[kenors]

Last year I decided to try a Pilot Road PR4 GT rear and PR3 front combo. Here's the followup report.

I'd had the PR4 GT rear and PR4 front and the PR4 front cupped quite badly and I tossed that set long before they were worn out. That's when I decided to try the PR3 front which I'd used a couple times already. You can read all about Pilot Roads in other posts. For me, they handle great (/55 rear), stick just fine and work great in the wet. That's important where I live and ride a lot. We also don't get the scorching temps that seem to wear these tires prematurely. I didn't notice the harshness some have reported with the GT tire only on the rear. I changed them out yesterday with 13.2k miles on them. See below for the wear patterns.

The PR3 front was done, actually past done. Not only were the wear bars gone but so was the tread they were cast into. Out of habit I kept an eye on the rear thinking it would be the first to go and finally had to admit the front was too far gone. I should have taken a picture of the tire inflated because the front tire profile was much rounder than you see it in the pic. Deflated, it really triangulated and shows the uneven wear between the harder center and softer edges. It still handled pretty well. As a matter of fact I like this combo. I've always run my tires to the bitter end and that last couple thousand miles the handling always sucks, I think mostly because of the flatted rear. With this pair the handling was still pretty good right up until the end of the front.

View attachment 118617

As I went out to get new tires a couple months ago there wasn't a single PR4/PR4 GT to be found in the 190/55 configuration. Not sure why. Anyway, I did find a PR5 in the right size so I picked that up. It's totally redesigned from the PR4 as far as tread pattern goes. I've included a pic of that as well. Now I'm set for a while. I'll probably report in again in ~13k miles.

View attachment 118625

 

[2011z1000]

thanx for the the write up. I'll probably need a rear tire soon, any thoughts on the new pr5? ps - im a michelin fan

 

[AZ NINJA]

Big fan of the Road 2...a bit better mileage with the Road 4, 9500 miles on the rear...

Have about 3,500 miles on the Road 5 front and rear...rain, snow, hot temps cold temps...interstate and twisties...seem to be wearing well from a 9 day epic ride with full load of gear...

Would recommend based on mileage so far...
Oooooohhhhhhh.....
View attachment 118769
YMMV...ride safe

 

[jjsC6]

I have not liked the PRs nearly as well since the 2. I think they have too many sipes on the front and I have seen uneven wear and cupping on the front. My 1600BMW is very susceptible to that. In fairness, I’ve had other tires do it but to a lesser degree on that bike.

I tried a few sets of Angel GTs and they are okay. I just did a 4100 mile trip on that bike with Dunlop Road Smart IIIs and so far am impressed with them and they are significantly cheaper than the Michelin and Pirellis.

 

[rcannon409]

JJS, what are you buying, now, as your go-to tire?

I fell like you do abotu the 2's, and I loved that tire. The later 3, 4 and 5's, not so much.

 

[jjsC6]

JJS, what are you buying, now, as your go-to tire?

I fell like you do abotu the 2's, and I loved that tire. The later 3, 4 and 5's, not so much.

I tried a couple of Pirelli Diablo Rossas II and III on the S1000R and liked them. I’ve run a few sets of Angel GT on my 1600 and a rear on my S1000R....and it’s the factory OEM tire on my Superduke GT. While I’m okay with the Angel GT I’m thinking of going back to the Diablo Rossa III on the Superduke and will likely stick with the Dunlop Road Smart III on the 1600.

BTW, I wish Pirelli would make the model names of their tires easier to remember which is which

 

[kenors]

I've been using Pilot Roads since near the beginning but prior to the '11 Ninja they were on VFRs. I've been in a lot of discussions and have reached some conclusions. With each generation they've been more and more oriented towards wet weather and high mileage. They acquired more and more sipes and a rubber formula that was "grippier" in the wet. For mileage they went with dual compound and with for grip they've added more silicon and sipes.

For the most part they've done a good job but there's no free lunch and the tradeoffs have been touched on here. Many of the complaints have come from folks who ride in the heat. I think the compounds they use that stick in the rain also make the rubber softer and wear quicker in the heat. Here in the PNW I don't experience that issue but I have experienced this on a previous trip. See my post showing the inch wide band of chord showing on a rear tire that went away very quickly.

