New PR4s

[banjoboy]

I took my NT in for major service today--drain and replace brake fluid and coolant, adjust the valve, oil change, etc. I was told that my PR3s were seriously cupped and squared off. I was very surprised as I only have 9K on these tires and I was expecting better. I think I might have gotten another 3,000 out of them, but given that I have some longer trips this summer I told them to go ahead and replace them with PR4s. Allegedly the 4s are to be longer wearing than the 3s. Does anyone have any experience with the PR4s yet.

Terry

 

[Phil Tarman]

Terry, I'm about to get some. I've got a set of PR4s that will be dropped at my house tomorrow.

 

[wphillips007]

Thans to this forum I found out that BikeBandit had the PR4 set on sale for $307, and I am having them mounted today. However, I got 15,500 miles out of my BT023's so the PR4's will be hard pressed to beat that mark. In fact, I have several thousand miles left on my front BT023 tire and there is no cupping, etc - but I am changing both tires. I was really tempted to go with the BT023's again as you can get the set for under $200 but I did want to try the latest and greatest in tires so went with the PR4. Wendell

 

[DirtFlier]

[...However, I got 15,500 miles out of my BT023's so the PR4's will be hard pressed to beat that mark...]

Wow, that is fantastic mileage for BT023s. Was your rear tire cupped at all? I changed my BT023 at just under 10k because of cupping but like yours, the front still looks good.

 

[banjoboy]

Phil, what mileage did you out of your PR3s?

Terry

 

[RedNigel]

My PR3s got 8800 on the rear and 16K on the front
I ws disappointed too

I have a set of PR4s with 5K on them. You can tell the rear is already showing a bit of squaring, but lots of meat left.
My gut tells me they are going to out perform the PR3

 

[Phil Tarman]

Phil, what mileage did you out of your PR3s?

I've got about 13K on the rear and it's squared-off pretty badly (the Epic Ride put on a lot of straight miles to get to the "interesting" parts). The front only has about 6K on it and it's in great shape.

 

[MAC]

IRON PONY

Is having a good sale on tires, as Wendell said for under $ 200.00.

I just bought a pair of BT023 - GT's for the FJR, they were $ 191.98 and that inclued $ 20.00 shiping. They ship fast, I orderd them about 4 PM Monday and they were here Wennesday.
Same size front as the NT - 120/70ZR/17/58W, but the rear is a 180/55ZR/17/73W load range "B" for two up riding. I also have a pair of PR-3's ready to go on in May for our trip to Nova Scotia.

 

[Phil Tarman]

I agree with you, Chris. My mechanic always sees cupping on my tires. On some of them I've doubled the mileage with no noticeable degradation in handling.

 

[RedNigel]

Thats how they roll
Last time I took my wife's 18 yr old toyota to the dealer for a quick repair, they called her back with a laundry list of things that were in 'dire need' of attention. It added up to $3200 and the car was worth about $1400

When she passed and said to just do the job she brought it in for they played the 'safety card' to try to scare her into doing the work
It saddens me that there is no auto or motorcycle dealer on earth I trust 100%
I just cant bring myself to trust them that way

 

[BillyDoc]

I now have 16,634 miles on my PR3s. I mounted them with two ounces of ceramic grinding media ("ZIRMIL" 2.3 mm) in the front and three ounces in the rear for balancing, and have no visible cuping on either front or rear. The tires both still look good, in fact, with little or no evidence of "squaring off."

I measured the tread depth when new as 0.159" front, and 0.237" rear. These depths are now 0.065" front and 0.084 rear, for 0.094" of wear on the front, and 0.153" of wear on the rear. Assuming the same rate of wear, I should be able to get another 11,502 miles on the front before the tread grove at the center just disappears, and 9,132 miles on the rear. It's tempting to try it! The groves are deeper away from the center, so I guess I ride conservatively.

Almost all of these miles were at about 50 mph or less, with only a few hundred at freeway speeds, and on fairly new tarmac pavement. This bike is my daily commute transportation, and there were only a few "ice" days this year here in Florida.

