Michelin Pilot Power vs Road

I'm going to swap back to real street tires soon and I'm trying to make up my mind on getting powers or road 3s.

The biggest decision for me comes down to mileage. I know the roads will last a lot longer (12K+ from what many sport bike riders are saying) but how fast have ya'll been wearing out the powers? If they can do 5-6K miles I think I can live with that... the heavier bikes are saying 2-3K miles.

Any feedback for either tire is appreciated and will help me make the decision.

I put some Bridgestone BT45 on mine for commuting, 1,500 miles in and they seem to be lasting well.

Sure, I don't expect them to be a sticky as the stock tyres, but they havnt given me any grief on the road yet :-)

mrgeoff wrote:

I put some Bridgestone BT45 on mine for commuting, 1,500 miles in and they seem to be lasting well.

Sure, I don't expect them to be a sticky as the stock tyres, but they havnt given me any grief on the road yet :-)

I didn't like the stock tires enough to consider the other options from bridgestone. The level of grip was less than I expected and there was little to no warning before they let loose.

I like predictable tires that have some type of feedback before they put you in a ditch.

Wow, I lost my horizon a couple of times when riding on the stock tyres by leaning over just a bit too much, they gave all the grip I ever wanted!!!

So the michelins give even more grip? Thats amazing!!!

It may have a lot to do with our roads here. I'm actually happier with the shinko 705s I've got then the stock tires because they adapt to changes in road conditions a lot more seamlessly.

Personally... I never buy a tire for mileage. I realize that 'Value' should be a consideration, but it's like buying riding equipment, just buy the best you can get and (given the limitations of safety equipment) you never have to second guess a potential outcome.

For street applications, simply get the best gripping, most reliable tire you can get.

One trip into the giggleweeds, off a cliff, into the trees (or worse) resulting in a trip to the hospital and the cost/value is irrelevant.

There is a lot of good tires out there. Admittedly, some are better than others. Some will out wear others at a trade for traction (that simple thing that when you and your bike, gravity and physics have a difference of opinion - gravity and physics wins).

I like my PPs ( on the R1). I had sworn by Dunlops before and if/when I could get them, the GP*s (race spec tire). They warmed up quickly, were durable for three years (3K miles) of thermal cycles and wore out gracefully. The PPs don't seem to warm up as quickly, but they are predictable and are wearing very well.

I put Pirelli Diablo Rosso last year. In fact I did 2 years with them, I use them in track day too and they never slip. Now they are starting to feel ''greasy'' (I don't know if you use that term in english) but I have 4 race day and 4-5 track day + 3K miles on them.

Next year I will try Bridgestone BT-003RS to see if there's a difference

I have 4600+ miles on Pilot Power 110 front/150 rear, way too much of it freeway. Rear just starting to get squared off. I barely got 2k out of the stock Bridgestone rear. Pilots have more predictable grip, much better over parallel grooves; less head shake at freeway speeds. I predict another 1500-2000 before I need replacement. I was planning on a dual compound tire of some type next but at the cost difference I will most likely stick (pun intended) with the Pilots. I will put 2CT's on my CBR954RR, I think the weight difference between the two bikes makes a big difference.

railbird wrote:

I have 4600+ miles on Pilot Power 110 front/150 rear, way too much of it freeway. Rear just starting to get squared off. I barely got 2k out of the stock Bridgestone rear. Pilots have more predictable grip, much better over parallel grooves; less head shake at freeway speeds. I predict another 1500-2000 before I need replacement. I was planning on a dual compound tire of some type next but at the cost difference I will most likely stick (pun intended) with the Pilots. I will put 2CT's on my CBR954RR, I think the weight difference between the two bikes makes a big difference.

That's some awesome info there... that's good enough mileage that I'd be willing to roll the powers over the roads. I was expecting worse than stock wear.

Michelin's are full on hard running tires, the roads will give you some more miles though. It's all in what you want, for my weekends I WANT GRIPPPPP !

I just picked up a Road 3 for the rear less than 300 miles ago. I have been very happy thus far. I was mostly swayed by the design of the tread pattern. For me, a bit more grip in the nasty stuff was worth more than than on dry pavement.

One of my concerns was with the compound and temps in the 20's. It is much better than my worn out stock tire but I'm not sure how it compares with others as I haven't seen "cold weather compound" in any of the marketing speak.

I've toyed with the idea of pp front and road rear. Leaning towards just pp front and rear though. I've run both 110/70 and 120/70 up front, but never with the exact same tire, so not a great comparison. Has anyone run both fronts in the same type tire before and noticed any difference? I've been happy with PPs and road 2s on other bikes.

love2lean wrote:

Michelin's are full on hard running tires, the roads will give you some more miles though. It's all in what you want, for my weekends I WANT GRIPPPPP !

I'm bringing this one back. I ended up buying the powers and I'll mount them in the next few weeks.

Love2Lean or others running the pilot powers... what pressures seem to work good for you?

What I've learned from the shinko pressures will have zero use on these tires and I'd like to save some time trying to find what works.

Arkmage wrote:

love2lean wrote:

Michelin's are full on hard running tires, the roads will give you some more miles though. It's all in what you want, for my weekends I WANT GRIPPPPP !

I'm bringing this one back. I ended up buying the powers and I'll mount them in the next few weeks.

Love2Lean or others running the pilot powers... what pressures seem to work good for you?

What I've learned from the shinko pressures will have zero use on these tires and I'd like to save some time trying to find what works.

Arkmage I have used Michelins on sportbikes and supermoto with good results. I have found that because the X chassis is lighter than most sportbike applications that running slightly lower PSI can be helpful in obtaining maximum grip so:

Front is 32 -30
rear is 28 or 26 deepending on how much sliding and Backing it in you do. Also keep in mind that the 150 rear is out of round because of the rim size so don't be alarmed when you still have unused tire (chicken strips) when you come home from a hard peg scraping run. I run the lower of the two settings on colder days allowing more tire deflection thus (heating) the tire carcuss faster . With this tire I can drag knee and pegs but still have un used tire on the rear. see photo below with Bridestone RS's 150



Feel free to ask any other tire related questions , information exchange is the only way we will learn and improve !

Thanks. That's inline with what I found on SMJ as well. A lot of them were running 27-30 front and 25-30 rear.

I had planned to start out with 29/27 and work from there.