Even more mileage. I hope they fit!

Been using (Pilot) Roads since switching to the PR 2 from Metzler, mainly for longevity. Then the the wet grip of the PR3s made me a loyal customer. And they just keep getting better.

Pilot Road 2 - #1 for wet grip and got 8 to 10K miles
Pilot Road 3 - Siping change gave more wet grip, slightly more mileage, and quieter.
Pilot Road 4 - 20% more life than 3's. 1st time ever got 12K from a mc tire!
Road 5 - I couldn't tell any changes, but still #1 for wet grip.
Road 6 - Advertises 10% more life, 15% more wet grip. So up to 13,500 miles!

 

Even more mileage. I hope they fit!

Been using (Pilot) Roads since switching to the PR 2 from Metzler, mainly for longevity. Then the the wet grip of the PR3s made me a loyal customer. And they just keep getting better.

Pilot Road 2 - #1 for wet grip and got 8 to 10K miles
Pilot Road 3 - Siping change gave more wet grip, slightly more mileage, and quieter.
Pilot Road 4 - 20% more life than 3's. 1st time ever got 12K from a mc tire!
Road 5 - I couldn't tell any changes, but still #1 for wet grip.
Road 6 - Advertises 10% more life, 15% more wet grip. So up to 13,500 miles!

With all the advertised increases in tire life we should be nearing a point where a set of tires lasts 2-3 bikes.

 

If people can run car tires, then I'm not worried about those trivial tire specs, lmfao. Tread pattern looks pretty cool. Maybe I will have to stray from my RS3's and check em out

 

My RS 4's are tons better than my PR 5's were in every way!

 

Just looked at the price, and for that reason I'm out

 

Haven't seen a posted price. How much did you see them for?

 

I’ll try it on my next change over.

 

Michelin Road 6 190/55ZR-17 75W Rear Motorcycle - American Moto Tire

 

That's the R6, this is the R6GT 👍😎

 

Looks like they have it on a R1250GS. It's not a pilot road 6 I don't think. (edit) I didn't know they droped the Pilot name.

 

I used the road 4 gt for a couple of years and loved that tire. I have road 5 on my k1600b. I'll keep tabs on how the road 6 compares while I wear this set down. I've been getting great mileage using m9rr but that's on my s1000rr because they don't make the road series in 200/55/17

 

I’ll be interested in your mileage on the 5’s and 6. I thought the rear 5 would t fit?

 

I got about 11.5k miles from my last set on my K1600GTL (I did not have swing arm rub) - I had also spoken to the Michelin Rep at the Mt. Rally who had said that the issue with swing arm rub would be fixed on the Road 6s. 10 percent increase would be almost 13k. Gonna have to try these next.

 

For me to get to 11.5k miles, I'd need a 100% increase (or more)! I just can't imagine how anyone gets that distance on any rear tire on a K1600.

 

Of course I just put new shoes on the ole girl and skipped the 5’s. I’m hoping for about 8-10K out of the Dunlops then I’ll try the 6’s…

 

I have tried many tires over the past 7 yrs on my K1600 GT bikes....14 sets of tires on my 2014 GT and currently on my 3rd set of tires on my 2020 GT that I bought earlier this year. My personal preference for my style of riding has been the Metzler RoadTec 01. Most tires last between 8 - 9K miles. The best mileage was on a RT01 at 9350 miles and worst mileage was on a PR5GT at 6500 miles. I like the way the RT01 handle as well for spirited riding.

Most recently I put on the Dunlop RS IV's which turned out to be a very good tire. I just set a new personal mileage record at 11.2K miles on the set. I will admit that 6800 of those miles were put on one long distance trip which was more scenic riding than spirited riding but still way better mileage than I have ever got in the past under similar circumstances.

The Dunlop and Metzler tires prices are way better than the Michelin's so I really don't see a reason to try out the PR6. Tires are very subjective and every tire has trade-offs. Whatever makes you happy should be what you put on your bike. Ride On!

 

I wish that Michelin would offer a sport touring tire that is not so biased to wet weather performance. I almost never ride in the rain. A slick with some wear indicators would be perfect.

 

I don't like to ride in the rain anymore either and avoid it whenever possible...though that's not always possible. That said, I could probably go for a little more rubber and a little less siping!

 

Interesting point, I was running the Road 5GT on my '18 GA and when I went to replace them because of a flat, I found from the dealer that there had been a dealer notice saying BMW no longer recommended the Road 5Gt and recommending the Road 4Gt. Not sure why, but from the dealer.

 

They made a mistake and made the correct size tire too wide. They appear to have fixed that with the new tire.

 

More info..

Michelin Introduces The New Road 6 Tire For Sport Touring Motorcycles

Michelin is once again raising the bar for longevity and wet grip for sport touring motorcycles. [...]

blog.motorcycle.com

 

The Road 5 had a short life as their premier sport touring tire. Causes me to wonder if they were concerned about losing the K1600 market. I've not owned a bike that consumes tires like this one. The payback in ride satisfaction makes it quite worthwhile, however.

 

If they ACTUALLY LAST 13K miles, then $500 a set would be worth it.

 

@st13phil I get your frustration. You spent much time explaining the standard, and I get your argument.

But being a simple man 😊, I don’t understand why the other tire manufacturers (Dunlop, Bridgestone, etc.), do not have the width/rubbing issue. I think it’s safe to assume they manufacture to the same “standard”, so why the discrepancy?

