The Dunlop Roadsmart III compared to Michelin PR2/PR4GT Dilemma

OK - here we go. NEPRT likely, but let's try to avoid it, shall we? I'm fully prepared for whatever is thrown at me, and in spite of that, I'm still willing to ask the question:

What mileage (front and/or rear) are you getting out of the Dunlop Roadsmart III?

and more specifically:

If you have also tried the Michelin PR2 and/or PR4GT, how does that compare to the R/S III in terms of mileage?

I realize that there are dozens of variables that prohibit this from being a fair comparison. To that I say this - if GENERALLY, the conditions were the same (road conditions, riding style, adherence to tire pressure, loaded/not so loaded, etc), then fair enough. If there was a HUGE difference between these conditions, then I'd like to know about it.

What's the big deal, Pants, you say? I'm glad you asked. I think my brand loyalty to Michelin is costing me too much money.

A set of PR4GT's would now cost me: $351.00

A set of R/S III's would cost me $298.00 and now, there's a $75.00 rebate on a set of R/S IIIs now and that puts them at about $223.00. That's $125.00 a set difference!

Now then, mileage would make a difference. Mounting and balance cost is free, so I'm negating that.

I don't have much data to go by with the Gen 3 bike.

On the PR4, I get 7000-ish out of the rear, 8000-ish out of the front

On the PR2, I get 5000-ish out of the rear, 6000-ish out of the front

I'm considering leaving home with the R/S III's for CFR. I have a planned tire change at between 5000 and 6000 miles.

I would be the last rider that you would want to take tire advice from (I get 10k+ from rear and 20+ on the fronts) but I can

tell you the Roadsmart 2s gave better traction/less mileage than the PR2s. The wear was surprisingly close on the two.

Cant give you a comparison on your specific tire question though.

Hmmm...my rear tire has lots of life left, and my front is almost bald. This is a set of Pirelli Angel GT's that I put on shortly after buying my bike. Am I the odd one out that wears our the front first?

Pants,

Can't really say as I have not had the opportunity to wear out my first set of RSIII's, but Iggy was the one who turned me on to them, so you might shoot him a PM.

I will say that I like the RSIII's over the PR 3's and never tried a PR 4.

For the price, you might as well try a set and see for yourself.

... Roadsmart 2s ...
....Pirelli Angel GT's....

...PR 3's...

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Post #2, #3, and #3 are already off-topic. This is why we can't have nice things.

So, either the people that post off topic to reread the forum rules before they go off topic or the thread goes to NEPRT. I'm going with the latter in this case unless somebody has a better idea.

gregory said:

I will say that I like the RSIII's over the PR 3's and never tried a PR 4.
For the price, you might as well try a set and see for yourself.

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Same - I am getting better mileage out of the RS 3 than the PR2 (or PR3). (Talking relative differences since absolute numbers are meaningless.) The Dunlops are very nice when new and I'm still working on the set I got late last year. A bit noisier than some but not bad. Very compliant and smooth ride - better than the Michelins I have used.

You are right about the Michelin being a premium (cost) tire and I have never found them wonderful after the first half of their life. They square off faster than the Roadsmart III, handle poorly and howl in corners - in my opinion. The Roadsmart 3 (not the 2's) are my most recent favorite tire with good marks for handling, longevity, price (with rebate) and comfort.

Great feedback Ross and Gregory. Upon closer examination of my log book, I only have one data point for the PR4s in which I ran them past the wear band indicator. That was for YFO 2017. For the PR2s, I have two data points, but in each case, at least 1,500 miles of the wear was in Arkansas miles, which in case you don't know, absolutely CHEWS tires. So perhaps I could stretch a set of PR2s to 5500/6500. If that is true, maybe I could expect 6000/6500 out of a set of RS3's - which is what I'm shooting for.

Another unknown is what the roads are like where I'm going between home and CFR, and ultimately my planned tire change between CFR and Spearfish. If a 1/3 or more of that is "Arkansas type road", then I've got to have the PR4 or I'm going to be in a tire bind.

It will be in the 3500 mile range between the planned tire change and home, and I know the bulk of that will be pretty straight and pretty flat.

Maybe leave home with the PR4s and try the RS3's to get home.

I'd love to hear other opinions. Iggy - what say you?

One sure way to find out... try em and let us know

I'm sure I'll be looking at a tire change this summer and that rebate has me thinking of putting a set in the garage until then. (Currently on T30 EVO front & PR4 rear. Went non-GTs this time just to see the difference.) If he doesn't mind I'd like to add another question to 'Pants general inquiry: Can anyone speak to wet handling differences between the RS3s and the PR4s?

It's probably gonna come to that, Fred. And if so, I'll probably be trying the set on the way home. At least I know they will get me home. The worst case scenario is that I'm out of tire with 2000 miles to my planned tire change. If that happens, then sure as rain, we'll have to ride 300 miles to get to the tire, then wait XX hours for them to change it, then pay through the nose for whatever they sell me, and then throw most of it away at the planned tire change.

The $125.00 per set difference in price is just enough to generate my interest....

hppants said:

I'd love to hear other opinions. Iggy - what say you?

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And you're getting them! Welcome to NEPRT.

I personally like the RSIII's to the PRIII's for wet weather, they give me more confidence then the PRIII'S. That is the primary reason I looked for a different tire. Did not like the PRIII, went back to the PR2 then tried the RSIII and will say on them for the time being.

Pants, I would be amazed if you didn't make it back after your tire change on a set of RSIII's

If it comes down to it, you could always "weave" so you use up the Chicken stripes on the way home.

I am planning on a new set of RSIII's for Spearfish, which most will be 2 up and in the 4K range. I will not even think twice about the new set making it home with miles to spare. Here is my basic route. Lots of straight, HOT road to chew.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Redding,+CA/Colorado+Springs,+CO/Spearfish,+SD/Great+Falls,+MT/Kalispell,+MT/Lolo+Pass,+Idaho/Kooskia,+ID/Redding,+CA/@40.8036506,-122.1779643,7.16z/data=!4m65!4m64!1m15!1m1!1s0x54d291d63b4a202f:0x1f3358ec7b360f57!2m2!1d-122.3916754!2d40.5865396!3m4!1m2!1d-116.6121607!2d39.4787523!3s0x80a4ce3ba85c74af:0x35a3ded275154b54!3m4!1m2!1d-106.7992084!2d38.5242227!3s0x873feeb979f11c2d:0xdc5bee856856ca9b!1m5!1m1!1s0x8713412ea1e6d22b:0x418eeb92f5e86b13!2m2!1d-104.8213634!2d38.8338816!1m5!1m1!1s0x533298585baba5ef:0xe8dded619c5da0aa!2m2!1d-103.8593697!2d44.4908172!1m10!1m1!1s0x5342378d658cb83b:0xd6de56b18e5945a8!2m2!1d-111.2833449!2d47.4941836!3m4!1m2!1d-113.6673264!2d48.6886109!3s0x5368a59f256830af:0xcb35f7b7c5d86bf1!1m5!1m1!1s0x536650959ceac247:0xaf1fbdda1d5abb62!2m2!1d-114.316813!2d48.1919889!1m5!1m1!1s0x535e8aebcd4f4c7d:0xba4c4950d52a5fe7!2m2!1d-114.5798362!2d46.6351985!1m5!1m1!1s0x54a099a8e938ec4b:0x1a26a25f8e52a6b2!2m2!1d-115.9779189!2d46.1448942!1m5!1m1!1s0x54d291d63b4a202f:0x1f3358ec7b360f57!2m2!1d-122.3916754!2d40.5865396!3e0?hl=en

AND!

WELCOME TO NERPT!

I have run PR4 GT one set was enough. Have run 3 sets of Angel A spec.

