Michelin PR4

JQL

JQL

Growing old disgracefully
Joined
Dec 19, 2010
Messages
422
Location
Val de Marne, France
Bike
NT700 sold & 2019 FJR1300
I am editing this post for anyone searching for information on Michelin PR4 tires (tyres)

My recommendation: BUY THEM

OK so why should you buy them?

I ride about 10,000 - 12,000 miles each year in all weathers (including light snow) commuting to work which is about 20 miles each way. I also use my bike to visit clients nearly every day. You can check out my mileage etc. here.

So, I use my NT700VA every day - including weekends for pleasure.

The roads I ride have are a mixture of Autoroute (Interstate), City roads and country roads. I live in the country and work in the city. These roads are covered in diesel. quite literally. Diesel is the fuel of choice in France as it is much cheaper than petrol (gas). Everyone uses it and they don't care if it spills or leaks on to the roads as it is cheap. So, when it rains, the roads become skating rinks!

My NT700VA came with Bridestone BT021 tyres and they were a bit loose. They didn't inspire confidence especially in the rain where the feed back was that the back end felt like it was going to break away at any moment even when going very slowly. I come from sports bikes and crotch rockets so I'm used to incredible levels of grip and the BT021s made me pucker up in the wet.

Next were the BT023 as people said they were very good and I had difficulty getting Avons. Yes, they were better. Dry grip was phenomenal (the "chicken strips" were usually scrubbed off within 500 miles!) and the wet grip inspired a little more confidence but they still felt loose in the wet on corners.

Then came the BT030. These were good. Much better than the previous Bridgestones. Very good performance in the dry though my last set still had some remnants of chicken strips on one side. The wet grip was better than the BT023 but still didn't inspire full confidence.

Now we come to the PR4s. Oh boy are they good. I can ride in the wet exactly the same as in the dry! No difference at all - well I maybe don't lean as far. The level of confidence they give in the wet is nothing short of amazing. You feel like you're on a dry road - period!

We've had quite a lot of rain over the last 2 weeks so I have been able to test them out in the wet. I tried a hard stop - not quite an emergency stop - in the rain yesterday and the ABS didn't need to kick in (the ABS used to kick in fairly regularly with the Bridgestones). The front just bit the road as if it had been dry. I was gob-smacked! These tires give the impression that they'll grip to levels well above my ability and those of a sane person on a public highway.

I have found a tyre which I have full confidence in, in both the wet and the dry. It has exceptionally good levels of grip and gives excellent feedback. As to longevity, I'll have to let you know. If I had a gripe it would be that they feel a little hard, which is no bad thing.

So don't dither. If you ride in the rain, or in the dry, fit Michelin PR4s.


Original post

I'm about to get the 72000 km service done (the BIG one) and I'm going to change the tyres as well from BT30s.

Has anyone got the PR4s fitted to their Deauville and, if so, can you please give a review of them?

I am editing this post for anyone searching for information on Michelin PR4 tires (tyres)
 
Last edited:
I have a set of PR-4GT Tyres, fitted 2000 miles ago. They are great in terms of handling and are phenomenal in the rain. The bike has a much nicer ride. They are by far the best tyres I have ever tried.
 
I have a PR4 on the rear after a blowout on a my 2nd rear PR3. I liked the PR3 better, just felt more planted and intuitive control on corners, just my opinion. If I needed a set of new tires today, I wouldn't hesitate to buy PR3's over the newer PR4's if a set could be found. And the PR3's may be cheaper.
 
I have about 5k on my PR4s. I can see very little wear and I'm hoping they last considerably longer than the PR3s, but we'll see over time. I'd buy them again at the next swapping of tires.

Terry
 
I've got a front PR4 with over 6K miles and a rear with over 10K. They're wearing great, ride great, and have had good traction wet and dry. I'm happy with them. They're much better than the OEM tires. I've also run BT-023s and they were better than the BT-020s but neither was as good as PR3s or PR4s. I had a rear Dunlop RoadSmart and it was OK, but didn't last quite as long as the PR3. I also tried a set of Metzler ME-880s, but the rear was a bias-belted tire (I'd run a mix of radial and bias-belted tires on my '99 Kawasaki Concours and they had worked well and lasted a long time), but the handling wasn't as good as the OEM tires.
 
I have a rear PR4 and front PR3, having already had a rear PR3 . can't tell difference between them. if I don't get more mileage out of PR4, I will stay with PR3 for slight cost savings. I may try a Avon tire to check mileage. just took an amazing Dunlop front off with amazing mileage , went farther than PR3. here is my tire chart

 
Last edited:
I have about 5,250 miles on my rear PR4 - with no real signs of wear. I got 13,600 on my PR3, and expect more from the PR4. Slightly improved handling wet and dry.
 
Many thanks for all your input everybody.

I will go for PR4s front and rear. The bike is booked in for the service on 18th October so will give a review about Christmas time.

