I've always considered PR3 as the replacement for the stock ones once they're worn out. So your review was really helpful. Thanks
Tire Review - Michelin Pilot Road 3
I just wanted to write up a little review for the PR3's since the ones I find seem to be people that just put them on and I just wanted to make my own review for them since I've had them on for awhile.
I'll start off by saying, I got horrible miles out of the IRC and Pirelli that I've ran on the bike. The IRC lasted something like 3500, and that was into the wear markers, and the Pirelli lasted like 4000, which could of been ran a tad bit longer, but had a plug in it since the tire had less than a 100 miles. (Good luck right?).
Installed the Michelin Pilot Road 3's, Front and back at 9,500 miles and I now have something like 14,500 on the bike.
I've put 5,000 miles on the PR3's and they still look like new. Well, The front still looks like new and the rear is still pretty far from the wear bars. I expect another 3,000 out of the rear. I totally expect the front to last me at least 20,000, I mean it shows no sign of wear as of 5,000 miles, so guessing it should last at least 4 times that if not more.
Riding Style : I ride it WOT most of the time. Which explains why my other tires went so quick, and I also ride a lot of twisty roads. The main road I commute on is also Chip Sealed, so it loves to eat tires! I do ride the bike pretty hard in the twisties, so tire grip makes a big difference for me, which is why I got 2CT tires.
On all the tires I ran on the bike, the rear always squared off in like 1000-1500 miles. So when I heard the Michelin is suppose to wear a lot more even it got my attention off the bat. Now I've got 5,000 miles on these tires I see that it still hasn't really squared off at all like the other tires, and also my side rubber is wearing out evenly with the center. I actually believe my side rubber is wearing a tad bit more since how I ride.
Wet Weather : I ride all year around, whether its raining or sunshine. So I need good rain tires, which the IRC's sucked ass at, and the Pirelli I cannot really comment on wet grip since it seen water like once. The Michelin PR3's are awesome in the rain, sometimes my old IRC front would feel like it was hydroplaning on little tiny puddles in the road, and now when I hit them with the PR3's it feels like it cuts right through it. I have never lost traction in the wet with the PR3's, even off wet paint, and the braking in them feels as good as it does in the dry. Sometimes you forget it's even raining. By all means, I don't ride crazy in the rain, but I also don't drive like a grandma that has all year to get to the destination. All in all, The wet traction and feel of these tires is superb and I would never even think of trying another rain tire after having these. Michelin brags about having the best wet performance.
Dry Weather : I would say I do 30% freeway, and 69% backroads/twisties/city, and 1% off road. On the freeway, it feels like any other tire, going in a straight boring line and never getting to lean over.. Fun Fun. On the twisties these tires are so F'in nice I dunno even what to say. The outside rubber is softer, but not super soft. It is soft enough that when you are leaning it gives you nice feedback and feels great. With a 150 rear, people say the performance drops and makes a difference in handling. I will say it does make a difference in handling, but made it feel a lot nicer. I never noticed any negative's from running a 150 rear, so don't be afraid. Now off road, I won't really bother too much since it's a street bike, but they do "ok" in the dirt, I never push it in the dirt but I do have some fun. PR4's now have a trail tire, not sure if we can use it on this bike (haven't looked at the sizes) but guessing they made dirt performance better.
Noise : I never really noticed my IRC front making any road noise, but with the PR3 front I can hear it make noise over the pavement sometimes. It's nothing bad, but it reminds me of running a noisy tire on a truck. Again, it's not loud, but on some types of messed up pavement you just hear it. I think it's from the sipes in the tire. I never ran any other front than the IRC, so not sure if other tires do the same. But yeah, again, not a bad thing, just something to point out.
Weird lines.. : As you can see in the front tire picture, it looks like a tiny line going all the way around the tire, and you can only see it where dirt/pollen is on the tire. I have NO clue WTF those are but they have annoyed me. The first time I noticed it was like 1000 miles ago and I noticed it on my rear. It looked like something rubbed all the way around and was stuck. Next few days, I noticed the SAME dang line on the front tire doing the same thing. Not sure what these are, But I am going to write into Michelin about it and just ask. They have no bad effect on the tire, just a weird line... EDIT: I put a picture in with an arrow to that line and you can see how minor it is.
