PR4 Disappiontment...

It seems that Daboo, JQL, and dnktng, all have more tread on their tires and more miles. I think I'll take mikesim's advice and contact Michelin about this.

Come on Phil, where are the pictures of your PR4 in question?
You know you're supposed to post pictures.
And working is no excuse (any more).
 
I still want to know why Phil got decent mileage out of one rear tire and "horrible" mileage out of a second one, of the same type.

Everyone will get different mileage due to all the factors mentioned. But, if I get over 10k miles out of one tire and then less than 8k from a second one of the same type, using it the same as the first, something is wrong.

Yes, this is irrelevant to me since they don't make any of the PR series to fit my bike (I liked the PR3's on my NT). Just curious. I carry on with my Shinko's, changing them every 6-8k miles on the rear. Since they are only $90 I can afford half the mileage. FWIW, they get at least as many miles as any of the name brands I have used.
 
Charlie, which Shinko are you using? I had a Concours friend who had started using them and he said they were very good tires -- especially for the price.
 
I just finished measuring the tread of the T-30 GT's.

Front tread - 3/16 inch, 4.7 mm. Rear tread - 7/32 inch, 5.5 mm. To the wear bars, maybe 3/64 inch less
 
JohnC said:
Front tread - 3/16 inch, 4.7 mm. Rear tread - 7/32 inch, 5.5 mm. To the wear bars, maybe 3/64 inch less
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With how many miles on them?
Do you know what they were when new?
I'd like to compare the wear rates.
 
Phil Tarman said:
Charlie, which Shinko are you using? I had a Concours friend who had started using them and he said they were very good tires -- especially for the price.
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The 011 Verge and the 016 Verge 2X are their Sport Touring tires. While they have a front for the NT they do not have the rear unless you are willing to substitute a 160 for the 150 that comes with the NT.
 
Chris, you have .067" more tread on your rear PR4 at 12,000 miles than I do at 4,000 miles on mine. And I ride like a grandpa (I am). So it looks like my current PR4 will give me about half the miles that my last one did. There has to be something wrong.
 
That would be a very reasonable explanation Chris, but most of our roads are asphalt, second is concrete and just a few chip-seal roads. Plus the fact that this tire is wearing out twice as fast as my last PR4 on the same roads. Got to be something wrong with the tire. It might not last as long as the OEM BT020 tire.

Unless Michelin offers me something to compensate me for this tire, I'll be ordering something else. Might be Bridgestone, Avon, or Dunlop. Some of the tires I'l like to try aren't made in the NT size like the Bridgestone T30.
 
Jim, you might want to try the Pirelli Angel GT tires. They are very well rated.
 
Jim,
Just a few odd things to check.

I once had a front brake dragging lightly and it may have contributed to wearing out a rear tire faster than normal. I don't recall it heating the front disk excessively, but simply lifting the front end and spinning the front tire revealed the problem.

If you use the same tire pressure gauge, you may want to verify it against another tire pressure gauge just to make sure it is still accurate. We had a rather expensive tire pressure gauge at work that was abused and read falsely high by about 10 psi. Lots of us used it to air up our tires, and we all had flat looking tires.
 
Phil Tarman said:
Charlie, which Shinko are you using? I had a Concours friend who had started using them and he said they were very good tires -- especially for the price.
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Phil, keep in mind I use bias ply tires, not radials. And the sizes I use are 110-90-16 front and 130-90-16 rear. The Shinko 712 is the one that works best for me. I tried another one (230 I think) but I like the 712 a bit better as it lasts a little longer and still has decent grip in slicker stuff. If your concern is price vs mileage the Shinko's are a good choice for me.

Shinko is basically what used to be Yokohama motorcycle tires. There have been some people reporting failures, but, mostly on the dirt bike tires.

"Established in 1946, the Shinko Group began as a manufacturer of bicycle tires and tubes in Osaka, Japan that today has become a burgeoning manufacture of rubber products. In 1998 the Shinko Group purchased the motorcycle tire technology and molds from Yokohama Rubber Co., and began production of these products under the Shinko Tire brand. With manufacturing based in South Korea and design based in Japan, the company has seamlessly combined Japanese engineering and design principles with South Korean production and quality control standards. Today Shinko Tires produces approximately 200,000 motorcycle tires per month."

PS if I want pure performance I slap a set of Pirelli Sport Demons on the bike. The front I use all the time as I get about 12k out of them. The rear is only good for about 6k, but, they stick like glue, even in the rain. Again, I am very limited due to the tire sizes on the bike.
 