Another group that complains is the BTTW crowd. For mileage, the harder compound (than you get with other very sticky tires) isn't quite as grippy in the dry and the sipes tend to make the tires "squirm" right at the edge of traction. That doesn't bother me as I don't ride that hard. I can see jjsC6's point about not liking the PR3's but liking the PR2s. For ME, PR3s were a real step up in wet traction and mileage went from <10k on PR2s to ~12k on PR3s. Characteristics very low on his priority list. One thing to note on the PR5 rear I got, they took a lot of the sipes out and have much larger blocks of rubber on the road. I'll leave it up to the "fast" guys to see if that fixes the squirm.

Another thing I should point out is that since discovering Pilot Roads and being happy with them, I really haven't tried anything else. As a 1 bike owner I don't change tires that often, even riding 15-20k miles a year and as an old guy, once I've find something I really like, I stick with it. So I haven't tried Dunlop Sportmax IIIs which I have heard good things about but my buddy's FJR went through his first pair in <9k miles. I just keep reading the forums waiting for reviews to start pouring in of the new tire that gets 25k miles of wear, gets good traction in the wet and handles great.

Another thing I like about the Pilot Road series is they all have the same round profile so you can mix and match the series without handling weirdities.

Now I have about 2k miles on the PR3/PR5 combo and, surprise, they feel great and show almost no signs of wear yet.

 

[jjsC6]

Great post Kenors

 

[kenors]

I just watched the national weather report. jjsC6 are you SURE you wouldn't like a set of Pilot Road 4s or 5s? Then again, a foot of water is probably too much even for Pilots!

Hope you're staying high and dry down there.

 

[jjsC6]

I just watched the national weather report. jjsC6 are you SURE you wouldn't like a set of Pilot Road 4s or 5s? Then again, a foot of water is probably too much even for Pilots!

Hope you're staying high and dry down there.

We had five inches where I live on the 4th, but only a little the past couple of days. Houston is odd in the we can get way too much or way to little. In the middle of the summer I'd prefer too much because we can go to drought conditions pretty quickly with the heat here.

I've been able to ride most weekends. It's quite common for our rain patterns to be dry in the morning then the heat causes the moisture to become unstable and rain in the afternoon. Those days I frequently leave between 6:00-6:30 in the morning. I've got a 150 and a 180 mile loop that get me home by 9:30-10:00 and that includes a 30 minute Starbucks stop.

Thanks for thinking of me!

 

[Pltzr]

This video

recommends the Metzeler Roadtec 01. So I replaced my PR4s with the the Roadtec 01s. Only have 1500 miles on them now so I can't comment on longevity. However I like them a lot more than the PR4's. Only better tire I've ever had was the Michelin Power 3, but the rear tire usually lasted less than 5,000 miles

 

[Johnmark101]

I wanted to try the Road 5's but the Roadsmart III was a bit less money and there was also a 75 dollar rebate. I have put 1600 miles on the Roadsmart III and the dry performance has been very good. Handling is nice and neutral but not a sharp as the Q3's I had before. Grip in the dry is impressive as I pushed them pretty hard on some of my favorite twisties and they never squirmed. The rear is about 30 percent worn and the front still looks like new.

 

[kenors]

Ok, remember those brand new Pilot Roads a few posts back? Well, this is what the look like after 13240 miles. Note the front is really gone, several hundred miles past the wear bars while the rear still has a couple K miles left in it. It's long since lost it's "new tire" feel, though, so I replaced both at once. I was finally tempted by Dunlops price + rebates and so the replacements are RoadSmart IIIs. Of course, a /55 profile rear. I rode the 3 miles home in the rain on city streets so all I can tell you about the feel of the RS IIIs is that they are round and black.

 

[trialsguy]

13,000 miles on a set of tires is great! I have 4,000 miles on my Road 5 tires, with very little wear, so far.

 

[damonrider]

I was looking at getting some PR5s this year, and all y'all's positive reviews on the Michelin series just might push me in that direction. Thanks for the help!

 

[BenChamin]

(I realize this thread is over a year old)
I loved the power 3's.. I've gotten about 6k miles on them. They handled great in the street and offered a very smooth ride. They were discontinued and I am now halfway through the Michelin Power NR. Great handling, slightly firmer firmer ride, rated to have a little less mileage than the Power 3, but we'll see. Very little minimal tread pattern, so I am leery riding them in the rain, but I am a fair whether rider, so wet riding is very chill.