Pilot Road 5 GT first impression

[Rider1260]

My Road 4s were completely flat and worn out, Dealer gave me a really nice price on a set of Road 5GTs on my 2008 RT . 

I have only had the bike a few months and my old tires were very near the end when I got the bike, major flat spot ( almost no center tread ) and it handled like that also, fine at a hard lean or straight but getting there was like falling off a cliff  . 

So today was the first mini ride and what a difference smooth confidence inspiring turn in , nice line holding , firm and smooth ride. 

My wife noticed the smoother turns. 

Now I am SURE any tire would have been better than what I had, but my first impression is very positive, weather looks much improved later this week and I hope to get a proper scrub in and then flog  and a better review. 

[RandyShields]

[wbw6cos]

Ooooh, a tire thread.  I am IN!  

 

I also have PR 5 GT tires on my RT and love them, so far.  I have approximately 2,400 miles on them.  The RT came with Metzeler and the rear showed cord at 7,400 miles.  I replaced the rear with a  Dunlop Q3 +, but pulled it off to get the PR 5 GT tires for front and rear.  IF, per chance, the rear Michelin tire wears out too soon, I will put the Dunlop back on to ride it out.  Hopefully, I can get an idea of how long the Michelins will last and get better miles that the Metzler.   We shall see.

 

For some reason, my RT will tend to use up some rear tires.    Could be operator errror, but I don't know.   I guess I can blame the tire manufacturer for not providing a beefy tire that can handle my lead wrist.

[dba]

I have about 2000 miles on a set that's on my GTL.  I don't notice any difference between these or the PR 4 GT tires.

[Sailorlite]

A small point - they have dropped the word PILOT.  These tires are Road 5's.  But, what is not clear to me is the availability of the GT version of the Road 5 in the RT sizes.

[Rider1260]

 think the reason I keep calling the Pilot Road 5gts is since you can't go to the dealership and talk to folks when I first started the quote process a slip of the finger had Power 5s in my quote , once I said Pilot Road 5 GTs we were on the same wavelength.  But yes I have Pilot 5 GT    (  RD 5-GT 120/70ZR17 / RD 5-GT 180/55ZR17  ) 

[dduelin]

On 5/17/2020 at 7:30 PM, Rider1260 said:

 think the reason I keep calling the Pilot Road 5gts is since you can't go to the dealership and talk to folks when I first started the quote process a slip of the finger had Power 5s in my quote , once I said Pilot Road 5 GTs we were on the same wavelength.  But yes I have Pilot 5 GT    (  RD 5-GT 120/70ZR17 / RD 5-GT 180/55ZR17  ) 

 

 

That tire looks all the world like a Michelin ROAD 5 GT. At least the sidewall says that.

 

I'm 10,400 miles into a pair of non GT Michelin ROAD 5s on my 2007. I love the tires and bought another set.

[RTinNC]

have had Michelin Pilot Road 3's and 4's on my '06 and now my '16 RT.  They are by far my favorite tire.   Have tried Metzler that came on the bike and Dunlop Road Smarts and prefer the Pilot Roads.  (or Road ... whatever they are calling them)  I will probably go with the 5's if I can't get a set of 4's when these are toast. 

[Bernie]

After trying several different brands (Metzler Z-8, Pirelli Angel GT, Continental RA3GT, Bridgestone T31GT) on my 2018 R1200RT-LC, I decided to try the New Michelin "Pilot" Road 5 GT tires.

I really never liked the way the Michelin Pilot Road 3 & 4 tires handled on my 2007 R1200RT, but I did like the mileage I got.

And all I can say, after 2600 miles  with the PR5GT's,  I am pleasantly surprised with their handling. 

I did change one thing, that maybe the reason they are behaving so nicely, I have increased the front tire for pressure to 40-41 PSI/Cold (68F degrees) and try to maintain 42-44 PSI/Cold in the rear. After 2600 miles, I haven't had any of the problems or surprises with them, like I had with the PR3&4 tires.

So now I am only hoping to exceed 5-6K miles before I have to replace them, but only history will tell.

PS: Yes, I use humid Florida air to inflate my tires. 

[RTinNC]

On 5/19/2020 at 7:07 PM, Bernie said:

After trying several different brands (Metzler Z-8, Pirelli Angel GT, Continental RA3GT, Bridgestone T31GT) on my 2018 R1200RT-LC, I decided to try the New Michelin "Pilot" Road 5 GT tires.

I really never liked the way the Michelin Pilot Road 3 & 4 tires handled on my 2007 R1200RT, but I did like the mileage I got.

