PR4s Available for Pre Order

[racer7]

Rumor is PR4s are in the country.

Got a note today from my usual supplier, Competition Accessories, that they are taking pre orders- no specific ship date given but in the past this has meant 2-3 week delivery (vs 48 hours if they're in stock). Ordered a set of PR4 GTs, the version for heavier bikes like the RT and GT. $313 the pair with free shipping IIRC.

 

Note that Michelin is saying 20% better life than the current PR3!! Hope its true- would greatly cut tire cost compared to a couple years ago- perhaps now 14K on a rear is possible for high speed touring when I got 7K on PR2s and 11K on PR3s...

[Doug_Baliko]

I ordered a set of GT's from Revzilla for $319 and get $15 in Revzilla cash for my next order. It said that they were in stock.

 

Doug

[David13]

I looked at Revzilla yesterday. It said estimated delivery April.

MC Tires says next day. They are the local shop.

dc

[Doug_Baliko]

I looked at Revzilla yesterday. It said estimated delivery April.

MC Tires says next day. They are the local shop.

dc

 

My order from Revzilla was shipped today.

 

Doug

[David13]

Now it says available. I guess they got them in earlier than expected.

Someone else had said they heard February for availability.

But then someone else said they are in San Jose.

I don't need/can't use mine as yet anyway. I have not got my full 13,000 on the 3s.

I got to get my money's worth.

And I don't want the just introduced beta version anyway. I'd rather give them time to work out the bugs on them.

dc

[Doug_Baliko]

And I don't want the just introduced beta version anyway. I'd rather give them time to work out the bugs on them.

dc

 

I wasn't aware that tires had teething problems. I don't recall reading about any issues when the PR2's or PR3's were introduced.

 

Doug

[Guest Kakugo]

And I don't want the just introduced beta version anyway. I'd rather give them time to work out the bugs on them.

dc

 

I wasn't aware that tires had teething problems. I don't recall reading about any issues when the PR2's or PR3's were introduced.

 

Doug

 

I've had most road and sport tyres Michelin manufactured since 1992, often bought very shortly after launch... that makes a lot of tyres.

 

The only problem I recall is Michelin issued a warranty swap on very early, French-made Pilot Power 2CT fronts (later tyres were Spanish-made). No inspection, no nothing: just a brand new front tyre. They even paid for installation. The swap was carried out because they had found a problem in manufacturing could lead to chunks of rubber detaching from the tyre.

All I had to do was provide them with the serial on tyre (to check if tyre was affected by recall), the tyre shop I wanted to use for the swap and Michelin took care of everything else.

 

But unless there's a technical issue, it's very unlikely you'll see improvements carried out by "sitting and waiting": for a tyre company it's just cheaper to roll out a new tyre at a later date. That's what Bridgestone did when people started complaining about how fast front BT021's were wearing out: they just rolled out the BT023 first and the T30 later. The BT023 was strictly a stop-gap model while the T30 was the definitive cure.

 

There's not even a financial gain to be had by sitting and waiting: when I bought my first set of PR3 (mere months after they were introduced) they were exactly the same price as PR2. Tyre prices, at least here, tend to vary wildly and not in rational fashion during the course of the year: you can save or spend more simply by ordering three months later... that's just the way it is.

[g_frey]

Teething problems???? Let me tell you about when I worked for Firestone. They had two tires that were substandard; the V1 radial and the Steel belted 500. They were not only substandard but the head office knew they were substandard and told us to sell as many as possible to "get them out the door". (straight from the head office) Customers brought them back "often" for adjustment. Usually the official goal was to wear them down with balancing and remounting the tires until they got tired of coming back. Since belts were separating, balancing and remounting did ZERO to cure the problem. The 500's often got a bubble on the sidewall witch could not be covered up so the customer got a new substandard tire under warranty. One poor lady brought in her son's Barracuda which had sat around for years since he died in Vietnam. They sold her a set of these and made her come back 3 times for "balancing". Being a peon I knew I would get fired if they caught me saying anything. But one day I managed to talk to her alone and told her to raise hell and get a set of 4 deluxe champions at half the price AND TO MAKE THEM GIVE HER THE DIFFERENCE IN PRICE BACK. I was very proud of her that she did so. A short time later the government made Firestone recall all the steel belted 500 tires. I never have and never will buy Firestone tires. Oh yes tires have teething problems!

[racer7]

When was that? I remember having a Ford rental in the 70s that had Firestone radials- at the time radials were replacing bias tires for normal use. It lost 3 tires of the 4 to tread separation (yes, I got a couple extras from another rental place). I finally abandoned the car in LA and have never bought a Firestone tire in the past 40 years.