Michelin Pilot Road 4 GT

Re: Michelin Pilot Road 4 Gt thread

This is my third set of tires of my ST and I have to say so far I absolutely love them over the Bridgestone's BT020. I'm not an overly aggressive rider. I would describe the ride as a bit more plush over the BT020. I also feel a bit more confident in the rain and on tight turns as well.
 
Re: Michelin Pilot Road 4 Gt thread

The day before my Oregon trip, I looked at my rear tire (PR4GT) and thought I still had enough tread on it (thinking I only had about 7,000 miles on it), then I looked at my maintenance book and saw that I had almost 10,000 miles on it, but it still looked like it would make the trip.

Saturday night I took off and made a stop off I5 (200 miles), near Buttonwillow. I had to ride over some dirt and when I looked at the rear tire again, I could see that it was getting down to the point that I felt I needed to change it out during the trip! I called my son, Justin (in Beverton), and had him order me a tire. We changed it out after a 250 mile ride out to ST Helen's. It had over 11,000 miles by the time we replaced it!
 
I just removed a pair of PR4 GT tires from my ST1300 and replaced them with Bridgestone T30 GT EVOs. The rear was into the wear bars and the front was less than 1 mm to the wear bars. It was also badly cupped at the edge of the dual compounds and really howled when the bike was leaned over into a curve.

I got 15.4 k mi. out of the front and 10.5 k mi. out of the rear, primarily solo, but with a 2400 mi. ride two-up last summer. I really like the Michelins and have installed six rears and four fronts of various PR2, PR3 and PR4 GT models over the past six years. I'm trying the T30s because they were about $130 less for the pair from FortNine.ca.

On the installation, compared to previous Michelins the T30 rear was a bear to mount. I thought we'd never get that last 30% of the tire on over the rim. This may be a deal breaker when the T30 wears out.
 
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All Bridgestone tires are a pain in the :butt1: to mount.
Next time try a set of Pirelli Angel GT's if you haven't already. They also cost less that the PR4's, and are really nice tires.
 
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I may take a look at the Pirellis when the T30s wear out, but the price difference for a pair isn't as great as the T30 GTs.
PR4 GT - Angel GT = $41
PR4 GT - T30 GT = $143
Angel GT - T30 GT = $103

But as a said, the mounting effort for the T30s may be a deal breaker when it comes time to replace them.
 
Anyone have any experience with how long the tires will last from just about on the wear bars? I didn't realize how far gone my back tire was and i'm supposed to leave in the morning on a weekend ride. Should be around 700 miles or so. Safe to do the trip? weather looks good. or should I take the truck and order new tires next week?
 
I replace my tires when they first "touch" the wear bars (cheaper than my hospital co-pay).
Once the tires hit the wear bars, I've seen them go to chord within 200-300 miles. Your call.
If you want to know for future reference, when you get your new tire ordered, take a box cutter and slice down the center of the tire, I think you'll be surprised at how little tire you really had left.
Folks always tell me "I think I have at least a thousand miles left", then I slice them, then they thank me :rolleyes:
 
Igofar said:
I replace my tires when they first "touch" the wear bars (cheaper than my hospital co-pay).
Once the tires hit the wear bars, I've seen them go to chord within 200-300 miles. Your call.
If you want to know for future reference, when you get your new tire ordered, take a box cutter and slice down the center of the tire, I think you'll be surprised at how little tire you really had left.
Folks always tell me "I think I have at least a thousand miles left", then I slice them, then they thank me :rolleyes:
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Yeah i have decided not to chance it im taking the truck :) its not even nice motorcycle roads, it's slab both ways!

Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk
 
My PR4GT wasn't quite to the wear bars, but I just replaced it so I don't have to worry with the trip to WeSTOC coming up. It's pretty easy to put on 2000-2500 miles just on one trip. I never seem to hit wear bars anymore - most of my riding is associated with some travel.

