Michelin Road 5

Got a Road5 mounted today.  Anyone else been able to try them yet?

I'll be running a Power RS front and a Road5 Rear. Interested to see how it works out. I haven't gotten it on the road yet, but tomorrow I should have it all bolted together and can take a run.

The siping on the new michelins freaks me out. Totally different than what we've been used to the last 30 years. And the fact that the fronts and rears sort of go in the opposite directions is strange. I admit I looked twice to make sure they were mounted correctly when I picked them up this evening!

[image: wheelsandtires_180203_162625.jpg]

I was contemplating doing the same setup, RS front and Road 5 rear, may just wait to see what you find. The PP3/PR4 setup I have been running has been working out great but time to get a new set of tires. BTW, there’s another thread on the forum where the originator had asked about the Road 5. Might need to point him here if you’re going to update this thread with your review.

I will update it in a couple of weeks, after I've had a chance to ride a bit.

You sure there's another thread? Only mention of a road 5 I can find is my own, where you told me to try this combination.

I’m pretty sure...interesting that the two threads have the same title and here I am suggesting in another thread that the server wouldn’t allow  that! 

Cool. Looks like a few of us will be testing the waters over the next month then.

I finally got the bike back together today. Only out long enough to seat the brakes and run some errands, though. No time in the twisties.

First thoughts are that the RS profile is a little different. It's good, though. It doesn't fall in, but it isn't hard to lean over. Felt stable as all get out, like it was very predictable even though the bike did feel a little different. I can't tell any difference with the Road 5 rear when not really pushing anything, but no red flags on this combination.

Alas, my observations are tainted as I had Jamie do my forks. New valving and seals, and I swear the bike is taller now, so I wonder if the previous owner had dropped the forks -- which I wouldn't put past him since he was a mechanical 'tard and just did things he read on the internets without understanding them. I didn't measure when I pulled them, and  just set them at 41mm per the Honda manual on installation. I don't know if the height difference is preload/sag being correct or ride height.  Or tires. Might be a combination of all of the above.

Grabbing a huge handful of brake on a freeway offramp at 80mph was pretty damned cool. No rattling on the washboard at all. It just sets at it's angle and stays there. Amazing what a difference damping that matches your spring rate makes.

I have a pair of Road 5s sitting at work waiting to be fitted during the post-winter clean next week.

I ride in everything but settled snow, so i'll report back on wet/cold grip and how it performs with little warm-up (my commute is 10-15 mins/4-5 miles each way)

I know this already: They look cooler than Road 4/3/2 tyres.

Well took me longer to get a set but I mounted them onto my 6 Gen wheels yesterday but probably won't put them on the bike until I get the brake pads, which are in transit. Hopefully I can report back soon.

Two reviews:

Bike Rider Magazine, New Zealand:

http://www.brm.co.nz/michelin-road-5-review/

MCN UK:

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/first-rides-tests/michelin-road-5-sports-touring-tyre-review/

I've now had my Road 5s a week/30 miles.

So far they feel pretty good. Better than the 4s, and don't feel like they need much scrubbing-in at all.

Duc2V4, 2/23/2018 at 12:07 PM

Well took me longer to get a set but I mounted them onto my 6 Gen wheels yesterday but probably won't put them on the bike until I get the brake pads, which are in transit. Hopefully I can report back soon.

Duc, have you had a chance to try these on the road yet? 

Ran several pairs of P4's on my 7th gen and was very happy with them. The OEM Pirelli's on the Multi are getting near the wear indicators at 4700 miles so I'm leaning towards the P5's as replacements unless you guys report any red flags.

Lorne, 2/24/2018 at 10:59 AM

Two reviews:

Bike Rider Magazine, New Zealand:

http://www.brm.co.nz/michelin-road-5-review/

MCN UK:

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/first-rides-tests/michelin-road-5-sports-touring-tyre-review/

Thanks Lorne very useful.

8 hours ago, St. Stephen

Duc, have you had a chance to try these on the road yet? 

Ran several pairs of P4's on my 7th gen and was very happy with them. The OEM Pirelli's on the Multi are getting near the wear indicators at 4700 miles so I'm leaning towards the P5's as replacements unless you guys report any red flags.

Thanks Lorne very useful.

I have but too early to give an opinion, I’m barely in the scrub in phase but should be able to put some twisty miles soon. 

Now over 100 miles on to my 5s and VERY happy with them. Not once have i felt less than totally confident in the tyres. Great feel, too. To me they feel SO MUCH better than the 4s ever did.

I've got a tank in, but only a few twisties. Still have nubbies on most of the tires. Travel, rain, and the flu seem to be getting in the way of riding for me!

That said, I did really push the 5 rear a little two weeks ago. I got the Road5 rear and the RS front, so not a matched set. 