 

But being a simple man 😊, I don’t understand why the other tire manufacturers (Dunlop, Bridgestone, etc.), do not have the width/rubbing issue.

Because, for whatever reason, Michelin chose to size the width of their tyre much closer to the permitted maximum. Dunlop, Bridgestone and others size their tyres narrower than the permitted maximum by quite a margin.

Bearing in mind that material costs money, my guess is that Michelin did what they did for performance reasons.

 

Narrower than the permitted maximum by quite a margin, and closer to the stated size by quite a margin. I'm no apologist for BMW, and they should have known this, but I think most of us were surprised to find such allowable variation in this manufacturing standard.

We have the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers). They are a similar (to ERTRO) private organization who publish recognized standards. Compliance is purely voluntary, but lends a measure of confidence. If I buy a 30mm wrench, I pretty much expect to get what is advertised.

 

I'm no apologist for BMW, and they should have known this, but I think most of us were surprised to find such allowable variation in this manufacturing standard.

The intriguing thing is that Michelin, as part of their approved fitment process, had worked with BMW and tested the tyre in question on BMW K1600's. My gut feel is that BMW didn't know that some examples of their bikes didn't meet the standard that they thought they'd designed and manufactured to.

 

The swingarm is a complicated shape, and probably an expensive part to manufacture. It would be interesting to know if there has been more than one variation has been produced.

 

The swingarm is a complicated shape, and probably an expensive part to manufacture.

It is, and unmachined faces of castings that could give rise to clearance issues are notorious for doing exactly that.

 

The bottom line is the Road 5 is too wide to fit the 1600 and the Road 6 has fixed that issue. I don't care as I always run Dunlop.

 

I'm a big fan of Michelin tires and have run the 3s, 4s and 5s in the past.

On my 19'B/GA, I ran the 5 GTs for about 6k miles when they needed replacement last summer. I now run a Dunlap Roadsmart 4 on the rear and the Michelin Road 5 on the front (that was based on availability and not on preference). 2500 miles on that combo and I'm very pleased.

 

Ran Michelin road 4 GT and enjoyed the stability they added to the bike, even when fully loaded. Only got 7k miles due to some sporting mountain rides. Great traction. Look forward to trying Road 6 GT

 

Ran Michelin road 4 GT and enjoyed the stability they added to the bike, even when fully loaded. Only got 7k miles due to some sporting mountain rides. Great traction. Look forward to trying Road 6 GT

On the bold, if you think the PR4 gives "great traction", you should try a Pirelli Angel GT A-spec.

I ran 2 PR4s, and had them slide numerous times in dry conditions. Never have I had a slide with the Angel.

 

This is NOT an endorsement of any product. I'm only bringing it to the attention of the readership that Michelin has introduced the Road 6 and Road 6 GT tire. Though after looking at their website (below) they're advertising the correct tire size, speed and weight specs (front and rear) for the K1600. However the new tires are not on the recommended list for our machines.

It's only the first day, maybe they're waiting for some real world data before putting the K1600 on the list of recommended tires to avoid the issues of the Road 5 and Road 5 GT rear tire not fitting well debacle. Time will tell..

MICHELIN Road 6 | MICHELIN Motorcycle sport touring tire (michelinman.com)

Thank you...hope the add the K1600 to the list. The tire tread looks very good

 

Michelin has released the Road 6 and it shows available for the GTL. Has anyone heard if this tire resolves the problem with the tire rubbing on the shaft drive housing that the 5's have.

 

Let me guess: The all-new Road 6 is like no other tire Michelin's ever made. The new and improved tread design incorporates the latest in tire technology offering unparalleled grip wet or dry. This tire is designed to impress even when your motorcycle is upside down in a ditch or floating down a river. And our laboratory tests show the new R6 can go further and faster than ever before while increasing gas mileage 50%! *.

* if you can keep rolling downhill.

If I hear one more tire manufacturer hype-in-type about how far superior his new tire is compared to the one I just bought from him 3 months ago, I'm going to hurl! But here in America, "hype" is but an art form - that's how we roll. Me, I'm definitely waiting to buy next year's tire. Something tells me it's just gonna be amazing and infinitely better than this year's greatest-ever tire...

And so it goes. Kickstands up!

 

This is dated, but I agree with sbennett and so not caring what the

tire manufacturer hype-in-type about how far superior his new tire is compared to the one I just bought from him 3 months ago

😇 has said about their tire since this video was made, here Ryan tells us why whichever of our four go-to tires you have is the right choice.

And Ryan is my go to guy for the gospel on any motorcycle subject.

0:27 - Michelin Pilot Road 4: https://frt9.co/9nkof7
2:02 - Bridgestone Battlax BT-023: https://frt9.co/xc1r1r
3:03 - Pirelli Angel GT: https://frt9.co/kfvznp
4:38 - Metzeler Roadtec Z8 Interact: https://frt9.co/zbbxki
Kickstands up!

 

10,000 to 11,000 miles on a set of tires for our K16s. I'm getting 5,000 out of a set of Dunlop roadsmart 3s (great grip).Planning on the 4s next time. I ride twisties as aggressively "as I can" but it's the whole tire that wears out, not just the edges. Can michelins have any grip and get that kind of mileage ? I'm being serious by the way. I'm not doubting the mileage, just doubting the tire having any grip. Cheers, Morgan