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Michelin Road 5 tire.

8K views 19 replies 11 participants last post by  rcannon409 
#1 ·
What is your opinion on the Michelin Road 5 tire for my 2019 N1K?
 
#2 ·
I was a big Michelin Pilot Road fan and ran them on VFRs and Ninja 1ks. Up until Road 4s, I loved them for great mileage and great grip in the wet. With the Road 4s the front cupped badly well before they worn out. Same with Road 5s. I ended up running a Road 3 front with a Road 5 rear. But...
Last year I discovered Dunlop Roadsmart IIIs and I'm on my 3rd set now for 2 reasons: no more premature front tire failure and a better ride. By better I mean: an even more light neutral feel in corners, (BTW, comparing /55 profile rear tires here.) and a more comfortable ride. I hadn't realized how harsh Roads felt until I tried the RS3s. Much less road vibration comes through for a more pleasant ride. Similar grip as Roads with maybe a tad less mileage but for me the RS3s were a real improvement over Road 5s.
 
#4 ·
Cupping, also known as scalloping, is a normal wear pattern that develops on the side of motorcycle tyres as the tyre's rubber is worn away and is caused by the extreme forces that come in to play when the bike is leaned over in a corner.

If you look vertically down at you tyre, you will see cupping develop both sides of the centre line of the tyre. You can also feel the cupping if you slide your hand along the tyre, in the direction of rotation.

When it becomes really bad, you will feel some vibration / oscillation when banked over in a corner. This is not a good feeling when cornering in the rain.

Worn suspension and steering components will also accelerate the cupping. I have found it more prevalent on the front tyre, but it does also happen (to a lesser degree) on the rear tyre.

Here is an image I found on the web. You can see the cupping and associated lumps either side of the tyre's centre line.

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#6 ·
THE BIKE HAS OVER 19000 MILES ON IT. RODE THE OEM Bidgestone s21 until about 3000 miles then changed to perelli angel gts for two tire changes got twice the mileage or more on tires . No scalloping. Just now installing Bridgestone s22' s. Make sure your suspension is set for your weight. Mine suspension is still stock.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Bob, I'll use you as an example because your thinking is right on the money about this tire wear.. I dont mean anything disrespectful, or unkind about this....just an example.

I'm guessing you have not adjusted your suspension for your body weight, right? If so, no big deal. Most people dont do this. Also, of you are not very close to an ideal weight, say 185 lbs, it's very possible that adjusting for an excellent setting isnt even going to happen. It's not possible.

So, we have compromised suspension and tires with sipes. The pr3 michelin was the poster child of this. This tire needed excellent suspension to wear properly. It's mostly rebound damping related. If this isnt correct, it tears the tire up. You'll see the cupping, feathering, etc. The heavily siped tires react worse to this. Often times these sport touring tires are soft-ish in compound .This aggravates this situation, too.

That's why you see some people who have excellent life from these tires, and some who are replacing them within 3000 miles, or less.

This is what the pr3 looked like. These were like cheating, in the rain, but the wear was incredible unless your suspension was set up, perfectly.
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You would have to pack miles on, like Kenors does , to ever make custom suspension pay off with reduced tire wear, but it's an option.
 
#9 ·
Good descriptions given but to me this kind of irregular tire wear is not "normal" wear. Different brands of tires on different bikes with suspension set differently wear differently. I admittedly don't understand the mechanisms involved in a single tire bouncing up and down but wearing irregularly. I also don't usually fiddle with suspension much except for setting the sag but if rcannon is right, I'm the target weight for the bike. What I do know is front Road's quit wearing well for me and the RoadSmart 3s don't have this problem nearly as much and ride better as well. There's still a bit of irregular wear with the RS3s but it only appears at the very end of life of the tires.
I'm also pretty sure it has something to do with riding style and I know I don't hit the twisties as hard as I used to and not as hard as some of you.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Good descriptions given but to me this kind of irregular tire wear is not "normal" wear. Different brands of tires on different bikes with suspension set differently wear differently.
It is "normal" wear in so much as every tyre will display the "cupping" characteristic to some degree, sooner or later.

The exception might be if you spend 100% of your riding time on the Super-Slab, which would result in all the wear will be in the middle of the tyre. This probably explains why going over to the "dark-side" is popular with long distance riders.

As you said yourself, with the Michelin Pilot Road 4s the front cupped badly well before they worn out. Same with Pilot Road 5s. << snip >> There's still a bit of irregular wear with the Dunlop Road Smart but it only appears at the very end of life of the tires.

