New Michelin sport touring tire coming 1/1/2022

[dduelin]

The December 20221 issue of Owners News arrived yesterday and in it a full page teaser ad for a new sport touring tire. Michelin will release details on 1/1/22.

 

The Road 5s are two years old now but the long running Pilot Road series hasn't been updated in 7 or 8 years. I really like the Road 5s on my hexhead RT so hopefully prices will fall and the Road 5 tire will remain in production for a while.

[dduelin]

Evolutionary not revolutionary.

 

 

[BrianT]

Looks like just more of the same.  Although I am curious about the front tire now being dual compound.  Hopefully that means more even wear for the front tire.

[lkraus]

1 hour ago, BrianT said:

Looks like just more of the same.  Although I am curious about the front tire now being dual compound.  Hopefully that means more even wear for the front tire.

PR3, PR4, and Road 5 have all been dual compound tires, front and rear.  So, yeah, more of the same with new marketing.

[wbw6cos]

Plus the number 6 means "new/improved/better"   Am I right?   

[Bernie]

Larry, Michelin claims in their ad, in the MOA magazine for the Road6 that the older version front tires where not dual compounds.

Maybe they also fixed the problem with using the Road5 GT on the K1600 bikes?

[SDCRJohn]

Did not see any sizes. Since Michelin stopped the PR3,4,5 in a 160/60-18 size, I’ve switched to Avon’s. Nice tires, butI did like the Michelin’s.

[lkraus]

9 hours ago, Bernie said:

Larry, Michelin claims in their ad, in the MOA magazine for the Road6 that the older version front tires where not dual compounds.

Maybe they also fixed the problem with using the Road5 GT on the K1600 bikes?

Here's a random review of the PR3 from 2012: https://ridermagazine.com/2012/04/30/michelin-pilot-road-3-tires-review/  

"The varied depth and performance of these additional sipes helps the Pilot Road 3s wear more evenly and outperform the previous 2s in the wet for the life of the tire, a critical sport-touring edge. Michelin says it has also updated its 2CT dual-compound technology for the 3s to give them four-percent better longevity than the 2s. Dual-compounding puts harder rubber in the center of the tire for straight-up wear resistance, and softer rubber in the cornering tread for better grip."

 

Google finds ads showing that the predecessor to the PR3 , the PR2, was also dual compound.  Here is an ad for the PR3:

 

I've not yet looked at ON, but the Road 6 ad above is touting "2CT+" technology.  That "+" may be an actual improvement over plain old "2CT", but I suspect it is mostly marketing-speak.

 

I've worn out sets of PR3, PR4, and Metzeler Roadtec O1 tires, all dual compound, F&R.  All developed a distinctive circumferential "step" where the hard center changed to the softer, faster-wearing sides. But the Michelins also cupped, while the Metzelers have not.

[Bernie]

Typical false advertisement by the company. Makes sense, since each new versions always promises longer tire life, but in reality it’s actually less miles.

The 5GT’s did improve the wear pattern over the 4’s and also the handling. So hopefully the 6 are going in the same direction.

The only reasons I tried the 5GT tires was to find a tire that would last around 6-7 K miles for me on my WetHead RT. And it does that and I like the handling and their traction.

 

[wbw6cos]

I did not get any cupping on my front 5GT tires.  I will update actual miles later on.  I believe I achieved at least 6k miles on rear and the front maybe closer to 7k miles.  I went with another set of the 5GT's.  Guess the higher number (6) means I will try those out next time.  Hmm.

[dduelin]

FWIW Michelin does include in small print how they came to claim longer wear and better wet grip for the Road 6 compared to the Road 5 and there was similar test results for the Road 5 compared to the Pilot Road 4s claims.

 

I don't recall any other tire manufacturer that does some quantifiable and repeatable testing then gives the methodology of the testing.

[dduelin]

19 hours ago, lkraus said:

Here's a random review of the PR3 from 2012: https://ridermagazine.com/2012/04/30/michelin-pilot-road-3-tires-review/  

"The varied depth and performance of these additional sipes helps the Pilot Road 3s wear more evenly and outperform the previous 2s in the wet for the life of the tire, a critical sport-touring edge. Michelin says it has also updated its 2CT dual-compound technology for the 3s to give them four-percent better longevity than the 2s. Dual-compounding puts harder rubber in the center of the tire for straight-up wear resistance, and softer rubber in the cornering tread for better grip."

 

Google finds ads showing that the predecessor to the PR3 , the PR2, was also dual compound.  Here is an ad for the PR3:

 

I've not yet looked at ON, but the Road 6 ad above is touting "2CT+" technology.  That "+" may be an actual improvement over plain old "2CT", but I suspect it's just marketing speak..

 

I've worn out sets of PR3, PR4, and Metzeler Roadtec O1 tires, all dual compound, F&R.  All developed a distinctive circumferential "step" where the hard center changed to the softer, faster-wearing sides. But the Michelins also cupped, while the Metzelers have not.

2CT+ brings a significant difference from 2CT. 2CT+ uses the hard compound of the center section to underlay the softer outer sections which helps the tire wear more evenly from edge to edge. The outside edges of the hard compound underlayment thickens at the sidewall and forms a bead like section under the outside edge of the tread above the sidewall - below the soft compound which is formed on top of the hard compound. As a result the 5s and presumably the 6 have less sidewall and tread edge squirm than the previous Pilot Roads had. Original Pilot Roads to 4s had discrete middle and outside compounds like a cross section of Neopolitan ice cream.  I wrote off Pilot Road 2s and 3s during the PR3 era due to irregular lumpy wear, scalloping, and instability of the tire when pressed to the edges. I thought I'd never buy another Michelin tire but the RT I bought two years ago had a set of Road 5s installed 4500 miles earlier. At 4500 miles the tires showed even wear and no scalloping and had great stability even out on the edges with none of those previously required mid-turn line corrections so I rode them out to 12,000 miles. I'm on a third set now and not looking to change.