Ultimate epic full on road tyre choice

[Titto]

What are the options for the ultimate no compromise full on road tyre for this bike then?

I'm thinking I will be replacing with PR4's when ready because their wet weather performance is supposedly unbeatable.

But what about for best dry grip etc?! Would the PR4 be up there still or are there others to be looking at?

 

[Oilcracker]

I currently have the PR4 GTs fitted to my Kawasaki 1400 GTR. They are great in the wet and dry and on a bike a good bit heavier than the GS the wear is looking pretty good too.

 

[madmartin]

Dunlop roadsmart 2. A fair few have these fitted including meself. All the grip you can have good in all conditions and pretty cheap at £180 or so a pair. Great tyre. Transform the gs into a brill road bike... cheers.

 

[MartinS]

My 2014 GS came with Anakee 3's. They are a very grippy tyre in my experience thus far. I have had the bike (almost) all the way over to the engine bars many times and never felt a loss of traction or grip. My last bike, an FZ1, had Pilot Power 2CT. I'd take the Anakee's over those any day of the week. Honest to goodness.

Have to say though, wet weather never came into it. Though the Anakee 3's do look able to shift some water.

 

[Troppo]

I had pr3s on my Explorer. Excellent. The 4s are supposed to be even better.

 

[DING-DONG]

PR4 on mine, its to expensive of a bike to take off rd, so a dedicated rd tyre is my choice, I've done the ring and the tyre felt as good as any sports tyre, where i was impressed was riding for 8hrs in solid rain on route to the grimsel, where my mates would slow down for the bends I'd keep at the same pace, they really bode confidence in all weathers .

 

[Troppo]

Yes, I ditched the standard dual sport tyres on the Explorer for exactly the same reason - the bike spent 99.999% of its time on the black stuff.

 

[batman1]

Dunlop roadsmart 2. A fair few have these fitted including meself. All the grip you can have good in all conditions and pretty cheap at £180 or so a pair. Great tyre. Transform the gs into a brill road bike... cheers.

Martin, Are the roadsmarts a full tarmac road spec tyre, as opposed to the PR4's which are designated as a 'Trail'?

 

[chrisjk]

Martin, Are the roadsmarts a full tarmac road spec tyre, as opposed to the PR4's which are designated as a 'Trail'?

I don't think the "Trail" implies any particular off-road capability but rather indicates which bikes the tyre is designed for.

 

[DING-DONG]

Martin, Are the roadsmarts a full tarmac road spec tyre, as opposed to the PR4's which are designated as a 'Trail'?

Its only called trail because of the size, Tis a full on rd tyre.

 

[RedRick Esq.]

Its only called trail because of the size, Tis a full on rd tyre.

Yep ful;l on road tyre although i think the "trail" demonition means that the differnt compounds are differently apportionded against the standard PR4

 

[batman1]

If the compound ratios on the standard road PR4 are different to the PR4 'trail' which I believe they are, then the 'trail' tyre is a slightly different tyre is it not, even though the tread pattern remains the same.

If I remember correctly on the PR3 'road' the dual compound was 40/20/40 ie the outsides of the tyre radius were 40% soft with a 20% hard compound in the centre, where as the PR3 'Trail' was something like 10/80/10 ie soft-hard-soft giving a wider spread of hard compound in the tyre centre to deal with occasional off-road stuff but correspondingly a narrower band of the soft compound on the outer edge to deal with the tarmac twisties.

I'll stand corrected by anyone who knows for definite, in the meantime I'll check it out with the Michelin man.

Hence my question to Martin, as I wondered if the Roadsmarts used a dual compound ratio which was more sports focused ie more soft compound on the outer edges like the PR3 'road'?

I ran PR3's 'Trails' on my Triumph Explorer and they were excellent.

 

[yankeedoodledandy]

I've read enough negative reviews and talked to several current owners of the PR4s to conclude that they are not any better than the Conti TA2 or Metzeler Tourance Nexts that the LCs come with. One of my friends had the PR4 on his Multistrada at a track day and found the grip went away fast once they got really hot. Longevity is also not any better, probably not as good, you'll be lucky to get 6k out of them.