BTW, my wife insists on Michelin. Otherwise I probably would have ended up with a T30 EVO GT this time around - about a $75 switch with the Bridgestone rebate going on right now.
 
tenny80 said:
Anyone have any experience with how long the tires will last from just about on the wear bars? I didn't realize how far gone my back tire was and i'm supposed to leave in the morning on a weekend ride. Should be around 700 miles or so. Safe to do the trip? weather looks good. or should I take the truck and order new tires next week?
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If you're talking about a PR4GT rear and the thin centre tread is still present it will easily do 700 miles unless you ride like crazy.
 
ST_Jim said:
My PR4GT wasn't quite to the wear bars, but I just replaced it so I don't have to worry with the trip to WeSTOC coming up. It's pretty easy to put on 2000-2500 miles just on one trip. I never seem to hit wear bars anymore - most of my riding is associated with some travel.

BTW, my wife insists on Michelin. Otherwise I probably would have ended up with a T30 EVO GT this time around - about a $75 switch with the Bridgestone rebate going on right now.
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Likely NOMB, but why would your missus care which brand of tires you install on your bike? I just switched to a pair of T30 EVO GT tires after using Michelins for the past 5 or 6 changes and when I told my wife I'd saved $120 she was impressed. The only downside I can relate so far is the rear was a beotch to get onto the rim compared to the PR4 GT it replaced
 
Re: Michelin Pilot Road 4 Gt thread

I bought my ST1300 and was riding fast on the way home. I was running 75 mph and my rear went flat. I swapped ends twice and it came out of it. The Michelin stayed on the rim. I think they saved my ***.
 
Re: Michelin Pilot Road 4 Gt thread

....Or they almost got you killed by going flat :rolleyes:
 
Not happy with the wear on this PR4GT rear after 15,000km. I suppose the 15K is okay (as good as the previous Bridgestone), but it's the uneven wear that I'm unhappy with.

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The OP mentioned flappy bits, others referred to feathering, I suppose they are the same.

I noticed this wear at Orbost VIC about 500km from home on a 4,000km round trip to QLD. The wear prayed on my mind, so I got it replaced 300km from home with a Dunlop Road Smart at Bairnsdale VIC. This a large country town (around 15,000 pop), but not much in the way of choices available at short notice. The Dunlop is not (IMHO) as good as the Michelin, and will need replacing soon (it won't see 10,000km), I'll go for a PR4.

Reading though the posts, the problem would seem to be suspension set-up, one poster mentioned the proper suspension settings. I know what that means, but don't not know how to determine what the proper setting is, or how to set it. Is this by turning the rear suspension pre-load adjuster? Which way?
 
Wow I think the wear is very good. It depends on many factors including the road surface and temp, riding style etc. I like my cheap Bridgestones for the riding that I do as I am not on the track.
 
sky.high said:
Re: Michelin Pilot Road 4 Gt thread



So its caused by rebound setting! That is something I did not know and I've always seen this type of wear on my ST regardless of tyre brand, I'll be tweaking the rebound setting right away.
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It will happen to almost all tires. Try not rotating the tires on your car for 20k miles and they will do the same thing. Tires with more groves will cup faster. BT 023 cupped pretty bad and the replacement T30 were pretty good just different thread design
 
tenny80 said:
What kind of life are you guys getting out of the PR4 GT??
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I've been getting ridiculously long life out of the PR4GTs on my ST 1300 - in the range of 13,000 km (8,000 miles) from the rear, and almost 20,000 km (12,000 miles) from the front.

I weigh 175 pounds, ride solo, and carry about 50 pounds of cargo in the panniers. Most of my riding is long distance highway trips at whatever speed I can get away with without getting a ticket (in other words, about 15 km/h over the posted highway limit).

Michael
 
I have 12K (miles) on my rear PR4GT; not quite worn out, but I'm going to replace it before I leave for the Texas hill country at the end of October. There's a new set of PR4s waiting in the garage. I'm told that the Road 5 (when it becomes available in our sizes) is going to be a better tire, but it's hard to imagine how.
 
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