Track Days : Haven't done any track on these tires, all street.
I think that sums it up for my review on the Michelin Pilot Road 3's, 150/70-17 rear and stock front size. Any questions about the tires feel free to ask, I just felt like writing a review on these tires since I'm pretty dang happy with them for being a somewhat aggressive rider. I know some people get close to 10,000 miles and over with the IRC's, and that is good for you, but I had very bad luck with them and wasn't happy at all with how they felt. If you're happy with it, then good for you and buy them cheap tires and save lots of $$.
I'll start off by saying, I got horrible miles out of the IRC and Pirelli that I've ran on the bike. The IRC lasted something like 3500, and that was into the wear markers, and the Pirelli lasted like 4000, which could of been ran a tad bit longer, but had a plug in it since the tire had less than a 100 miles. (Good luck right?).
Installed the Michelin Pilot Road 3's, Front and back at 9,500 miles and I now have something like 14,500 on the bike.
I've put 5,000 miles on the PR3's and they still look like new. Well, The front still looks like new and the rear is still pretty far from the wear bars. I expect another 3,000 out of the rear. I totally expect the front to last me at least 20,000, I mean it shows no sign of wear as of 5,000 miles, so guessing it should last at least 4 times that if not more.
Riding Style : I ride it WOT most of the time. Which explains why my other tires went so quick, and I also ride a lot of twisty roads. The main road I commute on is also Chip Sealed, so it loves to eat tires! I do ride the bike pretty hard in the twisties, so tire grip makes a big difference for me, which is why I got 2CT tires.
On all the tires I ran on the bike, the rear always squared off in like 1000-1500 miles. So when I heard the Michelin is suppose to wear a lot more even it got my attention off the bat. Now I've got 5,000 miles on these tires I see that it still hasn't really squared off at all like the other tires, and also my side rubber is wearing out evenly with the center. I actually believe my side rubber is wearing a tad bit more since how I ride.
Wet Weather : I ride all year around, whether its raining or sunshine. So I need good rain tires, which the IRC's sucked ass at, and the Pirelli I cannot really comment on wet grip since it seen water like once. The Michelin PR3's are awesome in the rain, sometimes my old IRC front would feel like it was hydroplaning on little tiny puddles in the road, and now when I hit them with the PR3's it feels like it cuts right through it. I have never lost traction in the wet with the PR3's, even off wet paint, and the braking in them feels as good as it does in the dry. Sometimes you forget it's even raining. By all means, I don't ride crazy in the rain, but I also don't drive like a grandma that has all year to get to the destination. All in all, The wet traction and feel of these tires is superb and I would never even think of trying another rain tire after having these. Michelin brags about having the best wet performance.
Dry Weather : I would say I do 30% freeway, and 69% backroads/twisties/city, and 1% off road. On the freeway, it feels like any other tire, going in a straight boring line and never getting to lean over.. Fun Fun. On the twisties these tires are so F'in nice I dunno even what to say. The outside rubber is softer, but not super soft. It is soft enough that when you are leaning it gives you nice feedback and feels great. With a 150 rear, people say the performance drops and makes a difference in handling. I will say it does make a difference in handling, but made it feel a lot nicer. I never noticed any negative's from running a 150 rear, so don't be afraid. Now off road, I won't really bother too much since it's a street bike, but they do "ok" in the dirt, I never push it in the dirt but I do have some fun. PR4's now have a trail tire, not sure if we can use it on this bike (haven't looked at the sizes) but guessing they made dirt performance better.
Noise : I never really noticed my IRC front making any road noise, but with the PR3 front I can hear it make noise over the pavement sometimes. It's nothing bad, but it reminds me of running a noisy tire on a truck. Again, it's not loud, but on some types of messed up pavement you just hear it. I think it's from the sipes in the tire. I never ran any other front than the IRC, so not sure if other tires do the same. But yeah, again, not a bad thing, just something to point out.
