Michelin Road 5 tires

beemerphile · Aug 26, 2018

BC1100S said:
You won't be disappointed. Many riders in my club have switched from Michelins to the Roadsmart III with no regrets whatsoever. I had them on my 1100S and loved them.

I have a set of RoadSmarts waiting as well. A $75 rebate offer sealed the deal, but after running Pilot Roads since they came out, I am ready to sample the competition again. I wrote to every manufacturer about the center of tread wear indicator. Only Continental responded, and they more or less said they would pass the comment along. Didn't say along to whom, maybe to the guy who cleans the offices.

earthling · Aug 27, 2018

Lee said:
When I first saw pictures of this tire I was not sure the tread came to the center, but after seeing the new tires at Des Moines with the paint line, I can see it does.

Keeping in mind that the contact patch is quite a bit wider than the paint line I don't think there are any issues.

easy · Sep 3, 2018

earthling said:
Keeping in mind that the contact patch is quite a bit wider than the paint line I don't think there are any issues.

Sometimes the extra information goes a long way in terms of peace of mind. They're having a good discussion about the subject on the other thread.

E,

daboo · Sep 3, 2018

beemerphile said:
I have a set of RoadSmarts waiting as well. A $75 rebate offer sealed the deal, but after running Pilot Roads since they came out, I am ready to sample the competition again. I wrote to every manufacturer about the center of tread wear indicator. Only Continental responded, and they more or less said they would pass the comment along. Didn't say along to whom, maybe to the guy who cleans the offices.

I'm on my second set of RoadSmart IIIs. I have nothing bad to say about them. My reasons for picking them over the Michelin Road 5 are:

Center Tread. This is a must for me. I bought a set of the Metzeler Roadtec 01s, expecting them to live up to the hype. They didn't. In fact, they lasted only half of the miles that the Metzeler Z8 tires did. What I found was that while the "contact patch" is several inches wide...the center inch to inch-and-a-half, is where the most wear is. And there's no good indicator of wear in that area till the cords show. I don't care about a wear indicator on the side tread; I want something in the middle. And the Michelin Road 5 tires don't seem to have anything either.
Price. Before putting the second set of RSIIIs on, I did some comparison pricing. The Dunlops were far and away less expensive than the other sport-touring tire options.
Rebate. And as Lee mentioned, the $75 rebate sweetened the deal.
Performance. I'd pay more if I wasn't satisfied with the tire's performance. But even riding in Seattle's wet weather, I have nothing bad to say about the RoadSmart III tires. All tires work well on dry pavement. These also work well on wet pavement.

Last year, I had a tire change in the middle of a trip thousands of miles from home because those Metzeler Roadtec 01 tires had worn faster than expected in the center. And yet, just glancing at the tire, you'd swear they were still new...till you looked closer. The Michelin Road 5 tires seem to be an opportunity to repeat my experience with the Roadtec 01. I'm just not going there.

Chris

easy · Sep 4, 2018

beemerphile said:
They all have tread wear indicators, the problem is that they are not located at the center of the tread. Most top line motorcycle tire companies have gone to rear tires with no sipes or tread across the centerline because they wear and grip better and it has been shown that the front tires do the work of getting the water out of the way. That is no reason that they could not put a treadwear dimple on the centerline. Heck, racing slicks have them...

View attachment 69906

After spending some time on the floor of my garage with a flashlight, I don't believe Metzler Z8s have any wear indicators. Please correct me if I am wrong. Z6s have them, but they’re very hard to see. https://rhhall.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Metzler-Z-6-Wear-Indicators/ But to quote someone on another forum, "Don't worry, the steel belts will tell you when it is time to change the tires. One minute you will think you have sufficient tread, and the next minute you have bare metal showing." https://www.k1600forum.com/forum/bm...3263-no-treadwear-indicators-metzler-z8s.html There is some truth in this statement. When the tire gets worn, you better start checking the tread often, or you will be "Riding on the tire cords." as mentioned in another very interesting thread currently sending up smoke to the moderators. If you haven't read this thread, you need to read it now. https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?92945-Riding-on-the-tire-cords

E.

patm · Sep 4, 2018

easy said:
After spending some time on the floor of my garage with a flashlight, I don't believe Metzler Z8s have any wear indicators. Please correct me if I am wrong. Z6s have them, but they’re very hard to see. https://rhhall.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Metzler-Z-6-Wear-Indicators/ But to quote someone on another forum, "Don't worry, the steel belts will tell you when it is time to change the tires. One minute you will think you have sufficient tread, and the next minute you have bare metal showing." https://www.k1600forum.com/forum/bm...3263-no-treadwear-indicators-metzler-z8s.html There is some truth in this statement. When the tire gets worn, you better start checking the tread often, or you will be "Riding on the tire cords." as mentioned in another very interesting thread currently sending up smoke to the moderators. If you haven't read this thread, you need to read it now. https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?92945-Riding-on-the-tire-cords

E.

This is what a worn Metzeler Z8 looks like after 5,000 km of superslabbing. I got about 9000 km in total out of those Z8.
The dark band is the wear indicator and you have about 1000 km left before the cords start showing.

lee · Sep 4, 2018

patm said:
This is what a worn Metzeler Z8 looks like after 5,000 km of superslabbing. I got about 9000 km in total out of those Z8.
The dark band is the wear indicator and you have about 1000 km left before the cords start showing.

If the band showed at 5,000 Km, how did you get 9,000 Km out of it?

lkraus · Sep 4, 2018

While I agree that the dark stripe is certainly an indicator of wear, I don't think Metzeler really intended it as a tread wear indicator. It's the compound that encases the belts and serves as a foundation for the tread layers. It appears after the tread compound is worn through. Maybe it should made of red rubber?

The TWIs that satisfy the DOT requirement are in the sipes, one of which is circled here, and shows why a center TWI should be required:

The general location of the legally required indicators is marked as "TWI" in several places on the edge of the tread, much like this Roadtec 01:

When tires have no sipes in the center, I do think a small hole would be a good indicator for the center tread wear indicator.

BC1100S · Sep 4, 2018

lkraus said:
When tires have no sipes in the center, I do think a small hole would be a good indicator for the center tread wear indicator.

On the other hand, paying attention to the depth of one's tread (like when checking pressures) or using a tire tread depth gauge is also a good way to avoid on-the-road issues. No one here is going to convince me that they can't recognise when their tire is about done without some sort of warning from the tire itself.

lee · Sep 4, 2018

BC1100S said:
No one here is going to convince me that they can't recognise when their tire is about done without some sort of warning from the tire itself.

It happened to us once and I'm careful about checking our tires at home and on trips.
I carry a tread depth gauge and check the tires on trips. I also glance at the tires each fuel stop and each night.
Like I mentioned in post #6, Debbie's tire was not down to the center most tire wear indicator when the center of the tire started to tear.

lkraus · Sep 4, 2018

BC1100S said:
On the other hand, paying attention to the depth of one's tread (like when checking pressures) or using a tire tread depth gauge is also a good way to avoid on-the-road issues. No one here is going to convince me that they can't recognise when their tire is about done without some sort of warning from the tire itself.

You are uniquely fortunate to have skills and perceptions that even professionals cannot develop.

daboo · Sep 4, 2018

BC1100S said:
On the other hand, paying attention to the depth of one's tread (like when checking pressures) or using a tire tread depth gauge is also a good way to avoid on-the-road issues. No one here is going to convince me that they can't recognise when their tire is about done without some sort of warning from the tire itself.

I see two things in this picture from lkraus.

First, from the TWI that is circled, it seems like there's more tread left. You could possibly get away with a full day of riding, depending on the roads.

Second, that center dark stripe of the center one inch, says you have enough tread to possibly make it to the dealership for a new tire.

