Battlax vs Pilot Powers vs Pilot Road 2's

Got my third set of tires put on this week. I put 10,400 miles on the Bridgestone Battlax's that came with the bike, but admit they were pretty badly squared over when I replaced them (in fact I dropped the bike the first day with the new Pilot Powers, just not used to riding on "round" tires!). Had 18,300 miles on the bike when I got the Pilot Road 2's put on, and the Pilot Powers were a bit squared over after 8,000 miles too (not too bad considering they're supposed to be a high-performance, softer tire). We'll see how many miles the Pilot Road 2's, with their dual compounds, hold up for.

I wish I could provide some sort of objective opinion about how the three compare, but I'm afraid just getting off an older, squared-off tire makes such a difference that anything else is beyond my feel. But wow can I feel the difference with new, round tires zipping up Ogden Canyon, almost feels like a different bike! :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:

Keep us posted! I was just tire shopping today and it's a toss-up between Bridgestone BT-021's, Michelin Pilot Road 2CT's, and Dunlop Roadsmarts. Two different dealers are quoting me around $500 per set not including installation.

champion221elite said:

Keep us posted! I was just tire shopping today and it's a toss-up between Bridgestone BT-021's, Michelin Pilot Road 2CT's, and Dunlop Roadsmarts. Two different dealers are quoting me around $500 per set not including installation.

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That's a rip off. I got my 2CT's installed for $280 here in Vegas last month. And they were very fresh, only 3 month old from the date stamp on the tire.

VEGASRIDER said:

That's a rip off. I got my 2CT's installed for $280 here in Vegas last month. And they were very fresh, only 3 month old from the date stamp on the tire.

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Egads, I got ripped off worse than Champion221Elite!

Time to invest in some tahr ahrns...

VEGASRIDER said:

That's a rip off. I got my 2CT's installed for $280 here in Vegas last month. And they were very fresh, only 3 month old from the date stamp on the tire.

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$280 for both tires, mounted, balanced and installed?


That's friggin awesome:thumbup:

Botch said:

Egads, I got ripped off worse than Champion221Elite!

Time to invest in some tahr ahrns...

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I haven't gotten ripped off yet... I'm only shopping at this point. I took a walk and I'm shopping elsewhere.

Holy ****e!! That's expensive.
Try MotorcycleSuperstore.com, prices are good but they also change so often. They'll deliver for free to any of their "recommended" installers near you, and the install price isn't bad either.
Darn stealerships............................

I found a set of Battleax BT021's at Motorcycle Superstore for $237 and free shipping. A preferred installer in my area wants $25/ tire to mount and balance plus one hour labor.

Total out the door price should be somewhere around $367.

well here is my experience so far..

the fz came with bt 20's they did ok, the front got about 8k and the rear got about 4-5k and the diablo that went on the back got about 3-4k,just got mounted on some 21's they look good and so far feel great.. will update on performance and mileage..

the tiger came with pilot roads, and i like them so far wearing good and dont feel like they have lost performance yet have about 4 1/2k on and looking to get about 5-5 1/2k on them and just ordered some pr2's for it. they should be here begining of sept (on back order).

got the 21's for 273 otd (tire and mount bal for both)

and looks to be about 340 otd for the pr2's for the tiger.


the pilot powers that are listed in the title should perform great but wear quick.

Cyclegear has a online tire special - check em' out or southwest moto.com has good pricing because 500 a set is a ripoff.

I take my tires off myself (easy to do) and the local shop charges less than 50 bucks to mount and balance

I live and ride in the Sierra Nevada Mts. and have yet to get 5k out of a set of tires due to a right wrist problem. The up side is lots of smiles.

hmmmm.. we went for inspections yesterday and my husband's ZZR1200 needed a new rear tire. We opted to replace both because that makes more sense to me. We paid $140 for labor and $292 for front and rear tire for a total of $432 (not including tax) did we get duped?

The tires were Metzler M1s.. if that helps

boo68 said:

hmmmm.. we went for inspections yesterday and my husband's ZZR1200 needed a new rear tire. We opted to replace both because that makes more sense to me. We paid $140 for labor and $292 for front and rear tire for a total of $432 (not including tax) did we get duped?

