Discussion
I have posted previously about not being happy with my new tyre choice. Attached photo is of the rear Power RS. I appreciate they are double compound but the wear seems unusual and I have not seen it on any other RS. The middle is I presume the hard compound, this is very hard and shiney the dark bits, the soft compound, have a distinctive defining line and drop away sharply by about 1mm leaving an actual physical lip. This is i think resulting in the bike 'squirming" about. I am having them removed and replaced. Before I ask the suppliers to investigate further has anyone else got this wear pattern? Any ideas what it may be if it is unusual? Thanks
I think there are quite a few cases with the RS rear - certainly on forums. I destroyed mine on a track day at brands Hatch running their recommended pressures initially, which were too high anyway. The carcass is super soft so when you drop pressures lower they are very dicey with folding on the warm up laps if not using warmers.
The front tyre was brilliant (but still wearing weirdly) so I replaced the rear with the RS+ (only available in rear).
I did another trackday in hotter conditions at the same Brands Indy track and the RS+ wore ok, plus was 0.5sec a lap faster
I think Michelin have kept it quiet but it's unusual to supercede just the rear tyre mid-life so clearly there is an issue.
Conversely with the RS+ with same suspension settings, same pressures, same bike, same 190/55 size, same track, 2 months later:
The front tyre was brilliant (but still wearing weirdly) so I replaced the rear with the RS+ (only available in rear).
I did another trackday in hotter conditions at the same Brands Indy track and the RS+ wore ok, plus was 0.5sec a lap faster
I think Michelin have kept it quiet but it's unusual to supercede just the rear tyre mid-life so clearly there is an issue.
Conversely with the RS+ with same suspension settings, same pressures, same bike, same 190/55 size, same track, 2 months later:
The Squirming and eventually drifting on the rear at will was epic when the tyre really wore. The tyre has a really nice limit feel and gradual slide so although laptimes slowed a lot when it was knackered, I could basically drift it all the way through Clarke curve with it spinning - at will. It felt extremely knackered but wasn't much harder to slide than drifting an enduro on dirt! The previous M7RRs were much more of a knife edge on the limit but coped way better with fast group track abuse than either the RS or RS+
Annoyingly - it was a brand new RS tyre that did 20 miles to the trackday and was dead 6 hours and 100 miles later.
If you like the feel and frankly amazing grip of the front tyre, then just whack on an RS+ rear. Michelin still do the RS rear, but it is more expensive, so I guess they are encouraging the switch through pricing.
Annoyingly - it was a brand new RS tyre that did 20 miles to the trackday and was dead 6 hours and 100 miles later.
If you like the feel and frankly amazing grip of the front tyre, then just whack on an RS+ rear. Michelin still do the RS rear, but it is more expensive, so I guess they are encouraging the switch through pricing.
Lindun said:
Oh and just to add. Those chewed up tyres are just photos of an overinflated tyre. Probably run on a hot day where some air needed taking out and the cleaner ones in a cooler day.
I’m not getting into the rest of the discussion about riding god status.
No it's not if you bother to read.... but jog on.I’m not getting into the rest of the discussion about riding god status.
3DP said:
No it's not if you bother to read.... but jog on.
You just said that their pressures were too high, but you used them anyway. They don’t give you a fixed pressure, they give you a range. If you set them cold, which you seem to have been doing then they will increase as you get heat into the tyre. Pretty obviously on a warmer day the tyres will heat up more and the psi will increase more, so you need to keep a closer eye on them. Trashing a tyre because you didn’t is just poor form. If you can’t cope with that simple bit of physics then fine, but don’t get all upset that your tyre was overinflated.
The idea of going out on higher psi because tyres are cold at the start is lethal. Two lots of heavy braking in a straight line and two lots of hard acceleration will warm tyres up enough.
Lindun said:
Triaguar said:
I’m sorry, but what am I looking at? That’s just a tyre that’s been ridden gently through its life. The different colours on yours and the other picture are just compounds. There’s no way you’ve pushed a tyre hard enough to make it squirm. dc2rr07 said:
Your looking at the right hand side of the tyre which has the same wear characteristics as the 2nd picture in 3dp’s reply.