The Metzler Z6 & Z8s, as well as the Pirelli Angel GTs all cupped on my ZRX, as did the God auwful Batlax S20 on the N1K.

There are many factors that come into play. Suspension set-up, braking style, amount of time spent on windy roads, worn suspension/steering components, tyre pressure, etc.
 
#13 ·
I have run the Michelin road pilot 5’s for 10,000 kms on the 2017 N1k. Stock suspension. The front tyre has 2-3000 kms to go and the rear has plenty spare with 5-7,500 kms. I find that 40psi on the front provides better stability. No deformation on either tyre. I’ve always felt safe on RP5’s compared to the OEM Bridgestone. I prefer to ride country backroads rather than highway. Stay safe.
 
#15 ·
Bob, keep something in mind with regards to new, motorcycle tires. The ground rules are ....we are talking about new, brand name tires. Michelin, Pirelli, Metzeler, Dunlop, and Brigestone type tires. No ebay branded stuff. This is on the pre 2020 bikes, too. I believe the new bike has upgraded tires.

With that said, let's say the stock tires rate at 60-70% on the 0-100 scale.

If that's true, you will have a difficult time finding a replacement tire that's not closer to the 90% area. I might rate my Pirelli agt at 94, and the michelin pr3 at 90, but both are good tires and a massive step up from what the bike is supplied with. As long as you buy the correct sized tires, you will be happy with what you choose.
 
#16 ·
Last Pilot Road tire I've had was a set of PR3's on the C14. They did quite well. After that, I lost interest in that series. PR3 was already heavily siped and Michelin went nuts on the PR4. Personally, I avoid riding in the wet like it's the plague. If I do get caught occasionally, I have no problem slowing down and taking it really easy. To me, "rain performance" is an oxymoron. When I have one, I don't need the other. Why on earth would I want/need siping all the way at the edge of the tread? Maybe some folks likes to carve some serious canyons in pouring rain?! More power to them.

Michelin realized they went too far and sort of corrected this with the PR5. Trading large "ponds" for narrow siping all over the tread. And they wisely left the shoulders land only with no seas. No personal experience so dunno how they ride. IMO, PR5 still looks to have lower land-to-sea ratio than I would prefer. I like tires that are optimized for dry grip. It is rather unfortunately that the success Michelin had with the PR series has convinced several other mfrs to copycat the heavy siping.

If you ride often over wet pavement, the PR series are made for you.
 
#17 ·
As far as wear patterns go, there is a difference between cupping and feathering. A lot of folks confuse the two. Feathering is wearing out one edge of the tread block more than the other. This happens most often on front tires where the braking forces tend to wear out the leading edge, and cornering forces tend to wear out the outside edge. The degree to which this happens depends on how the motorcycle is ridden. Unless you do nothing but slabbing on interstates, feathering in unavoidable. I have not come across a tire that doesn't do it. Some more than others, but that has more to do with the tread compound being softer or harder. It's a performance trade-off and not a fault either way.

While suspension settings can affect tire wear, I strongly advise not tuning your suspension to improve tire wear or to modify wear pattern. Suspension should be tuned for optimum handling or ride performance, according to how you ride. Then tire wear will be what it is, again according to how you ride.

The same goes for tire tire pressure. Yes, it will affect tire wear, but set the pressure to you riding preference and load needs.

Cupping OTOH should not occur normally and is usually an indication that something is off on the motorcycle.
 
#19 ·
Volfy, if suspension is set up correctly, you get both. Its not an either/or choice.

Here is a a q3 plus with 10 track laps and 2800 miles. It must be some sort of miracle.? No cupping, feathering, weaving, folding, spindling or
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, or mutiliation. The tread might have another 500-1000 miles, before I replace it. But, when I do, it will be because the tire is worn out. Same as the last 3 front tires.. Not because its seen mysterious wear.

No secret other than forks that have been set up for this bike, and for my weight. Wow! Even the edge looks good.......

Sometimes when a person offers tire advise, it's worth noting their personal situation and realizing that someone who is 40lbs lighter than the bike is set up around isnt going to see wear patterns like someone who is a closer match to a Japanese motorcycle set up. That's usually closer to the 180lb figure. 140 would work well on a Euro bike.

The tires are a big part of the suspension system. The fork has to deal with whatever your fork cant deal with.
 
#20 ·
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