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Pilot Road 4. Ohh yea

How do you like them in the wet? I have had every single day since I got my motorcycle and it came with a squared off rear tire so I think that wet riding chart characteristics are most important for me. I have pilot power on there now. I was also looking at Pirelli Diablo.
 
Mine seem to be OK in the rain but then again I'm not a tire tester with a skid pad that can test every brand and type of tire available under identical conditions.
 
Yes, 120/70R17 front and 180/55R17 rear. You may want to consider replacing as a set for optimal handling and performance, especially if your existing tires are old. The condition of the tread is only one hint to replace them, even new looking tires may well be past their 'best before date'.
 
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Hmm, i think the front one loos good. I watched a video on youtube about when to replace your tires and it showed cracks and what not to look for, of course now I'm an expert! but seriously, I would say the front one looks good. the back one is a square that is worn down to the replacement indicators. I'm going in. I'm heading to the store to get a breaker bar, since the socket I have has little leverage. Wish me luck, I will report back tonight. It looks hard though. It looks easy to remove the wheel and hard to remove the tire.
 
What is the make and model of your front tire? There's a date stamp (4 digit code) on the sidewall, what's it say?

Also, for the benefit of speedy roadside repairs, practice working on your bike with the factory tool kit. Most factory tool kits have everything you need to do minor repairs, including removing the rear wheel
 
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Good advice. My front is also the Pilot Power(i bought a pilot power rear) The date is 0614.

I did not get a chance to try to instal it yesterday, today I will though. I had a friend who sad he had changed tires, so I wore the tire around my shoulder and rode to his house, but he didn't really feel like it when I got there. It was pretty late though. Looks like I will be doing it myself tonight.
 
Wow that was hard! I got it on though. I feel good about doing it myself too

I wonder why the shop charges so much for the wheel removal. That was the easy part. The tire was the hard part. Very hard. Hard to break that bead and stretch it out over the rim. I'm sure it will go easier next time now that I know what I'm doing.
 
Area57 said:
Wow that was hard! I got it on though. I feel good about doing it myself too

I wonder why the shop charges so much for the wheel removal. That was the easy part. The tire was the hard part. Very hard. Hard to break that bead and stretch it out over the rim. I'm sure it will go easier next time now that I know what I'm doing.
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It becomes easier as you practice it more. The key is to keep it well lubed. Lubrication makes all the difference in getting the bead to slip on or off.

I have my first set of PR4s which were mounted on the 2009 I crashed, repaired and sold but I kept the tires and put them on the 2013. I've only got 2500 miles on these tires but they still look like they are new. The grip is confidence-inspiring and the rain performance is the best I've ever had. If they last into the 13k+ miles, I see no reason to look for another tire to replace it.


***EDIT*** Just saw this review:

[video=youtube;gGD6HLdNcW4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGD6HLdNcW4[/video]
 
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bringing this one back from the Dead. I have 138k miles on my Gen 1 and have tried a number of different tires. I was using the Shinko Raven's but I have two of them fail well before they should have, one at 5k and one at 7k and I had gotton 11k on the first one I bought - so when the last Raven blew out I decided to spend more money and went with the Road 4. I have just come to the end of it's life and I think i will have put just about 12k miles on it. I went ahead and ordered the Road 4 GT since it is designed for a heavier load and might give me more than 12k miles. It was 1 dollar difference from the regular Road 4 on Rocky Mountain ATV. It should arrive tomorrow and I will get it installed this week. I will follow up with some pictures of what my Road 4 looks like and the exact mileage I got on it.

Unlike many FZ1 owners my bike is mostly for Commuting on the freeway in a straight line going 70-90mph. I have been chasing the mileage on rear tires since I got this bike in 2013.
 
Klurejr said:
bringing this one back from the Dead. I have 138k miles on my Gen 1 and have tried a number of different tires. I was using the Shinko Raven's but I have two of them fail well before they should have, one at 5k and one at 7k and I had gotton 11k on the first one I bought - so when the last Raven blew out I decided to spend more money and went with the Road 4. I have just come to the end of it's life and I think i will have put just about 12k miles on it. I went ahead and ordered the Road 4 GT since it is designed for a heavier load and might give me more than 12k miles. It was 1 dollar difference from the regular Road 4 on Rocky Mountain ATV. It should arrive tomorrow and I will get it installed this week. I will follow up with some pictures of what my Road 4 looks like and the exact mileage I got on it.

Unlike many FZ1 owners my bike is mostly for Commuting on the freeway in a straight line going 70-90mph. I have been chasing the mileage on rear tires since I got this bike in 2013.
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My last set was the PR4 GTs. 17.5k on them, all hwy commuting. The few small trips I’d go on you can deff tell how bad they'd became in the twisty when they got up in milage. However, the darn things just wouldn’t wear out and were fine for hwy/commuting. And the GTs were confidence inspiring as well. To me at least.
 
cannedSardina said:
My last set was the PR4 GTs. 17.5k on them, all hwy commuting. The few small trips I’d go on you can deff tell how bad they'd became in the twisty when they got up in milage. However, the darn things just wouldn’t wear out and were fine for hwy/commuting. And the GTs were confidence inspiring as well. To me at least.
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That amount of milage is phenomenal. The people that run car tires get that kind of milage.
 
New Road 4GT's are installed.

I got 11.755 miles out of the Road 4 on the rear.

So now the question is how many can I get on the Road 4 GT..... I will be back to let you all know.

of note my front is a Road 4 that was installed 8k miles ago and the tread looks like it did when new.... that sucker will last well past 14k i think.
 
Will be looking at new tyres in spring, not sure which model of Pilot is on there now, they have loads of tread but are shaped like a car tyre - the previous owner must have only cornered 3 times in the past couple of years....
 
Jeremy Atkins said:
Will be looking at new tyres in spring, not sure which model of Pilot is on there now, they have loads of tread but are shaped like a car tyre - the previous owner must have only cornered 3 times in the past couple of years....
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I mostly commute on the freeway for work - so my rears are always flat on the center when I get to end of life.

The difference in feel between the 4 and the 4GT is zero for the riding I do. I read the GT has a stiffer sidewall since they are designed for heavier touring bikes - but on my ride in this morning there was no difference.
 
When I did work….. one of my co-workers (Dave) was an engineer who had previously worked for Michelin. He had a dream job of supporting them at car racing events around the world. I wish I would have asked him what are the variables that cause large variances in the amount of miles one can expect from the same brand / model of tire.

In racing a lot of the variance has to do with throttle/braking application. In racing everyone is on the same surface.

On the road I suspect throttle/braking control has only a small amount of input into longevity. I suspect that road surface, vehicle weight, pillion presence, and ambient temperatures have more to do with expected life.

So if Joe (cannedSadinia) can find out what Louisiana is using for its asphalt, I’ll pass the recipe along to Mass DOT.
 
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