FYI, this is the full 48,000 mile service though she will have done 50,000 by then but it's the earliest they can do it. As well as the full service I am getting new tyres and the fork oil replaced. I also need front brake pads. I may need the steering head bearing looking at (hopefully just greasing and tightening). I'm expecting a bill of about 1,000€ ($1,270) :eek1: I may have to start a Crowd Funding page...;)
 
LOL! But,...er...no. Just wore out the rear PR3 before I wore out the front one.
 
True, John, but I couldn't even get my C-10 Connie to do a wheelie...I'm guessing a skinnier guy might have better luck. :)
 
Well, I am pretty skinny and I am GLAD the Connie isn't prone to wheelies.....even with a heavy aft load.....true story...back in college I had my room mate on the back of my Yamaha 305 and while not exactly obese, he was a hefty guy...the weight and balance was a bit off, to say the least....I started off briskly from a light and the front wheel came up and he fell off the back....luckily, he wasn't hurt...we laughed about it but I have been careful with passengers ever since......
Phil Tarman said:
True, John, but I couldn't even get my C-10 Connie to do a wheelie...I'm guessing a skinnier guy might have better luck. :)
Click to expand...
 
I was talking to one of my freinds yesterday. He has a Suzuki Bandit 1250 with PR4s on. The rear has done only about 1500km (900miles) and looks good but the front has done 4000km (about 2500 miles) and is quite badly scalloped on the sipes. He is disappointed and has already decided that he will replace it with another PR3, as he had last time. The reason that he went PR4 this time is because of the claimed 20% longer life but he is unhappy with the front wear which he never noticed on the PR3. He feels that the wet-grip is similar but is not fantastic. He has felt the bike move around quite a lot when wet but has not had a "cheek clenching" moment.

My 700 is getting close to new tyres having done 25,oookm (15.500 miles) on the Pilot Actives. They have worn very evenly and smoothly although the rear is now quite squared-off. I have been researching peoples thoughts on replacement tyres and have more or less decided to replace with the same. Wet grip does not inspire confidence but 90% of my riding is on dry roads and long touring life is more important for me. Better "wet" feeling would be good but I just slow down a bit in the wet.

Macka
 
I am almost at the end of my rear PR4 tire mileage. so far I have 16,234 miles. I'm ecstatic over the miles. best tire mileage on rear was a PR3 @ 13,739, so far. I will change it by end of week, so only few hundred more that I can get out of it. the tire is much improved over PR3 in that it wears much more rounded, don't have such a difference from harder center to softer outside. I just ordered one today, thought I had one a rear in garage, but it was a PR3 front. Since this tire gets more miles than any other, I believe I have found the one I want for the rear. the only sensible choice to try might have been a Avon.
 
Last edited:
I just replaced both the front and rear tires. The rear was a PR4, and the front a PR3.

I got 13,666 miles on the rear, which is essentially the same as the 13,616 miles on the PR3 it replaced. While that doesn't quite match Michelin's claim of improved mileage, I am still very happy with the tire.

While I do commute with my NT, it's only a 22 mile round trip, and since it is merely a part-time job of three days a week, most of my miles come from road trips. With Texas' 75 mph speed limits (even on many rural two-lane roads) and a loaded top box and equally loaded panniers, and on chip seal road surfaces, I'm satisfied with the mileage.
 
Chris, I'm really glad to read your report of riding on snow and a bit of ice with the PR4. I missed several days of riding in December and January because of short stretches of alley and street in our subdivision that looked like what you talked about. Next winter I might venture forth a little sooner.
 
Chris

Thanks for the PR-4 report, I think I will change out to a set of them from the OEM BT023's on the FJR befpr I head for TX in May.

Eldon
 
I've now done 10540 km (6550 miles) over a mild Paris winter on the Michelin PR4 front and I'm noticing some interesting wear patterns.

  • The centre of the tyre is becoming slightly raised.
  • There is, for want of a better term, "feathering" on the larger longitudinal groves where one side (towards the inside of the tyre) is higher than the other. This is probably contributing the centre section becoming raised.
  • The (very) thin lateral groves seem to be wearing about evenly to the eye but when you run your finger over them there is a slight lowering on the front edge.
  • I expect them to be able to do in excess of 20,000 miles based on the (large) amount of tread left.

Other observations
  • When small stone chips become embedded in the tyre they seem to do so in pairs (there's a lot of flint around here so frequent inspection is required). Whereas, on the Bridgestones, I don't think I ever saw embedded stone chips in pairs.
  • They keep their pressure very well - I have only had to top them up once.

The grip is very good and I am still travelling a little too quickly in the wet. I have to keep reminding myself to slow down. Note, I'm not breaking the speed limits, just going a little quicker than what I think the conditions dictate. Though, so far (famous last words), I have been able to slow down or stop in the distance so, may be, it's not too quick. I just don't want to find out the hard way :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom