Pilot Road 4 GT tires disintegrating?!

Hi!

I bought a 2006 FJR1300 abs in October 2015 which had PR4GT installed in May 2013. I don't know the full history of the tires but looks like no more than 4000 miles were put on them and they looked like new. I just finished a trip and have put 5000 miles total on since I got the bike last fall, with about 1500 miles of those done this past weekend. This morning I noticed my front tore was wearing a lot more on the right and cupping quite a bit - to the point of no more sipes to the right. Tire pressure was 36psi. This afternoon after 150 miles from this morning I have cords showing on the right side and the rubber seems to be disintegrating! And there seems to be an air bubble in my sidewall??

I am riding in BC, temps this weekend have been between 6 and 20 degrees celcius, more rain than dry. I am not what I would consider to be an aggressive rider. Is this a bad tire? Something wrong with my forks? Or...? I need new tires obviously but am reluctant to buy another set of the same unless I can figure this out. Any help is appreciated.

Ps.. once I figure out how to post pics I will add them.

Hi!

I bought a 2006 FJR1300 abs in October 2015 which had PR4GT installed in May 2013. I don't know the full history of the tires but looks like no more than 4000 miles were put on them and they looked like new. I just finished a trip and have put 5000 miles total on since I got the bike last fall, with about 1500 miles of those done this past weekend. This morning I noticed my front tire was wearing a lot more on the right and cupping quite a bit - to the point of no more sipes to the right and actually being concave. Tire pressure was 36psi. This afternoon after 150 miles from this morning I have cords showing on the right side and the rubber seems to be disintegrating! And there seems to be an air bubble in my sidewall??

I am riding in BC, temps this weekend have been between 6 and 20 degrees celcius, more rain than dry. I am not what I would consider to be an aggressive rider. Is this a bad tire? Something wrong with my forks? Or...? I need new tires obviously but am reluctant to buy another set of the same unless I can figure this out. Any help is appreciated.

Ps.. once I figure out how to post pics I will add them.

pressure is to low to get good mileage out of them. Run em up to 40, it does make a diffrence.

Thanks for your reply. I did have them at 38.. I can try running at 40 moving forward but I am concerned about why the odd wear - the cords showing are a good 1.5 inch off the center and the rubber literally rubs off with my fingers... The GT are newish for Michelin and if the tire compounds are faulty I don't want to buy more of the same?

These tires are considered my most people to be excellent for traction (wet and dry) and have a reputation for better than average lifetime. I have not heard of reports of problems. Keep the pressure up. I like 40-42 front and 42-44 rear.

If those tires have about 9000 miles on them, they have done their job. I understand your concern about the uneven wear, and I don't know why without knowing how they were treated by the previous owner, but 9000 miles is about all I can get out of a pair of tires.

40 front, 42 rear normally does the trick, most of my FJR friends here run the same.

For whatever reason, nobody has yet said this really clearly: REPLACE THESE TIRES. If the back is anything like the front, then do both, but don't keep riding with cords showing through.

But you probably knew that.

Also agree the PR4s should be very good tires for the FJR, but 10 - 11K miles is about it anyway. Low pressure probably led to the wear. Another common finding is once the wear gets this obvious, the last few percent of the rubber goes WAY fast. Kind of like the last few hundred feet when you fall out of an airplane and forget your parachute.

I should add - my rear tire is wearing evenly other than some big scalloping going on. Still tread left on the rear tire and not at the wear bars yet...

B-girl said:

Hi!
I bought a 2006 FJR1300 abs in October 2015 which had PR4GT installed in May 2013. I don't know the full history of the tires but looks like no more than 4000 miles were put on them and they looked like new. I just finished a trip and have put 5000 miles total on since I got the bike last fall, with about 1500 miles of those done this past weekend. This morning I noticed my front tire was wearing a lot more on the right and cupping quite a bit - to the point of no more sipes to the right and actually being concave. Tire pressure was 36psi. This afternoon after 150 miles from this morning I have cords showing on the right side and the rubber seems to be disintegrating! And there seems to be an air bubble in my sidewall??

I am riding in BC, temps this weekend have been between 6 and 20 degrees celcius, more rain than dry. I am not what I would consider to be an aggressive rider. Is this a bad tire? Something wrong with my forks? Or...? I need new tires obviously but am reluctant to buy another set of the same unless I can figure this out. Any help is appreciated.

Ps.. once I figure out how to post pics I will add them.

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They already had 4000 miles on them and you put on an additional 5000 miles for a total of 9000 miles. I would say you are doing good.

SacramentoMike said:

For whatever reason, nobody has yet said this really clearly: REPLACE THESE TIRES. Another common finding is once the wear gets this obvious, the last few percent of the rubber goes WAY fast. Kind of like the last few hundred feet when you fall out of an airplane and forget your parachute.

Click to expand...

LOL thanks!! I will be trailering the bike home tonight (still have another hour to get home) and will be ordering new tires. It sounds like another set should be good from what people are saying. Any suggestions on why the uneven wear though?

Blind Squirrel said:

They already had 4000 miles on them and you put on an additional 5000 miles for a total of 9000 miles. I would say you are doing good.

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I am guessing on the previous mileage but what you say makes sense. Maybe I am over thinking it.

As most have mentioned, your air pressure was a bit low for optimum longevity.

You have no way of knowing what pressures and riding habits were during the first 4000 miles of this tire's life. An early wear pattern is almost impossible to reverse.

I do not know what you are expecting for tire life but 9000 miles is about right. There have been no reports of PR4GTs failing. I would recommend you try another set, keep the pressures around 41 psi, and see what they look like with YOU riding the bike the entire time.

I had an Avon front tire that wore like that, rear tire wore fine. Both at pressures above 40psi. I wrote it off to a defective tire. Everything looked normal when I disassembled for a new tire.

I contacted and sent pictures to Avon but got no reply.

I would guess that you haven't heard the wheel bearings grinding but I would check that, otherwise slap another set on.

I would say that your tire PSI was too low. I run my PR4GT's about 42 in front and 43 in back. But all tires wear out over time. 10000 miles seem a bit premature, but it also depends on how aggressive one rides. Thus the 'YMMV.'

I will be buying another set of these for sure.

Also I think this is a double post - a no no- around here....

The pictures show too low of a pressure for lots of miles. I'd buy a different tire pressure gage just to be sure you're really maintaining the pressure you think you are. And as others have said, you can run even higher pressure with that tire. On my St1300, i run 42-43 front, 42-45 rear, cold (the higher pressures when I'm carrying luggage on a trip).

RossKean said:

These tires are considered my most people to be excellent for traction (wet and dry) and have a reputation for better than average lifetime. I have not heard of reports of problems. Keep the pressure up. I like 40-42 front and 42-44 rear.

Click to expand...

What ross said

erixun said:

I would say that your tire PSI was too low. I run my PR4GT's about 42 in front and 43 in back. But all tires wear out over time. 10000 miles seem a bit premature, but it also depends on how aggressive one rides. Thus the 'YMMV.'
I will be buying another set of these for sure.

Also I think this is a double post - a no no- around here....

Click to expand...

Yup.. this is a double. Oddly both times I tried to post the site gave me an error.. I logged back in and ta-da! Two posts when I thought there were none.

Mods feel free to delete.