Big Jeff Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 We ran our 3 hour endurance on a set of the new Michelin Pilot Power Race's. They are a dual compound DOT tire. Medium in the center and soft on the sides. They were excellent ! We ran 29psi in the front and believe it or not 23 psi in the rear. The Michelin guy recommended 20-22psi !! I wouldn't have believed him until I felt the difference in the sidewall. Man the PR's are a stiff side wall. The tires were impressive. A must try for a trackday or race. BTW we got 3rd in heavy weight. Damn that 999 is fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51'er Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 Way to go. I've heard nothing but positive remarks about the new Michelins. It's good to here a real persons evaluation besides the big publications. Were the tires pretty beat up? How much they cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomek Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 Hey Jeff,was anyone using those on liter inline fours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXFirefighter Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 cool... anyone take pics? Sounds like a blast ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jeff Posted April 18, 2005 Author Share Posted April 18, 2005 Not sure on the price. The tires held up real well. They looked like they had atleast another practice on them. 3 other guys I knew were running them, R1, GSXR750 and an RC. They all liked them real well. The Michelin guy claimed guys at Daytona were running them as low as 19psi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demon Posted April 18, 2005 Share Posted April 18, 2005 I like the concept of dual compound tires. Something hard in the center and sticky as hell on the sides. Too bad the hardest compound with the Pilot Race still probably won't last 2000 miles on the street with the bird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erixx Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 i use Pilot Power (non race) for track days... GREAT!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dion Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 I have a set of the powers waiting to go on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrich Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 Me too, on the FedEx truck to be delivered today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomek Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 Power Race are 285 + 20 $ shipping from www.sportbiketracktime.com ,that is pretty cheap for race skins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jeff Posted April 23, 2005 Author Share Posted April 23, 2005 I just looked the tires over again after that 3 hour race plus an hour or so of practice and they deffinately held up well. We are running them at autobahn on 5/7 for a 4 hour race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDAZ XX Posted April 24, 2005 Share Posted April 24, 2005 Heres a link for Pilot powers someone EMailed to me. $220 for 120/180 combo and $240 for a 120/190 combo. Seems like a good price to me. I think I'll try a set next time I order tires. https://www.compacc.com/category.cfm?Category=1252 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northman Posted April 24, 2005 Share Posted April 24, 2005 Heres a link for Pilot powers someone EMailed to me. $220 for 120/180 combo and $240 for a 120/190 combo. Seems like a good price to me. I think I'll try a set next time I order tires. $227.90 from http://www.swmototires.com with free shipping Anybody got a mileage estimate from these tires? I had a good feeling when I first heard about them. First street tires to be entirely composite, dual compound, etc. Still be interesting to see how long they last, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John01XX Posted April 24, 2005 Share Posted April 24, 2005 I put a rear 180 on 4 weeks ago but havE been out of town for two weeks so I only have about 500 miles so far. I will let you know the milage since it was highly recommended for FZR and XX use by a pretty reputable source. Went in to replace the rear with another Pilot Road that I get 7000 - 8000 on but was talked into trying the Power instead. I do alot of highway slab miles to and from work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikertrash Posted April 26, 2005 Share Posted April 26, 2005 I started out with the Dunlop 205's (Yuck). Then ordered a set of Pirelli Diablo's. Dealer delivered the Diablo Corsa by mistake so I stuck those on. They were truly worse then the 205's. Perhaps the sidewall is not stiff enough for the Bird's weight. So I just replaced them with Michelin Pilot Sport HPX. So far, these are wonderful tires. They ought to be for what they cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RXX Posted April 26, 2005 Share Posted April 26, 2005 Hey, guys I am about to buy a new rear tire, loved my Metzler, got high mileage, blah blah. My son (who is WAY smarter than me) says to get a 190, but gives no reason other than it is bigger. I dunno, I don't really care, but I will ask, is a 190 more worthy on a '99 bird? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikertrash Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 I would be very careful about changing tire size unless your willing to spend the time and money to treat it like an experiment and go back to the original size if needed. A 180/55 is reportedly 4 mm taller than a 190/50. The 190 will cause a weight shift to the rear of the bike. If anything I think the Bird needs weight shifted forward not back. The lower back end will increase the trail on the front end slowing steering. Also, for a given turn at a given speed the wider the tire the farther you have to lean it over to hold a given line. A 180 has all the capacity needed for holding back the horsepower of a stock Bird. I wouldn't do it. And the 190 costs more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northman Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 The 190 sucks, and I do speak from experience on that. When new, it was OK. A little squirrely when leaned, but no pucker factor. Unfortunately, as it wore, it squared off more than the 180's do, giving you a very small contact patch when leaned over. Kept getting worse and worse until the edge of the tire was practically un-useable, and just about cost me a few body panels :shock: Stick with the 180's, unless you plan on swapping the rear rim for a 6", IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rockmeupto125 Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 I'm pretty much right in line with Northman on this. I tried a 190 because of the stellar price I got on one. Its fine at first, but as it wore, it became harder and harder to make the bike turn. Redbird rode my bike in Tennesee and can attest to that. For optimal performance, stick with the 180/50. Philip....your boy has much too learn. (but don't we all.....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RXX Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 Thanks, guys, now I have a real response for him other than "the engineers designed it for this tire" PLUS my supplier (Dave at Gear Up Motorsports in Knoxville) damn near said he wouldn't install it for me for the same reason. My son ran with the wheelie & stoppie crowd, maybe that worked for those guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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