At 8,600 miles, the OEM front tire looks to have 500-1000 safe miles left. The OEM rear tire looks much better and has perhaps 1,500-3,000 safe miles left. I've decided to spring for Michelin Pilot Road 3s. I would prefer not to replace both tires at once. Am I taking a (safety) risk by replacing the front tire first and then the rear tire 2,000 miles later?
No safety risk, but your handling may feel ungainly due to the worn flat in the middle rear not playing nice with the nice round profile of a new front tire. You'll find out soon enough if it bugs you enough to wait in swapping out the worn rear.
The Pilot Road 4 tires will be available in three versions, the standard PR4, PR4 Trail for enduro and ADV bikes that are primarily ridden on-road and the PR4 GT for heavier, touring bikes. The Pilot Road 4 GT tires are already the OEM choice for the new BMW R1200RT.
I replace tires as they wear with whatever is a good price . When I'm down to the wear bars, in the center or the sides, it's time to change. Especially if a longer trip is in the works.
What tire you use depends on the type of riding and the size of your wallet.
I have a PR3 on the front and a stock Trailwing on the back. It works fine, and I haven't noticed any weird handling issues. When the back wears out I'll put a PR3 on there.
Maybe the hardcore knee draggers would notice a difference, but I'm just a regular all weather rider, and I've never had any issues with that combination.
I just pre-ordered a Pilot Road 4 trail front. When the rear becomes available, I'll buy that too. From the replies thus far, I gather that there is no real consensus on whether one Michelin and one OEM tire would cause unsafe handling. So, I guess I'll play it by ear.
I'll be looking for mine probably around May or June. Both front and rears will be available by then and you'll probably have a report on how you like them.:yesnod:
To me, "trail" is also a bit of a stretch, but maybe I just feel more confident with a more aggressive tread.
Also when thinking of replacing tires for me, I get around 6000km per year, so after three years I generally replace the pair, since by 5 years they are basically round rocks and don't grip well.
"According to the Revzilla video the 20% mileage increase is due to the PR4's going to a hard/center and medium/sides compound combo vs. the PR3's medium/center and soft/sides combo. However, Anthony said the PR4 Trail will stay with the PR3 compounds so most likely won't benefit from the mileage increase. I'd go with the Standard PR4 rear and a PR4 Trail front."
I've come to about the same conclusion, om28. I've got 11k miles on my Anakee 3's and probably have another 1 or 2k left: no complaints on that score. They are however, noisy and more significantly, I realize that I have no interest in going anywhere that isn't maintained for cars, so why bother?
I'm also sanguine about these "Trail", "Standard" etc. designations. I watched Revzilla's and Compacc's reviews and I think Michelin is mainly looking to cast a wider net: the tires certainly don't know what kind of bike they're rolling for….:beatnik:
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