Big Dog
26th September 2014, 20:29
Setting the scene: I am heading over to a mates place to pick up a DVD.
I have never been to his house before so I have GPS directions piped into my helmet. We turn of the beaten track and immediately off the less beaten track.
The darkness closes in as we leave the lights behind. There are no road markings any more.
Another turn sees there are not even fog line reflectors let alone any other road signs anymore, just a dusty piece of road. The sort of chipseal you marvel at how nice it is to ride.
As I reach the crest of the hill I am not sure which I sense first, the sound of gravel beneath new untested and unscrubbed tyres, or the sight of a big clay bank where the road seemed to go a moment back.
Braking hard before I knew what my plan was, searching as desperately for an exit as for the skill to stop before the bank.
The pounding of my pulse drowning out the GPS as it says something. Nope going to fast to stop before the bank. My knees straining against the tank as I draw nearer. Wait, the one word that was clear was left, but where left? There. just aim for the gap in the trees and hope there is a road there. By now I had slowed to about 30kmph but that last 30 could not be scrubbed off in the remaining space.
Breathing again.
This is why we spend $600+ on a pair of tyres. Not the days that everything works out. The days it nearly doesn't.
In this case $540 the set fitted at Drury Performance Centre.
When it came time to yet again to buy new shoes for my lady, that we may dance once more I was originally going to do what I have always done and get the best money could buy and to hell with reading reviews etc.
In a world where living costs are going up faster than earning potential does I decided that because the tyres would only last me 6 months tops it was best to buy something considerably cheaper. About $200-400 less than the other options I was offered from other brands.
And I am glad I did.
I had Pilot Road twos on before (they came with the bike) and I have had PR3's on the Hayabusa so although I don't know everything about tyres here is my review, from a non professional and a non journalist.
I am not surprised there was not any comments about wet riding from the press that came back in my internet searches.
They turned out to be very boring in the wet. Nothing to say, not exceptional grip and not shit. Very boring reading indeed. Especially if you are an editor trying to sell advertising space.
I don't ride on the track, I ride on public roads and mostly to the posted limits. Corners... well that is why we ride.
All my remarks relate to all weather road use unless otherwise stated.
The good:
For my intended purpose (riding daily in all weather) fantastic.
Dry grip is good form cold (5/10) and gets better (10/10).
Wet grip is good form cold (4/10) and gets better (8.5/10).
Very stiff sidewalls give a very confident corner at any legal speed (10/10). Well beyond the PR2 previously on there (7/10).
These tyres are noticeably quieter on the same roads on the same bike. This was a little eerie at first but much nicer now that I am used to it.
In particular, less chirpy under power and brakes.
Excellent braking grip even in the wet or in my one proper emergency brake on pea gravel scattered across chip seal (10/10), the PR2 under similar conditions slid and skipped (5/10).
The dynamic of the tyre seems to lend itself to cornering a lot better than the PR2s in that the PR2s turned very quick, I would say too quick, meaning even going around some very tight bends previously the bike was still most vertical. Perhaps this is the stiffer sidewall of the GT or perhaps it is that the profile is less of an arc and more of a curve.
This gives corners a much more fluid feel. Corners that previously needed a little coercion are now smooth and flowing. I had previously thought it was = bike x it's weight x me eating too many pies. How wrong I was (10/10). The only tyre I would rate as being comparable at road legal speeds was the Metzeler Z8's I had on the Hayabusa for a while.
The tyres seem well planted in the corners in the wet also (7.5/10). This is the one of the few times I rate the PR2s higher (9/10).
The stand out feature for me is they don't care when they hit tar bleed. They seem very unaffected. (10/10). PR2s lose all semblance of control in the blink of an eye (4/10), to be fair most tyres I have ridden on up to now do.
The mediocre:
In the wet, especially where there is surface water deeper than the tread there is a little front squirming under power (5/10) This is not in the bad column because it was tolerable and certainly better than the PR2s (3/10)
They don't seem to dry the road as well as the PR2s... the PR2s (6/10) (or the 3 (10/10)on the Hayabusa) left a strip behind that was noticeably drier than what went before. The T30s don't or I haven't noticed (2/10). Again this is not under bad because I don't get a sense that this has actually made for a worse tyre for my purposes because it is incongruous with the better braking feel and stopping distance.
The bad:
Fuel consumption has gone up.
According to my logs; I now use get .8 less KM/L than the previous tyres. If true that is an extra 40l per year. I am unsure at this point how much of this is because the tyre pressure was checked with their air gauge, how much is because I am carrying more stuff for work lately and how much is because I am enjoying corners more. I expect the latter, but will redo my tyre pressures with my guages this weekend.
