Michelin Pilot Road 4

Yesterday, I spooned a new PR4 onto the rear of the FA.  Took it out for a 100 mile test ride and was impressed by the handling and stability of it.  I have a partially worn (2500 miles) Bridgestone Battlax T30F on the front, and the pair seem very compatible.

I'm hoping to get good long life out of the PR4.  I've seen mixed reviews on this tire, with some saying they were toast after 5000 miles, and others saying they last a long long time.

We'll see.  I'll post my results here...

SVDon wrote:Yesterday, I spooned a new PR4 onto the rear of the FA.  Took it out for a 160 km test ride and was impressed by the handling and stability of it.  I have a partially worn (4000 km) Bridgestone Battlax T30F on the front, and the pair seem very compatible.

I'm hoping to get good long life out of the PR4.  I've seen mixed reviews on this tire, with some saying they were toast after 5000 miles, and others saying they last a long long time.

We'll see.  I'll post my results here...

Metric translation

I'm looking forward to your report after a few more miles (km)

This reminds me of an incident I had the other day.  Chalk it up to "new bike unfamiliarity" although the functions are the same as on my VSTrom so I shouldn't use that excuse. Chalk it up to old age maybe?

I had stopped at a gasoline (petrol) station in town and refilled.  As is my custom, I went to reset one of the trip odometers to zero. In doing this I pushed a few buttons an extra time or two, as my eyesight isn't totally perfect anymore.

I noticed that the standard odometer was indicating 11730 miles.  I thought that was strange, as I purchased the bike with 5280 miles (8448 km) on it and have only put about 1700 miles (2700 km) on it since purchase.  Made a mental note to check that when I got home.  On the way through town on the way out, I was watching traffic, but then glanced down at the speedometer and OMG, the speedometer said I was going 56 mph!  In a 35 mph zone! It didn't feel that fast, so I checked my gps and it indicated I was within speed limit.

Oh crap, my speedometer is broken too!    

Like I said, my eyes aren't good enough to read the fine print on the speedo face without glasses.  It took me a moment to realize that somehow I'd accidentally switched the system into metric indications.   20 miles (32 km) later upon arriving home I switched the system back, but in the meantime I took a turn seeing how large a number I could put up on the metric speedo.       Pretty close to 200, but not enough clear space without fear of LEO (coppers) to really do anything more.  

SVDon wrote:  Pretty close to 200, but not enough clear space without fear of LEO (coppers) to really do anything more.  

And doesnt it get there pretty quick.

Well done for Aussie-ing the post too mate.

Struth it'll be your shout soon

2wheelsagain wrote:

SVDon wrote:  Pretty close to 200, but not enough clear space without fear of LEO (coppers) to really do anything more.  

And doesnt it get there pretty quick.

Well done for Aussie-ing the post too mate.

Struth it'll be your shout soon

I thought it already was

I had a similar thing that happened to SVDon
I fitted a Speedo Healer 4 on the weekend, took it for a run and on the local 50kph roads was reading about 25-30
got on the freeway was only reading about 60-70, then I realized is must have been displaying mph
pressed a button and all good back to normal.
Felt very strange though

I have replaced Front and Rear tyres at the same time for the past 8 years or so and there is nothing better than those first few rides and beautifully rounded tyres.
Once you think the tyres have gone/worn down/feel wrong etc etc, they are ready to be changed.

Don't push them for that extra few hundred km's. You never know when you'll be hit be a sudden down pour or broken water pipe near the road etc etc.

I think when we buy a bike, we should be aware that tyres are a given cost and we should strive to have the best possible rubber on at all times.

When i first got my licence in 1998, a fellow rider said "If there is one piece of advice he could give me, was to have the best rubber underneath you at all times, no matter if your bike is a dirty, smoke blowing, oil leaking piece of crap, atleast have good tyres cause that is the only connection between you and the road!"

I'd suggest getting that front tyre aswell, so you can fully appreciate that new rear tyre you just put on.

I'm getting new tyres in the next week or so and am tossing up between the Metzeler M5 Sportec, Pirelli Angel/Devil or the Michelin PR4. I dont mind about the price as I always prepare for it to roughly be around the $500 mark for the 2 tyres, give or take. I've had Metzeler for the past couple of years but am leaning towards the Michelin with all the good reviews they have had!

Will let you know which way I go and how they perform!

I just this week put a new PR4 on the rear.

Yes you are right, felt so good straightaway....

Lets be realistic any brand of new tyres feels great from brand new.

I can't understand how good the Bandit points with a farked PR2 on the front at the moment.  It's usually a pig by now. I'm putting it down to the flatter center so once it's off vertical it falls in. It's pretty cool. Will need a new one for the Alps tour if I'm expected to keep up

When you throw a new front on it'll feel like a much lighter bike. I don't like it when the bike just falls in on old rubber.. It's much nicer when it's progressive

2wheelsagain wrote:I can't understand how good the Bandit points with a farked PR2 on the front at the moment.  It's usually a pig by now. I'm putting it down to the flatter center so once it's off vertical it falls in. It's pretty cool. Will need a new one for the Alps tour if I'm expected to keep up

You'll be fine mate. I'll be not far behind you!

I too needed new tyres and was set on getting PR3 or PR4., but ended up getting the new Pirelli Angel GT......wow, they feel awesome, so far, which is not hard considering I have old worn Bridgestone 021.

I didn't realize how bad the old tyres were until the new boots were fitted....chalk & cheese.

Yeah, new hoops really rub in how bad the old ones were.  You just don't notice how bad the worn ones are getting as the wear happens slowly, but the transformation to the new one's in instantaneous.

Yes, that is a lesson I intend to learn... the new tyre makes a big difference. Two new tyres even more so....

It's not just that the middle is bald, I realise now that it is because it is no longer round and that makes the difference.

Personally I was hesistant to get a new front tyre when the current one still had "2-3000km in it" given that I was just about to do another 700km highway ride.... The money! The environment!

Def time to replace now, and yeah looking at all the extra rubber on the back, thinking I may now be a convert to the "replace them both at once" school of thought....

Just a heads up on my experience with PR4's.
I had 3's all round were on the bike when I got it at 26K
Changed the front to PR4 at 33K, then the rear at 37K
Been doing a heap of peak hr freeway km's up until last week
When I had the rear fitted the tyre guy pointed out the scalloping and distortions on the front with only 4K he says its probably half way done.
I was surprised by this as I have not been braking heavily, he said he is seeing this on the PR4 fronts blames the stipes, recommended going back to the PR2 or 4.

Overall feel in wet & dry, I can't feel any difference from the 3's, rear still has a tendency to slip when traversing solid white lines

Try a Pirelli Angel GT better tyre all round than a Michelin

Jim, do the Pirelli's run dual compound?
That's one thing that really impressed me, even with a heap of highway miles the PR3's did not flatten much compared to the Pirelli's I have on my cruiser.

Also, I'd like to give a big wrap for Dynaverks in Boronia. I have had tyres supplied & fitted on 2 separate occasions on  the Bandit.
Front tyre fitted then 2 days later valve stem began to leak, took bike back & they supplied & fitted new stem for free!
Rear tyre fitted, rode 15km picked up a screw in the new tyre
Gave them a call, told me to go back & they removed the tyre, plugged & refitted for free!
Both times they have done the job twice, gratis.
They charge list price for tyre & fit for free, just started with a $4 disposal fee.
They also take the bike for a spin around the block to ensure brakes / chain refitted OK.

Just an update on the rear PR4.  I've now got about 3000 miles (~4800 km) on the tire now.  Mostly hard, hot mountain running here in the western USA where tires don't last very long due to the sharp aggregate used on the roads.  Most of the miles were with the bike fully loaded with luggage and my fat ass. Some rain riding and cool riding along the California coast.

Have to say I'm impressed so far.  No issues in the wet at all, the tire feels very planted in turns,  and looking at it, it still looks brand new after this amount of miles.  Will update again as more miles are put on.

I've done about 2000km on mr rear PR4 now, when that was fitted in December I thought the old PR3 front tyre would get me to Parkes and back but the last couple of weeks it seems to have deteriorated really fast. 
After getting 14000km out of the rear I was expecting a lot more than 12000 out of the front (would have got another 1-2K but not full trip to Parkes and return). My rear is a GT but they have a minimum 6 week wait for PR4 GT fronts atm, I've gone with a normal PR4 and first impressions is, wow, it rolls into corners again, but that's pretty normal going from worn to new

They are large numbers, I've never seen anything like that on my bike. How's the fuel mileage?

my old bandit,which was new..had pilot road 2s...both sets with spirited riding had around 15000kms on them when I replaced them.my new bandit,which is actually 10 yrs old, has road 4s,since buying the b12 ive done 5000kms and no real signs of any wear yet.and the grip is wicked.im no racer but I can ride at a fair clip with the best of em.im impressed...just my two cents worth.WHEN you guys eventually meet me youl understand im an average bloke but I don't impress easily when it comes to bike related stuff.like most,ive ridden since I was sixteen(now 44)and have heard every ridiculous claim in the book.

I should also say,never ask a tyre to do something it wasn't designed to do...and chook if you know martin at GC motorcycles he will tell you how fussy I was as a customer.in 2009 he did my first service on the 1250,at 150 kms.better to get that cheap shit oil out asap when they are new and replace it with quality oil often.3000 kms interval in my opinion.

The pr4's to me look like they are designed to be excellent wet weather tyre . Trouble is ,if it raining , i'll probably look for something else to do .
I loved angles on my sv 650 .(sold and missed ).

ive done that before gus,and it still pisses me off.my 2009 naked bandit was THE BEST BANDIT IN THE COUNTRY bar none and I sold it to buy a bloody Harley.thankfully ive got another bandit now,but its gonna take 1000 hours or so to get it up to scratch.pissed I never joined the forum 5 yrs ago,you seriously would have loved my bandit,i sold it after moving to qld and have never seen it since,ipainted it myself polished all aluminium myself,strippeds every nut and bolt from brand new and reassembled it properly,god knows Suzuki couldn't do it,funny I never had to repair fuel filters as you've helped so many.if people are genuine and nice to me id show them how I did it 1day.ive learnt a thing or two about bandits,i know a little bit about them!