Michelin Pilot Road 3 - 1 yr report

[Lawrence]

Got a small nail in the rear, and tire was near done, so decided to replace front and rear just to get it done with

- that is 3 punctures in 2011, and none that I recall in the prior 20+ years/ 130k of riding.. argh

Anyway

10k on rear wheel, and 11k on front PR3, and there was probably a couple of thousand more (at least) left before getting really low on tread (ie belts showing)

- unfortunately almost no moutain riding, mostly commuting so far this year

- without the nail and low air pressure for a few weeks until I could get aroudn to replacing the rear, I'm sure mileage would have been even higher.

There isn't enough rain here in San Diego, and the dealer indicated slightly higher mileaga on the PR2s, so it's back to a pair of PR2s for now

Interesting to note that the rear tire felt solid stable even with pretty low air pressure (20psi).

 

[Road_Runner]

Got a small nail in the rear, and tire was near done, so decided to replace front and rear just to get it done with

- that is 3 punctures in 2011, and none that I recall in the prior 20+ years/ 130k of riding.. argh

Anyway

10k on rear wheel, and 11k on front PR3, and there was probably a couple of thousand more (at least) left before getting really low on tread (ie belts showing)

- unfortunately almost no moutain riding, mostly commuting so far this year

- without the nail and low air pressure for a few weeks until I could get aroudn to replacing the rear, I'm sure mileage would have been even higher.

There isn't enough rain here in San Diego, and the dealer indicated slightly higher mileaga on the PR2s, so it's back to a pair of PR2s for now

Interesting to note that the rear tire felt solid stable even with pretty low air pressure (20psi).

Good to know regarding the dealers opinion about higher mileage on the PR2's vs the PR3's. The PR2's cost less to boot.

 

[topanga]

I love posting these. 5k miles, (and they sucked for the last 1k)

My 1st & last set from last summer. Avon's for me from now on looks like.

 

[carlson_mn]

I love posting these. 5k miles, (and they sucked for the last 1k)

My 1st & last set from last summer. Avon's for me from now on looks like.

Dude, I got yelled at in a local riding forum I'm in when I posted these pics...

of my worn out PR2 after a good ride in the twisties.

This was the tire at the beginning of that 500 mile day

I thought the middle would show cords but it didn't, but the side did, as it was mostly hard riding in the twisties.

But your front is ridiculous, I'm all about riding your own ride but did you not notice the cords for about 200 500 miles of twisties??? When my rear got flaky like above it was still pretty solid but I could feel it wiggling around and sliding a bit when hard on the gas coming out of 60-90mph corners. I can't imagine a full wrap around of cords on the front being all that confidence inspiring. Not to mention the very elevated heat build-up and risk of a blow out ruining your day and your riding buddies.... but we don't worry about that

Anyways, yeah that was at 6800 miles on the set, the front had about a thousand more miles left but was pretty much toast too.

 

[Road_Runner]

Wow that's not much mileage out of a set of Michelins. I got over 10K on two sets of PR2's, albeit on my Sprint ST - 100 lbs lighter. Guess maybe I am a bit easier on tires than you guys.

 

[Lawrence]

My front were wearing thin on the side with tread left in middle (all from commuting) - so I'd say the PR3 are as advertised, if a little soft on the sides, especially for a larger, heavier bike like the FJR

Back when I first got my Concours and I rode the COG Western National ('96 I think it was), I wore the sides off the front of a Dunlop, plenty of tread in middle.

My take:

PR3 - good for longer distance riding, occasional (or at least not pushing the edge of traction) mountains, and solid in the rain

PR2 - longer lasting without the rain grip (which I don't really need, even though I ride year-round) and as noted - slightly cheaper

if/once PR2 no longer available, I wouldn't have any qualms about going back to the PR3

 

[Road_Runner]

Well the front PR2 that I ordered is going on in a few hundred miles to replace the BT23 that has a bit over 4K on it and is really wearing badly. I hate Bridgestones... the ones on it came with the bike.