[Review] Michelin PR3

Chris, your rear PR3 with 8K has about the same amount of tread left as my PR4 with 6K, or just a bit more (.060" to wear bars). My last PR4 went 13,000 miles. This one won't make it that far. I'm not sure I'll buy PR4s again. I looking at Pirelli Angel GTs or Bridgestone T30s now. Your front tire looks better than my front PR4 with 6K on it as well.

I think you would be fine to replace the rear tire without replacing the front. The worst that could happen is if you weren't satisfied you'd have to get a new front too. The only thing I wouldn't do is use one of those belted Shinkos with the PR3 up front even though it might be fine.

Don't forget about the Dunlop Roadsmart 2 tires. Some of the sites I looked at had them 15% cheaper than the PR3 and PR4's. Some members of this forum have gotten very good wear out of them.

Yeah, I think I will wait for a tire sale and get a front and a rear PR4, but put on the rear and see how the PR3 front ages....its not a lot of fun to take off the rear wheel but I take off the rear fender so its not too bad a job.....I am still thinking about taking and cutting the rear fender in two and bolting it back on with four bolts, washers and nuts so it comes off easier.....just overlap it a bit.....or come up with another attatchment system for the piece I cut off.....OR...(wait for it) A BOBBED REAR FENDER!

It is interesting about your tire wear so I would like to try the 4s and see what I get....

Chris headed out for some place called Wisconsin....

junglejim said:

Chris, your rear PR3 with 8K has about the same amount of tread left as my PR4 with 6K, or just a bit more (.060" to wear bars). My last PR4 went 13,000 miles. This one won't make it that far. I'm not sure I'll buy PR4s again. I looking at Pirelli Angel GTs or Bridgestone T30s now. Your front tire looks better than my front PR4 with 6K on it as well.

I think you would be fine to replace the rear tire without replacing the front. The worst that could happen is if you weren't satisfied you'd have to get a new front too. The only thing I wouldn't do is use one of those belted Shinkos with the PR3 up front even though it might be fine.

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Good point. When things slow down a bit I will research them. I get 20k out of my Dunlop E3s (Wing size) on my Connie C10.

Warren said:

Don't forget about the Dunlop Roadsmart 2 tires. Some of the sites I looked at had them 15% cheaper than the PR3 and PR4's. Some members of this forum have gotten very good wear out of them.

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I have been running the Bridgestone Battleax series and like them. The bike came with BT20's which were OK. I replaced with BT23's and they were good. I did get a cupping wear on the front which I could feel as the tire aged. Still went through 2 more sets. Now I have BT24's and the cupping issue seems to be resolved. These are much better feeling. They have good longevity too as I get 20K or more from a set.

Keep the shiny side up,

Chuck

Chuck 500 said:

I have been running the Bridgestone Battleax series and like them. The bike came with BT20's which were OK. I replaced with BT23's and they were good. I did get a cupping wear on the front which I could feel as the tire aged. Still went through 2 more sets. Now I have BT24's and the cupping issue seems to be resolved. These are much better feeling. They have good longevity too as I get 20K or more from a set.

Keep the shiny side up,

Chuck

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Chuck, Do you mean T30's. I did not know that they made a BT24 unless its really new.

I hope that's what he meant! I just ordered a set of the T30s.

Phil, let me know your first impressions of the T30s. I'm going to order the T30s or the Pirelli Angel GTs.

junglejim said:

Phil, let me know your first impressions of the T30s. I'm going to order the T30s or the Pirelli Angel GTs.

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I'll let you know what I think, Jim.

Phil, I think your little Jaunt to MT will be a good test for the new tires as the roads they will put you on are sure to be tire eaters!

Eldon

I just put T30-GT's on my FJR right before I left for Spearfish. Initial impressions are good.

I am running them at 40 psi front and 42 psi rear. I only had one day of rain on the trip, plus I tend to ride really conservatively in the rain, so I can't really judge wet traction.

Initial tread depth was 3/16" front and 7/32" rear as best as I could measure. After 4100 miles of mostly slab and secondary roads, front tread depth is 9/64" and rear is 23/128".

Yes. The tires are marked Battlax T30 R. Writing form memory is obviously somewhat faulty. In any case, I like them a lot. I have about 5,000 miles on them and there is no sign of the cupping I got on the older tires.

I am surprised how much the PR4's have gone up in price. The T30's are now considerable less expensive than the PR4's. On Revzilla they are over 30% less expensive.

Well, phooey! I ordered mine from Bike Bandit and paid about $30 more for the pair. I didn't even think to look at Revzilla.

Here is a comparison that I created from Revzilla on the costs for the radial sport touring tires in the sizes for the NT.
I have sorted the results for lowest cost for a set to the highest.

Brand, Model, Front , Rear, Total

Continental Conti-Motion $77.55 $122.26 $199.81

Bridgestone T30 $112.78 $132.94 $245.72

Dunlop Road Smart 2 $120.67 $142.28 $262.95

Metzeler Road Tec Z8 $139.52 $146.22 $285.74

Pirelli Angel GT $122.44 $173.25 $295.69

Avon Storm 3D $143.07 $165.59 $308.66

Michelin PR3 $143.44 $169.78 $313.22

Michelin PR4 $152.81 $180.84 $333.65

Continential Road Attack 2 $145.58 $189.73 $335.31

Thanks Warren, you saved us some researching.

Motorcycle Superstore has similar prices, but different. Some are higher and some are lower, but the same trend from high to low.

The Bridgestone T30s look like a good value, but I haven't heard any reports of performance beyond 10K miles. My son has 4.5K on his and he likes them.

Three weeks ago ordered PR4's from Bike Bandit for $315 delivered. Ordered 11:00 PM Sun and were on the doorstep noon on Tues ... of course I ordered them to be on hand.

I will second the thankyous warren! even though I don't have anything to put them on at this time. 3 biles in the stable and not riding any of them. tires are all good to go on so I am not in the market.

I do think along the same line as Phil, OR else stay with PR3 which have been good for me in the past on the NT. The BT 23's on the FJR were not bad, but only had 2600 mils on them when it went away.

Eldon

Frosty said:

Three weeks ago ordered PR4's from Bike Bandit for $315 delivered. Ordered 11:00 PM Sun and were on the doorstep noon on Tues ... of course I ordered them to be on hand.

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That is cheap!
I had PR4s fitted late last year and they cost me AUS$508 for the pair on loose wheels. That is about US$370. At the time, the two Dollars were closer to parity so it would have been well over US$400, perhaps US$450. Keep in mind though that it did include fitting and balancing.
They have now done 5000km (3200 miles) and look Ok although I have not measured the tread.

Macka

Love the rear PR4s that I purchased last December. Will be changing them between the 19,500+ I have on them now and 20,000; that is, really. Soon. That little squiggly tread line with the reservoirs is still there, but it's telling it is time. The fronts have a long way to go as I got them sometime in the middle/later summer.