Worn Out PR2's?

Folks,
How can you tell when the PR2s are shot? Mine have done 13,000kms and look good. I hadn't any reason to be asking this question up to the weekend's ride and then only in the wet. In the dry they don't feel any different to when they were new (as far as I can remember). Visually, they appear to have plenty left in them (but hey, I'm no expert).

Twice though on the weekend Bathurst ride I lost traction at the back at 100 kmph in 6th, once wihen initiating an overtake and then, same day, in the short but sharp downpour 50kms from Bathurst. The first one I was thinking "was that some oil I just hit?" The second one I was thinking "well this probably happens when you're riding in a river that 5 minutes ago was a road". But maybe it wasn't either and the tyres are getting iffy? It sure put me off this morning when we were on a damp road from a morning shower.

Are there tread wear indicators on the PR2 that I should be looking for? Should I post a piccie of the rear wear?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Ewok

I have a pr2 rear at the moment and as you say it "looks " Ok . Trouble is its stuffed .Stacks of tread on the sides and a little in the middle .
Rub your hand over it ,if it feel flat across the centre (like mine ) time for a new one .At 13000 kls thats about the right time .You forget
what shape they should be "V" kind of.

Have a look at the tread wear indicator. Here is some more info

On the other hand, if you are not confident in the tyre or it feels like shit to you, IMO change it. It is the main thing between you and getting home safely.

13000 is on the low side if pressures have been maintained. What you may have experienced is what we call "tram lining" which is where the tyre follows the road conture or a groove in the road. I doubt very much it will be wheel spin in 6th or aquaplaning.
In my experience pr2's perform the same until you give them up and you will know when that time is.
Post a pic of the wear indicator by all means.

dhula wrote:Have a look at the tread wear indicator. Here is some more info

On the other hand, if you are not confident in the tyre or it feels like shit to you, IMO change it. It is the main thing between you and getting home safely.

Thanks for the pointer dhula. Found the tread wear indicator on both left and right sides - see piccie. Plenty of tread left on the right side (~2.5mm). A bit less on the left - reflecting the fact that I corner more confidently on that side - don't know why but I do. Think I'll put the weekend behaviour down to (a) oil on the road the first time and (b) torrential downpour the second - so bad Grover could only see my taillight and he wasn't that far behind me. I'll keep them on until the 24,000 kms service by which time they'll have done 17,000kms and then re-assess.



Thanks for the responses.

They look good to me mate.
Set aside some cash for a new starter at 24k too n

lots of tread left in the chicken strips , you should ride in those for a while

Sorry but thats stuffed.Looks ok in the pic but mine looks the same so i know its flat across the centre .I bet it shakes across white lines .
You will get more miles but it will only feel worse .If i was cashed up i'd change mine tomorrow
If it had wear bars in the center you would be past them .

gus wrote:Sorry but thats stuffed.Looks ok in the pic but mine looks the same so i know its flat across the centre .I bet it shakes across white lines .
You will get more miles but it will only feel worse .If i was cashed up i'd change mine tomorrow
If it had wear bars in the center you would be past them .

agreed, same problem with my gs500 Gus...

Tread looked great but the ride felt crap. Flat had developed across the middle. new tyres made it feel like a new bike....

chips wrote:

gus wrote:Sorry but thats stuffed.Looks ok in the pic but mine looks the same so i know its flat across the centre .I bet it shakes across white lines .
You will get more miles but it will only feel worse .If i was cashed up i'd change mine tomorrow
If it had wear bars in the center you would be past them .

agreed, same problem with my gs500 Gus...

Tread looked great but the ride felt crap. Flat had developed across the middle. new tyres made it feel like a new bike....

New tyres always feel great.
Ewok's hoop isn't bad enough to cause loss of traction which is what he was asking about. Sure its not "new" but still quite usable.
He could probably play with pressures to see what feels better. Most f us wear out the center much more than that before changing.

Seeing as the edges are brand new I'm wondering if there is a tyre that meets Ewok's needs better at a lower cost.

Your right ,it is useable and unlikley to loose traction .Just feels like it might . Now if the road saftey people want to do something good ,how
about getting the price of tyres down .If they were $100 we would all have perfect tyres all the time .$300 for 10,000 kl s is a joke ,but i'm not laughing.

gus wrote:Your right ,it is useable and unlikley to loose traction .Just feels like it might . Now if the road saftey people want to do something good ,how
about getting the price of tyres down .If they were $100 we would all have perfect tyres all the time .$300 for 10,000 kl s is a joke ,but i'm not laughing.

Yes Gus total cost of ownership is something I'm not game to work out.
The Australian market is tiny and we all pay for that.

I won't be too unhappy if I get 17,000 kms from them but I'll recheck the thread that talks about tyres to see what else might present itself as an option. I recall some forum members pretty happy with Bridgestones. It might all come down to price and how much life you get from them. Thanks for the comments.

At least another 3000 ks out of that.

@Ewok: Thats exactly why i ditched the Michelins in favour of the Bridestone Battlax's. Whilst they had much longer life than most other tyres out there the trade off is they unexpectedly let go in certain situations. I'd rather make it home in one piece than get 17000 out of a set of tyres. BTW my PR2's lasted just over 9000k on the rear. The previous Battlax BT021's around 6500, but they stik like shit to a blanket and are very predictable

Mine looked similar to those pictured. I thought I had at least a couple of thou left on them. Wrong, 500km later they were shot.

The only complaint I have with the PR2's is that they go from "They'll be right" to "Oh fuck, I need new tyres NOW" really quickly.

b12mick wrote:Mine looked similar to those pictured. I thought I had at least a couple of thou left on them. Wrong, 500km later they were shot.

The only complaint I have with the PR2's is that they go from "They'll be right" to "Oh fuck, I need new tyres NOW" really quickly.

Same with mine although I think Ewok will still get more out of his.

With a back tyre like Ewok's i've noticed that i have no feel coming from the front .i just feel disconnected from the road .Not nice .

b12mick wrote:Mine looked similar to those pictured. I thought I had at least a couple of thou left on them. Wrong, 500km later they were shot.

The only complaint I have with the PR2's is that they go from "They'll be right" to "Oh fuck, I need new tyres NOW" really quickly.

No different with Bridgestones mate. Last set I had I thought there was plenty left in the centre. Rode to work and noticed on arrival steel belt showing in the centre. Was a very sedate ride home I can tell you.

reddog wrote:

b12mick wrote:Mine looked similar to those pictured. I thought I had at least a couple of thou left on them. Wrong, 500km later they were shot.

The only complaint I have with the PR2's is that they go from "They'll be right" to "Oh fuck, I need new tyres NOW" really quickly.

No different with Bridgestones mate. Last set I had I thought there was plenty left in the centre. Rode to work and noticed on arrival steel belt showing in the centre. Was a very sedate ride home I can tell you.

ok. I've used Metzlers in the past and the wear rate doesn't seem to change as much on them (M1 or Z6). If you figure you've got 1000km left, then you've probably got 1000km left.

This is a brand new one 0 kls .You kind of forget how they are supposed to look . And no Ewok i wont swap .

Looks like you've taken to cleaning them too Gus!! Yep, a bit envious - had to ride home from work in the rain and was a bit tentative for sure.

Took me ages to stick those bits of rubber on .

gus wrote:Took me ages to stick those bits of rubber on .

Especially if you do it after each time you take it out

Bhoffo wrote:

gus wrote:Took me ages to stick those bits of rubber on .

Especially if you do it after each time you take it out

I know a bloke who whenever he gets a new tyre spends valuable riding time clipping those little bits of rubber off with a nail clipper.