Pilot Road 4s on a sportsbike?

Pilot Road 4s on a sportsbike?

Author
Discussion

Benbay001

Original Poster:

5,801 posts

158 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
I picked up a 954 Blade this weekend.
Its generally in VGC but will soon need a new rear tyre.

Ive always had pilot road 2s on both the bikes ive owned and have had no issues with them, however the Blade is a whole lot more powerful.
Will the blocks move about too much and overheat?



hornetrider

63,161 posts

206 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
Lol.

Benbay001

Original Poster:

5,801 posts

158 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
hornetrider said:
Lol.
Umm what have i done wrong?

hornetrider

63,161 posts

206 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
Just buy the tyres.

Wildfire

9,790 posts

253 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
Your Blade will melt the PR4's in minutes causing the bike to squirm then high side you off in spectacular fashion. Anything more than 40mph and the blocks may be ripped off by the shear power!

wink

You should be fine. They'll be a bit slower on the turn in than a more aggressive tyre, but more than capable. If you go out on the track then you may have problems in warm weather at anything more than novice pace. For day to day road use you wil be good and unless you want more feel and are tearing up the edges then they are a good buy.

My brother took his daily ride out to Brands this year on PR4's. They overheated pretty quickly but it was July and he's a fast-ish rider.

Edited by Wildfire on Sunday 29th November 23:27

Benbay001

Original Poster:

5,801 posts

158 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
Thank you

obscene

5,174 posts

186 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
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Use them on the GSXR1000 and my Hornet for track days and they are fine in the inters group. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. While they're not exactly nice sticky Pirelli's they're fine for all year round use on the road and scraping pegs on track days.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

178 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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Wildfire said:
Your Blade will melt the PR4's in minutes causing the bike to squirm then high side you off in spectacular fashion. Anything more than 40mph and the blocks may be ripped off by the shear power!

wink

You should be fine. They'll be a bit slower on the turn in than a more aggressive tyre, but more than capable. If you go out on the track then you may have problems in warm weather at anything more than novice pace. For day to day road use you wil be good and unless you want more feel and are tearing up the edges then they are a good buy.

My brother took his daily ride out to Brands this year on PR4's. They overheated pretty quickly but it was July and he's a fast-ish rider.

Edited by Wildfire on Sunday 29th November 23:27
you'd be fine in the bottom end of Fast Group on those tyres and will struggle to outride any modern modern sports or sports touring tyre. Too much flapping about tyres on here.

RemyMartin

6,759 posts

206 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
LoonR1 said:
Wildfire said:
Your Blade will melt the PR4's in minutes causing the bike to squirm then high side you off in spectacular fashion. Anything more than 40mph and the blocks may be ripped off by the shear power!

wink

You should be fine. They'll be a bit slower on the turn in than a more aggressive tyre, but more than capable. If you go out on the track then you may have problems in warm weather at anything more than novice pace. For day to day road use you wil be good and unless you want more feel and are tearing up the edges then they are a good buy.

My brother took his daily ride out to Brands this year on PR4's. They overheated pretty quickly but it was July and he's a fast-ish rider.

Edited by Wildfire on Sunday 29th November 23:27
you'd be fine in the bottom end of Fast Group on those tyres and will struggle to outride any modern modern sports or sports touring tyre. Too much flapping about tyres on here.
+1 had these on the 675 and they were fabulous. Felt so secure in the wet on a NW200 trip

Silver993tt

9,064 posts

240 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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I had PR4s on my old ZZR1400 which is just a little more powerful than a blade smile They are fantastic tyres and will now be putting them on my KTM 1290 SA.

black-k1

11,935 posts

230 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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PR4s work fine for fast road work on my K1300S, (including some very spirited rides in Spain where temperatures were in the low to mid 30’s C) which is heavier and more powerful than the ‘Blade. Perfect tyres for road work and fine for the track unless you plan on being the fastest on the track.

I did find that the PR4s are far more sensitive to pressures then the PR2s. I used to run my PR2s with a couple of PSI below the “official” 36/42. This gave slightly better grip and feel without any loss of stability. Doing this on the PR4s caused unwelcome movement towards the limit in corners. I contacted Michelin and was advised by the Michelin rep to run them a couple of PSI harder than standard. This solved the movement problem and made them totally stable. The Michelin rep said the PR4s have softer sidewalls than the PR2s or PR3s hence not liking the lower pressure, and hence the PR4GTs, with stiffer sidewalls, for the heavier touring bikes.

Dog Star

16,144 posts

169 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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LoonR1 said:
you'd be fine in the bottom end of Fast Group on those tyres and will struggle to outride any modern modern sports or sports touring tyre. Too much flapping about tyres on here.
What Loon said.

My mate and I both got new tyres just before this years euro trip and he went for PR4s on his new Blade and me with Pilot Power 3s on my F4. While obviously not going at a track pace we did a lot of spirited riding and had a few torrential downpours to ride through. He was absolutely fine and also his appear to be wearing better.

Benbay001

Original Poster:

5,801 posts

158 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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Good to hear such positive things about pr4s

moanthebairns

17,946 posts

199 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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Give the guy a little break. Clearly newish to two wheels he asked a serious question about tyres. Obviously woefully miss informed by others, but not a crime asking to make an informed decision on tyres.

As has been said, PR4's will be fine for 99% of riders on the road, but if they're anything like the PR3 on the track they do suffer from thread block movement. But easily manageable if your in novice or inters.

trickywoo

11,835 posts

231 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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How much and what sort of riding do you plan on doing?

If you are mainly a summer season rider and do upto say 5k a year metzler m7rr or Pirelli corsa may be a better choice.

From places like tyre leader they are pretty good value, normally less than pr4. They won't last as long as the pr4 but they are ok and will feel nicer even if you aren't going to use all the grip.

I seem unlucky with tyres and punctures and my logic is I'm less likely to pick up a puncture before I've worn out a m7rr than a pr4. Thus any savings on the extra pr4 mileage are taken out by either having to replace the tyre early or pay for s quality repair.

If you are riding in cold and wet then pr4 no doubt.

Hooli

32,278 posts

201 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
PR4 GTs fitted last week on my GSX14. Bloody amazing tyres, they feel so much better in the wet than PR3s. Mind you that could be the 'GT' bit making the carcass stronger.

13aines

2,153 posts

150 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
I have PR3s on my 675.

You will be quick in the wet on them if you do trackdays - PR4s are supposed to be even better than PR3s for standing water and the PR3 are superb in the wet.

They might make the bike turn in slower however will feel miles better than a pair of squared off softer tyres! The new PR3s on my 675 felt so much better than the string of quickly squared off dunlops i'd had on it before.

Happy to be using Pilot Roads again - great tyres.

dc2rr07

1,238 posts

232 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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It all depends on if you ride all year round and what type of riding you do, as a fair weather biker I have had Pirelli Corsas on my blade and currently have just fitted a Pirelli Rosso II on the back and normally get about 3.5k miles out of the rear.

Benbay001

Original Poster:

5,801 posts

158 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
I suspect ill do 8k a year, did 10k last year.
Ill be riding spring summer and autumn and occasionally in winter on the warmer days.
My riding is average speed (for a motorcyclist) with the occasional very fast ride.
I may do a track day, depends upon funds.

Cheers

dc2rr07

1,238 posts

232 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
You may want something with a bit more longevity than a Rosso then, all depends on how keen you are on taking the wheels down to the garage every 3 or 4 months.