New Michelin tyre (sport-touring) Pilot Road 2

**WickedOne** · 10th March 2007, 11:59

That is what Cycletreads said on Thursday when I spoke to them. I really wanted a set of these but don't think I can wait till the next shipment comes in. What did you find best on your Hornet Felix? (And what kind of riding were you mainly doing?)

**Duc** · 10th March 2007, 15:27

I run Pilot Roads and I think they create a "road noise" that I do not like at all. Anyone else experienced this?

I notice the 2's are a very different front tyre tread pattern and wonder if that will make a diference in this issue.

**WickedOne** · 11th March 2007, 10:02

Originally Posted by Duc

I run Pilot Roads and I think they create a "road noise" that I do not like at all. Anyone else experienced this?

I notice the 2's are a very different front tyre tread pattern and wonder if that will make a diference in this issue.

I am sure they will be a hell of a lot different because the new ones don't have a tread pattern that runs from side to side as the Pilot Roads did.

**Zapf** · 11th March 2007, 16:34

Originally Posted by WickedOne

That is what Cycletreads said on Thursday when I spoke to them. I really wanted a set of these but don't think I can wait till the next shipment comes in. What did you find best on your Hornet Felix? (And what kind of riding were you mainly doing?)

I really like the Strada's on the Hornet and now also on the XX. I do almost all types of riding, open road / back road / weekend blat / GC....

Strada's have good feel too. I am interested in the new Roads just to see what they are like. They will be for the XX

**WickedOne** · 12th March 2007, 17:26

Yeah, looks like I'll be sticking to the Stradas, will try the new Pilot Road 2 next time.

**terbang** · 12th March 2007, 18:06

After being told for ages I finally tried a set of Pilot Power 2CT (the dual compound tyres) Only done a 1000K on them touring and they are certainly a nice performing tyre, especially in the wet. Seem to be hacking the 'fat sprotbike' fairly well.

**WickedOne** · 13th March 2007, 17:35

Originally Posted by terbang

After being told for ages I finally tried a set of Pilot Power 2CT (the dual compound tyres) Only done a 1000K on them touring and they are certainly a nice performing tyre, especially in the wet. Seem to be hacking the 'fat sprotbike' fairly well.

Sweet as, keep us posted on how well they last please.

**Zapf** · 26th April 2007, 00:09

anyone heard more about these Pilot Road 2's?

**Cajun** · 26th April 2007, 07:53

Originally Posted by Zapf

anyone heard more about these Pilot Road 2's?

Yeah saw a set in the dealer end of last week, similar sorta tread pattern of a power, instead of the old pilot road.

**Hitcher** · 26th April 2007, 09:01

What I'd like to see is a head-to-head comparison of the new crop of sport touring tyres: same riders, same bikes, same "circuit", mix of wet & dry; some objective data and discussion from the riders as to their thoughts and preferences on each.

Otherwise 10,000km is a long time between drinks (about four months in the Hitcher household) and it would take about two years to complete a comparative test on my own using a whole-of-tyre-life framework.

Whereas the whole job could be done in a weekend in Taranaki with six riders, six bikes (let's go for the new Bandit as the reference bike) and some indifferent weather.

**Cajun** · 26th April 2007, 09:22

There a job for ya Hitcher, go see suzuki, see if borrow some bandits, and go see tire importers and there ya test (c:<

**Hitcher** · 26th April 2007, 09:47

Hmmm. I wonder if Crasherfromwayback is reading this? Could be a go for the second half of May...

My six sports-touring tyre preferences would be:

Battlax 020 (a good reference tyre)
Avon Storm
Metzeler Roadtec Z6
Michelin Pilot Road 2
Pirelli Diablo Strada
Conti Road Attack

I've ridden four of these, but not all on the same bike.

**pritch** · 26th April 2007, 13:14

Such semi scientific tests are rare, but can be informative if they're done right. The best ones I've seen usually use two different riders and two different bikes.

One of the Brit Bike mags did a test of several Michelin tyres using a number of riders of varying experience. The test found that the sports/touring rubber was the best all round. (They last longer, and they perform better in the wet.) Which was a similar result to an earlier test.

Some sprots bike owners may not be too worried about tyre life, but if you're doing 20,000Ks or more a year you are looking at $1000 up. Twenty dollars every week just for tyres...

Somebody give Big dave a nudge...

**Hitcher** · 26th April 2007, 13:29

Most sprotsbike riders rarely ride their bikes to a degree that requires a full-blown race compound road tyre to be fitted. But they won't accept that, less their manhood be threatened.