs in.. when they HOWL it's REALLY loud..)

The ridge at the rubber transition seam seems to be a very common occurance. You can help the handling (the handling gets a bit squirrelly when you're leaned over onto that ridge) by grinding it off with a belt sander (don't tell anyone I told you this.. ), but - all in all - as I mentioned above, I'm looking for something else for my next set of tires.

PR2's - wonderful new, not so wonderful after about 4K miles.. There are rumors of a PR3 - if it uses a continuously variable density rubber it might be just what we want..

 

[dpspeer]

Texan RT posted:There's a Interact Z6 tire review in the Spring issue of the IBA mag -- the writer gave them an thumbs down for LD riding because there aren't any rain channels along the center of the (rear) tire....

I've never used Metzlers but I'm convinced they are a very poor choice for LD touring - not because of rain channeling but because the lack of any grooves on center provides no indication of how much rubber is left.

One minute they look fine, next thing you know the cords are showing. To make matters worse, they begin leaking air as soon as the cords are exposed so if you don't notice the cords before you go to sleep you may well wake up to find a flat tire.

Going by the Metzler booth at rallies and seeing stacks of old tires with bare cords showing always amazes me. Seems like a major design flaw IMHO.

 

[steveaikens]

Going to Redmond, I gassed on the ID/OR state line before getting on 20 west. I'm one of those anal guys about tires and at least do a full visual check them at every gas stop. Checking the rear Z6 - I observered no problems and it looked just fine. When I got to Burns, I decided to fuel again for the remaining ride in. Checking tires again, imagine my surprise - 127 miles down the road - to find CORDS on the rear.

Taking my time, I made the ride in to Redmond and first thing in the morning, I bought PR2's and hunted down the Metzler Rep. When I showed the rear to him, it was through the third cord. Absolutely no warning. Not worth going into detail from there but I can NEVER imagine a circumstance where I'll have another Metzler on my bike.

 

[xrstrider]

No one should worry about hydroplaning. It extremely unlikely to ever occur.

I did not believe this until I did a track day during hurricane Gene. Yes, a Cat 1 hurricane. It was downgraded to a tropical storm mid day. We all figured the day would be canceled. Not so. In fact, the instructors, as well as the Dunlop rep's that were present, we're thrilled to be riding in Cat 1 hurricane! The track day proceeded. It was excellent that Dunlop was present. Huge amounts of great information. Huge learning opportunity.

Deep standing water, not sure how deep, but enough to splash to my elbows coming down the front straight! High winds, torrents of rain. Once we got a bunch of laps and started to actually believe we weren't going to crash, we didn't. No one did. We didn't ride like pansies either. As we learned and as confidence built, so did speeds and lean angles. Extreme lean angles. The bottom line is, even in a hurricane you have more traction available than most riders know how to use.

 

[Tonyfr]

I'm on my second set pf PR2's and never experienced any cupping on the front tire. I usuall get about 12K on the front and 10K on the rear, with tire pressure of 36F/42R. These are WAY better than the Metzelers, and I ride my 05' 1200RT the same way I ride my 08' CBR1000RR (off the seat and hangin' on for dear life)

 

[henzilla]

I'm on my second set pf PR2's and never experienced any cupping on the front tire. I usuall get about 12K on the front and 10K on the rear, with tire pressure of 36F/42R. These are WAY better than the Metzelers, and I ride my 05' 1200RT the same way I ride my 08' CBR1000RR (off the seat and hangin' on for dear life)

and still trying to catch me

 

[jhgilbert]

PR2's - wonderful new, not so wonderful after about 4K miles.. There are rumors of a PR3 - if it uses a continuously variable density rubber it might be just what we want..

I can hear mine through the earplugs as well. The ME 880s wear great & stick pretty good in warm weather. I thought about just putting a pair on next spring. But if Michelin had a PR3 as rumored, I'd jump on it.

 

[roborider]

...and I ride my 05' 1200RT the same way I ride my 08' CBR1000RR (off the seat and hangin' on for dear life)

Me too. But I'd kill myself on the street on a 1000. Even the CBR600RR is now dedicated to the track! The RT is a great sporty machine but not enough to kill me. The dang CBR does 100mph in second gear and still pulling.

 

[Tonyfr]

Even the CBR600RR is now dedicated to the track!

I had an 04' CBR600RR - that 15,000 rpm redline was addictive

 

[Zygmund]

'02 RT here and I have been running the PR 2 for many miles and I love them and keep them at the max PSI.

 

[pffog]

I know how to stop the weird wear on PR2's. Just wear them out faster!!

My set lasted about 2700 miles...................which is excellent for me.

 

[deilenberger]

I tried something new this weekend with the worn PR2's.. I upped the pressure. I set them to 34F, 38R at 60F. This equates to roughly 36F, 40R at 70F (and 38F, 42R at 88-90F tire temps) My tire-pressure monitor not only gives me actual tire pressure, it gives me tire temps. The BMW system "corrects" for temperature, so you really don't know what the real pressure is unless you only ride at one temperature.

On yesterday's ride of about 200 miles - they felt OK. They actually felt a bit better on turn-in then they have in several thousand miles. Yesterday started about 59F, and got up to 69F.. Tire temps got into the mid to high 90F's.

This AM on the way to work, they felt squirrelly again in left sweepers as I came up on the ridge in the tires. Temps this AM ranged from 41-46F. Tire temp never got above about 75F.

Just a data point. Someone mentioned the ridges went away when they ran for a while at higher pressures, figured I'd give it a try.. so far they haven't.

 

[jhgilbert]

My set lasted about 2700 miles...................which is excellent for me.

How is that possible? Not that I want to replicate it.

 

[deilenberger]

Update of the update - I'm heading back to close to stock (BMW) pressures. The ride home was unnerving. YMMV obviously, and higher pressures may work better if done when the tire is new.

 

[pffog]

How is that possible? Not that I want to replicate it.

NC twisties, lots of them. As I said, that is the best mileage I ever got out of a tire, and it isn't just rear, front worn out too so it is not just hard throttle.

Lat year took a set of Pirelli Corsa 3's from new to bald in 3 days and 1100 miles

 

[roborider]

NC twisties, lots of them. As I said, that is the best mileage I ever got out of a tire, and it isn't just rear, front worn out too so it is not just hard throttle.

Lat year took a set of Pirelli Corsa 3's from new to bald in 3 days and 1100 miles

Dang! I'm feeling so inadequate!

 

[pffog]

Dang! I'm feeling so inadequate!

I am feeling broke $

 

[deilenberger]

I am feeling broke $

Could you stop over my house and take my bike out for an afternoon? I'm looking for a good excuse to buy new tires..

 

[Turkus]

Tire pressures and tire temps

I tried something new this weekend with the worn PR2's.. I upped the pressure. I set them to 34F, 38R at 60F. This equates to roughly 36F, 40R at 70F (and 38F, 42R at 88-90F tire temps) My tire-pressure monitor not only gives me actual tire pressure, it gives me tire temps. The BMW system "corrects" for temperature, so you really don't know what the real pressure is unless you only ride at one temperature...

An interesting tid-bit of info that I was unaware of...

On my '09 R1200RT I've always run the dealer recommended settings of 36F/42R (via my Cycle Pump analog gauge) and noticed that the BMW TPM readings were always 2# lighter.
I would get some minor +/- 2# fluctuations while on the road and I attributed it to the different road surfaces (the pressures went up on concrete roadways - anything resembling chip-sealed surfaces and the pressures went back down ).
Mind you all of this was happening when I lived in So CA, but I always checked my pressures early in the a.m. and when the tires were cold.
Now that I am living up in the PNW, I'll have to start paying attention to the cooler temps and tire pressures.
I'm a somewhat "conservative" rider but I do take long solo trips carrying lots of gear. I use my ESA constantly, depending on the road conditions at hand.

I'm on my 2nd set of PR2s - the first front made it to 7.5K before the tread depth made me nervous, the rear was impaled by a "road hazard" at 3.3K (but patched and stored for later reuse).
This second set (F & R) has almost 10K+ to its credit with 2 trips from LA to Depoe Bay, OR (the hard way) and multiple 3 day rides through the mountainous Sierra Nevada (CA) roads.
I figure the rear (visually) has less than 1K left and the front looks like I could take it twice that distance, but they're both going away as I now prepare for riding in The Emerald State.

I'm not a tire connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, but I'll not hesitate to buy another set of PR2s - I like them that much.......unless the rumored PR3 you speak of becomes a reality.

 

[jhgilbert]

Update of the update - I'm heading back to close to stock (BMW) pressures. The ride home was unnerving. YMMV obviously, and higher pressures may work better if done when the tire is new.

Anytime the pressure in my PR2 goes down to 38 lbs. the front end gets real squirrely on rain grooves. At 42 lbs., barely a twitch.