Weird lines.. : As you can see in the front tire picture, it looks like a tiny line going all the way around the tire, and you can only see it where dirt/pollen is on the tire. I have NO clue WTF those are but they have annoyed me. The first time I noticed it was like 1000 miles ago and I noticed it on my rear. It looked like something rubbed all the way around and was stuck. Next few days, I noticed the SAME dang line on the front tire doing the same thing. Not sure what these are, But I am going to write into Michelin about it and just ask. They have no bad effect on the tire, just a weird line... EDIT: I put a picture in with an arrow to that line and you can see how minor it is.
Track Days : Haven't done any track on these tires, all street.
I think that sums it up for my review on the Michelin Pilot Road 3's, 150/70-17 rear and stock front size. Any questions about the tires feel free to ask, I just felt like writing a review on these tires since I'm pretty dang happy with them for being a somewhat aggressive rider. I know some people get close to 10,000 miles and over with the IRC's, and that is good for you, but I had very bad luck with them and wasn't happy at all with how they felt. If you're happy with it, then good for you and buy them cheap tires and save lots of $$.
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As I mentioned in the past on that topic, The PR3 and the Pilot Street are 2 way different tires.
The PR3 is more long lasting tire, and it has way better wet grip along with dry grip. The grip on the PR3 is way different, along with the tread compound being different. PR3's have 2CT where the center is harder rubber but the outside is soft stickie rubber.
As you can see, The wet grip is very poor on the Pilot Street according to Michelin. You can see the difference between the 2 tires. On their chart it shows the PR3 has higher Longevity, Better Maneuverability, more comfort, and a lot more wet grip. Only thing it has less of is the value because its ~$25 more.
This review was for people interested in the PR3's as they are a great tire.
150/70-17 is the correct rear size for our bike for all I care, there is no harm in putting a 150 rear on. Now going any higher to a 160 is just dumb and un-needed. But why would people miss out on great tires just because they are 150's?
But yeah, They are priced a tiny bit lower than the PR3 because they are not as high as quality as the PR3's are. Someone that wants an all around good winter tire and also good for the twisties with nice soft rubber on the sides then PR3 are the way to go. They also get awesome miles from highway riding.
The chart Michelin makes that I posted shows the true difference between them. You can see how much of a higher quality the PR3 is, which is why you pay $25 more which is totally worth it IMHO. The extra you pay is what you pay for Dual Compound Technology, aka 2CT. Now if the Pilot Street's had 2CT I'd be all over them!
PS: PR3/PR4 always have been the correct size for the Front. All you do for the rear is go up from a 140 to a 150 which is recommended by dealers when you change your tires anyways. It doesn't change your speed-o at all, or affect your bike in any negative way, nor does it need any mods to fit.
Going up to a 150 does no harm... Just like on bigger sport bikes people run multiple sizes of tires. Sorta funny people act like they can't be put on because they are 150. Wonder why the dealer suggested 150s to me if they were dangerous.
Over 7,000 miles on the PR3's now.
I thought I noticed the rear starting to square off, turned out it was because I was running lower pressure than normal, and I realized that when I checked it one morning because I could notice it was low.. I guess when you don't check it for a month or 2.. lol (Was at 30) Could you imagine if you were one of those riders that constantly check your tire pressure and have a garage to make sure it was correct, you'd get a lot more miles for sure.
Anyways, The tires still look great! In the dead center I am really close to hitting a wear bar, but I plan to bring these tires down to a little bit of nothing left.
By far I am happy with the PR3's, with their wet grip that cannot be beaten by any other tire, and just love how long they are lasting me. I am at double the lifetime of the IRC and Pirelli that I had. I can only imagine if you were a slow rider and never got on it, this rear PR3 would have to last you at least 15k miles.
I plan on trying to get 8500/9000 miles on them, so I hope I don't dig into the wear bars too quickly!