The rear feels like the same profile as my Road3 and it was solid all day. There's a fast sweeper with a dip in it that can be a little disconcerting and there wasn't a hint of slipping under heavy throttle, and I just felt solid and stable.  That RS front is plenty sticky, too. I get what people say about them being slower steering, but it's not "heavy" steering at all and when you set it at an angle it stays, comfortably with no effort. I hope it lasts as this is a much nicer combo than the Road3s front and rear I had before.

This isn't track time, and I ride like an old man on the street, so take my comments with a grain of salt. I have literally only gotten the tire warm in the twisties this one time, but I'm really comfortable with the set so far. I'll be interested to see how they hold up through the summer when they get a couple thousand miles on them.

St. Stephen, 3/10/2018 at 1:46 PM

Duc, have you had a chance to try these on the road yet?

So I can now say that I have run them in a few conditions. Commuting, Highway, the Track and rain! This past Thursday and Friday I was doing some corner working at Streets of Willow. Unfortunately my 5 Gen, although being track ready, is not quite street legal at the moment. Normally I go with one of two friends who have either a truck or trailer and we go together. This time I had to fly solo, at least to the track. Fellow member Lint had a similar situation, in which he had to ride there too. I probably could have chanced taking the 5 Gen, but with expired tags (FEB/18) I thought it best to not do it, so I rode the 6 Gen.

I was thinking about putting the Pirelli Super Corsas back on but since it was supposed to rain, and it did on my way back, I felt better using the bike with the Road 5s. Two reasons, I felt much better about riding in the rain with the Road 5 and I thought what a better test of grip than to be on the track! As far as a track tire, I wouldn't buy these for that specific purpose, the Super Corsas are much better for that but will say they held up great! Although I really didn't push that hard, the level I did push them at was probably more so than I would have on public roads, so I'm pretty confident that these will be fine for how I use the 6 Gen. Hoping the mileage is on par with the PR4 that I have been using (10k+ miles)

As far as wet weather, we hit a little rain about half way home (Rosamond to Anaheim) and they felt fine, even had a slight panic breaking moment when I got off the freeway and braking felt like normal, not a lot of standing water but enough wetness to give one pause about squeezing the binders too hard. When pressured at 36/42, they do feel a little hard and allow you to feel most bumps and ripples in the road but with a good suspension, nothing that would be bothersome IMO. I kind of like the feeling actually.. At the track I went with my usual pressures I use in the Michelin RS tires I have on the 5 Gen 32/28 and this felt fine to with these tires. My understanding is that they are similarly constructed as the RS but with wet weather and higher mileage in mind.

All in all, I really like them, especially for what their purpose on the 6 Gen is for, so I'm really hoping that they are high mileage tires like their predecessors. Here are a few pics of the tires at the beginning of the second day, this was after my first session.

[image: 26996630348_03ee8338cb_k.jpg]

[image: 26996630978_8b3b3e4660_k.jpg]

[image: 25994781767_856c8c224d_k.jpg]

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Excellent ride review, way to put them through their paces.  The Michelin US 2 wheel market manager that I was talking to said that these would actually be pretty good "wets" to use for track days, since they have some of the Power RS DNA in them as well.

1 hour ago, Duc2V4

My understanding is that they are similarly constructed as the RS but with wet weather and higher mileage in mind.

All in all, I really like them, especially for what their purpose on the 6 Gen is for, so I'm really hoping that they are high mileage tires like their predecessors.

Thanks D. Knowing your skill level I therefore also know that for me, at about 75%, I'll be happy with the 5's. Also hoping for better mileage, 10k would be amazing. Appreciate the detailed review.

Thanks for the review, I'm also looking at these for my Multi.

Updated impressions?
Still the best thing since sliced bread for those of us with street duty machines?

From the other thread on this forum:

"Mate has just fitted a 5 to the front of his today.  He is a d/r in London  with regular runs up the country, so clocks up a good few miles.   So far he rates them way above. Pr4 which he thought were crap esp on wear and handled wires the more worn they got."

3 hours ago, MSRP

Updated impressions?
Still the best thing since sliced bread for those of us with street duty machines?

Slightly better than sliced bread, IMO! I use them in typical sport touring action, and I'm a 7/10ths rider on the street. Mostly. 120/70 front, 190/55 rear.

For perspective I have run PR3's and PR4's on my 6th and 7th gens and really liked them. Excellent in the wet, good in the dry, decent but not great mileage, good grip. A good all-around tire, which is what I'm looking for. So I was happy to put on a pair of Road 5's on my 2017 Multistrada earlier this month just prior to 2900 miles riding around the SW U.S.  