I have never been to his house before so I have GPS directions piped into my helmet. We turn of the beaten track and immediately off the less beaten track.
The darkness closes in as we leave the lights behind. There are no road markings any more.
Another turn sees there are not even fog line reflectors let alone any other road signs anymore, just a dusty piece of road. The sort of chipseal you marvel at how nice it is to ride.
As I reach the crest of the hill I am not sure which I sense first, the sound of gravel beneath new untested and unscrubbed tyres, or the sight of a big clay bank where the road seemed to go a moment back.
Braking hard before I knew what my plan was, searching as desperately for an exit as for the skill to stop before the bank.
The pounding of my pulse drowning out the GPS as it says something. Nope going to fast to stop before the bank. My knees straining against the tank as I draw nearer. Wait, the one word that was clear was left, but where left? There. just aim for the gap in the trees and hope there is a road there. By now I had slowed to about 30kmph but that last 30 could not be scrubbed off in the remaining space.
Breathing again.
This is why we spend $600+ on a pair of tyres. Not the days that everything works out. The days it nearly doesn't.
In this case $540 the set fitted at Drury Performance Centre.
When it came time to yet again to buy new shoes for my lady, that we may dance once more I was originally going to do what I have always done and get the best money could buy and to hell with reading reviews etc.
In a world where living costs are going up faster than earning potential does I decided that because the tyres would only last me 6 months tops it was best to buy something considerably cheaper. About $200-400 less than the other options I was offered from other brands.
And I am glad I did.
I had Pilot Road twos on before (they came with the bike) and I have had PR3's on the Hayabusa so although I don't know everything about tyres here is my review, from a non professional and a non journalist.
I am not surprised there was not any comments about wet riding from the press that came back in my internet searches.
They turned out to be very boring in the wet. Nothing to say, not exceptional grip and not shit. Very boring reading indeed. Especially if you are an editor trying to sell advertising space.
I don't ride on the track, I ride on public roads and mostly to the posted limits. Corners... well that is why we ride.
All my remarks relate to all weather road use unless otherwise stated.
The good:
For my intended purpose (riding daily in all weather) fantastic.
Dry grip is good form cold (5/10) and gets better (10/10).
Wet grip is good form cold (4/10) and gets better (8.5/10).
Very stiff sidewalls give a very confident corner at any legal speed (10/10). Well beyond the PR2 previously on there (7/10).
These tyres are noticeably quieter on the same roads on the same bike. This was a little eerie at first but much nicer now that I am used to it.
In particular, less chirpy under power and brakes.
Excellent braking grip even in the wet or in my one proper emergency brake on pea gravel scattered across chip seal (10/10), the PR2 under similar conditions slid and skipped (5/10).
The dynamic of the tyre seems to lend itself to cornering a lot better than the PR2s in that the PR2s turned very quick, I would say too quick, meaning even going around some very tight bends previously the bike was still most vertical. Perhaps this is the stiffer sidewall of the GT or perhaps it is that the profile is less of an arc and more of a curve.
This gives corners a much more fluid feel. Corners that previously needed a little coercion are now smooth and flowing. I had previously thought it was = bike x it's weight x me eating too many pies. How wrong I was (10/10). The only tyre I would rate as being comparable at road legal speeds was the Metzeler Z8's I had on the Hayabusa for a while.
The tyres seem well planted in the corners in the wet also (7.5/10). This is the one of the few times I rate the PR2s higher (9/10).
The stand out feature for me is they don't care when they hit tar bleed. They seem very unaffected. (10/10). PR2s lose all semblance of control in the blink of an eye (4/10), to be fair most tyres I have ridden on up to now do.
The mediocre:
In the wet, especially where there is surface water deeper than the tread there is a little front squirming under power (5/10) This is not in the bad column because it was tolerable and certainly better than the PR2s (3/10)
They don't seem to dry the road as well as the PR2s... the PR2s (6/10) (or the 3 (10/10)on the Hayabusa) left a strip behind that was noticeably drier than what went before. The T30s don't or I haven't noticed (2/10). Again this is not under bad because I don't get a sense that this has actually made for a worse tyre for my purposes because it is incongruous with the better braking feel and stopping distance.
The bad:
Fuel consumption has gone up.
According to my logs; I now use get .8 less KM/L than the previous tyres. If true that is an extra 40l per year. I am unsure at this point how much of this is because the tyre pressure was checked with their air gauge, how much is because I am carrying more stuff for work lately and how much is because I am enjoying corners more. I expect the latter, but will redo my tyre pressures with my guages this weekend.