Needless to say, I'm delighted with this result. PR4s next time! About next fall, I think . . .

Bill

 

[banjoboy]

Chris, you have a point. I took my NT to Cycle Barn and I've heard this story about cupping or squaring off twice now. So, I think next time I will be more 'aggressive' and ride them until I see the wear bars. It is an irritation that I have 50,000 on the tires on my Subaru and they have at least another 10,000, yet my motorcycle tires are only lasting 10K and cost about as much as a car tire. Oh well.

Terry

 

[Woodaddict]

Phil, what mileage did you out of your PR3s?

Terry

I did report my tire mileage on another thread. Here is what I got......next best tires... BT023 front 18,168....rear 10,803. best - PR3 front 22,119....rear 13,739. have second set of PR3 on now. I will add my mileage for Dunlop later, but all tires got less than PR3. Have PR4's ready to go on next to try. When you figure per mount cost PR3 last longer. I do wear all tires down until I see middle grooves wear even to base of tire.
EDIT.......forgot, thought I had PR3 on front, but it the Dunlop Roadsmart, so it will not get the mileage of the last front PR3. The rear Dunlop was 11,578 miles
So rating mileage bad to best......Yucky BT 020, then BT023, then Dunlop Roadsmart, then PR3, then sometime I put on PR4!

 

[Chucksklrst]

I just don't know how you guys get so many miles on a rear tire. The best I have gotten is 9700+ a few from my last PR3 rear. Replaced with a PR4 this past week and will see how far I get with that. I guess you guys never twist the wrist much. But then again if I was over 55 I would be slowing down a bit also.

 

[RedLdr1]

But then again if I was over 55 I would be slowing down a bit also.

You mean 55MPH right?

 

[Comanche]

I just don't know how you guys get so many miles on a rear tire. The best I have gotten is 9700+ a few from my last PR3 rear. Replaced with a PR4 this past week and will see how far I get with that. . . .

I'm curious to know the mileage you guys get from PR4s. I'm not heavy with the right hand around town, but I often cruise at 75-80 mph on the chip seal roads in Texas. I have over 10k on my current rear PR3, but I'll soon be ordering a replacement. I'll be curious to know if the PR4 is worth the extra cost, especially if I can get some "obsolete" PR3s for a cheaper price.

 

[wphillips007]

Wow, that is fantastic mileage for BT023s. Was your rear tire cupped at all? I changed my BT023 at just under 10k because of cupping but like yours, the front still looks good.[/QUOTE]

I'm embarrassed to answer your question! I just off my 100CCC and didn't really inspect my tires while on the trip (after all I was busy ridding). But when I got home I looked at the rear and was a tad bit shocked - no I didn't have a cupping problem - I was down to the wire cord in spots! I got my money's worth out of it. Besides my daily commute (45 mph) I did 2 BBG's and the 100CCC which was all hammer down on the slab type of miles on these tires. All in all, I was pretty happy with the BT023's. Wendell

 

[Phil Tarman]

Wendell, your post reminded me that when I went in to get my first set of PR3s mounted, I had just gotten back from a ride to Texas (and had ridden in snow for some of that). I had stopped at Limon, 86 miles south of my home because the roads had gotten icy. I called a friend who came and got me with a trailer. Then I rode the bike 68 miles to my dealers to have the PR3s mounted. The service writer said, "Well, you got your money's worth out of these."

I asked him what he meant and he pointed out the wire cord showing on my rear tire.

Oops!

 

[Woodaddict]

Just the OEM BT020 were not good at gripping. All the rest I can't tell a difference in grip whether rain, heavy rain etc. Rednigel got PR4 for about $303 for set. Just 3 weeks ago I got set for $298 (free shipping). I did also receive bandit bucks of $4 more off. So that is the low price benchmark to look for on a sale

 

[Phil Tarman]

I think I paid $304 for the set that got delivered to my house in Fort Morgan at 3:37PM this afternoon. It'll be week after next before I can get them mounted. Oh, I bought 'em from Bike Bandit and got some Bandit bucks to use on my next purchase.