This was a mix of epic mountain roads, boring straight desert to the vanishing point, and temps from 39 (Mammoth Lakes 6am) to 107 (Vegas, before noon). Not a drop of rain, but I would expect the R5's to be at least as good as their predecessors. Got back a week ago, here are my comments:

• I really like that there is no tread at all within an inch or so of the edge. I'm not going to reach those lean angles in the rain, and every little extra bit of rubber is appreciated in a dry corner. 
• Wear is good, and considering all the droning straight miles I did, I'm impressed that neither tire shows signs of squaring off yet. At this point I'd guess at least 6K miles.
• Rounded profile means a nice neutral roll into corners, no sudden there/not there moments.
• I only had to add air once, and it was a cold morning, probably didn't have to. Usually I'm adding a few psi every few days on the road.
• No flats!! Not sure I can credit this to Michelin, but still.
• Smooth ride, seem to do a better job absorbing bumps than the Pirelli's that were OEM.
• I've now also taken a few test runs on one of my favorite local roads (the road's name is top secret, but it's between Marshall and Pt. Reyes Station) and side grip in a long corner is very good. Again, I also like the very neutral feel going from hard right to hard left and visa versa.

Anyway, for me I'm happy so far. I'm not a racer, and I'm not an Ironbutt finisher, but at this point I would buy them again. If you think you would push them a bit harder than I have I suggest bugging Duc2V4 for his latest comments, you'll get good feedback. I'll post my final miles when I replace them.

St Stephen, that's an A+ follow up. Thank you for that.

I've been flip-flopping between the Michelin Road 5 or Dunlop Roadsmart 3's the past few days for my 2001 vfr800, but am likely going with the Roadsmart 3's purely because they end up almost $200 cheaper for a set.
$480 vs $350(actually, 275 after $75 rebate; local bagged milk canadian dollars)

FWIW, nothing but great testimonies for the new Road 5's in the vfr world, and yes, I've read damn near all of them.
If I commuted, I may have gone with the Road 5's, but at this price point, I could do nearly two sets for the price of one. 

Hi

So anyone using PR5 front and rear have a problem of excessive vibrations above 150km/h? My front is 38 psi rear is 42 psi with panniers. I run the same psi with my previous PR4s.

No problems here. BTW, recommend front is 36 PSI, maybe back off a couple of pounds. Check the wheel to see if it’s still balanced and check the front wheel bearings as well as steering stem, just for good measure.

ok I will bring it down to 36 and check the front tyre balancing again. Wheel bearings are fine so is the steering stem.

Normally I run 38 on other tyres even with PR4 no issues before.

I'm a long-time Michelin user: firstly a set of Michelin Pilot Sport on my '99 VFR800 back in March 2000, and since then I've mostly times chosen Michelin.

So, in May I opted for PR5 on my VTec prior to my summer trip to California.

After ~5500 km / 3500 miles:

 - My seat of the pants impression is that there is a strong family resemblance with the other Michelins.

 - There seems to be no cupping yet on the front, and both seem as true as ever - no headshake.

 - Still have a neutral feel, especially at low speed. As they wear some tires feel positively truck-ish, especially when loaded with luggage.

 - I am a lousy predictor of tire life but these PR5 look good for several thousand more miles.

 - Fwiw, I use 36/42 psi, hadn't noticed much loss over the miles.

 - temps ranged from 2 to 35 ℃, about 35 to 95 ℉, and only a few damp roads.

These pics show they look now:

[image: Df-M05977_front-VFRD.jpg]

[image: Df-M05974_rear-VFRD.jpg]

[image: Df-M05981_rear_side-VFRD.jpg]

What the heck, might as well update.

I haven't been riding nearly as much as I'd expect, so 2500ish miles in the last 7 months. Maybe 800 of that on winding roads, the rest surface streets or freeway.

The RS front is interesting, steering is a little different. Hard to describe, but it feels a touch slower when straight up and just as quick as the old tires once you're leaned over 5 or 10 degrees either way,  but the front end is super stable no matter what. Once you get the lean started it's easy to find a set and doesn't fall into the corner and it gives reasonable feedback.  It's wearing a lot less than I thought it would and I think it'll last. It is MUCH better all around than the Road3 that came off, which was cupping, flattening, and feeling awful even with a lot of miles left on the tread.

The Road5 rear is stellar. I can't make it break loose in hard acceleration leaned a reasonable way over (I still have a half inch chicken strip and don't touch the pegs -- I'm old and on the street, not the track) and it is super confidence inspiring. I clipped a bot's dot on a fast leaned over sweeper with a lot of throttle and it just stepped out a quarter inch then stuck like glue. Otherwise it has been unremarkable no matter what I did to it. At this point it still has a great profile and looks a LOT less used than I expected, and I think I'll easily get several thousand more before it will start to go off. I guess I'll know at the end of the year.

In all, I'm glad I was forced to wait for my wheels until January so I could get the 5. It is a pretty great street tire, even if it isn't particularly cheap.

I have a few hundred miles on mine now, after replacing the factory tires on my 8th gen. The Road 5s have been very confidence-inspiring, especially in the wet. I had to make a freeway run in the pouring rain immediately after they were mounted, and I was astonished by how much better they felt than the factory tires.