Where? The tyre the OP has posted is just dirty as far as I can see and has some darker rubber on either side. I can’t see the wear that you’re talking about. I’m not having a go at him, I’m genuinely saying that there’s nothing wrong visually with his tyre and it could easily be in his head. However, I appear to unintentionally have pissed on some chips here so I’ll leave the discussion to you all. It’s clear that my riding CV doesn’t stack up.
Lindun said:
dc2rr07 said:
Your looking at the right hand side of the tyre which has the same wear characteristics as the 2nd picture in 3dp’s reply.
Where? The tyre the OP has posted is just dirty as far as I can see and has some darker rubber on either side. I can’t see the wear that you’re talking about. I’m not having a go at him, I’m genuinely saying that there’s nothing wrong visually with his tyre and it could easily be in his head. However, I appear to unintentionally have pissed on some chips here so I’ll leave the discussion to you all. It’s clear that my riding CV doesn’t stack up.
Triaguar said:
Thanks Mr Lindun. Helpful. It was not a 'please analyse my riding prowess' it was is a 1 mm wear differential between the compounds an unusual occurrence or not type of a question. Hey ho !
Ignore 'Lindun' I have the exact 'step' between the hard and soft compounds on my PP3 running 42psi (hard tyre/softish suspension) as recommended by Michelin on the road at speeds that wouldn't overly trouble Miss Daisy.
Personally I think Michelin got it wrong with the compound/construction, hence the RS+ now being cheaper than the original RS as posted by 3DP and evidenced by his pictures.
Annoyingly I have a set of Power RS on order to be fitted next week so I need to check if the rear is going to be an RS or an RS+
Lindun said:
3DP said:
No it's not if you bother to read.... but jog on.
You just said that their pressures were too high, but you used them anyway. They don’t give you a fixed pressure, they give you a range. If you set them cold, which you seem to have been doing then they will increase as you get heat into the tyre. Pretty obviously on a warmer day the tyres will heat up more and the psi will increase more, so you need to keep a closer eye on them. Trashing a tyre because you didn’t is just poor form. If you can’t cope with that simple bit of physics then fine, but don’t get all upset that your tyre was overinflated.
The idea of going out on higher psi because tyres are cold at the start is lethal. Two lots of heavy braking in a straight line and two lots of hard acceleration will warm tyres up enough.
2. The Power RS have a carcass like a mountain bike tyre. You can fold the tyre by hand when off the rim. Never seen any road tyres like it. Therefore 24psi cold without warmers gives masses of movement like a flat tyre when hitting bumps leaned over, until overall temps are up (2 laps of Brands Indy) and the pressures come back up.
3. The second track day was in 24 degrees. New RS tyre - everything the same other than starting with 24psi cold to begin with.
4. The RS rear has a clear issue with its soft compound. A casual look around the paddock shows lots of people in Inters and novice with odd wear on these, let alone Facebook groups and forums. My front is doing the same but feels fine and to a lesser extent. To no fanfair, Michelin have replaced the rear only with the RS+. This tyre behaves differently in wear - like night and day.
5. No other tyre on this bike or any other bike I've ridden in 21 years of trackdays on 8 different bikes with around 15 different fast road type tyres (I don't use track tyres or warmers), regardless of pressures being a little out, have ever worn like this for me - even in recent years using a variety of 2 and 3 compound tyres.
6. The last picture where chunks were missing and splits were in the rubber was following the last session where I gave up nursing a sliding tyre with little grip and just used Clearways, Clark curve an onto straight in 3rd gear as an opportunity to slide the rear on purpose for long periods, mainly as it had no grip left to give and when beyond the limit carried on gripping near this low grip level. It was entertaining as it was easy and I'd never been able to do this before without being off road. Pretty sure any fast group rider on here who is happy with a bike moving around under them could have done the same with this tyre in this state.
The chip pissing is due to windmilling in, half reading a thread with the standard arrogant "I've raced, everyone is s
t/liar, no-one knows what they are talking about, know-it-all" attitude whilst adding nothing. In fact the main reason why me and many others barely bother with this place anymore. It's turned into the youtube comments section. Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff