New tires needed

[moto madness]

Hello guys.
Back in '09 I bought a pair of Michelin Pilot Road 2's for the Connie from Murphs.  I'm ready for another pair as I get prepared for my Sturgis trip this August (~ 2,000 mi round trip).  So are these still the best tires for our bike?  I guess it goes without saying Murph is still our place for tires, right?

[JetJock]

There's one of those nonstop debates right now whether PR2 or the newer PR3 are "Duh Best"

If you're relatively low-mileage/year, then you might want to check out the Shinko tires. Less expensive and apparently decent life and traction.

[Tom J.]

For me, the PR2's have been UNMATCHED for performance and wear as a package. Front still looks great after 12,000 miles.  The rear has another 4k left on it if I'm careful...but that's no fun, is it!

[valkmc]

Just ordered Pr 2s from Motorcycle Superstore, they had a 10% coupon on their front page came to $259.18 shipped to the front door. I think the coupon expires 5/31.

[Bob]

The biggest misconception is that the PR2's are the best!     They're not by a long shot.

You should probably be choosing between the Angels and the PR3's.

[moto madness]

thanks for the suggestions thus far.  I was told by a "tire nut" at my Kawasaki dealer that the main difference between the PR2 and PR3 is the tread and how it reacts to wet weather.  He suggested the PR2 remains an excellent tire and value.  That said, here is another question.  Those riding with PR2's, what are you setting your PSI on the front and rear?  I've been setting mine at 41.5 cold and I'm thinking now that i've been using too much pressure.  I tend to ride the twisties a bit aggressively and perhaps should be running these around 36 or 38 psi?  comments?? 

[blue14]

40 and forget it.

[tthompsr]

40 and forget it.

+1

[ZG]

I haven't ran the PR2's but I'm currently running the PR3's and really like them so far, I'm about 2k miles into them...

[jimmymac]

I've gone through two sets of tires so far this year, and will go through 3 more before the season's over. I'm running a PR2 on the rear right now. It's got about 3,500 on it, and I'm changing it out tomorrow.

I don't even think my Wife could get 12,000 miles out of a tire.

[tthompsr]

wow I'd say your tough on tires! I've got three times as many miles out of those tires and I don't ride easy!

[Scaffolder]

I got almost 17,000 miles on my PR2s and will buy them again. Maybe PR3s. It looks as though Murphs is priced over $300 per set now instead of $260. I need to look at Motorcycle Superstore.
I ride it the way it should be ridden. I don't get passed too often. Tire pressure for me is nice at 42 psi.

[Jeremy Mitchell]

I got almost 17,000 miles on my PR2s and will buy them again. Maybe PR3s. It looks as though Murphs is priced over $300 per set now instead of $260. I need to look at Motorcycle Superstore.
I ride it the way it should be ridden. I don't get passed too often. Tire pressure for me is nice at 42 psi.

17,000 out of a rear?   

Wow, I wish I could get half of that!  I got about 6,500 miles out of my rear and would love to be able to go more than 2-3 months between tire changes.

[ZG]

17,000 out of a rear?   

   \_/ ?

[Scaffolder]

I got 11,300 on the OEMs on my old 08 C-14. the rear I kept for a spare. I got 12,400 on Dunlops and kept the front as a spare. The PR2s went about 16,800 and both tires were toast. I think Brian (BDF) got arout 17,000 as well. The OEMs on my 2010 seem to be wearing just like the 08.
After the forum changed on us. I changed my name from srtchallenger to scaffolder. In case any of these posts sound familiar.

[Rawman]

A car tire will get you the most mileage.....DOH!

[chi-gpz1100]

I went through 4 or 5 sets of pr2's when I had the c14.. I still think it's the best tire out there for SPORTtouring.  I'd usually get 8-10K miles out of a set,  probably more, but would change them out because of upcoming long trips.  The 2nd to last set, I only got ~7500, but those were hard miles.  The last set that went on went with the bike when it got traded in.

I've been through 2 sets now on the fz1 (in 50 and 55 profiles), the first yielding 10,5K miles, and the 2nd set just shy of 9K.

Per Bob's advice, i installed a set of angel st's  (50 profile).  I only have about 15 miles on the bike, but it seems the pirelli's must have less of a pointed profile than the michelins.  Turn in and side to side swerve seem slower and requires more work.  We'll see this weekend after some more miles and more aggressive riding (1500 mi ride planned).  For now, I ordered a spare set of pr2's to have on hand when these wear out.  If I end up liking the pirelli's, i'll order another set over winter.

Bottom line, I don't think you can go wrong with the pr2's.  If you do ride very aggressively, then you should be riding a sport bike, not sport tourer.

[B.D.F.]

Yeah, that was me- 16K + miles out of three different sets of PR2s. I just changed tires 2K miles ago and again went with PR2s as I have a long distance trip coming up and don't know how the PR3s compare in longevity.

One of the things I like about the PR2s is that they still handle reasonably well near the end of life. I tried a set of Pirelli Angels and really liked the tires but the rear started to make turn- in feel like a truck by about 5K miles. The Pirellis are certainly not a bad tire but I find the Michelins behave better once past 1/2 of the tire's life.

Brian

I got 11,300 on the OEMs on my old 08 C-14. the rear I kept for a spare. I got 12,400 on Dunlops and kept the front as a spare. The PR2s went about 16,800 and both tires were toast. I think Brian (BDF) got arout 17,000 as well. The OEMs on my 2010 seem to be wearing just like the 08.
After the forum changed on us. I changed my name from srtchallenger to scaffolder. In case any of these posts sound familiar.

[Frank ZZR]

Anyone running the new Bridgestone BT 023? I've seen some good reviews and am considering this tire.

[Scaffolder]

I won't trust those after all the horrible pictures of the 021s. These tires look as if they can't handle heat and get a melting look to them. All set!