Pilot Road 4 rear nearly worn out at 4500 miles

[Tomcat]

I'd be interested to hear how many miles other people have got from a Michelin Pilot Road 4 rear tyre. My bike came with Anakee 3's, which I replaced with the PR4s at 6000 miles. I checked the tread depth on the rear tyre yesterday and found that it was already down to 1.6mm after 4500 miles. There's a lot of tread left a little off centre, but not much in the middle. It looks to me as though the central sipes (?) must have been quite shallow to start with, though I haven't checked this on a new tyre. I expected the tyre to easily last 6000+ miles, as I don't ride much on motorways. I used to get nearly 8000 miles from Tourance rear tyres on my old 1200, though to be fair to Michelin I'd only get 4000 miles from rear PR4s fitted to the 1200 Multi that I had before the GS LC.

I'm about to head off on a 2000+ mile ride, so I'll replace the PR4, but I'm thinking of changing to a PR3 which I prefer in any case (based on the Mutli), and it also looks to have deeper tread in the centre.

Does anyone have any comparative mileage figures for the PR3 vs the PR4 on the GS LC, or experience of mileage on the PR4? Maybe I'm expecting too much....

 

[AndyR34]

I'd be interested to hear how many miles other people have got from a Michelin Pilot Road 4 rear tyre. My bike came with Anakee 3's, which I replaced with the PR4s at 6000 miles. I checked the tread depth on the rear tyre yesterday and found that it was already down to 1.6mm after 4500 miles. There's a lot of tread left a little off centre, but not much in the middle. It looks to me as though the central sipes (?) must have been quite shallow to start with, though I haven't checked this on a new tyre. I expected the tyre to easily last 6000+ miles, as I don't ride much on motorways. I used to get nearly 8000 miles from Tourance rear tyres on my old 1200, though to be fair to Michelin I'd only get 4000 miles from rear PR4s fitted to the 1200 Multi that I had before the GS LC.

I'm about to head off on a 2000+ mile ride, so I'll replace the PR4, but I'm thinking of changing to a PR3 which I prefer in any case (based on the Mutli), and it also looks to have deeper tread in the centre.

Does anyone have any comparative mileage figures for the PR3 vs the PR4 on the GS LC, or experience of mileage on the PR4? Maybe I'm expecting too much....

Tomcat,

I shocked, I live in a part of the country with extremely abrasive roads and my PR4s have done nearly 5000 miles and are showing no signs of squaring off and the front looks like new. May be worth checking with Mr. Michelin as this type of wear doesn't sound particularly normal. I've heard of fellas getting around this type of life but with a more even spread of wear.

Possibly a bad batch??

Andy

 

[RedRick Esq.]

I used to get somewhere between 4500 and 5K from PR4 on my GSA LC. It depends on how you ride of course slow and they will last longer

I couldn't get 8k from a tyre if i had it in the boot of my car

 

[Captain Black]

I'd be interested to hear how many miles other people have got from a Michelin Pilot Road 4 rear tyre. My bike came with Anakee 3's, which I replaced with the PR4s at 6000 miles. I checked the tread depth on the rear tyre yesterday and found that it was already down to 1.6mm after 4500 miles. There's a lot of tread left a little off centre, but not much in the middle. It looks to me as though the central sipes (?) must have been quite shallow to start with, though I haven't checked this on a new tyre. I expected the tyre to easily last 6000+ miles, as I don't ride much on motorways. I used to get nearly 8000 miles from Tourance rear tyres on my old 1200, though to be fair to Michelin I'd only get 4000 miles from rear PR4s fitted to the 1200 Multi that I had before the GS LC.

I'm about to head off on a 2000+ mile ride, so I'll replace the PR4, but I'm thinking of changing to a PR3 which I prefer in any case (based on the Mutli), and it also looks to have deeper tread in the centre.

Does anyone have any comparative mileage figures for the PR3 vs the PR4 on the GS LC, or experience of mileage on the PR4? Maybe I'm expecting too much....

Maybe you ride a lot on motorways ? Hence the tyre is worn mostly in the middle. Are you maybe over inflated on the rear also ?

 

[Schtum]

I changed my original Anakee 3's at just over 3K miles. I suspect I'll be lucky to get 4K out of the Pilot Road 4's I've got on there now. I don't think I've ever got more than 4.5K out of a rear tyre on any of my four previous GSes.

 

[rodsharp]

Sounds about right to me

 

[jtb]

Yep, I agree with everyone else, I got about 5k out of the PR4 Trail that I had on my prev GSA. If you've got the road (ie not trail) version you should get more miles because it is a dual compound tyre - but only the trail version is an approved tyre for the GS/GSA.

Incidentally I got way more mileage out of TA2's - but the rear Anakee I've got on the new GSA is looking a bit well-used at only 3k. It is also blimmin useless on French tarmac in the south, slipping around all over the place.

 

[Rushy]

The Trail is a dual compound tyre too , but whereas the road version has a hard compound in the middle and a medium on the edges the Trail is medium and soft.

