[Review] Michelin PR3

vacanefan

vacanefan

Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
38
Location
Richmond, VA
Bike
2012 Kawasaki Concours 14
Now that I've put a few hundred miles on the PR3's, I thought I'd post a quick review.
* I, of course, can't yet speak to the wear life of the tires, but from everything I've read they will last longer than the PR2's and much longer than the OEM Bridgestones (replaced at 7000 miles).
* Handling: I now find myself zipping through tight corners at about 10 mph faster than with the OEM tires. The "feel" of the tires through the turns gives the rider great confidence. Would the Bridgestones taken me through the corners at equal speeds? Probably. But motorcycle handling is all about rider confidence, and better tires bring confidence. These are dual compound tires that really hold the corners.
* Front end wobble: With the OEM tires, even when new, if I loosened my grip on the bars greatly the front end would wobble. Slightly at first, then progressively worse until I would put light pressure back on the grips to stop the action. Now, this may not have been directly related to all OEM Bridgestones. It may have been slightly out of balance, etc. But, with the PR3's, there is no wobble at all. Straight and smooth.
*Wet weather: The PR3's are designed to thrive in wet conditions. I found the grip nearly in the wet nearly what it is on dry pavement. The weep holes on the back tire seem to be well designed to assist in wet weather. The front tire has an entirely unique tread pattern, but was equally sticky on wet roads.
*Appearance: OK, this should not matter, but it does. I like the look of the PR3's. The back tire has a cool pattern to it. I was a little worried that the front tire would produce road noise with its unique tread pattern, but it is silent and smooth--and looks cool.
As far as mounting goes, I had the dealer mount them when they did the 8k service (done at 7k). The bill for the valve adjustment (adjusted one with specs provided for each), service and tire mounting was $462. I paid $0 as I opted for the 3 year service plan from them back in January.
I'll stop here, since I promised a "quick" review...

--Enjoy the week!
Jeff
 
I've got my third front tire on the bike at 27,000 miles. It's my second BT-023. I got 6K out of the BT-020s. The front would have gone a bit farther, but I was leaving on a 4,000 mile trip and it wouldn't have lasted that long. The second tires were BT-023s, and the rear was destroyed at 6K after a big screw tore it up. It was also starting to look pretty squared-off (I ride way too many miles on straight roads at fairly high speeds). I replaced it with a Metzler ME-880 bias-ply in a 160/70X17 that has lasted 15,000 miles, but has reached the end of its useful life. I'll be replacing it on Friday with another BT-023. I'm hoping that it will last as long as the BT-023 on the front which has gone about 4,000 miles.

I'm planning on trying a set of PR3s when these need replacing.
 
just picked up my bike with the new PR3's. Going to ride all weekend to break them in !
 
I rode PR3's in Europe this summer. I had a couple of really bad rain days there and they were very impressive. I thought I was sold on the BT 023's and just put a new one on my rear wheel but I'd consider these tires based on my experience this summer.
 
MY C-14 bud just put a PR3 on the rear of his bike. He'd been getting between 4-5K miles out of his previous tires (don't know what they were), and after 1500 miles across Nebraska and back and up in the mountains Monday-Wednesday, you could barely tell it had been ridden.
 
I will order a set of BT 023's tomorrow. I have 12,550 miles on the OEM BT 020's. The tread wear is just getting to the wear indicators on the rear. The front has plenty of tread but is heavily cupped (scalloped). I can feel it when I roll the bike out in the morning. Will replace the front to have a matched set again. I'm ay post a review once I have run up a quick 1,000 miles or so.

keep the shiny side up,

Chuck
 
In the UK most Deauville riders swear by the AVON Storms. If you can get them in the US try them.

Have a look at this site which has some info on tyres.
 
I just put a set of Avon Storms Ultra II's on my NT, Have been runing Avon Storm Ultras IIs on my Pan (ST1300) fo a long time. Just switch over to PR3's on the ST. I like both of these tires so far.
 
Just road 400 + miles in the rain at highway speeds. The PR3's were really great. I had total confidence. No wiggled or wobbles. Tires performed well. Very happy and safe.
 
I have about the same experience with the Avon's.

I like that they don't track rain grooves. I also had that bit of 'wobble' with the stock tires. Don't get it with the Avon's either. They do seem to turn in to the corners better, but, that may be lack of direct comparison. The BT rear was pretty squared off by the time I replaced them at 9k miles. Interesting that the BT's still cornered well and felt solid in turns even being really square in back and cupped on the front.

The only rain has been some thunderstorms where they have done well. Have not tried them on wet curves. I also liked the price of the Avon's.
 
Having had my NT since June, I have been fortunate not to have been caught in the rain yet in almost 4K of riding. My last riding experience in the rain was in my former life (read youth) when I was an avid rider. I have given a lot of thought to how I would ride in the rain when the inevitable happens. The tires we had back then were no where near as sticky as what is available now. I'm trying to sort out in my mind just how "normally" i can ride when it rains. I realize that in the first few minutes of rain (especially after a prolonged dry period) the roads are slicker 'n snot. Just how "normally" can you ride then? If for example, when dry you would approach a corner at 45 mph, at what speed would you approach it after a brief shower? What speed after a good rain that has cleaned the oil residue off?

I'm just trying to get a feel of what the bike is capable of in these conditions. Although, I have yet to ride in the rain, I have ridden shortly after a shower while the pavement was still wet. Not knowing how "normally" I could ride in that instance, I rode EXTREMELY cautiously and avoided leaning into turns if at all possible. I'm sure that I can ride more confidently than that, but just how much more?

Hope you understand my query.

Mike
 
mikesim said:
I'm trying to sort out in my mind just how "normally" i can ride when it rains.
Click to expand...


Mike,

Very good question! You're right about being very careful right after rain starts. I try to reduce my traction demands by probably 70% in those first 20 - 30 minutes, if it's raining fairly hard. After that, I start to feel more confident. I would guess that there's no set answer to how much you can lean. I've read reports that a race rider on a sport bike with Pilot Road 3s was dragging his knees on a track during heavy rain. I feel confident on the NT going pretty near as fast on a "normal" road, 4-lane or 2-lane, as I would in the dry. I'd probably slow down to posted speeds on curves that are marked. One of the advantages, believe it or not, that a motorcycle has is that it's not as prone to hydro-planing as a car. That's because of the rounded tire profile. With the car tire, there's probably 3-4 times the contact patch area per tire. MC tires have a patch that maybe be 2-3" long and an inch or inch and a half wide. Even slick tires would probably cut through most standing water.

When I've ridden all day in rain, by the end of it, I've found myself riding at close to the same speeds as if it were dry, but I always try to leave a bigger "bubble" of space around me in the traffic!
 
You are right about todays tires being much better than tires of old.
With that said every situation is different so prudence is key. Take it very easy at first and get the feel of the bike in the rain. Beond tires there are other factors like seeing well and having others able to see you easily.

Brad
 
Ditto above.

From a lot of riding in weird conditions I have used a technique that is probably not taught anywhere cause it is a bit unsafe. I will drag my foot on the road. Just dip the toe down and drag the edge. At slower speeds I will let my foot slide along the pavement, like an outrigger. It is amazing sometimes how slick the road will be right after the rain starts. I have pulled over on some of those as the pavement felt like it was covered in oil.

Needless to say be very careful when doing that. It is easy to get the foot caught in the pegs. An alternative is to stop at the side of the road and then walk on the road, shuffling your feet (watch for traffic).

On a 'clean' road you can probably go as fast as you do on dry pavement, unless you are used to dragging a knee in the corners. The limit is braking ability and being around other vehicles, dealing with things like painted stripes, cross walks and other areas that get slick when wet. Intersections are REALLY bad. I came close to dropping a bike at a wet intersection. I put my foot down and it was like it had a coating of ice under me. Motorcycle tires won't hydroplane until you are above 100mph so don't even worry about that. And it is better to be cautious.

One last thing. If caught in heavy rain it is difficult for cars to see you. Be very careful if you ride slower than traffic. Pull over at first chance.
 
Paul said:
I just ordered a set of PR3's and hope they are as good as the reports are.
Paul
Click to expand...
Paul,
Post your thoughts on the PR3's once you get a chance to put some miles on. I've got about 3000 miles on mine now and, after reading my original post, I find them even more impressive. they show no signs of wear at all after 3000 miles and the feel of the tires is great.
 
Just replaced the stock tires with PR3, the stock tires at 7100 miles, still had at least 30% tread life left, front cubbing really bad, rear had flat center. Even with 30% tread left, I decided to replace them, due unpleasant ride feel, the bike is floating at 60-70 mph, prep for winter, rain season. Let see how PR3 will do. I'll follow up...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I added PR2s about a month ago and have since put about 1200 miles on them. I have no issues with them at all. I rode about 275 miles on the weekend, most of it in the rain. Tire performance was superlative.
 
My NT just got new PR3s yesterday at 11.6K with a well worn back and well cupped front. With all the help and advise from the very helpful forum members here, I was encouraged to do try it myself and was able to successfully do all the work myself...Thanks all!

I used the tip of hang the rear out from a step (I don't have a lift) by using a skateboard platform I built for my son to put the bike on, and using the center stand and straps. That gave me about 6-8" of drop, so I didn't remove the rear fender or muffler, just loosened the rear muffler mounting bolt so I could get the caliper bolt out enough to remove the caliper. Getting the rear wheel back on with the muffler there was tricky, but eventually I prevailed and got everything back in place and bolted in. The hard part was manipulating the brake while lifting the wheel into position, and it ate up a lot of time. For me it was worth it not having to remove the muffler. Getting the rubber off and back on went easy after reading a lot of posts and watching a few videos...same for balancing.

Since I do mainly highway commuting, I am hoping for good tread life from these dual compound tires, and the rains will soon be coming to Northern CA. I will report back when I have some miles on them with how they perform.
 
I wonder why their site doesn't recommend the PR3's for our bikes? It lists the PR and the PR2's, maybe just hasn't been updated yet...

Regardless I believe the PR3's will be on my bike soon !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom