[Review] Michelin PR3

I got the tires, and you were all right--What a difference. For $500 I got the two tires mounted and balanced, cable lubed, shaft properly lubed--was not done right by Honda. Throttle cables adjusted, brake pedal and shifter adjusted to accommodate the lowered foot pegs, and the brakes were adjusted. The bike was spotless when I got it back. This shop does a fine job.
 
I hope that I get some decent mileage out of these tires. A friend suggested Metzler Marathons saying he gets a lot of miles out of them. The shop that did my PR3s does not recommend going that route.
 
I went with Metzler Marathons (radial front, bias-rear that was slightly bigger (160 section vs stock 150). I got about 12000 out of them, but the handling wasn't that inspriing. When the BT-023s went on, it was so much better immediately that I decided I'd never try to run the Marathons again.

They did work pretty well on the my old Concours, though. I couldn't really ever tell a difference between radials and bias-ply tires on the Connie, but we didn't have very many options for that bike with it's 18" front rim and 16" rear. Anything that worked on a Goldwing 1500 worked on the Concours.
 
That's probably because the 'Wing and the Connie are both heavy bikes.
Got caught in the rain today. The PR3s handle wet quite nicely.
 
Just replaced OEM's with PR3's this past week. Smoother ride, like they're more compliant with the pavement. The OEM's weren't worn out yet, but I'll be taking a 3000+ mile ride later this month and don't want to buy tires on the road.
 
They sure handle wet pavement well. That's one of the great advantages of this forum--you stay with it and end up saving many dollars. A great example is the thread on Honda's knee pads. They were judged a waste of money.
 
Alex, there were three of us on our little ride back from Nebraska today with PR3s. 1TRAK on a Wee-Strom, his friend on a ZX-14, and me on the NT. The PR3s were flawless. Of course, none of the guys with "other" tires fell down either, but I'll bet they weren't as confident as we were. :)
 
Phil,
I could just imagine what my EX250R Ninja could have done with a set of PR3s. The NT is a whole different bike with those tires. I always liked Michelin Tires--especially on the Corvette.
 
Sailariel said:
I always liked Michelin Tires--especially on the Corvette.
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Alex, when we lived near San Francisco in the late 70s, we bought an MGB that had some worn-out Dunlop bias-ply tires on it. We put Michelin X's on it and it was transformed. Michelin makes good rubber.
 
Phil Tarman said:
Alex, there were three of us on our little ride back from Nebraska today with PR3s. 1TRAK on a Wee-Strom, his friend on a ZX-14, and me on the NT. The PR3s were flawless. Of course, none of the guys with "other" tires fell down either, but I'll bet they weren't as confident as we were. :)
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+1. What Phil didn't mention was the thunderstorm we skirted (awesome lightning!), with wet pavement and crosswinds. The PR3s work great on wet or dry pavement and help the Wee-Strom cope with crosswinds much better than the stock tires. :smile:
 
Got mine put on this week.

Never knew how much of the noise on the bike was due to the tires. PR3's are so much quieter.
 
The only disadvantage the PR3's have is that one tends to go faster--could lead to a speeding citation.
 
Well went for my first ride on my new PR3s this morning. Really like them. I went 110 miles and looked at them once back at home and it still wasn't enough to wear any of the nubbies off. The ones in the center are laid back but it doesn't look like a single one broke off. Seems like good rubber to me.

We don't have a lot of twisty roads around here, but I put most of those miles on Route 4 which has lots of sweepers and hills through the flint hills. I kept a conservative pace because of the stories I have heard about slick new tires. I still kept finding myself catching up to cruisers. First was a group of three, then a solo rider, then another couple. I am starting to think these cruiser riders don't even go the speed limit. Why do they need such big motors if they average slower speeds than what my old 250cc bike liked?
 
Here in Maine, the majority of cruisers cruise----about 75MPH. I have the only ST in the group. Took a ride today with the (CVMA) Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association. On a short stretch of I-95, we were moving along at 85. The bikes are primarily Victory motorcycles, and they pick on the H-D riders mercilessly. The Victory touring bike is very comfortable and very fast. The engine is massive and all torque. A lot of the Victory bikes run Michelin tires.
 
This is a very helpful and occasionally cost saving forum. I had PR3s mounted on my NT today ((17,000 miles) and ordered them through the dealer and asked if he could come close to the price I found here on the site from the superstore. He lowered his price to $300 for the set, plus tax and mounting. This was probably about $100 saved. I guess that helped when the mounting fee was $131. For those DIYers here, this give you some idea of how much you save when mounting your own tires. I don't have the skills or the inclination to do this, but it's good info to know. Also had the oil changed ($61) and I'm good to go. I plan on a 1000 mile trip down the Washington and Oregon coast next weekend if the weather holds. It has been truly beautiful out here for a very long time.

Terry
 
Been running PR3's on my ST1300 for about a couple of years or so now and really like the handling on that heavy bike. Just put a PR3 on the back of my NT700, Still running an Avon Storm II on the front, until it wears out. Then a front PR3 is going to go on there also. I got 9500 miles out of the rear Storm with about another 500 or so left. I imagine that I should get more out of the PR3 on the NT. Been getting 9500 out of a rear PR3 on the ST1300.
 
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