Michelin pilot street radials - bought em

[Bob2010]

http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/m...ial-rear-tires

Soo I have bought these for both bikes
I read till my head hurt.
I'm guessing radials are better than bias ply
I'm guessing these will feel better handling wise even when wet vs the IRCs

Please correct me if wrong

Also. Any benefit using 140 rear over 130? Cause I'm pretty sure I thought 140 was stock and that's what I ordered.

Both bikes have less than 3,000 miles on it so it anyone wants to buy some used 09 and 10 tires let me know come spring

[Sirref]

There is no doubt that they'll be an improvement over the IRC tires, The only question I personally have is a review against it's direct competition the Pirelli diablo rosso II tires which are the same price.

I believe on the newgen 250's 130 is stock but you should be fine with a 140 rear just don't go out trying to scrub off chicken strips since the edges wont really wear when you have tires a size large. 140 is stock for the 300s.

I am looking forward to your review since I am in the market for stickier tires that handle well in the wet and have a reasonable lifespan.

[dcj13]

Originally Posted by Sirref

...I am in the market for stickier tires that handle well in the wet and have a reasonable lifespan.

Aren't we all?

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by dcj13

Aren't we all?

hahaha, yes we are

[Bob2010]

Here's more info I found

http://motomalaya.net/blog/2013/05/1...-the-category/



And


http://www.michelin.com/corporate/co...erformance.pdf




Hmm I thought these had the "dual compound" but it's only on the super sport

[Sirref]

nope, they're single compound. They seem to be basically the same thing as the pirelli diablo rosso II tires with wet performance likely to be the major difference.

[ninja250r81]

Michelin's have better wet "grip at a given temp" than Pirelli.

140 vs 130 rear.

140 tend to have a few more tyre options.
less contact patch on the road due to the tyre fall off.

Prielli has a softer more "sporty" compound which make's the tyre life shorter.

Michelin's would be the choice for me

[Sirref]

so the michelin would be the better commuter who rides twisties 2-3 times per week tire then? where long life and wet performance are paramount and you don't need the level of grip that would be needed on a track.

[Boom King]

I personally don't think there's any noticeable difference going to a 140 and certainly nothing negative about it for the street that I could feel from personal experience. Any difference would be in fractions. 130 is considered the sweet spot for our rear oem rim though.

Anyways, I think these Michelins are a good choice if you're after wet performance. Definitely post your experience once you have them mounted.

[Scattcatt]

Bringing this thread back from the dead for my review on the Power Street Radials instead of making a new thread. I'm installing a 110/130 set on my 08 today after riding nearly 30k miles on several sets of Bridgestone BT003RS 110/140 combos.

Why the switch? Just in the mood to try something new. I don't plan on putting many miles on them today but I will give you my first impressions of them the moment I get in from my first ride on them.

I am mainly now a commuter, and from the information available it would seem this tire would far outlast the BT003's which is a plus for me, but I've always loved having that insane amount of stickiness when I got down with it. The wet performance was stressed well enough in the advertisements for the tire, but this does not really concern me all that much as we hardly get rain at all here in Vegas, but when we do, it will be nice knowing that I'll have a tire capable of handling it since the roads get so terribly slick here from oil build up. The BT003's were terrible in the rain, at least on the roads here.

[kennetht]

Looking forward to reading your review.

I just purchased a set of these for myself as well. Bike is still in the shop getting worked on, so I have not had any riding time on them yet since they installed them.

I will also post my review and opinions of the tires.

For anyone that is looking to get these, do not buy from revzilla as in the first post. They are overpriced.

Purchase them from here:

http://www.americanmototire.com/cata...th=33_176_1075

Cheaper and free shipping. Tires were delivered in two days. Definitely the better bargain.

[InvisiBill]

http://www.jakewilson.com/ is even cheaper and also has free 3-day shipping. $210 for a set in stock sizes shipped to your door.

