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NEWS REVIEWS AND CUSTOMER COMMENTS

IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON THE TYRES YOU ON YOUR BIKE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS GOOD OR BAD. SEND ME AN EMAIL alan@sidcupmotorcycletyres.co.uk

  The all new Michelin pilot road 2  Sport Touring Tyres

 
First report on the Pilot Road 2

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.

 

 

Metzeler Roadtec Z6 Sport Touring Tyres

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!
Regards, Robin

 IS THIS A MARMITE TYRE YOU DECIDE

 COTINENTAL SPORT ATTACKS TYRES

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.
I hope this helps in some way.

Regards
Ian Vine
Operations Manager Xerox
MICHELIN PILOT POWERS
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

 

 

 

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Last modified: 07/09/05