happy wanderer
Day Dreaming ...
I think it is safe to say that today's top tier MC tires have gotten so much better than even ten years ago probably most of them will work just fine for the average rider. Some of us wet coast riders do notice wet traction performance or issues more than other areas and some who live in states like Oregon where they have a LOT of chip seal roads that are very rough and hard on tires will notice wear patterns more than a lot of other states. There are a lot of variables. Tire wear is often more to do with riding (acceleration and braking) styles than the quality of the tires themselves. Racers wear out really great tires really quickly. Slow pokes who take off slowly and brake softly over a long distance get better tire wear over the long haul.
Over the past ten years I've used mostly Michelin Pilot Road tires since I found they wear the longest and I do mostly long distance riding. I used to run Metzelers however I found they wore out a lot faster than the Michelin compounds but the performance was great for both brands. Same goes for the Dunlop Roadsmart and Avon Storm. The first versions of both wore in literally half the distance a Michelin did so that experiment lasted exactly one set and I never bought them again. Since then there are two new series of RoadSmart tires out and now I am hearing they last quite well. Avon has the Cobra series now; have not tried them and probably won't. The Dunlops are not as expensive as Michelin so maybe time to try another set.
Right now the Michelin PR3 is going to be tough to beat performance wise, wet weather wise and mileage wise. I was hesitant to try them afte many miles of zero issues with the PR2 but was surprised the find the PR3 was indeed even better especially when turning in.
Bottom line is it is hard to go wrong on tires these days and they compete so closely that new versions are always worth a try.
Over the past ten years I've used mostly Michelin Pilot Road tires since I found they wear the longest and I do mostly long distance riding. I used to run Metzelers however I found they wore out a lot faster than the Michelin compounds but the performance was great for both brands. Same goes for the Dunlop Roadsmart and Avon Storm. The first versions of both wore in literally half the distance a Michelin did so that experiment lasted exactly one set and I never bought them again. Since then there are two new series of RoadSmart tires out and now I am hearing they last quite well. Avon has the Cobra series now; have not tried them and probably won't. The Dunlops are not as expensive as Michelin so maybe time to try another set.
Right now the Michelin PR3 is going to be tough to beat performance wise, wet weather wise and mileage wise. I was hesitant to try them afte many miles of zero issues with the PR2 but was surprised the find the PR3 was indeed even better especially when turning in.
Bottom line is it is hard to go wrong on tires these days and they compete so closely that new versions are always worth a try.
