Pilot road 2 - expensive? I think not

[Gingernutz]

When I changed my BT023s last time I wanted something different because of road noise in the front. I stumped up £280 for a pair of pilot road twos. I thought I had been had but just worked out I got 18000 miles out of them. I am kind on tyres but that is ridiculous. They were very squared by the end but still grippy and road legal. I've swapped them for Pilot Road 3s at an eye watering £303 fitted but reckon these might be the last tyres the bike will ever have at that rate. Thread pattern is weird and obviously still need riding in but hoping for big things in the wet this winter. Anyone else on them?

[Punkstig]

The PR3's are exactly the same compound as the PR2's, the only difference being the design of the sipe pattern, in the wet they are fantastic, although I believe there's a set if Metzelers with a better wet rating.


Good time of year to put the PR3’s on however if you rarely ride in the wet then the PR2's are cheaper with the same mileage life!

[Hedgetrimmer]

When I changed my BT023s last time I wanted something different because of road noise in the front. I stumped up £280 for a pair of pilot road twos. I thought I had been had but just worked out I got 18000 miles out of them. I am kind on tyres but that is ridiculous. They were very squared by the end but still grippy and road legal. I've swapped them for Pilot Road 3s at an eye watering £303 fitted but reckon these might be the last tyres the bike will ever have at that rate. Thread pattern is weird and obviously still need riding in but hoping for big things in the wet this winter. Anyone else on them?

18000 miles?!! This is getting ridiculous. Do you have a hover-bike?! 6000 miles out of my last PR2s, front and rear! (Yes, I know mine's a thou, but even so....) Mind you, I only paid £236 the pair, fitted on the bike, wheels balanced. 6000 rear I'm actually quite happy with tbh, but the front......not so good. But still really like them.

[Punkstig]

Suspension setup has a big effect on tyre wear too Nick, too firm and it puts more pressure on the tyres wearing quicker!

[Hedgetrimmer]

Suspension setup has a big effect on tyre wear too Nick, too firm and it puts more pressure on the tyres wearing quicker!

Yes but I like the way it's handling at the moment, better than my last 3 thous. I like a hard ride, oo-er! I'm not really complaining, just after 30 years of riding bikes, 15 years of working in the trade, I've never heard of people getting these kinds of mileages from their tyres, not on 600s and over anyway. All I can think of is that tyre tech has improved so even stickier tyres are lasting longer. After all, I only used to average about 4000 per rear!
 

[unfazed]

When I changed my BT023s last time I wanted something different because of road noise in the front. I stumped up £280 for a pair of pilot road twos. I thought I had been had but just worked out I got 18000 miles out of them. I am kind on tyres but that is ridiculous. They were very squared by the end but still grippy and road legal. I've swapped them for Pilot Road 3s at an eye watering £303 fitted but reckon these might be the last tyres the bike will ever have at that rate. Thread pattern is weird and obviously still need riding in but hoping for big things in the wet this winter. Anyone else on them?

How on earth do you get 18000 miles out of a back tyre? If I get 5000 I would be lucky.
 
 

[Punkstig]

Same as anything -give and take, mileage or sticky, although that really is changing!


Up until these michelin's I think 12,000 was my best out of a rear, but was normally around the 10,000 mark.
Now I'm disappointed if I don't get 15,000!

[Dead Eye]

I reckon I should see 8,000 at least out of my BT023's on my 600, hopefully more

[Hedgetrimmer]

I think I would like to see everyone post what mileage they get out of their tyres, so I can see if I'm doing something wrong, or if the thous are really that much harder on the tyres, or maybe you get less if you live in Wales?!!    Then again, their roads are smoother, so you should get more mileage out of em.
 
There is one other possibility: Since I've moved from London/South east, I'm doing more higher speed rides as the choice of good roads has improved for me out this way. Certainly that would help to explain why I got so little out of my last front.

[Punkstig]

Harder riding = lower mileage,
Heavy acceleration affects rear tyre heavy breaking affects front tyre, I try to be as smooth as possible when it comes to corners or braking for junctions, accelerating I can't help myself! 

[Gingernutz]

If it's any help comparison wise on the bridgestones I got 11-13000 and both wore out at the same time. The shoulders went first but the rp2 the wear was more even except for the squaring. I use the bike for work - 1000 miles a month claimed in mileage plus call commutes on top  so not much huneing into corners. I am an engine breaker but like to keep the pace up - even in Sussex we have a few decent roads for making progress. Tbh I'm surprised you get 6000 out of a rear on a thou -mates r1 eats them know a third of that

[andybesy]

I've just checked my service log and I got 17,800 out of my BT023 FRONT.

Unfortunately my last BT023 rear was changed due to puncture at around 6,000.

But on the previous one I got around 10,000 before deciding to change it due to squaring ahead of a big tour. Could have squeezed 12k but wanted to enjoy the Alps.

18K is outstanding, but shame to put up with squared tyre during summer!

Andy

[peterjca]

I also usually get 10 to 12K out of a rear, in my case BT23s. My FZ1 Fazer, at 26K+, is still on its original chain and sprockets!