110/70R-17 (54H) Michelin Pilot Street Radial Front $99.99
130/70R-17 (62H) Michelin Pilot Street Radial Rear $109.99
140/70R-17 (66H) Michelin Pilot Street Radial Rear $116.99

I'm interested to see how these work out, as the EX500 uses the same sizes. However, I just got a set of Vrossi wheels, so I'm no longer looking at stock sizes... The only possible issue I've seen brought up is that the EX500's frame is quite weak, so the better radial tires might overwhelm other parts of the bike.

[kennetht]

Originally Posted by InvisiBill

http://www.jakewilson.com/ is even cheaper and also has free 3-day shipping. $210 for a set in stock sizes shipped to your door.

110/70R-17 (54H) Michelin Pilot Street Radial Front $99.99
130/70R-17 (62H) Michelin Pilot Street Radial Rear $109.99
140/70R-17 (66H) Michelin Pilot Street Radial Rear $116.99

I'm interested to see how these work out, as the EX500 uses the same sizes. However, I just got a set of Vrossi wheels, so I'm no longer looking at stock sizes... The only possible issue I've seen brought up is that the EX500's frame is quite weak, so the better radial tires might overwhelm other parts of the bike.

where were you a week ago when i purchased?!? haha. could have saved me like $15. no big deal. spread the word for others though!

[Scattcatt]

Well the tires certainly look pretty good! The tread appears to be very deep, I'm liking that quite a bit, definitely doesn't hurt for the longevity.

As long as the wind dies down some, I'll take them for a spin, depends on how long it takes me to install the TPMS receiver somewhere.

[InvisiBill]

Originally Posted by kennetht

where were you a week ago when i purchased?!? haha.

In another thread. =)

Originally Posted by InvisiBill

JakeWilson has ended up being the overall cheapest for me a couple times now, though it was only a few bucks better than the next one.

[Bob2010]

damn

REVZILLA -
125.83 for the 130s
134.04 for the 140s

JakeWilson
109.99 for the 130s
116.99 for the 140s

both free shipping


soo for both bikes its $486.70 shipped from Revzilla and $433.96 from JakeWilson........ lol i messed up!

[Scattcatt]

Alright, got done putting roughly 40 or so miles on them late last night, these were the initial observations that I had:

1) The tires turned SO smoothly on the carpet in the garage.

I imagine this is largely due to the fact that these tires still rounded as opposed to flattened off in the centers after thousands of miles of mostly straight up and down commuting. However, none of the BT003RS's that I've had in the past on any of the sets ever felt like this, these just spun like butter on the ground.

2) The tires felt far more unstable in a straight line than the BT003RS's

Now depending who you are, this may be a good thing, a bad thing, or something you don't even notice at all depending on the tire you are coming from. I was caught completely by surprise by how unstable the tires felt. It felt like riding a bicycle at slow speed, constantly having to track the front tire to stay upright. I would have thought that the BT's would have done this more as they are more of a race tire, to me that would scream that they love to dive into the corners but they simply didn't, not like these Pilot Street Radials.

Initiating any turn was a thousandfold times easier than on the BT's, not that they were hard at all. If anything, it felt like you have to force the bike to stop diving deeper into the turns rather than the bike staying stable at a specific lean angle or maybe even wanting to straighten up slightly with the BT's.

This could be contributed to a couple of things, first, I have originally been on a 140 rear since day 1 with this bike. The BT's do not come in a 130 so I've been forced to use the 140 for the past 30,000 miles. To my understanding this takes away some of that God-given "flickability" that this bike is so highly praised for. That is perhaps exactly what I experienced.

The second thing of course naturally could be just the tire design.

In any case, I was caught completely off guard by this consistent yearning of the bike to just dive every which way and having to fight it almost to go straight. The winds yesterday did not help at all. On the BT's I've ridden in winds as high as 70-80 mph gusts (not recommended anyway) but I managed okay. With the Pilots, I found myself blowing across the road with 30 mph gusts yesterday.

3) The tires felt pretty sticky right out of the gate. I know they say not to ride hard on new tires for the first 100 miles and blah blah blah... I normally don't care. I find it more of a thing for the manufacturers to cover themselves from lawsuits if something "happened" to get on the tire. I don't go dragging knee or anything on the tires when I first get them or anything, but I sure don't drive them like a granny. Hard acceleration (with what the bike can put out at least) and hard braking all day and these stuck like champs. I at no point felt like the tires were inadequate with grip.