The tires were Metzler M1s.. if that helps

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It sounds a little high to me.....$292 for both tires.....not too bad, the tires on line looked around 150 each...so 300 for both. I think 140 for labor is ridiculous thats about 2 hrs labor for (1) hours worth of work....just my opinion....

The other thing is usually the stealership will give a discount on the tire if you buy the tires through them...does not sound like they gave you much of a break...although I don't know which brands of tires the dealer actually gets lower price on.....

I wouldn't worry about; just enjoy the riding!

I originally had BT-020's as stock tires. I lost the rear tire to a screw and replaced it at around 2-3 thousand miles with the BT 021. The tread design on the front tire seemed to lend itself toward cupping. I replaced that with a BT-021. I ate through the front 021 tire very fast and got another one at maybe 10k miles. I do a lot of year round spirited riding in mountain twisties. Just replaced the tire with an 021 at 13k miles so I think I got around 9K out of it. The front 021's seem to wear much faster than the rear. Might have to do with my riding.

I like these tires as they seam to suit my environment and type of riding. I don't really have a comparison accept to the BT-020's. I can tell you that the 021's warmed up, stick very well, enough that I've eaten the stock right peg (with out the warning stalks) and the side stand on the left of the bike (modifying today)

I would say the compound on the front 021 is a stickier compound than used on the center tread on the rear 021.(seems to wear a little faster) The center tread of the rear is a harder longer mileage compound with a great stickier outside compound.

Cliff

Save some money by using Dynabeads. $10 for a few ounces and I've reused them twice now. I change and balance my own tires, saves a ton of money.

Dyna Beads for Motorcycle Riders and Dealers

I have a old motorcycle I use to break beads but this works too:

http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/bead-breaker/motorcycle-tire-bead-breaker.htm

n1one said:

It sounds a little high to me.....$292 for both tires.....not too bad, the tires on line looked around 150 each...so 300 for both. I think 140 for labor is ridiculous thats about 2 hrs labor for (1) hours worth of work....just my opinion....

The other thing is usually the stealership will give a discount on the tire if you buy the tires through them...does not sound like they gave you much of a break...although I don't know which brands of tires the dealer actually gets lower price on.....

I wouldn't worry about; just enjoy the riding!

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Thanks, the price they gave us was including a 20% discount if we have/had them mounted there.. I am over it.. just wondered if I should go back there or not for my bike.

Shamus McFeeley said:

Save some money by using Dynabeads. $10 for a few ounces and I've reused them twice now. I change and balance my own tires, saves a ton of money.

Dyna Beads for Motorcycle Riders and Dealers

I have a old motorcycle I use to break beads but this works too:

Bead Breaker for Motorcycle Tires - webBikeWorld

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How do you know how much weight in the beads to put in the tire? Or does it not matter due to the inherit property of the design?

rsw81 said:

How do you know how much weight in the beads to put in the tire? Or does it not matter due to the inherit property of the design?

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The amount is based on tire size. I think it was 2oz ea. for my tires on the FZ

Shamus McFeeley said:

The amount is based on tire size. I think it was 2oz ea. for my tires on the FZ

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Now that is pretty awesome...

Back to the tire discussion. I find the Pilot Road 2CT to be a really well rounded tire for what I use the bike for. Mostly highway and city riding with weekend canyon runs. The tire wears very evenly given the different compounds. I remember when they first came out, there were some problems with getting the two compounds to adhere properly as the tire wore, but I am fairly certain that has been fixed.

champion221elite said:

Keep us posted! I was just tire shopping today and it's a toss-up between Bridgestone BT-021's, Michelin Pilot Road 2CT's, and Dunlop Roadsmarts. Two different dealers are quoting me around $500 per set not including installation.

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$500 is way too much money. I got Quoted $412 for the PR2ct's including mounting and balancing. Granted this is me bringing the wheels in to the shop, but wheel removal is pretty easy with the center stand. I bought mine from a local independent motorcycle shop (does not sell new bikes). I would really shop around.

Hi. It was time to replace the Battleaxe's on the FZ. I got a set of Pilot Roads from Sportbike Track Gear for $229.00, delivered in 3 days. Mounted locally for $70.00 (they pulled the wheels). I didn't think that was too bad. Still getting used to round tires here too.