Michelin PR2 - easy to spin up in the wet or past it?

[SPP]

New Tyres
Went into Drury Performance Centre and got PP 2CT (for a bloody good price). Mike down there knows quite a bit (first hand) and is good to talk stuff though with. Recommended.

Drury had a couple of sets of everything! so I could line them all up side by side, consider this, consider that.... and then chose the ones that had the coolest tread pattern

In the end Mike said flip a coin, they'll all work (16's, M3, Rosso, PP 2CT) and he's probably right.

Comboyz: They are holding the PR2s aside. I'll PM you their details. Comparing them to brand new PR2, they do look worn.

As a side note: the bike now feels light again and I couldn't be happier.

[mouldy]

Good to here you're happy with the new rubber , scrub 'em in and then go as hard as you want on them but watch out for surface changes in the wet , as I've said before nothing sticks to the shiny shit in the wet and I know 'cos /ive run them all .

[SPP]

Finish up feedback from me. About 800km on the PP2CT so far. I don't regret changing one little bit.

Back road ride: 200km, first ride out. Sunny, icy in the morning and warm in the arvo. Brisk but not dangerously quick.
Even at 36/42 psi they have a lot of grip. For a novice, confidence that the tyres will hold unless you're being a dick is worth spades full. Most of the tyre is getting used without trying to, 1-2mm of untouched tyre left.

Commute: 600km. I don't expect these will last anywhere near as long as the PR2.

Wet: One wet day, two wet nights. The difference is very noticable. These stick like poos in the wet. They feel like my old PR2 did in the dry.

Now, I'm not trying to put down PR2, they are great tyres. PP just suit me (a novice) with little bike (cbr 600rr) better. Warm up time is short, turn in is much quicker which feels right for a sports. Wet performance is awesome. BUT I'm going to pay for that with increased wear.

Kinda obvious really.

Thanks all for the advice and recommendations (M3, Rosso etc). I suspect I'll be trying some of them out sooner rather than later.

Cheers.

[jrandom]

Finish up feedback from me. About 800km on the PP2CT so far. I don't regret changing one little bit.

Glad to see someone following the same route I took.

I switched from PR2s to PP 2CTs on the GSX1400 last year, not going back. They just stick so much better, wet and dry.

People who are happy with PR2s and say they give 'sufficient' grip either haven't tried anything better on their bike, or ride like a nana. On my 14, the front would push and the rear would spin. Not exactly confidence inspiring stuff. (Then again, they were still worlds better than the BT020s the bike came with.)

I didn't really notice how bad it was until I got a set of proper sport tyres on and the bike started sticking to the road.

Also, the PR2s have a shallow profile and don't do much to help the bike turn. They turn sportbikes into tourers (and GSX1400s into supertankers). I'm a big fan of my 190/55 PP 2CT rears.

[Crazy Steve]

I have PR2s on a little CBR 600RR with 15,000 km on them. They look just less than half worn (really hard wearing on a light bike!)

In the wet/rain these spin up and step out A LOT more than I thought they would especially considering the CBR is hardly a torque monster and I'm not really giving it heaps

e.g.
• 95-100k not accelerating and going uphill in 6th. Road was smooth perhaps a little tar bleed. Rear stepped out to 4 o'clock but no fish tailing.
• 60-70k, 3/4 acceleration (2nd or 3rd). Road was smooth but no lines or tar bleed. Fish tailing 4 O'clock to 4 O' clock a number of times. I really thought somebody was going to ram me from behind

Unintentional spin up a few times now. Is this normal for PR2 or are they just past it? Is the bike too light to get these to grip properly? Harden up mate its all part of the fun?

I’m considering changing to BT016 or Powers. I think want sport tyres again.

Note: The OEM BT015 that were on it last winter spun up maybe once or twice in the wet but only mildly and always stayed straight. Never once did they suddenly let go and step out and I’m riding the same roads.

I would up grade to some Shinko's ! ! !

And buy a bike with some grunt ! !

Crazy Steve.

[jrandom]

I would up grade to some Shinko's ! ! !

You is crazy, Crazy Steve.

[Blackbird]

I switched from PR2s to PP 2CTs on the GSX1400 last year, not going back. They just stick so much better, wet and dry.

What sort of life are you getting from your 2CT's JR? I put an Avon Viper Sport (roughly the equivalent of a 2CT) on the front of the 'bird last year to help counteract front end "push" whilst keeping a Storm rear for longevity. Really impressed but front hoop life was limited to 7000 km which isn't bad for a pure sport tyre on something like the 'bird. Have just gone onto the newly-released Avon VP2 Sport front and rear. I'd imagine that front end life will be similar to its Viper predecessor but the rear might be rather less. Like your 2CT's, the VP2's are quite crowned which really helps with rapid line changes on a lardy old tub like the 'bird. It's going to be an interesting few months on the Loop

[jrandom]

What sort of life are you getting from your 2CT's JR?

Heaps au. PPs last very well. Close to 10,000km from a set, I'd say.

It'd be half that if my riding was limited to Coro loops and trackdays, I expect, but I do a lot of two-up nana-ing that keeps the rubber in the right shape without really ripping it up.

[Blackbird]

Heaps au. PPs last very well. Close to 10,000km from a set, I'd say.

It'd be half that if my riding was limited to Coro loops and trackdays, I expect, but I do a lot of two-up nana-ing that keeps the rubber in the right shape without really ripping it up.

Cheers, that's pretty darned good. I don't commute at all these days and two-upping is rare too. Interesting times ahead.....

[MotoKuzzi]

I got at least 22,000km out of PR2's on the Guzzi. I say at least because they were on the bike when I bought it second hand and that's the mileage I got. Rear was squared off but front was still useable. I never had any wet weather problems with them, but have had stepping out and rear wheel spin up problems with the Metzler front / Bridgestone rear that I have on now. I put the mileage for the PR2 down to riding style and the fact that the need for heavy braking is rare on the Guzzi, throttle control does most of it.

[robboh]

Suspension: i haven't changed any setting. It feels ok but i honestly wouldn't know.

Giving it stick it the wet: Not really, I shit myself too much.

Wear: I’ve attached pictures of the tyres which have 15,000km now. Tread depth looks ok to me. Only slight flattening on the rear and the front (right side) is slightly chiselled.

Pressures: Dropped them to 32/32 this morning but the jury is still out. It felt kinda funky

What now… I pumped them up to 34/38 (cold?) and will try again. Worst case scenario is that I’ve had 15k out of a set tyres. That’s a pretty good worst case I reckon.

Cheers all

Crumbs.
Those dont even look like they've ever even been hot or thrashed :-)

[cowboyz]

i have them sitting in my shed thanks to spp.

Havent made it on the bike yet but they dont look bad at all. Be intereesting if I have the same experience

[SVboy]

Interesting thread. A mate who is a very good and aggressive rider fitted PPs to his k7 gsxr 600. He rode hard for 11000kms, including quite a few track sessions. The tyres were deceptive in that they wore very slowly, with plenty of tread left, but progessively lost their grip, perhaps through repeated heat cycles? he blames them in retrospect for two offs he could not explain, and has since changed to PP2s.
I get 5-6000kms MAX out of my Bridgies, and I am by no means a hard rider, but I trust them for all of that time.

[cowboyz]

I ride fairly aggressively and PR2 last about 7000k on the back of the 9. Got a pilot sport on there at the moment and its got 5000k on it and near buggered. never had a slide on any michellin tyre. Went to metezler for one change cause I got them cheap and I couldnt get the bike to come out of a corner striaght. (MEZ4)