4) The tires seemed to be stiffer on the road, if only slightly. They didn't seem to soak up quite as much road imperfections as the BT's but it was so slight that really this is nit picky. Not that it bothered me at all, it was just something that I noted.

Make no mistake, my intentions are not to slam the Pilots in any way, these were simply my first ride observations. I suspect that once I get used to the handling characteristics of these tires, especially that diving ability, I will come to love them. For now I'm maintaining a neutral outlook on the tire.

If you have any other questions on the tires that I failed to cover here feel free to ask.

[Grasshoppah]

Thanks for the review! I just purchased these for '09 and awaiting arrival in the next couple days. Next up is to get to my co-worker's house to have him do the tire installation for me and get riding on the new tires.

[LoMBoY_21]

Originally Posted by Scattcatt

Well the tires certainly look pretty good! The tread appears to be very deep, I'm liking that quite a bit, definitely doesn't hurt for the longevity.

As long as the wind dies down some, I'll take them for a spin, depends on how long it takes me to install the TPMS receiver somewhere.

Hi nice tires, may i ask what is that tire hugger do you installed?

Tia...c'',)

[Scattcatt]

I'll continue to make reviews as I do different riding styles and get more familiar with the tires.

@LoMBoY_21 That's actually the Honda CBR250 tire hugger, just chopped up to fit on the Ninja's frame. Super cheap and awesome hugger option, only cost like $15 USD

[Alex]

What tire pressures are you running?

[Scattcatt]

Difficult to say, at the shop I put in 32 front 36 rear, when I got home and put them on they were at about 30/34 (hot compressed air initially I guess) and now the TMPS says 30/32. I have no idea which one to believe

On the BT's I ran stock pressures, 28/32 for probably 20,000 miles, I only recently added more pressure to them up to about 30/34 or even 32/36 but didn't notice too terribly much of a change in handling from a commuting perspective.

[Alex]

I'd try them again at 32f/36r when measured cold. Michelins S/T tires tend to like a little more air; I'd see if that helps the steering feel/stability.

[Scattcatt]

Going to pump them up right now

[beniblanco]

Was expecting to read a different type of review. I myself was debating between the pilot radials and the DR 2's hope the added air makes a difference. As I am now leaning more to the DR 2 as my next set.

[Bob2010]

yeah i got bummed out twice so far in my thread - prices and reviews are not in my favor so far....

[Scattcatt]

Alright, so after adjusting the tire pressures, I rode the bike to work this morning. It's a 15 mile commute with roughly 50/50 on surface street and freeway in regards to distance.

Immediately after jumping on the bike and taking off I felt far more stable. I don't know if this is due to the tire pressure difference, the fact that there was no wind today, or maybe I was just prepared for the tires' handling characteristics today or a combination of any of the three, but I did feel far more confident with them.

The tires without a doubt still feel like they love diving into turns far more than the BT's but I definitely felt in control today.

On the freeway I the tires actually felt much smoother than the BT's, I cannot solely credit the tires for this however, as the wheel weights flew off at some point on the old set.

Taking corners today I felt more confident than before for sure, but I wouldn't say that I'm entirely comfortable with it yet. On the BT's I had no problems getting down and dirty in the corners and twisties with but these I'm still definitely not as comfortable with them for things like that.

For those car enthusiasts out there, you could relate the handling in the turns as something similar to oversteer. I have to adjust my turns because I have a tendency with these tires to turn too sharply.

Overall, the tires are growing on me. I'll add another post in here on their performance when ridden aggressively the moment that I take them out and ride them a little harder. As well as a rain post, if it ever rains here during the time that I have the tires.

[Alex]

[kennetht]

***NOTE: I previously had the stock IRC roadwinners prior to getting these tires***

I was going to post my review as well, since this was the first weekend I have had the new tires on, and I finally got to take the bike out, however, after reading your review, I am not even going to bother since mine would be almost identical to yours.

Everything you said is spot on, especially that the tires are unstable at first. When I first got on the bike after picking it up from the shop, I felt it immediately. What a difference compared to my old tires (my old rear tire was squared off pretty badly, so perhaps this is why the newer, more round tires felt so unstable at first). However, I quickly got used to the new feeling. I compared it to getting on the ice rink ice skating for the first time in a long time. It feels weird, but you eventually get the hang of it and are back to feeling comfortable again.

I too found that initiating any turn was a thousandfold times easier compared to my old tires. What a difference.

For me, I felt 1000x more comfortable turning, as these tires are so much more grippy than my old tires. I feel much more confident.

After that first ride with the new tires, I have become much more comfortable with them on my bike. They are so much better than my IRC Roadwinners.

I find these tires absorb bumps 10x better than the roadwinners perhaps cause they are radials. Such a smoother ride. I barely even feel anything, whereas on the roadwinners, I felt every bump known to man (this may also be because I just had my fork oil and seals replaced).

All in all, I love these new tires. I can not wait every morning to get out and ride to work. The tires have deep thread, and they look to last a long time. They definitely were the right choice for me.

I would highly recommend them to anyone in the market for new tires.

[beniblanco]

Any updates on Highway rides with them?

[Bob2010]

You guys have me on the edge of my seat , debating if I should install these or re sell em......

[sharky nrk]

I wouldn't worry too much about it and just install them, I experienced a very similar feeling putting on a set of BT016s in place of some very squared off IRCs. It may be a recency effect feeling, IE it always felt like that but we just got used to the crappy inputs required on a squared off tire.

[kennetht]

Originally Posted by beniblanco

Any updates on Highway rides with them?

Ive been on the highway multiple times with them since installing, and they are flawless. Like I said in my last post, they are super smooth, I do not feel any bumps whatsoever. The tire absorbs all impacts wonderfully.

Such a smoother ride now with these radials

[kennetht]

Originally Posted by Bob2010

You guys have me on the edge of my seat , debating if I should install these or re sell em......

Install them, you will like them. Slight learning curve at the beginning, but once you are used to it, the pros outweigh the cons (which in my opinion there arent any cons)

[kennetht]

Originally Posted by sharky nrk

It may be a recency effect feeling, IE it always felt like that but we just got used to the crappy inputs required on a squared off tire.

Exactly, I was so used to the squared off tire (thats the only tire Ive ever had any riding experience with)

Now I know how a new and rounded tire should feel like. After that first initial ride, I am very used to it now, and I love the new tires.

Highly recommended

[beniblanco]

So curious to know how these tires will hold up against the DR 2's for longevity.

[Bob2010]

Don't know if they been out long enough for that type of review

[Bermuda]

Originally Posted by Scattcatt

2) The tires felt far more unstable in a straight line than the BT003RS's

Now depending who you are, this may be a good thing, a bad thing, or something you don't even notice at all depending on the tire you are coming from. I was caught completely by surprise by how unstable the tires felt. It felt like riding a bicycle at slow speed, constantly having to track the front tire to stay upright. I would have thought that the BT's would have done this more as they are more of a race tire, to me that would scream that they love to dive into the corners but they simply didn't, not like these Pilot Street Radials.

[...]

In any case, I was caught completely off guard by this consistent yearning of the bike to just dive every which way and having to fight it almost to go straight. The winds yesterday did not help at all. On the BT's I've ridden in winds as high as 70-80 mph gusts (not recommended anyway) but I managed okay. With the Pilots, I found myself blowing across the road with 30 mph gusts yesterday.

I've been riding on a new set of these for the last month now, and this has been exactly my experience. At first I though my front end was ready to fall apart, but I considered the shape of the new tire vs the run down and much flatter BT45's I came from. I'm sure as the tire sees more use and loses it's shape, it'll become a little more stable. It does feel very shaky, though nothing that I am concerned with at any speed. I just let the bike track, it seems to figure itself out - as these things do.

[NevadaWolf]

Originally Posted by beniblanco

So curious to know how these tires will hold up against the DR 2's for longevity.

Originally Posted by Bob2010

Don't know if they been out long enough for that type of review

someone buy me a set, i'll kill them in no time flat and report back on the mileage.

[ninja250r81]

Link to original page on YouTube.