Having just replaced my Power One's with a
new set fitted by you today in readiness for my trip to Germany, I'm
providing you with my opinion on the tyres as requested. The ones I have
been using on my Gixer 750 are the Road/Track version and these are the most
suitable for my type of riding, mainly fast road and some track days.
First thing to say is that these are
the best tyres I have used in almost 12 years of Sportsbike riding,
providing me with levels of grip and confidence way beyond anything
previously experienced. I want to be totally objective though, and would
have to say that if tyre-life is very important then people need to look
elsewhere, but this is a trade-off I willingly make to enjoy the benefits
provided by the Power Ones. I have done about 1700 miles of fairly hard
riding and the rear is about done, the front, which you are keeping for me
until after my trip, will probably give me about another 1600 miles. One
very important thing is to get the pressures right for your weight. When I
first used them I stuck to the hand book pressures, 36 front, 42 rear, but I
found that when really cranked over the back did step out a bit. This was
disconcerting so on the advice of a guy who set up my suspension I lowered
the pressures bit by bit until I found the right ones, which for me was 33
front, 37 rear. No movement, and totally stable, bliss! I weigh 11 stone
btw. My mate experienced exacty the same when he first used them, and being
heavier than me adjusted to suit his own weight, again spot on.
When I first saw the tread pattern (or lack
of it lol) I had definate misgivings about handling in the wet, but having
used them in France, luggaged up, in rainy conditions, I no longer have any
concerns, not that I am foolish/brave enough to try getting my knee down in
the wet. Quite how Michelin have managed this, I don't know, but for anyone
wanting to use them and worrying about handling in the wet, stop worrying. A
friend of mine with a Gixer Thou rode his bike on a wet track day at Spa and
told me there was standing water in places and the tyres were brilliant
albeit at an obviously slower pace.
Riding home today, I honestly can't wait to
get them scrubbed in, but thanks for doing your usual careful fitting and
for the banter (0;
I'm happy if anyone wants to contact me to
ask more about the tyres, email me their number and I'll ring them.
I have completed the running in this morning and so far I
am finding superior and more positive feedback than the Roadtecs! Also,
I felt the Hornet was accelerating significantly faster, so feel the
tyres are lighter in construction.
Cold weather warm up is amazingly impressive. Nice to see
steam rising off the tyres down at the Oakdene! And that's from riding
sensibly!
It seems that from my point of view there is little that
Michelin can do to improve the tyres further, but I will make
my observations over time and keep you informed.
Many thanks for a very good job of fitting the tyres
yesterday. Now I'm not sure I want the Roadtec rear back!
If I have to go begging for a pair outside the Michelin
factory, I will!
Regards,
Robin
Second report on Pilot Road 2
So far
my earlier comments on the tyres’ performance remains the same. I don’t feel
there is much more to say! The only incident of note has been finding a half
inch Phillips screw in the rear tyre! Fortunately use of my tubeless tyre
repair kit got me to Sidcup Motorcycle Tyre Centre, where they put in a
permanent repair plug, as the puncture was just off the centre of the tyre.
It has in all honestly been a year since I last had a puncture!
I have
not noticed any discernable changes in tyre performance as this remains
consistent. In the recent cold weather of December, tyre warm up was
excellent and one can ride with confidence in cold conditions even if the
first few yards of road before hitting the main road was slippery! In my
case, I negotiate a private 300 yards rough track from my garage, which at
times can be very slippery and muddy after it had rained and was at one
point covered in a dense layer of leaves for a while! The tyres coped well
with off-roading, even though they are not really designed for that!
If
there is one comment I can make, it’s that the tyres have significantly
improved both the Hornet’s handling and performance. With the Roadtec
front tyre, every time I hit a ridge across a slight right hander on the
local main road at 30 mph, the bars flap in reaction. With the Pilot Road 2
front tyre, being of a lighter construction, this has been totally
eliminated. No wonder I simply don’t want the Roadtec back! It now means
that I have much more confidence in the Hornet’s handling quality that I am
exploiting it to the full, getting much more fun out of hustling it down
twisty roads! On the performance side, the Hornet now accelerates faster
than I’ve known it to and I regard this as a big plus from having lighter
tyres.
Regards, Robin
Third report on the pilot Road 2
Sunday 3rd December provided ideal test conditions for the Pilot
Road 2s, being blustery with strong winds and pouring down heavily to start
with. I went on the Kent Advanced Motorcyclists Group’s club run to Birling
Gap on the south coast in Sussex. About 24 of us, including three lady
bikers turned up!
Riding down a lot of A and B roads that were covered with mud, leaves,
sticks, standing water and paddles, I did not encounter one problem at all.
The tyres remained consistently steadfast in grip and steering response and
my lean angles were impressive, yet it can be done in total confidence,
bearing in mind the need to read the road ahead to look out for any slippery
surfaces. Acceleration in a straight line for overtakes, once the white
centre lines were cleared was excellent.
Only once did I notice the rear tyre slip and that was when negotiating the
M20/M25/A20 interchange roundabout and that was when my line took me across
the white centre line of the A20 when leant over to the left. Just a slight
twitch of the rear tyre corrected by backing off the throttle slightly
indicates a high degree of responsive feedback from the tyres under such
conditions.
The
ride home from Birling Gap was in drying conditions, though much of the
roads I traversed were either damp or wet or a mixture of damp and dry. This
provided me with ideal conditions to test lean angles and steering
responsiveness, which is what I seek for my Hornet 900, as it has responsive
and quick steering for a 900cc machine.
I
was able to test rapid line changes and hard braking for bends and also for
roundabouts where safety permits and I was more than impressed with the
steering response and ability to change line rapidly and feel these tyres
suit the Hornet 900 extremely well. The performance was consistent and
smooth throughout and I have not noticed anything that indicates otherwise.
We have been fitting this new
sport-touring tyre since their launch in February 2004 on a wide variety of
bikes from Kawasaki Ninja's to BMW RT1150 R's and have had nothing but
glowing reports from everybody. Our first customer had a Honda VFR800 and
some how managed to acquire a set for his bike 3 months before their
official launch. After 8500 to 9000 mile of travelling from Margate to
Southeast London, a round trip of approx. 150 miles per day, on motorway and
country roads. He came in for a new rear tyre having nothing but praise,
about the outstanding mileage, excellent dry grip and exceptional wet
weather handling. A customer dropped us a line about the performance of the
tyres:
Customer
Comments Z6 Just a quick note to say that the Metzeler Roadtec Z6 you put on my Ninja
636 (the red one), a couple of months ago are fantastic. I had Dunlop's
before that came with the bike when I bought it. They have made riding much
more fun; they stick to the road and I feel more confidant with them. See
you in two thousand miles. David Wheeler.
The rider of the BMW RT1150R we
fitted the Roadtec's to, said he was astonished with the excellent grip he
got in all weather conditions. And was very proud of the fact that he had
started to scrub off the Metzeler logo on the very edge of the tread after
only 450 miles. Not bad for a big touring bike. The reports have been
outstanding on this tyre and it is certainly living up to the manufactures
official ball shit. It seems to be building up a good reputation for its
self. Excellent grip in all weather conditions and extended mileage what
more could you ask for.
Many thanks for an
excellent job of fitting the Roadtec tyres. I have since ridden on every
type of road and find them to be extremely competent tyres. Now I cannot
find a very good reason to consider sport tyres again, as these seem to be
on a par with any good sport tyres going! So far, the front tyre has shown
no sign of the 'One handed bar wobble', I have experienced with both the
BT56 and BT010, at around 35 mph! Yes, my 010 has developed the bar wobble,
despite being very good to start with! However, I will keep an eye on this
as the mileage builds up. Leaning into bends is excellent and the steering
response is great. Braking hard is well taken care of and has proved stable.
With tyres this good it is hard to find adequate words to say how good they
really are! I can recommend Roadtecs as fitments to Honda Hornet owners. Now
to wait for the rain (Obviously not your favourite weather!) and test out
the wet road grip!
Alan you
asked me to let you know what I thought about these tyres, which you fitted
to my 2003 Mille R.
Well they
are fantastic! Excellent grip from both ends, the front is particularly
sticky and gives excellent feed back, they are as good as the Pirelli super
corsa's which are the OE tyre on this bike but they proved to very good in
the wet unlike Super Corsa's.
