Michelin Pilot Road 3s...I joined the club

[the Ferret]

Well my Dunlops were getting a little down on tread and I didn't feel like riding on them thru the winter so today I rode over and had new Michelin Pilot Road 3's installed. Today was supposed to be the warmest day of the week but the weather terrorists got me again. 35 degrees when I took off, 33 degrees by the time I got home. 83 miles round trip ( would have been a little less but I took the long curvy way home lol ... just can't help myself. )

Mileage on stock Dunlops was 8,543 (they could have gone maybe another thou)

New front Pilot Road 3 110/80-18

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/PilotRoad3s011_zpsce252296.jpg.html]

New rear Pilot Road 3 160/60ZR18

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/PilotRoad3s009_zps4e102027.jpg.html]

I know there were some questions about clearance on the 13's between the centerstands and the edge of the tire, so before they installed mine on the 14 DLX I called EmptySea for verification. He said at least Pterodactyl cut his centerstand brace for extra clearance and that maybe CIP had ground his, but ES just installed them and went with it as his mechanic said there was enough clearance

I can tell you on the 14 DLX there is plenty of clearance

Clearance left side

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/PilotRoad3s008_zps50ff930d.jpg.html]

Clearance right side

[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/PilotRoad3s014_zpsdf395b60.jpg.html]

These are dual compound radials so maybe we will see a little more mileage out of them. I have always liked Michelin tires and run them on everything I own, cars, truck, motorcycles.

YMMV

[emptysea]

Good luck with the new tires. Yes, I decided not to cut down the feet on the center stand. I just let the rear tire rub against them for a few miles. Eventually enough rubber wore off and it's fine now...I mean, no rubbing and it doesn't leak or anything and there's a cool stripe around the tire now. Enjoy!

[CIP57_imp]

Looks good, you have a lot more clearance then we do with the 2013, I did not touch mine and have about 1/4 with no tire rubbing.

I would say that front is toast, wore just like mine more on the left than right.

[the Ferret]

CIP you could stick the fingers of a flat hand easily between foot and tire

[kevbroce_imp]

I have less clearance than that on my 2013, no rubbing on ~5000 miles. I too got around out of my Dunlops and they looked better the Ferrets), but swapped them because I had an 1100 mile road trip coming up. The PR3's are holding up great, I should be able to run them longer than the Dunlops.

[OldF7Guy_imp]

Ferrett, have you been able to ride enough to form an opinion? You may know Im interested in these tires for my Nighthawk along with my CB11 when the time comes. I want to know what you think. Please tell us when you log some miles. Thanks.

[emptysea]

OldF7: There are at least three of us who have them already and have logged significant miles on them. All reviews thus far have been positive. I have 6000 or so miles on them and find them better on wet, better on dry, and quieter than the original tires. Yes, the rear is wider and that causes unwarranted concern about clearance and performance, but I for one can tell you that they are superior in every way to the original tires. The only open question is if they will wear better than the orignals. I suspect they will, but I won't know for sure until about May, 2015. CIP has had the RP3s longer and Kevin lives in Cali so they may be able to give a wear report sooner. I too look forward to Ferret's review, though.

[Guth_imp]

Any noticeable differences regarding how the bike feels leaning into corners, during low-speed maneuvering , holding a line through corners, etc., etc.?

[emptysea]

For me, they seem (keyword) to jump into the turn quicker than the stock tires. I don't know if they call it "oversteer" in the bike world, but that's what i notice just a bit. They seem (keyword, again) to want to lean over quicker. Not at all sure that that's because they have more tread because they are newer, though.

[kevbroce_imp]

They felt way better than my Dunlop's, but I think any fresh tire would feel better the cupped front, squared off old tires. Sqared off tires dont feel good at all... I've done over 600 miles in the rain and wet and have had a single oh crap moment. Granted, I'm not pushing it in the wet, but I'm more confident on them in the rain. The fronts wearing much better than the stock Dunlop (no cupping), the rear seems to be holding up better as well. I had a few iffy moments on the Dunlop's leaned over and hitting a tar snake or a pebble in the road, nothing surprising on the PR3's. I had no chicken strip on the Dunlop and would drag the pegs in spirted rides. The rear PR3 has a different profile than the Dunlop, when dragging the pegs there still is tread left at the rear. I feel like thats got to be a good thing for hard riding. I've gotten to the point of lightly dragging my exhaust and all feels fine tire wise, but I feel like my Yoshimura RS3 has less clearance than the stock pipe so others may be able to lean a little further to the right. Ive ground off a fair bit of peg feeler, and when the foot peg pivots up a bit my pipe drags, its right at that limit.

I'm not sure I could ask expect more from a tire, they are exceeding expectations.

13,700+ miles on the bike. ~5000 on the PR3's.