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Michelin Pilot 5

Joined
Aug 27, 2017
Messages
60
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3
Location
Woodway
First Name
Doug
Last Name
Jackson
Silly me, I thought the Road 5, being their latest iteration, was the best choice for my K1600GTL. So, I purchased (Revzilla) and mounted it just before the rally in Des Moine. I trailered the bike up, only to find out from the Michelin rep at the rally that the darned things are not ready for heavy touring machines (sometime next year they say). To add to my woes, my rear tire had a nail and was leaking. Anyway, Dunlop was offering a deal on buy the rear and they will throw in the front for free, so I had the Michelin (has less than 50 miles on it) dismounted and I brought it home. Paid $150 for it, but I'll let it go for $75. It's a 120/70vr 17, and will fit a lot of sport bikes. I'm located in the Waco area. Michelin 1.jpg
 

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Is this the Pilot 5 or the the Road 5?
Looks like the Road 5 in the pic. I just bought a set for my daughter's SV650 based on research. Should be a good fit for that light of a bike.

According to Michelin:

Michelin Road 5 tires are designed for naked bikes and roadsters.
 
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I'll ship it for whatever it costs me. If I send it USPS, looks like the cost is $15.60. I don't know about UPS or FedEx. If you want to send me $75 via PayPal I'll let you know what shipping cost me when I send it and you can just pay me that amount later if you want. Djackson1950@gmail.com.
 
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Paypal and PM sent. Let me know if you recieved both please. Sometimes PM’s dont work.
 
Quick question. I bought one and had it mounted on my FJR. Wondering what bad things are going to happen if I ride on it. About to leave for Oaxaca soon and a little worried that it’s going to overheat and blow up somewhere in Mexico. Curious as to what The rep told you. Thanks for any information.
 
You should be fine, I didn't even realize there were "heavy duty" versions of sport touring tires and had an earlier version of the lighter Michelin Pilots on my K1200RS (heavier than your FJR) and ran them with no problems. Keep in mind that the tire manufacturers are looking at tires that will hold up 2 passengers and bags on the big sport tourers - lots of safety margin. Unless you are overloaded and doing two up high speed rides you shouldn't have any issues.

That said, if you look at Michelin's website - it does state that these are for naked and roadster style bikes and not rated for the heavier sport touring bikes.

Dave.
 
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Patrick and Crew at Motorcycles Unlimited mounted sets of the Road 5 Trail (weird naming, should be Pilot Road 5 Trail IMHO) on our 2 V-Strom 650's before out 2018 Epic Western Trip to Glacier/Yellowstone etc. Previously we had had Pilot Road 4 Trails on the bikes.

We road 5700 miles on them through rain, heat, sleet, snow, wind and minor off-roading. J's is a 2012 and mine is a 2014. Both bikes were loaded with 3 weeks worth of goodies plus camping items.

On mine, the 2014, I was NOT impressed with the 5's on my bike. I never felt as comfortable on them as I did on the 4's. There was some wobble/shimmy at certain speeds and it was not a balance or mounting wobble/shimmy, it was a tire wobble/shimmy. Not sure how else to describe it. We road on multiple mountain roads w/heavy switchbacks....I never really liked the feel in the hairpin turns. Honestly can't describe exactly what it was, but I know I never really felt "in tune" with the tires like i did on the older versions.

That being said....on dry straight roads they are amazing, but no one ever rides on dry straight roads for an entire trip.

From a wear perspective, the front probably has another 10-12,000 miles left on it and the rear (even with weight) probably has another 5-6,000 miles left on it. They never needed air either, which was very very weird. I checked them every other morning for 3 weeks in temps from 80F to 20F.

If you have questions let me know.
 
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