15 of us
have just returned from a week in the the southern French alps all on
various sports bikes gixer thou's, R1's, Fireblades etc.fitted with Diablo,
Diablo corsa, BT 014, Sportec M1's and all were impressed by my Conti's they
have outlasted both the 014 and M1 which are absolutely shagged on all bikes
which had them. The Diablo, Diablo corsa and Sport Attack have worn about
the same on all bikes but in my opinion the sport attack is grippier in both
wet and dry.
In short an
excellent tyre, everybody should try them and then, there's the price!
Hi
I just had to comment after seeing a review on your
web page regarding the Continental Sport attack tyres. I purchased my
GSXR1000 early this year and it had a brand new set of Conti Attacks already
fitted. I HATE these tyres, yes the wear is good but that is because they
are much too hard for this type of bike. The reviewer of the "road" version
of this tyre seemed to hit the nail on the head when he says they dont want
to turn. I tried all sorts of tyre pressure / suspention settings to get
this tyre to work (Fast road/ the odd track day), and they went from being
extremely "Tippy", to at best, uninspiring (causing a major loss of
confidence in them). I cant wait until next summer, when during it's service
i will be binning these horrible tyres and fitting either Michelin Pilot or
Pirelli Diablo (Prob Michelin as i have used these before and found them to
be excellent!). Cheap and nasty that's my conclusion.
CONTIENTAL ROAD ATTACKS TYRES
Hello
I promised that I would let you
know how I am getting on with the Contis on my SV.
I have owned my Suzuki SV since
new, and now covered over 41k on it. I have ridden on Bridgestone 020's for
all its life with exception of the stock rubber when new. Upon advice of
certain members of a well known SV site. At a cheaper price than the 020's
I decided to give them a go. Well, they always say, regret something you do
than something you don’t, and regret it I do. I find the contis a very
strange tyre indeed. When new, with the pressures set by SMT (36f42r) the
bike felt like I just wanted to run vertical, not wanting to turn in, not
wanting to steer, lean. The only way I can really describe it, was that it
was like running on car tyres! I adjusted preload on the suspension etc,
but no joy. I dropped the pressures to stock SV (33f36r) and this gave
slightly better results. I have messed around with pressures and settings,
and got something that I can live with until I can afford to get the tyres
changed.
When warm, these tyres grip ok,
but I lack confidence in the front tyre as it becomes twitchy. However, in
their defence, compared to the 020 they have better wet weather grip, but as
an overall tyre, I would still rate the 020 as a good al round tyre. Just
for the record, I did ride another SV shod with the contis, just to make
sure it wasn’t my bike, and it to had the same feeling. The debate rages
on, on the SV site, as there are 2-3 people who love them, but this person
isn't. All I would say is that if you have a chance to ride a bike that is
fitted with these, then I would do so.
Hi Alan,
Just thought I'd drop you a line to tell you how impressed I am with your
new "Pilot Power" tyres. I ride an OS Fireblade fitted with a power
commander that puts out 138.5 hp at the back wheel. Most of my riding is on
the road coupled with about 10 track days a year. I'm no racer but I seem to
fit into the 'fast road' and 'mixing with the fast blokes' on the track.
Like a lot of riders, I was looking for a tyre to offer the best of both
worlds, good mileage and confidence inspiring grip on the road and track,
and with the 'Pilot Power'. I have found both in theses brilliant tyres!
They warm up as quickly as you claimed, give good firm feel and have taken
everything I can throw at them on 'fast' road rides, stability great, and
the grip is superb - they are very impressive. A wet track day saw two of my
mates hit the tarmac behind me using other road/track tyres whilst I
finished the day in one piece - no problem with wet grip then! Two warm, dry
track days later, I am even more amazed at what the tyres get away with -
great braking grip, consistent and quick turn in, brilliant mid corner grip
and front wheel hopping driving out of second gear corners without any
movement from the back - absolutely amazing! I will be changing them soon as
the edges are down to the limit (I love corners) but they've done 1600 fast
road miles and two and a half track days, and I reckon the centres are still
good for another 500 miles or so. All in all, I think Pilot Powers are
brilliant, confidence inspiring tyres. Everyone should use them!!
Thanks Alan Cheers for now and all the best Colin Errington