BC1100S · Sep 4, 2018

Lee said:
It happened to us once and I'm careful about checking our tires at home and on trips.

It happened to me once as well, 5 years ago travelling between Minneapolis and Santa Rosa, CA via a variety of states but avoiding interstates at all costs (not easy to do). Metzeler looked fine in the morning and on the cords that night. A buddy just had the same experience with his Roadtec 01 so perhaps its a characteristic of the manufacturer?

BC1100S · Sep 4, 2018

lkraus said:
You are uniquely fortunate to have skills and perceptions that even professionals cannot develop.

Why, thank you, but I can't remember the last time I ran slicks on my street bike.

patm · Sep 4, 2018

Lee said:
If the band showed at 5,000 Km, how did you get 9,000 Km out of it?

I got 4K Km in then 5K Km of slab... That is when the band started showing.

On another note, I got to ride a rented RT recently, shod with Z8s and I liked how the bike handled vs mine equipped with PR4GTs.

lkchris · Sep 17, 2018

BC1100S said:
On the other hand, paying attention to the depth of one's tread (like when checking pressures) or using a tire tread depth gauge is also a good way to avoid on-the-road issues. No one here is going to convince me that they can't recognise when their tire is about done without some sort of warning from the tire itself.

Yes ... to which I'd add the last few millimeters of tread disappear a LOT faster than the first few.

river-runner · Oct 9, 2018

Took a trip from Portland to Yellowstone just after Labor Day on our (wife and I each have one) '17 GSA's with PR4 Trail on front and PR GT on rear. The tires had about 2,500 miles when we left. Had a buddy on a '17 RT with PR 4's, not sure of the model or the miles.

Huge improvement over the Anakee 3's that came stock - noise levels and stability in curves is much improved. The PR's felt much more stable and seemed to just fall into tight turns in the mountains. Rain traction was good, we didn't push things in the rain.

Didn't see the tires squaring off from wearing off the crown like the Anakee 3, but we were on back country roads with lots of curves, so we were using more of the tire. Appears we will get higher mileage than the 8,500 I got out of the Anakee 3's.

What I (all three of us) didn't like - tar snake performance! These tires are real loose on tar snakes. If I found a road with tar snakes laid down by an overachiever road maintenance guy, I had to slow down - felt like we were really slipping around. We were not in hot weather.

HOW IS THE PR 5 ON TAR SNAKES???

Summary - I like the PR 4 tires and will try the PR 5 when available for the GSA.

ctramp · Oct 24, 2018

Anakee III wear

I replaced an Anakee II on my 1200GS with an Anakee III a few weeks ago. After 5,000 miles the Anakee III is ready for replacement. The Anakee II I replaced with the III had 15,500 miles on it. I carry pretty much the same load on my trips, so I am wondering what happened. Has anyone else noticed such a dramatic mileage difference in the two versions?

wbrownell9 · Oct 25, 2018

Not my experience with A3's at all. I wore out 2 fronts for every rear which got me 15,000 miles. Pretty much my experience with PR4Ts as well. TKC70's were about 1:1 Basically I get about 8,000 miles on a rear (average of 13) no matter what it is. Sometimes I change early because I'm heading into the land of "no dealers". Michelin fronts wear well.

179212 · Oct 25, 2018

Tires

Lee said:
They look close enough, but hard to say.
Here's a picture of Road Attack 2s and it looks like the thread grooves and wear indicators are close to the center like the PR5.
This is the rear tire Debbie ran down to cord but was not down to the center most wear indicators.
Leaving the midwest and returning even on two lane roads uses the very center of a tire.

Lee what mileage did she get out of the road attack 2’s? I have Z6 Metzelers with 7,600 miles on them, I ride a lot on one lane oil and chip farm roads and I think not much more life in left side of front tire. Bike 1994 R1100RS 80,000 miles original suspension

Michelin Road 5 tires

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