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Michelin Pilot Road 2

Joined
Sep 28, 2004
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Location
PF, TX
In the spirit of this thread:

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25793

I'll start a fairly detailed log of my experience with the dual-compound Michelin Pilot Road 2. My riding habits and what not are all given in the previous thread.

08/16/2008 - ODO: 15,497 miles - Tires: 5 miles

Tread Depth - Front: 4.5mm all around - Rear: 6mm (center), 4.5mm (sides)


So far I don't have anything really other than they were very easy to scrub in and reach the edges of the tire, I've put a whole 5 miles or so on them.

Front:

front1.jpg


front2.jpg


Rear:

rear1.jpg


rear2.jpg


rear3.jpg


I got a killer deal on these that I couldn't pass up, otherwise I'm not sure I ever would've spent the $$$ that these things cost. I've got a long trip coming up (http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30112), where I'll be heavily loaded and be putting around 3,500mi on them in about a week. Hopefully they'll do as advertised and wisk me along to my destinations :rider:

Stay tuned for an update once I get some miles put on. :thumb:

trey
 
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I have close to 7,500 miles on mine. They are on a FZ1. I should be able to get at least another three thousand miles out of them.
 
Sounding good.
The UPS man just brought my PR2 rear for the SV650.
The front PP2 only has a couple thousand miles on it. So, we'll see how compatible they are in an upcoming road trip through IA, MO, and AR.
 
Mine have 6K on them so far on the FJR. Plenty of tread left, expecting them to go 10K easily. Factory Z-6 were toast at 4.5K, and I have shown these tires no more mercy than the Metzlers saw.

Will put another set on when the time comes.
 
Any updates??

Yes.. thanks AK. I've been lazy on the updates. In fact, I had no idea I had this many miles on the tires.

10/12/2008 - ODO: 20,250mi (ish) - Tires: 4,750 miles

Tread Depth - Front: 4mm (sides) 3mm (center) - Rear: 5mm (center), 4.5mm (sides)


I really like these tires. I alluded to my trip in the initial post, I'm still in the process of getting the report posted, but here it is:

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32643

So, these tires have taken a beating in the last 4,750 miles.

I have zero complaints. They don't seem to be squaring off, the rear still looks great. The front actually seems to be getting a little slim down the center, but I have a feeling it'll all work out even by the end.

Some pics (Yes, my bike is absolutely filthy, thanks):

Front:

front.jpg


front2.jpg


Rear:

rear.jpg


rear2.jpg


rearclose.jpg


Like I said, zero complaints. These tires are more capable than I am. I drug pegs all through NM, AZ and CO and never had any kind of pucker moment out of the tires.

We'll see how they do with commuting duty here in CenTX the rest of their life.

Yep.

trey
 
I recently put a Pilot Road 2 rear on my Super Duke, and I've been impressed w/ the grip. This is the first time I've sacrificed grip for mileage in a street tires, but it has been very sure-footed so far. Too early to tell how it will hold up.
 
6500 miles so far on a FJR. Stock Z-6 was toast at 4500. Plenty of tread left here. Front does look like it is going away faster then the rear on my set too.
 
I just came home from a run down to the big bend. ran the river road fm 170, I was told it was closed but ran into a bunch of folks who just went around the barriers so we did too. Flogged the heck out of my second set of Road 2's after starting out with over 5,000 miles on them at the get go. Loaded the FJR up with all the stuff you typically need for a 4 day trip on the road including my bi-pap machine which was voted in by my co companion in crime as he is not a person who snores.
Looked the tires over and can not really tell there is much rubber gone after riding over 1200 miles since Friday morning. The other guy was on a much newer FJR and on a set of brand new Dunlap's and he did not feel much like getting it over on the tire edges at first but they came in finally and he got more and more brave.
I did not take it easy on these tires and ran the yellow liquid out of them with no or barely any noticable wear on them.


Have run in the rain on them a good bit and they work great when wet. Just have to keep your mind on the game if there ia any doubte about traction.
 
Just replaced Mich PP 2CT with Roadsmarts. Hated the Mich. Never felt they were holding or as stable as my earlier tires. Bought two sets of them as i ride a lot. Did not get good mileage. Did not keep records and changed out the first set early as I was preparing for a long trip. My guess is I was getting about very low 3000 miles or less a set at best. Generated a flat spot on the rear easily and early. Made myself run both sets before switching. Just fininshed a four day run in Arkansas. The Roadsmarts felt much better. Did not do any rain. Have not done enough miles to get a wear benchmark. The initial turn in on a corner is a bit different than others but in the corner and coming out they felt as good as the Avon I had been running befor the Mich. Avons tended to cup on the front and not last long on the front but were seriously sticky. They were all mounted on a ducati ST4S and generally with a medium touring tailbag and my 200lbs. If I get decent mileage, I will stay with roadsmarts. If not I will either go back to Avon or try Bridgestone 021s. I have found these new tires require more pressure than the tires of previous technology and the Mich were really off if the pressure was a bit off.
 
