Tires: Pilot Powers of Pilot Roads?

[rsw81]

My previous review of the Pilot power 2's was not correct...
...but I just wanted to set the record straight about the Pilot road 2's, they are awesome tyres :thumbup:.

Do you have Pilot Power 2CT or Pilot Road 2CT? Big difference between these two tires.

 

[Cloggy]

Do you have Pilot Power 2CT or Pilot Road 2CT? Big difference between these two tires.

Sorry I had another brain fart I meant Pilot road 2's, as I've written earlier I had a serious problem with wear from my stock dunlops (and of course I know low pressures don't help).
Thanks for pointing it out I've now edited it.

 

[craig007]

I had about 10,000 on the stock Dulops. The back was at 1mm (or slightly below), but the front looked like it had more life. Yesterday got a set of Pilot Road 2's. I really like the tread pattern on the back (just looks cool to me). During my 110 mile break-in ride today, the only thing that a noticed was how slick tar snakes are with these tires. I hope that this is a new-tire thing. I've gone over tar-snakes before on the stock tires with no effect. On the PR2's I could feel them slip, then catch once they hit pavement again. This was not a good feeling.

 

[Cloggy]

Here are the most recent results (23/05/08) of the Motorrad German motorcycle magazine tire test, I haven't seen the test myself but the scores were posted on the Dutch Fazer forum. Thanks Jantje Beton :thumbup:

Tires test on a CBR600rr by Motorrad magazine 23/05/08
Sport Tires
1 Metzeler M3..................253points
2 Michelin pp2ct...............252p
3 Pirelli diablo rosso...........250p
3 Continental sport attack..250p
5 Bridgestone bt016..........240p
6 Dunlop qualifier rr...........209p

Sport Touring Tires
1 Michelin pilot road 2 2ct.....226points
2 Dunlop roadsmart..............222p
3 Metzeler z6......................200p
4 Bridgestone BT 021...........195p

Hey how about that the Dunlop roadsmart has definately made an impression.

 

[Cloggy]

Well here goes,........
My previous review of the Pilot road 2's was not correct, the reason for this was simply my tyre pressures were down (especially the front one) , even though I did check them when I noticed this happening (I am not too sure what went wrong).

BTW I have checked the tyre pressures since but I'm not loosing any air.

I obviously do understand the importance of tyre pressures..

Since this occurance I had noticed that it would sometimes loose air, and sometimes not. Anyway during last Saturday in the Eifel (Germany) I again noticed the front tire was considerably low (after having checked them on the Thursday). Well I filled it again. On the Sunday I checked them again and the front one was down again, this time I visually inspected the front tire to find out I had picked up a very thin nail, that was also very deep (some of the rubber had closed over the top of it). I did ride back on the tires but stopped often to check the pressure.
I believe this may have been the cause of my low tire before, only I hadn't spotted the nail.
Anyway I'll be getting a new pilot Road 2 put on the front on Saturday.

 

[Doorag]

Since this occurance I had noticed that it would sometimes loose air, and sometimes not. Anyway during last Saturday in the Eifel (Germany) I again noticed the front tire was considerably low (after having checked them on the Thursday). Well I filled it again. On the Sunday I checked them again and the front one was down again, this time I visually inspected the front tire to find out I had picked up a very thin nail, that was also very deep (some of the rubber had closed over the top of it). I did ride back on the tires but stopped often to check the pressure.
I believe this may have been the cause of my low tire before, only I hadn't spotted the nail.
Anyway I'll be getting a new pilot Road 2 put on the front on Saturday.

Do you have a good valve cover cap as well? At speed, the valves can open from the centrifugal force of the wheel and actually lose air that way too. Just a thought.

 

[Strobe]

The Bridgestone BT's are the batlaxes i think... my FZ6 came stock with them and to tell u the truth they are junk! Im looking to upgrade to Pilot's soon enough... I drove my friends Fz1 with pilot's, much more responsive, and it doesnt even feel like the same FZ series line... Performs like nothing else. =] !

 

[craig007]

I need to un-bad mouth my new Pilot Road 2's. After a few hundred miles on them, the slippery road snake issue has gone away. The tires are very stable and I'm finding it easier to turn. I like them, although I am not riding them anywhere close to their limit

 

[Wolfman]

When i bought my bike, it had a brand new Pilot Road 2 on the back, and the original tyre on the front, with a fair bit of tread left on it, but with a fairly noticeable flat spot in the middle of the tyre, from where the previous owner had seemingly only ever ridden the bike in a straight line!

Have just replaced the the front tyre with a pilot road 2, and immediately my bike feels much better, easier to turn, and more stable under braking....the true acid test will come this weekend though, as i am going on a long ride through the twisties with some mates on Sunday...update after that.

By the Way, i love the Michelin Pilot Road 2 on the rear of the bike, great grip, and fantastic on wet roads.

 

[Scott C]

3500 Miles on Pilot Road 2's and they still look new. The stock bridgestones looked really worn after there first 3500 miles and bald at 5300 miles. By the looks of things the Pilot Road 2's will last me around 8000-10000 miles. I probably wont wear them out before selling the bike to upgrade.

 

[Wolfman]

I have a Pilot Road 2 on the back of my bike, which was on there when i bought the bike, and have done about 2500 km's since, including quite a bit of sport riding, and it seems to hardly worn at all.

I just put a Pilot Road 2 on the front, and have ridden about 400km's on them including 300 km's of sport riding, and the dimples that are in the middle of the tyre when the tyre is new, have still not worn off completely!

Am thinking i will be getting some pretty decent mileage out of these hoops! Best part is, they perform faultlessly from my point of view....bike handles beautifully, especially since i put the pilot on the front, much better than when i had the dunlop on the front.

