Disappointed in the Pilot Road 4

Awe.. well now, I run the Corsas and see 9-11,000 pretty much no matter what kinda of roads but mostly back roads like hwy 1 where the fun is. Now if I think about it, that's two bikes probably close to 60,000 miles in that area of riding over the last 12 years, so a few tires, whew! This has been since the mid 2000s where I accidentally got a set of corsa diablo 1s due to the price, never looked back. Now they are into their 3rd maybe 4th generation as Rossas then added the angel gt which looks like a great compromise for what they do, not saying other brands aren't worthy, but when one finds he's got it down what works, no need to fix what isn't broken until something tells me different. This thread got my curiosity cooking, since tire tech is moving forward, so looked into how the p4s are stacking up and interesting enough you are in good company.

 

Guess you need to find the tire try that best suits your riding style and expectations ?

I hated the PR3s right from the start and got rid of them early as found their turn in slow in imprecise when flip flopping with meaning through certain tight long distance twisties, getting rid of them early meant they were a poor choice for me

Changed PR3s for Pirelli Rossi 2s which I liked with their neutral linear turnin and quicker through transitions.

Changed the Rossi 2s for the PR4s after my long time trusted tire shop guy showed me a new PR3 front directly next to a new PR4 front, immediately you can see the PR4 profile is more rounded where as the PR3 is much flatter across the centre and steeper on the sides which obviously explained its initial slowness of turnin and inprecision, my words for it at the time were it had an odd teetering point rather than a predictable tipping point.

To me the PR4s I currently have feel closer to the Rosso 2s which Iiked a lot but were toast by 4,500 miles, the PR4s have been amazing in cold wet slippery twisties on tour. Only have about 4000miles on them so far but they still feel good so if the last to 7,500 miles before they start going off I'll be happy.

 

I'll probably replace the rear with another PR4. Maybe I left more tire on the track than I thought, which may have contributed to its early demise. The rain traction is supposed to excellent, better than the 3, but even though I had this tire for a year, I never rode it in the rain due to the crazy drought here. I guess not riding this tire on the track will give me a better indication of the life of the tire. It never gave me pause in the dry, gripped everything I ever threw at it.

By the way, the bike tire wear capitol of the US is Florida, especially when it rains. That guy Norman at Michelin said that when it rains, the calcium from the aggregate in the pavement gets a sharp edge on it and it eats up tires. He said that Texas is the tire life capitol, due to whatever they use in their pavement.

 

I think that may be a lot of the short tire life. The up hill hard acceleration and the amount of engine braking on these bikes too.

 

The real reason Lint had short tire life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz6ImYllUWA

 

Must be nice to money to burn! Probably his tire was already at its end of life.

 

Nope, my bike is red... :smile-new: I never understood why people do that.

 

lol, thats my bike. I had put on a set of slicks off my CBR track bike and got a few thousand miles out of them on the VFR. I always end a tires life with burning rubber just for the hell of it.

 

With my rear lasting only 7000 miles(squared off real bad in the center) compared to y last PR4 , I suspect it was from extreme heat this last summer slabbin it 350 miles a week. Just recently spooned on a PR3----My front PR4 has well over 12,000 miles and still has alot of life left.
Does upgrading our suspension help in any way with tire wear?

 

A well tuned suspension will definitely make your tire last longer along with the usual handling improvements.

 

Well, did the Jamie inserts awhile back and just waiting for the rear shock (abs) that OOTV found for me on ebay to be upgraded and delivered back to his place so we can swap it oot. Goin to cost me a few 6 packs if IPA I gather.
He's done it now two times, so fortunate to have friends for help.
Hope it adds longevity to my tires.

 

I think this explains a lot of my tire wear, as I am usually using the late apex to open up the exit for greater throttle. http://www.drivingfast.net/techniques/racing-line.htm#braking

Obviously this is dictated by the corner etc, and result may vary, but I thought it interesting.

 

Interesting article, Lint!

I'm not sure which I fall into ... I'm usually accelerating through the turn before the apex, but I do go wide. I'll have to pay more attention to my riding.

The one mistake that I make often, is not keeping the head up and looking further into the turn. I find myself often with my vision not far enough out to the exit and as a result I will often not hit the apex properly for a clean turn.

 

Interesting thread gents ... I didn't see any VFR1200 owners commenting here. I plan to replace my 'Stones T30s with PR4 GTs on my 1200 ... the 'Stones were only good for 5K, and cupped horribly towards the end. Perhaps that was due to bad tire pressure management, but overall the feel of the T30s was nowhere near as good as the BT 21 & 23s I used to ride on my old VFR800. Cornering confidence was lousy throughout by comparison, and I was looking forward to a significantly better ride with the PR4s. I'll be keeping a watch on the thread as I intend changing them this month!

 

I can tell you based on my experience that the PR4 is a grippy tire, as stated earlier, I even ran them at the track, tho they are not a track tire, they held quite well, as my scraped header will attest!

 

Lent your bike still has linked brakes correct? That can also lead to more rear tire wear.

 

True, but my previous tires were with the linked brakes, but I'm sure it contributed.

 

I just think you're getting faster. Lol

 

How long do expect tires to last when you beat the crap out of them? Oh I see a tire that is constantly being shedder is suppose to last?:baby:

 

This thread is for people that actually know how to ride and use there tires...
Not taking 1 1/2 gallons of gas rides and have tires last 20,000+ miles.
Just sayin