Throw in some motorway miles and you will see a Trail badly squared off in less than 5k miles for sure. I just put a new rear on mine and the old one had done just over 4.5k miles and was illegal by the time I got back from Ireland.
280kg and 130bhp chews em up pretty quickly.

 

[Tomcat]

Thanks everyone. I hadn't realised that the Trail (which is what I've got) uses different compounds to the road version. So it looks as though I'm getting much the same mileage as others, perhaps even a little more.

 

[xspencex]

That's about how many miles I've had out of my PR4 rear, actually it was a tad less then 4k before I had to change and it was in an awful state by then. My original Ankee only lasted 2k. No motorways just Highland roads really.

I've had PR4's and PR3's on my R1200S and I'd get around 6k miles.

 

[ManicMic]

I had PR4 Trails on mine and although they were good, I found they felt a bit squirmy when pushed.

I've recently changed to the new Metzeler RoadTec 01's.

I can't say how long they'll last but they feel awesome. My bike has never felt so stable.

 

[Sam555]

I have an RT1200 now, sorry did have a GSA hence posting here as had / have PR4's on each and love them. Now ready for a change so if interested in a Sports Touring tyre on a GS very good review by MCN here;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzcgeHLZMvw

New Metzler RoadRec 01's came top but all good really, Sam

 

[Beemerman59]

The Trail is a dual compound tyre too , but whereas the road version has a hard compound in the middle and a medium on the edges the Trail is medium and soft.

I'm surprised its that way round - I would have expected them to aim the trail version at big heavy, fully loaded, two up tourers and put the harder compound on that. I can't get more than 4.5K from any rear I've fitted over the years on my GSA - and its got worse since my Hilltop remap. I rate the PR4's more then the PR3's though on the grounds of cornering confidence in the dry. Both equally as good in the rain.

 

[sven]

I think the GT has three compounds - hard in the centre, then medium and finally soft towards the edges. It also has a deeper tread.

My first Trail lasted 3800 miles, but that included 2500 miles fully loaded on tour with the last 500 being very gentle miles to avoid having to buy a new tyre abroad. The GT's look like they'll least longer, but the first one was ruined by a puncture. The replacement's just had a puncture repaired.

I think I'm going to switch to more puncture resistant tyres next

 

[DrAlf]

I managed to wipe out a PR4 GT rear in less than 2000 miles - two up touring in hot weather on abrasive roads. Previously PR3's had lasted a little longer but still under 3000 miles. I now use a PR4 on the front and an old PR2 on the rear which seems to wear much better.

 

[J biker]

Pr3s were good for around 4.5k on my multi. OE Pirelli things were shot by 2.1 k (Scottish tour abuse).
5k would seem about right on a GS, less if used two up and motorway miles.

 

[delmonti]

Yup, my pr4 rear is squaring off after 5k. Still enough tread for another 1k or so.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gerarddwatts]

So I need a new PR4 for my plain vanilla GS. It's done nearly 5000 miles,its not illegal, but I don't think It'll last for the 3000+ miler I've got next month.

From what I see above.it would seem to make sense to use the PR4 GT rather than the trail on my not off-roaded GS.

But some-one said the Trail 'is the only approved tyre for the GS'. Is that right? Approved by whom? What would be wrong in putting a PR4GT on a GS that is only ever used on the road?

Any ideas?

 

[sven]

So I need a new PR4 for my plain vanilla GS. It's done nearly 5000 miles,its not illegal, but I don't think It'll last for the 3000+ miler I've got next month.

From what I see above.it would seem to make sense to use the PR4 GT rather than the trail on my not off-roaded GS.

But some-one said the Trail 'is the only approved tyre for the GS'. Is that right? Approved by whom? What would be wrong in putting a PR4GT on a GS that is only ever used on the road?

Any ideas?

Theoretically the tyre should either be approved by the BMW or Michelin for use on the bike, so I'm not sure what'd happen in the event of an accident. Would the insurance company refuse to pay out? I don't see the issue when it's basically the same carcass and tread pattern. Only the rubber compound is slightly harder in the centre and the bike seems to turn in a little better than it does on the Trail rear.

 

[jtb]

So I need a new PR4 for my plain vanilla GS. It's done nearly 5000 miles,its not illegal, but I don't think It'll last for the 3000+ miler I've got next month.

From what I see above.it would seem to make sense to use the PR4 GT rather than the trail on my not off-roaded GS.

But some-one said the Trail 'is the only approved tyre for the GS'. Is that right? Approved by whom? What would be wrong in putting a PR4GT on a GS that is only ever used on the road?

Any ideas?

When I last changed tyres, my local Motorrad dealer produced a list of 'approved' tyres for the GS. I can't find it online so I might ask them for a copy next time I am passing. Anyway, the service advisor was pretty clear that the PR4 Trail variant was an approved tyre for the GS, but the PR4 Road variant wasn't. The only issue I can think of with putting an unapproved tyre on might be some sort of very marginal warranty issue, but it's hard to think of a scenario for this. I know that insurance companies routinely check the condition of tyres in the event of an accident claim, but whether or not they'd check that a tyre was 'approved' is probably down to the small print on your insurance policy.