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All good guesses Dan, but none are the cause. Front wheel spins freely. I have at least 4 pressure gauges. I rely on the digital and another spring/pneumatic one that are most accurate. I have a gauge that is consistently low by about 8# in the 40# range. I don't know why I haven't thrown it away yet. I don't use the truck gauge (100+ lbs) for the MC but it does read about the same as the others around 40#.

I plan to confer with the "experts" assembled at Spearfish to trouble shoot the tire ware. Most have read all of the above, but the offending tire will be there to kick and point at while throwing out ideas for others to shoot holes in. I'm guessing that with some beer and rally BSing there may be some real good thoughts that come out. Possibly one or two of them may be correct.

I'm going out to the garage to throw out that low-reading gauge right now. - Done -
I still have 4 left. I checked all the gauges just now.
The readings were: 25, 30, 31, 31, 34.
I tossed out the 25# gauge.
The one that read 34 is a truck gauge designed to read 30# to 130# so it was at the bottom of its range.
 
Load weight has an effect on tire wear as well as all of the other mentioned potential causes in this thread. I have owned Michelin's on my cars over the years, and I have not been overly impressed with wear. I am due for a new set of tires for the NT next riding season, but there seems to be more than just an isolated cause for concern over the PR4's, so I will probably stay with Bridgestone.
 
Okay - time to resurrect this thread.

It looks like my rear PR4 is wearing out too quickly. My last PR4 gave me 13,600, but with only 7,000 on the current tire, I don't have much left.

I don't have any long rides planned for the near future, so I have time to explore. I am open to suggestions as to what I ought to replace my read PR4 with (the front looks fine for right now.)

The Perelli Angel GT seems to be the way to go right now. Any other suggestions from those using other brands? I would look at the Bridgestones, but the T30 doesn't come in the NT sizes.
 
Doug, I just put Bridgestone T30s on my NT. Revzilla's got 'em for $143 for the rear; $112 for the front. I don't know how they're going to wear, but they've got good traction, wet or dry. I was pleased with the way they worked on my jaunt to Montana for the Working on the Railroad Rally.
 
Comanche said:
I am open to suggestions as to what I ought to replace my read PR4 with (the front looks fine for right now.)
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I just replaced my last PR4s with Bridgestone T30s. Cost was only $155 for the pair from Jake Wilson with the $50 rebate from Bridgestone. They handle just like new tires - great, but they are a bit more harsh (or maybe just have more rubber on them). I was going to get the Pirelli Angel GTs but for the price I took the Bridgestones. Last I looked they don't make the T30 EVOs in our size - yet.

And like you I got about 13,000 miles on the first set of PR4s and about 7,000 on the second set. I contacted Michelin about it and got no response.

My son has T30s on his Concours 14 and with 5,500 miles on them they look almost half worn to me. That isn't bad for a heavy bike with that much horsepower. He thinks they have almost the same traction as the PR4s, but not quite. He says they are better on grooved pavement. I can tell you more in three weeks. I plan to have about 8K on them by then.
 
Phil Tarman said:
Doug, I just put Bridgestone T30s on my NT. Revzilla's got 'em for $143 for the rear; $112 for the front. I don't know how they're going to wear, but they've got good traction, wet or dry. I was pleased with the way they worked on my jaunt to Montana for the Working on the Railroad Rally.
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Thanx, Phil - they certainly are a lot cheaper than the Perellis.
 
Daboo said:
I'm really curious on this, Doug. I have 13,000 on my PR4s and the rear still looks good for several thousand miles. So will I get only half that if I buy a replacement?

It is one thing to get a difference in mileage when two riders live in different parts of the country. Road surfaces vary and IMHO, that's probably the biggest factor in tire wear differences. But when the same rider gets that dramatic a difference in tire wear on the same tire, I'm left shaking my head.

Still though, did you end up taking trips in a different area than before? Like predominately to and from in the southeast on the first tire, and in the south western USA on the second tire?

Chris
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Good question, Chris. Some of the thoughts on this thread have been about different surfaces, different wear because of different styles of riding - all the usual.

But, I am still me and I still ride the same way on the same bike. I took a trip last year to Spearfish and took the same trip this year. I took a ride to Miami last year, and another one this year. My commute hasn't changed. Its still hotter than the hubs of hell here in South Texas. The only variable I can see is the tire.

If the tire is the only variable - even if Michelin had a bad batch - then it is time to go to another brand.
 
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