Pilot Road 3s on a sportbike. Feedback?

[espacef1fan]

Originally Posted by jules083

I run PR2's on my ZX-14 with no complaints. They last long, even with the motor, and haven't given me any reason not to use them. The last rear had about 4500 miles in it when I picked up a nail and changed it out, but had plenty of life left. I would guess it would have hit 8,000 easy. Front currently has 5,000 on it and looks fine.

How'd the center look at 4500 miles?
I assume you enjoyed the power alot..thats half the reason you buy a bike like that..LOL

[elementalg20]

I suspect you'd like the PR3's considerably better than the shinko or contimotions you had before. I can't speak from experience as I don't ride as hard, nor have as a sporting bike as you. For that matter I'm running PR2's and not the 3's but from what I can gather the 3's biggest advantage is in the wet and supposedly the pr2 is less prone to cupping....I figure I don't do alot of wet weather riding and I'd save a few bucks and hopefully have a better wearing front tire. I know a guy who runs a pr2 front and pr3 rear for this reason, but he also rides a K1300GT fully loaded for touring 2up so take it with a grain of salt.

[jules083]

It looked pretty good. The last 2,000 miles were on a trip to North Carolina and back with camping gear, so I rode it pretty easy and did a fair amount of highway. It was starting to square off but nothing to worry about. I was planning on plugging it from the inside and putting it back on until dad threw it away.

I was pretty excited about that, he did a 'garage cleanup' and threw away a lot of stuff. The dirt tires for my XR, 2 sets of race take-offs for my CRF, the spare for my truck (scrapped the rim), backseat for my Jeep, top for my jeep, and my tent. Probably more that I haven't found out about yet.

[TrashCan]

Originally Posted by jules083

It looked pretty good. The last 2,000 miles were on a trip to North Carolina and back with camping gear, so I rode it pretty easy and did a fair amount of highway. It was starting to square off but nothing to worry about. I was planning on plugging it from the inside and putting it back on until dad threw it away.

I was pretty excited about that, he did a 'garage cleanup' and threw away a lot of stuff. The dirt tires for my XR, 2 sets of race take-offs for my CRF, the spare for my truck (scrapped the rim), backseat for my Jeep, top for my jeep, and my tent. Probably more that I haven't found out about yet.

Think maybe he was trying to tell you something??

[kwb377]

I've used Powers (originals, then 2CT's) for years on different bikes, decided to try a PR3 on the rear of the '14 since it was burning through a Power every 2500 miles. I have @ 4k on the PR3, with little appreciable wear and no loss in grip and feel. I'm sold on 'em.

[jules083]

Originally Posted by TrashCan

Think maybe he was trying to tell you something??

Yeah, except it was my garage and he wanted to park his trailer in it while I was working out of town.

All typos and misspellings blamed on my phone.

[TrashCan]

Originally Posted by jules083

Yeah, except it was my garage and he wanted to park his trailer in it while I was working out of town.

All typos and misspellings blamed on my phone.

That's even better.



Back to tires.

I liked the Pilot Powers very well, but have the PR2 on now and time will tell.

[Dave.0]

currently have PR3s on my ducati multistrada 1200, basically an upright superbike

these are a great tire for the real world -- if you ride your bike on various road and weather conditions

if you are looking for ultimate grip in a dry weather track type tire, I'd look elsewhere, but as the grip goes up the longevity goes down

I suspect most "average" riders would never push the limits of the PR3s, even on a track

[LuciferMutt]

Basic answer:

If you ride within the pace you described in this thread, you'll be fine.

Compared to sport tires:
They will last longer and maintain a better profile while they wear.
They will not turn in as easily, but will be very stable and confidence inspiring when they ARE leaned over, especially in high speed sweepers.
They will be more stable in a straight line.
Better grip in cold weather and on cold pavement
Extremely minimal warm-up time
Better in wet weather
Less prone to damage from impacts with debris or potholes

I've long thought that a proper sport touring tire is really a better tire than an all-out sports tire for real world riding. Obviously a sports tire is better for the track -- but most of us are not on the track more than a few times a year, if at all! The biggest reason for my opinion has to do with the fact that a sport touring tire will reach optimum operating tempurature at sane/streetable paces while many sports tires require you to be riding too fast for the street to reach temp and provide optimum grip. As a result, a sport-touring tire may in fact offer BETTER grip in normal street situations than a sports tire.

Get the PR2/3s. You won't regret it. Many report the only advantage the 3 has over the 2 is improved rain/wet performance.

[00 RK]

I put a PR3 rear on my RC51 that I rode daily, including heavy rain. Tire was great, took abrupt throttle or brake in the rain to get it to slip. Great dry traction for everything short of a track day and much better than average tread life.

[jesse v]

I pretty much agree with everything said here... I have exprience with BT-023's, and, to me, those tires will get you well beyond safe street riding. If you need to achieve that last 5% of performance, you should be debating what track to go to, not what tire to use.

Also, I second the above poster (forgot who) that pairs a BT-023 rear with a BT-016 (or S20) up front. That way they wear out at the same time.

[baloneyskin daddy]

I've tried most of the tires mentioned here and outside of maybe a little different "feel" have gotten basically the same performanc e and mileage. Around 5k for a front and 3-4 k for a rear give or take depending on rainy weather. If you're getting 8k out of a rear on a full size bike as I've seen mentioned in a post you can run anything you want as your not getting close to any tires' limitations.Certain bikes for some reason don't like certain profiles of tires and will act strange but if you research your bike on almost any site others have solved these problems for you. I will say though that the set of PR2s I've just finished off kept their profile and resisted flattening out better than any tire I've tried so far.

[bahnzii]

I've had PR2's on my ZX-14 and now I have PR3's on my Multistrada. I didn't expect either version to be a track day hero, but instead give me a good compromise on feel, grip and wear. Keeping that in mind and that both bikes are torquey, I got great mileage even though my right hand tends to twist a little too far quite often
I averaged 8-10k miles before I needed to get a new rear. I could have gone longer on the front tire, but I like to replace my bike tires in pairs.

I would definitely recommend the PR3's if you are looking for a good all-around street tire.

As always YMMV, cheers!!

[Moronic]

Originally Posted by espacef1fan

I'm really on the fence between getting some Pilot Road 3s or a conventional sport tire such as a Bridgestone S20 or similar.

Specifically I am concerned that I may end up on my head more easily on the Pilot Road 3s when being enthusiastic...

I've had Pilot Powers and Pilot Road 2s and 3s on my Monster, currently have the 3s.

For my 2C you need to be concerned about ending on your head with the 3s only in so far as you are insensitive with control inputs. As in, the Road 3s will be less forgiving than the Powers (or similar more sporty rubber) of ham-fisted brake or throttle use.

They will still let you know when things might be getting a bit sketchy, and they will still offer plenty of performance, but shall we say there is a little less resiliance, IMO.

Originally Posted by espacef1fan

I am most concerned about the feel of the tires and steering effort.

As others have noted above, the Powers have steeper profiles (as, I assume, will other sports rubber). How much that matters will depend on your bike and what you are looking for. The steeper profile of the Powers helps my Monster a lot, improving willingness to turn in and precision once in. They are definitely my preferred tyre. OTOH the profile on the Roads feels quite similar, the urge to fall off the centre just not as pronounced.

If I lived near good mountain roads or the like, then likely I would use the Powers all the time. Mainly for the better steering, rather than grip, although in those conditions I would get more out of the grip as well. I will disagree with a previous poster and say I think the Powers held their profile for longer, as a proportion of tyre life (tho probably shorter in absolute terms). But where I live there are no mountains, and good winding roads are few and generally open, and a long way away. The Roads last 60-100 per cent longer, so they get the nod.

[Tripped1]

Originally Posted by espacef1fan

If I'm honest I might guess I am between track speed(below) and above legal speed(not hard on most good roads) My speed might be more if I wasnt so worried about things you dont encounter at the track..like cops....crap in the road..traffic..pedestrians..etc... Though there are a few "spots" I know of that stuff like that is of little concern....

I ride alone frequently though so I dont have a good gauge of how fast I am?!?!



In any case...Im sure the flamers are already typing away....Its cool..I wear nomex for work everyday. Seriously. Being flight crew in the military rules;)

If you aren't on a track you are likely not going close to track speed. I wouldn't even go at "moderate" track speed on a public road, the consequences for screwing it up are fatal. Not likely to hurt, fatal.

.....and you can go significantly faster than legal with a fully dressed cruiser.

I can't speak for Road3s but I have done track days on Road2s. The tires were less of an issue than the rest of bike. The Road 3s sacrifice durability for traction so I can't see that being much of an issue.

Compared to a more aggressive tire a la Pilot Power or Diablo, the big difference is you have to be a little more careful downshifting under braking, there is little difference once you are on the soft rubber.