And all I can say, after 2600 miles  with the PR5GT's,  I am pleasantly surprised with their handling. 

I did change one thing, that maybe the reason they are behaving so nicely, I have increased the front tire for pressure to 40-41 PSI/Cold (68F degrees) and try to maintain 42-44 PSI/Cold in the rear. After 2600 miles, I haven't had any of the problems or surprises with them, like I had with the PR3&4 tires.

So now I am only hoping to exceed 5-6K miles before I have to replace them, but only history will tell.

PS: Yes, I use humid Florida air to inflate my tires. 

 

I have been running 40 PSI front and 42 PSI Rear for quite a few years.    

 

WOW ... I am hoping for 8K out of my PR4's.   Prior tires have given me 6K to about 7.5K 

[Rider1260]

So first proper flog of the Road 5GT 

Turn in - Really nice , very controlled feeling , really felt good on tight corners as far as I could tell the only limit so far was me. 

Line holding - just more solid at speed and mid corner adjustments are surprisingly easy.

Ride - compared to the worn flat  Road 4s everything felt better as I would expect , my pace is definatitly faster ended the day in sport mode ( rider + luggage )  

 

Nothing scientific here but I will say I am a happy camper , never lacked for feel or grip ( I pushed the front end on the Road 4s once )  , stable but quick steering all at the same time, U turns and turns at slow speed have a nice roll in.  

 

So at 300 miles so far so good , No way to say if these are better than any other tire. but they are nice, anything would have been better than what I had  

 

Along with a throttle vale sync that really improved the off idle and low RPM pickup smoothness and closing in on 3K miles on a BMW. 

This bike continues to impress as I adjust to the riding position ( more upright ) and the different signals this bike gives. 

its going to be a fun summer. 

[duckbubbles]

Halfway through my third set of Road 5's.  Or should I say 3 1/2 sets.  The biggest negative with me and my style of riding is that I am wearing out the front quite a bit faster than the rear,  at the rate of probably 3 fronts to 2 rears.  Front 6000+ miles, rear 8000+ miles.  I decided to change both tires the first time although the rear had quite a bit left.  The second set I changed the front and ran the rear another couple thousand miles.  Put me off schedule and I will change both next time.  But then again, maybe it is the RS and the way I ride it.                 

I am pleased with the handling of these tires- you can clearly see the transition point between the harder and softer compounds.

 

Frank

[dduelin]

I love these tires. The wet grip is fantastic and unlike the PR2s and 3s I ran in the past they are also very precise in dry conditions. Pic is a rainy day last weekend, Deals Gap.

 

[Sandlapper]

Are the 5s any quieter that the 4s.......The front tire on mine sometimes overcome my bluetooths

[dduelin]

9 hours ago, Sandlapper said:

Are the 5s any quieter that the 4s.......The front tire on mine sometimes overcome my bluetooths

I never ran PR4s but the original PRs, PR2s, PR3s would get a growl going in the corners but I didn't really notice much noise from the Road 5s I just replaced. Some yes, but not much. At 35 degrees of lean the 5 offers up a DOT slick. Look how evenly this 5 wore on my RT by 13,000 miles.

 

[Ken S]

1 hour ago, dduelin said:

Look how evenly this 5 wore on my RT by 13,000 miles.

You got 13K out of the 5s?  Do you normally get lots of miles out of tires?  I usually averaged around 10K with PR4s.  It's interesting how different riders get drastically different mileage out of tires.  I guess that's the way to do it: use all the tread so it wears evenly.

[dduelin]

12 hours ago, Ken S said:

You got 13K out of the 5s?  Do you normally get lots of miles out of tires?  I usually averaged around 10K with PR4s.  It's interesting how different riders get drastically different mileage out of tires.  I guess that's the way to do it: use all the tread so it wears evenly.

Ken,

 My math was off - that tire was at about 12,500 miles. I can't say what kind of miles I usually get as I bought this bike last December with 4500 miles on the set of Road 5. The other 7900 I put on them so I'm thinking I will get at least that. On my ST1300 I'd average about 7000 miles on tires. Really aggressive riders would get less and commuters or easy on gas-and-tire guys might get 10-12,000 miles on Pilot Roads.

[old_farmer]

I just replaced PR4 GT's with some 5's. The 5's seemed to be louder than the 4's. I also noticed some unsteadiness on some pavements that I never noticed on the 4's. Not a problem, just noticeable. On curves they were fine, although I'm an old fuddy-duddy and don't get too leaned over. I ran the 4's about 8500 miles before replacing. I probably could have safely ran another 1000. Hoping these 5's will run at least as long.