The Honda Owners Club

OK OK I should know better but I succumbed to the sales patter. We had Micheldever Tyres and Michelline giving a presentation to us at the last Club so on Saturday morning me and Laurence from the Oxford Branch had new Road 2's fitted. Seem so far to be excellent ....... supposed to be stickier and last longer ..... anyone else used them? I will keep you posted on what I think!

Hi Erica, I've had a set on my 900 hornet for about 5k miles and they are still going strong, dry grip is very very good and in the wet they are outstanding, I've always liked michelins because when the tyre is being pushed to hard you get loads and loads of warning like a gentle drift and the start of a slow slide so you have plenty of time to sort it out, whereas some tyres notably bridgestones grip and grip until you are past the point of no return and then just snap out from under you giving you no chance to correct. So I am sure you'll be delighted with them.

tourman wrote:some tyres notably bridgestones grip and grip until you are past the point of no return and then just snap out from under you giving you no chance to correct.

I strongly disagree. I have used Bridgestone BT020's on every bike I've owned for years and in my opinion they are confidence inspiring and cannot be bettered in all conditions, but especially the wet, they also give outstanding wear and I am looking forward to trying the new BT021's.

Of course what makes 020's so good for me is my unswerving faith in them, the same way that Tourman feels about his crappy French rubber , they are all very good these days, even Dunlop, its all in the mind.

Regards, Al

Just had my 12,000 mile service. Fitted Pilot Road 2's at 4,500 miles end of April and been told the rear still has around 1,500 miles in it. (I used to get 6,000 miles out of my rear Bridgestone BT020) They grip so well that even in the worst rain, I've not felt a wobble.

Well chuffed - just have to see how much a new one will cost me in a month's time!

Fitted 020's to my vfr 6000 miles ago and they are still going strong and have plenty of wear left in them yet. You all know I ride extremely carefully and never put any load on my bike

I can normally get 7-8000 miles out of the rear 020 on my Pan

Dibble wrote:Fitted 020's to my vfr 6000 miles ago and they are still going strong and have plenty of wear left in them yet. You all know I ride extremely carefully and never put any load on my bike

I understand that the greatest cause of tyre wear is slippage. - that is why the rear tyre tends to wear out faster than the front. Now the more weight you have over the rear wheel, the less slippage. Those who habitually carry a passenger should get a better mileage out of their rear tyre than a solo rider.
It follows that the heavier the rider the better the mileage they should get out of their rear tyre.

So for comparison purposes, in future, not only should the bike and tyre be named, but also the weight of the rider and percentage of time they carry a passenger - and the passengers weight.

I do think these discussions on tyre wear are of vital importance to us all, so it is important that we get as much data as possible

Barry wrote:

Dibble wrote:Fitted 020's to my vfr 6000 miles ago and they are still going strong and have plenty of wear left in them yet. You all know I ride extremely carefully and never put any load on my bike

I understand that the greatest cause of tyre wear is slippage. - that is why the rear tyre tends to wear out faster than the front. Now the more weight you have over the rear wheel, the less slippage. Those who habitually carry a passenger should get a better mileage out of their rear tyre than a solo rider.
It follows that the heavier the rider the better the mileage they should get out of their rear tyre.

So for comparison purposes, in future, not only should the bike and tyre be named, but also the weight of the rider and percentage of time they carry a passenger - and the passengers weight.

I do think these discussions on tyre wear are of vital importance to us all, so it is important that we get as much data as possible

Without doubt Barry you are correct. The type and style of riding plays a very important role in determining the the life of a tyre. On my NC30 I use Bridgestone BT090R tyres. With sensilble road riding the rear is good for about 2000 miles which is fine by me as it's a road legal production race tyre. If I were to track the bike it would be useless after one day.

Regards

Chimpy

I remember a discussion on tyres in the letter section of the 'Blue one' that became a bit of a North vs South issue. In the end it was accepted that the Scottish riders were not riding slowly to prevent tyre wear, it was the fact that they got a lot of rain and the 'lubricated' slippage reduced tyre wear.

It follows that riders who do not venture out in the rain will get less overall mileage out of their tyres than riders who ride in all weathers.

p.s The 'Blue one' was Motorcycle News - a very popular bike magazine in the British bike era. To my certain knowledge this topic has been going on for over 60 years!

ok ok this is far more complex than I imagined. 95% of my riding is with Gerald on the back who weighs........ should I reveal this without his permission ?? .............around 14 st. I weigh 9st 7lb. The bike is used in all weathers - I do around 1 miles a month - more in summer (14,000 pa) I check the tyre pressure every week and run at 36 front and 42 rear. Thought 6,000 was quite good and this Pilot Road 2 excellent, but now realise must try harder!!

Went to Micheldever yesterday to get my Pilot Road 2's checked as I couldn't believe the rear didn't need changing (now on 13,500 miles - this rear tyre done over 10,000!) Still have 1 mm of tread before I reach the 2 mm limit! It is also still very grippy in the wet.

New Bridgstone B0201 costs £108, new Pilot Road 2 £128 ..............even the fella at Micheldever said they will have to stop selling them as they last too long!!!! How can a tyre last tooo long!!!

OK quick question:

Can I mix a rear BT020 with a front Pilot Road 2 on my VFR?

Reason: I'm down to 1.6mm on the front but doing fine on the rear and want to swap over to the Michellines to give them a try.

Answers on the back of a postage stamp please!!
Ta
Phil

The tyres are likely to have different profiles, but as a new tyre and worn tyre have different profiles anyway, I can't see any problem. What are you looking for in changing your make of tyres?

Hi barry

I've heard good things about the michelins (dual compound, longer lasting, good grip etc) so wanted to try them out.
I'm not much for performance scratching but more distance touring and they seem to fit the bill and have beaten the Bridgestones in performance this time!

I was wondering if I needed to change both tyres at the same time as they were different makes etc.

Cheers
Phil

I was recommended by Abingdon and Micheldever not to mix the tyres - they both suggested I waited till both needed replacing before changing makes (used to 6k out of a rear and 12k out of a front so it was an easy change). The Pilot Roads are brilliant in grip and do last much longer but with the different compounds to Bridgestone I preferred to do both.