[Gingernutz]

Peter when I got my latest foxeye it had a manky rusty dry chain and had only done 6000 miles in five years. I put a did gold heavy weight c &S  kit on - 43000 miles ago.  Not made any extra effort to look after it just reckon the little fazer isn't up to stretching it. On a thou 26k on the original chain must be a record

[peterjca]

It was MOT-ed and serviced a week ago. It's got a scotoiler and I clean the muck off the chain every few weeks with hot soapy water followed by a coating of scotoil. Also, I'm not much of a hooligan rider which is probably more to the point! Can't recall having original chain and sprockets lasting that long on any new bike I've had. On a previous FZ1, they were changed on or before the 18K service. Perhaps a thou is wasted on me 

[adeejaysdelight]

I am happy with 4000-5000 from a rear. I only use the Fazer for fun, so there is only a few miles for the bike to warm up and the rest of the time it is turned up to 11. If I want to take it easy I'll take the car. If I want to preserve tyre life I will take the 125. If I take the 600, its because I want to get my freak on.

[NotAnotherHill]

I've got my third set of PR2s on my 600 Fazer. I can get a tad over 7k out of a rear before it has got down to the 1 mm mark on the rear. The front has more life but I always change in pairs. I'm fairly 'spirited' in my riding. There's no way I could get 10k plus out of a set of tyres unless they were made of rock.

[Hedgetrimmer]

So thank god it's not just me then! 18,000 miles ffs 

[VNA - BMW Wank]

PR2's are good and should be available at a discount now.

I had a set on my thou, got 6000 out of the first rear.  The second got punctured at 3000 miles - about half worn, still got it as a spare.  So front, which was well ropey at the end had done about 9000 miles and would have failed an MOT.

On PR3's.  The wet weather grip is good, it feels just that wee bit better.

[VNA - BMW Wank]

You get a good bit more milage out of a rear on a 600, but 18,000 miles?  FFS.

Tyres have improved immensely when it comes to wear.

The Metz's my thou came with, well the rear was totally shagged in 3000 miles, not to mention it didn't grip that well.

The BT020's would give 4000 miles per rear.

Now I can get 6000 miles- amazing, though only if I can avoid punctures.

[lew600fazer]

So thank god it's not just me then! 18,000 miles ffs 

Maybe they need to check the speedo is set for miles and not Km's. 
My 600 fazer has just under 5000 km's and are ready for changing within 1000 km's or so. Centre of the tyres are still good but the sides are about scrubbed out, getting to the stage were I do not have a lot of confidence in them now. Just bought a set of Cotni Road Attacks when I was over in the UK last week

[Pat]

When I changed my BT023s last time I wanted something different because of road noise in the front. I stumped up £280 for a pair of pilot road twos. I thought I had been had but just worked out I got 18000 miles out of them. I am kind on tyres but that is ridiculous. They were very squared by the end but still grippy and road legal. I've swapped them for Pilot Road 3s at an eye watering £303 fitted but reckon these might be the last tyres the bike will ever have at that rate. Thread pattern is weird and obviously still need riding in but hoping for big things in the wet this winter. Anyone else on them?

£303 a set? 

Next time I suggest you take off your hi-viz vest  before heading to the tyre shop, that way they won't see you coming.... 

As for PR3s being the same compound as PR2s, can't see how it can be the same, as the PR3s I'm currently running are lasting far far longer than the PR2s I had on it before. 

In fact I don't really see the point in not getting PR3s instead of PR2s as not only are they much better in the wet, but  looking at the prices at my local tyre shop - FWR, although they initially cost 11.5% more to buy, they are lasting at least 50% longer, so in reality are working out a lot cheaper.

[Hedgetrimmer]

Now that's interesting. Yes, I went for PR2s again because it was said they're the same compound as the 3s, just different sipe pattern. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming those that said this, cos I know there's a lot of disinformation out there when it comes to these things (and I too took it as gospel), and anyway, the 2s are good enough that I'm happy with them anyhows. But it was only going to be £15 dearer for a rear to go with the 3s. I didn't cos I'm one to stick with what I know. But if anyone else who went from 2s to 3s can confirm these improvements, then I guess I'd be daft not to do it next time around. (I am of course talking to thou owners here).
So thanks for that Pat 

[esetest]

I got 13k out of the BT021 on the front although it was illegal , and I changed the BT021 on the rear at 6.5k as it was pretty squared off and I was going on a tour of Scotland but I reckon I could have done another 2k on the rear  , I am now on BT023's and expect to get through 2 rears to 1 front .
I paid £ 134 inc. fitting  for the rear .

[unfazed]

Now that's interesting. Yes, I went for PR2s again because it was said they're the same compound as the 3s, just different sipe pattern. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming those that said this, cos I know there's a lot of disinformation out there when it comes to these things (and I too took it as gospel), and anyway, the 2s are good enough that I'm happy with them anyhows. But it was only going to be £15 dearer for a rear to go with the 3s. I didn't cos I'm one to stick with what I know. But if anyone else who went from 2s to 3s can confirm these improvements, then I guess I'd be daft not to do it next time around. (I am of course talking to thou owners here).
So thanks for that Pat 

I can vouch for the upgrade to PR3 from PR2, I had the PR2 on the 1000 and 600, whereas they were only ok on the 600 they were terrible on the 1000, after almost losing the front for the third time, I took them off and tried the PR3 as they were a huge improvement over the PR2s on the 600. They are also a vast improvement for both wet grip and wear over the PR2s on the 1000 .  
I still for the life of my cannot understand how anyone can get more than 6000 out of a rear tyre. Do any of you do a little spirited riding?  The left side of mine are completly shot by 4500 and the only time I ever get 6000 miles out of a rear tyre was when I go touring on the continent and right side wears more due to road camber and roundabouts.