Front tire still looks new.. I mean hell, I don't think it took off any rubber yet. If a front on this bike doesn't last 20-25k I dunno what to say. I took the IRC off and it wasn't wore out in front yet, but it was starting to................thinking of the name............. (Took a big fat hit and remembered) Oh yeah they started to feather really bad on the rubber with the rubber sticking up pretty dang high which made corning feel.... odd...
Anyways, If you want an excellent rain tire with 2CT softer rubber great for twisties or commuting then you should check out the PR3. By far the best tire for the CBR250 and can't wait to get another new one. Next tire will be a Conti as I mentioned before though.
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(Truthfully, I never noticed that bug until after I took the picture.. Thought it was cool I caught him in there, lol)
Added some other pictures of the tires to show how they are holding up after 7k miles of hard riding.
Now about the Conti-Motion tire. I received it a week or 2 ago and it looks a LOT different than expected. Reading reviews, I seen a lot of people complained that you could not see how much rubber was in the center due to no tread being there. Well, That may be true about getting a 180 or a 190, but since its just a 150 it seems its not like they said.. The gap between the tread in the center is only like 3/4". And I'm not sure but this thing is DEEP of rubber. I mean my other tires had some pretty thick tread but these are pretty dang deep. Makes me wonder how quick I can lose that rubber! For $45 out of pocket ($95 total, New CC offer gave me $50 off), I'm happy with how the Conti looks and I'll be putting it on soon as my rear is gone. I included a couple pictures of it in this thread but after I install it I will do another review like this. Ofc I'm keeping my PR3 Front.
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I thought I noticed the rear starting to square off, turned out it was because I was running lower pressure than normal, and I realized that when I checked it one morning because I could notice it was low.. I guess when you don't check it for a month or 2.. lol (Was at 30) Could you imagine if you were one of those riders that constantly check your tire pressure and have a garage to make sure it was correct, you'd get a lot more miles for sure.
Anyways, The tires still look great! In the dead center I am really close to hitting a wear bar, but I plan to bring these tires down to a little bit of nothing left.
By far I am happy with the PR3's, with their wet grip that cannot be beaten by any other tire, and just love how long they are lasting me. I am at double the lifetime of the IRC and Pirelli that I had. I can only imagine if you were a slow rider and never got on it, this rear PR3 would have to last you at least 15k miles.
I plan on trying to get 8500/9000 miles on them, so I hope I don't dig into the wear bars too quickly!
Front tire still looks new.. I mean hell, I don't think it took off any rubber yet. If a front on this bike doesn't last 20-25k I dunno what to say. I took the IRC off and it wasn't wore out in front yet, but it was starting to................thinking of the name............. (Took a big fat hit and remembered) Oh yeah they started to feather really bad on the rubber with the rubber sticking up pretty dang high which made corning feel.... odd...
Anyways, If you want an excellent rain tire with 2CT softer rubber great for twisties or commuting then you should check out the PR3. By far the best tire for the CBR250 and can't wait to get another new one. Next tire will be a Conti as I mentioned before though.
(Truthfully, I never noticed that bug until after I took the picture.. Thought it was cool I caught him in there, lol)
Added some other pictures of the tires to show how they are holding up after 7k miles of hard riding.
Now about the Conti-Motion tire. I received it a week or 2 ago and it looks a LOT different than expected. Reading reviews, I seen a lot of people complained that you could not see how much rubber was in the center due to no tread being there. Well, That may be true about getting a 180 or a 190, but since its just a 150 it seems its not like they said.. The gap between the tread in the center is only like 3/4". And I'm not sure but this thing is DEEP of rubber. I mean my other tires had some pretty thick tread but these are pretty dang deep. Makes me wonder how quick I can lose that rubber! For $45 out of pocket ($95 total, New CC offer gave me $50 off), I'm happy with how the Conti looks and I'll be putting it on soon as my rear is gone. I included a couple pictures of it in this thread but after I install it I will do another review like this. Ofc I'm keeping my PR3 Front.
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