I have RS3 on now . tread depth measurement taken on top of wear bar in center most part of tread on NEW tire was F 4/32 and R 7/32. (same as new Angel or PR4).

At 5000 miles the the F is 3/32 on wearbar and rear is 3.5/32 at wearbar. I expect to see 9-10000 miles total. Same as other two brands above.

Now I have ridden the RS3's quite aggressively with at least half the mileage 2up . I am light and so is my wife. I ride less than 10% typical tire mileage on interstate.

As a comparison, I ride with a C14 (heavier guy). Same roads, same speeds , same corners and he gets 60% of the tire mileage I get on Angels. Also ride with medium weight guy on R1200RT and he gets about 20% more total mileage than me. Again same roads, speeds,riding style.

My take on the RS3 is that the rear will last about same as any other I have used. Front will last also about same, BUT profile is holding much better and handling is not deteriorating as much as Either above tire riding curves spiritedly.

Hard to compare styles.....don't drag knees.....but get after it pretty good. Don't brake hard or trail brake mostly. More the PACE style and 2lane stuff speeds are kept inside license loosing parameters.

Forgot to Add. IMO on the street the biggest tire eating scenario's is high speed interstate, more weight/speed the worse it is, and trail braking, pushing hard accel/decel for long stretches. This would potentially halve the tire mileage I get.

I know these are neither the RS3 nor the PR4. BUT, I've run both the RS2, and the PR3. I also ran a few sets of the original RS years ago. Personal opinion based on the RS2 and Micheline tires I HAVE run? I wouldn't run either again. Michelin just isn't worth the money and my RS2 set failed me miserably. I went to the BT30 GTs, and they have been great.

Based on what RS and Micheline recently, there are better options out there. There is nothing special about the PR4, and I guess I couldn't tell you if the RS has improved at all since the last iteration.

Last year I got 14000 Kms (about 8700 mi) on my rear Dunlop RoadSmart III. Haven't swapped it off yet, have about 1.5mm more tread depth before hitting the marker.

I have a history of buying Pirelli Angel GT, Michelin PR4, and Avon Storm 3D X-M.

For the price, the grip, and the feel, I'm quite happy with this RS3, and will likely consider buying another in the future.

Canadian Steve said:

Forgot to Add. IMO on the street the biggest tire eating scenario's is high speed interstate, more weight/speed the worse it is, and trail braking, pushing hard accel/decel for long stretches. This would potentially halve the tire mileage I get.

Click to expand...

I think the opposite. Cross country trip got over 11,000 miles out of rear which did go into the cord showing steel. Riding local back roads I'm going to be lucky to get much past 5,000 miles. Both with RSIII. Constant throttle and braking on local back roads eats tires but fun.

Iggy - I apologize if this went to NEPRT, but truthfully, if it sparks more opinion on my questions (which it already has), then I'm more than willing to accept the shame. By the way, someone above thought that YOU might have an opinion on your experiences with these tires. If that is true, I'm all ears and eyes.

Canadian Steve - this is EXACTLY the kind of data I was looking for. I know that everyone is different and the many variables involved can't make this a National Science Foundation Merit Award finalists. But that doesn't matter. What matters is how ya'll would compare the RS3's to the PRX's in terms of mileage and performance.

Cyclepath - what mileage did you get from your PR4 experiences, and would you offer a comparison to the RS3, please?

HRZ - your comment is where I'm fishing too. I think my brand loyalty to Michelin is costing me a LOT of money.....

Im interested in this conversation, NERPT status or not. Im running a General Tire G-Max car tire on the back. Dark siding puts extra forces on the front tire which results in increased cupping. The PR 2 seemed to resist it pretty well, as well as the Perelli Angel. The worst tire in this respect is the Avon Storm. Its long slender siping allows long and substantial cupping which noticeably tugs at the front end. I can feel it in the handlebars at lower speeds. I cant wait to get the thing replaced when my frustration level exceeds my resistance to spend money on a prematurely spent front tire. The Dunlop RS3 front has caught my eye as a replacement.

Brodie