I did not trust the PP 2CTs and did not ride them hard. You have explained the mileage problem. If I remember I bought the tires before the PR2CT were out in the market place. My riding for about 9 months to year was interrupted due to an operation.
 
I have PR2s front and rear. No issues, wear looks promising. More aggressive profile that standard PRs. But Pricey. If I can get 6000 miles on a rear, it is a winner. I have used PP exclusively till now, like them as well.
 
If I can get 6000 miles on a rear, it is a winner.

I think you'll be pleased. I need to update this thread, shame on me... :giveup:.... but I've got about 7,500 mi on my set, still with quite a bit of tread life left.

I'll do my best to remember to snap some pics and update the thread this weekend....

trey
 
As of today I have well over 11,000 on mine and they still have plenty of rubber to go a lot farther. Rode them all week in the rain and slime here in Austin and never had any occasion to feel like they were going to depart on me. This is my second set and they have performed flawlessly. The first set lasted to 12,000 easy and I had them replaced even before they got flat in the middle, could have put even more miles on them if I had needed to. Robby at Napalm motors has treated me really good on all the tires I have run on my FJR, I intend to keep on buying and having my tires put on at that shop.
 
12/19/2008 - ODO: 23,766mi - Tires: 8,269 miles

odo.jpg


Tread Depth - Front: 3.5mm (sides) 2.75mm (center) - Rear: 2.5mm (center), 3mm (sides)


So far, still awesome. I've now got over 8k miles and I am pretty darn pleased. The most I've gotten out of a set up to now was 6k out of my Conti RoadAttacks, the Shinkos I think would be done by now as well.

Rear:

rear.jpg


rearcenter.jpg


rearside.jpg


Front:

frontside.jpg


front.jpg


And a pic of a filthy Bandit:

filthy.jpg


trey
 
Filthy? I think all bikes should look like they are being riden and not up for sale. BTW, I'm loving my PR2 also.
 
Now that is a motorcycle with purpose, clean freaks take notice.

My PR2's on the FJR refuse to show wear, the front has 6K and I can see less tread and more wear bars. Rear tire is just now showing a hint of the Texas flat spot @ 5K.
I can't get mine to quit sliding until temps hit 85 or so, once warm on hot pavement they are acceptable but not great grip wise. I ride this bike hard so normal people will love the longevity.

Keep an eye on The FJR/Connie boards for group buys. I got this set for $248 shipped back in early '08.
 
Love the updates. I put some 8300mi on Pilot Powers, and was running into rubber decay rather than a loss of tread-depth. I've got somewhere around 8000 or so on the Road 2s right now, and they still look dang near new.
 
Love the updates. I put some 8300mi on Pilot Powers,

I'm jealous. I never got even half that on Powers. I'm on Conti Road Attacks right now. They are wearing great, but grip is pretty mediocre. I'm going back to a sport tire next. Probably back to Powers. I love that tire.
 
I lied, it was closer to 9000 :rider:

Now I'm trying to find the receipt from mounting my Road 2s, so I can figure out how many miles I've put on them.
 
The Final Update!

02/23/2009 - ODO: 26,807mi - Tires: 11,315 miles

odo.jpg


Tread Depth - Front: 3mm (sides) 2mm (center) - Rear: 1.5mm (center), 2.5mm (sides)


And so we reach the final chapter. 11k+ miles, on the Bandit? Wow.

I'm not a terribly aggressive rider, obviously... my OEM chain still looks great, stock brake pads, etc, but, 11k miles out of tires is impressive, period.

Some pics:

Rear:

rear.jpg


rear2.jpg


rear3.jpg


Front:

front.jpg


front2.jpg


These tires are impressive. What they've done is raised the bar, no questions asked. Looking back, 6k miles out of my Continental RA's with a comparable level of grip, and only slightly cheaper price, is just unacceptable. At the time, they seemed decent but... not so much now.

I only took these off because I came across a good deal and I've got a trip coming up in April. According to the tread depth, I had another 2-3k miles left in these bad boys... at least. So what did I replace them with? More Road2's, duh.

new.jpg


new2.jpg


Unless you're racing, you don't need more grip than these offer. The only other tire I know of that offers a similar level of performance/longevity is the Dunlop RoadSmart. Avon, Continental, Metzler.... hope you're paying attention.

trey
 
Still in love with my Road 2s as well, they're at just over 5k and will be good for at least double that. (also, this figure is actually correct, whereas my earlier guesstimate of the Road 2 mileage was not - found the old invoice.)
 
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