Cant reccomend these tyres enough! great grip, long mileage.

Lastly a good friend has Pilot Road 2's on his Hayabusa, and another with a z1000, both guys cant speak highly enough of them either.

 

[Postal1979]

I just ordered Pilot Road2.. Liked the reviews. I went to the dealer to ask him about them and he said there were good tires. Hes a family friend so he wasnt going to screw me on the price. he gives me a employee discount to on anything I buy. Well I showed him the price I could get them for and he couldnt even get them for cost for the price. I just have to pay for install price. Motorcycle Tires and Accessories has the set for $289.90 shipped.

 

[Cloggy]

.........
Anyway I'll be getting a new pilot Road 2 put on the front on Saturday.

the motorbike shop had said that they had the Pilot road 2 in stock, but after removing the front tire they realised that the computer was wrong
Anyway they did a temporary plug for free.
Today I have my new front tire, just in time for my trip to Dinant (Belgium) this coming weekend. Hopefully I'll get more Km's out of this tire (without any nails).

 

[VEGASRIDER]

So a couple of months ago I had my tires replaced and submitted a review on my stock Dunlops under the Tire review thread like a good member. I mentioned that I replaced them with the new Michelin Pilot Powers and had them installed for $278, including balance. Today, after applying some shine to my sidwalls, I noticed that the rear tire were not Pilot Powers! Well kind of, it was actually the Pilot Powers 2CT's. The front is stll the regular PP.

I also mentioned a while back that after the new installation, my front end felt very heavy at slow speeds, acting like a gyroscope, only during tight turns.

The question that I have is.....would this mix and match effect the overall performance of the bike. Possibly steering? Or would this not be considered mix and match. But go ahead and try to find any reason why it woud or would not.

Thanks,

 

[camarodan]

The Bridgestone BT's are the batlaxes i think... my FZ6 came stock with them and to tell u the truth they are junk! Im looking to upgrade to Pilot's soon enough... I drove my friends Fz1 with pilot's, much more responsive, and it doesnt even feel like the same FZ series line... Performs like nothing else. =] !

i am deff with you on the battlaxes!! my 08 came stock with them and they r absolute crap!! i have never been on a set of tires that slip as easily as them, i think with more miles the compound starts to harden! i am looking at the pilot power 2ct's for this summer, i'm tired of going in on the white line and sliding to the yellow on the way out!! i would highly discourage any one from the b021s!!

 

[teeter]

That's interesting.....do you think they lower the seat height at all?
(Being 5'8" tall, I need all the help I can get...

:rof:
I'm 5' 5" and I was wondering the same.

I am ordering the PR2's next week. I was sold on Conti RA's, but I'm leaning toward the PR2's now because they seem to get better reviews in the wet. I'm an everyday rider so wet grip is a big deal for me.

 

[tum226]

I just got the Dunlop Roadsmarts at the end of last fall so I haven't had much time on them. My initial impressions are very good. Smooth turn in, not too aggresive but very easy. I decided to get these over the pilot road 2 because in reviews I have read they have better traction in wet conditions. I do commute with my bike so the harder compound centers was important as well as wet tractions cause I will ride in pretty much any weather. I also enjoy very spirited riding on the weekends keeping on the heels of my friends on their zx6 and 600rr so soft grippy compound was also key. I love technology. Tires have come a long way. On my sv650 I had the regular pilot roads and was pleased with them as well. Never lost traction except coming into a corner hard it was easy to get the back tire to dance around but that was probably cause I was too hard on the rear brake. Everyday I ride the fz6 I enjoy the bike more and more. Can't wait for 40 degrees and a bit of rain to clean the salt off the road. It is time to ride. I will update as I ride on the roadsmarts more to let you all know how they wear.

 

[ozzieboy]

I just got the Dunlop Roadsmarts at the end of last fall so I haven't had much time on them. My initial impressions are very good. Smooth turn in, not too aggresive but very easy. I decided to get these over the pilot road 2 because in reviews I have read they have better traction in wet conditions. I do commute with my bike so the harder compound centers was important as well as wet tractions cause I will ride in pretty much any weather. I also enjoy very spirited riding on the weekends keeping on the heels of my friends on their zx6 and 600rr so soft grippy compound was also key. I love technology. Tires have come a long way. On my sv650 I had the regular pilot roads and was pleased with them as well. Never lost traction except coming into a corner hard it was easy to get the back tire to dance around but that was probably cause I was too hard on the rear brake. Everyday I ride the fz6 I enjoy the bike more and more. Can't wait for 40 degrees and a bit of rain to clean the salt off the road. It is time to ride. I will update as I ride on the roadsmarts more to let you all know how they wear.

I got 7500km out of the roadsmarts and 9000km from the Pilot Road 2. Straight line grip is obviously better with the Dunlop but the shape and grip are not as good for cornering IMHO. The Dunlop is great in the wet for sure, and maybe a touch better than the Pilot roads but it'd be hard to pick.

If you want a good wearing tire for commuting and plenty of wet grip, as well as being able to get out for some hard riding on the week end then I'd recommend the Michelin's for sure.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Wildcard]

i am deff with you on the battlaxes!! my 08 came stock with them and they r absolute crap!! i have never been on a set of tires that slip as easily as them, i think with more miles the compound starts to harden! i am looking at the pilot power 2ct's for this summer, i'm tired of going in on the white line and sliding to the yellow on the way out!! i would highly discourage any one from the b021s!!

I too am not happy with my stockers. I have about 4500 miles on these tires and when I went out riding last, my rear slipped 3 times mid-corner. Sure temps are low 30's but I shouldn't be slipping that much.