 

[krytengs]

I've read enough negative reviews and talked to several current owners of the PR4s to conclude that they are not any better than the Conti TA2 or Metzeler Tourance Nexts that the LCs come with. One of my friends had the PR4 on his Multistrada at a track day and found the grip went away fast once they got really hot. Longevity is also not any better, probably not as good, you'll be lucky to get 6k out of them.

Not sure I would agree with that.
I originally had the Anakee III and by the 6000 mile service they were shot.
I replaced them with the PR4 - much better grip and feel in the wet and dry. After 8K of miles on them, the rears had easily another 1K left and the fronts another 2-3K left.

 

[Eunuch]

My ’13 came Anakee III’s and they were pretty good in both wet and dry but when it came to replace them I wanted a fully road orientated tyre. I felt they were a bit noisy too as others had noticed.

I replaced these at 6K before going on an 11 day trip & the best choice at that time looked to be the Roadsmart 2’s (PR4’s weren’t out) and given excellent experience with the Roadsmart 1 on previous GS’s I took a punt on them. I know others get on with them but I felt they were too stiff, so much so that when I got back though they had plenty of thread left in them I swapped them out for PR4s.

Next off on a 6 day trip around the Alps that rained every single day, some heavy 8 hour riding days over passes, and the PR4’s were ace. The few dry hours where you could explore them suggest they’ll be all I need in the dry too. More than happy with them. They flatter the GS.

Below is the info relating to different compounds on Standard/GT and Trail versions of the PR4. Interestingly and acknowledging the front is all important, apart from 20% rather than 30% softer compound on the edge at the front the Trail version gets 20% soft on the rear too compared to medium on the Standard/GT.

For me Michelin have done their homework because you can rag the bike with PR4's .

 

[Bumpkin]

Below is the info relating to different compounds on Standard/GT and Trail versions of the PR4. Interestingly and acknowledging the front is all important, apart from 20% rather than 30% softer compound on the edge at the front the Trail version gets 20% soft on the rear too compared to medium on the Standard/GT.

For me Michelin have done their homework because you can rag the bike with PR4's .

Interesting and informative though that chart is (thank you for posting it) I think the percentages relate to width of the compound bands across the tyre rather the softness or hardness of the compound which is denoted by the colour. Granted the Trail rear gets the soft compound on the edges, rather than the medium of the Standard or GT, though only on the outer edges. At medium angles of lean they'd both be on the medium compound.

 

[r1happy]

I have a PR4 Trail on the front and a GT on the rear. Handling is superb wet or dry. Done 1.5k on them and most of that
round rural Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. Off to France and Spain next month.

Was disappointed with the Nexts as replaced at 5k, but squared off in 3.5k which shagged the handling.
Was hoping the harder section in the rear GT will stop that and looking good so far.

 

[paul08]

I have a PR4 Trail on the front and a GT on the rear. Handling is superb wet or dry. Done 1.5k on them and most of that
round rural Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. Off to France and Spain next month.

Was disappointed with the Nexts as replaced at 5k, but squared off in 3.5k which shagged the handling.
Was hoping the harder section in the rear GT will stop that and looking good so far.

I think that that would probably give you a fail at the german equivalent of the MoT (Tüv) as they are very keen on checking that the front and rear tyres are matched.

 

[DrAlf]

Agree with the above - PR4's are quite simply superb. PR3's were very good but the wet grip of PR4's is outstanding and very confidence inspiring.

My only issue is the longevity of PR4's - the do wear extremely fast. I've ended up with a PR4 front and PR2 rear. PR2's are still available and seem to last much longer than PR3'2 or 4's.

I'd also consider fitting a 17" front wheel from an RT if road riding is your main focus.

 

[APE]

I dont like the look of the PR's and was told they go 'off' quickly in hot conditions because of the tread pattern. I would go for the Roadsmart II or Bridgestone.