Pilot Road 4 -- slow wear-in?

Hi, just bumped my rear PR3 to a PR4, to match the front that I changed a few K miles ago. Is it just me or does this thing take an age to wear in and feel grippy? I figured I was okay after a hundred miles or so of pushing the lean on nice old rough twisties that haven't been repaved for a while, but no, I can't really feel where it is except when it walks out on me, which it does anytime I go over a tar snake or a painted line with even a hint of lean.

500 miles later and it's starting to plant itself better, transmit information to my butt and not walk away when the pavement changes color, and it's finally that eraser-like texture. Has anyone else experienced this? I know it's supposed to be a long lasting compound but damn, I have never seen a tire take this long to wear in.

It's my fourth rear tire on this bike, the others were pr3s. I run 36psi cold and ride solo usually with the 28l topcase but without the side cases. Never experienced this with the pr3s.

I have yet to find a tire that doesn't move around on tire snakes. At least the ones in my neighborhood, that when 70F and higher, I have to be extra careful with.

Currently have 10k on this recent set of Pilot Road 4's and they're wearing and PERFORMING beautifully.

RPG

Hi, just bumped my rear PR3 to a PR4, to match the front that I changed a few K miles ago. Is it just me or does this thing take an age to wear in and feel grippy? I figured I was okay after a hundred miles or so of pushing the lean on nice old rough twisties that haven't been repaved for a while, but no, I can't really feel where it is except when it walks out on me, which it does anytime I go over a tar snake or a painted line with even a hint of lean.

 

500 miles later and it's starting to plant itself better, transmit information to my butt and not walk away when the pavement changes color, and it's finally that eraser-like texture. Has anyone else experienced this? I know it's supposed to be a long lasting compound but damn, I have never seen a tire take this long to wear in.

 

It's my fourth rear tire on this bike, the others were pr3s. I run 36psi cold and ride solo usually with the 28l topcase but without the side cases. Never experienced this with the pr3s.

Number one you're not running the proper tire pressure ( should be : rear 42psi : front 38psi ) this will affect handling , and the only so called break-in is most dealers will suggest 100 miles before aggressive riding especially in the rain. Between my 04RT and my 14RT I've gone through twelve or thirteen sets of PR4s and never had a problem , as a matter of fact they are the best tires I have ever run , average 10,000 miles of wear .

Number one you're not running the proper tire pressure ( should be : rear 42psi : front 38psi )

No, per both the underseat info plate and BMW's published recommendations what I wrote is spec for riding one-up with little/no luggage.

this will affect handling , and the only so called break-in is most dealers will suggest 100 miles before aggressive riding especially in the rain. Between my 04RT and my 14RT I've gone through twelve or thirteen sets of PR4s and never had a problem , as a matter of fact they are the best tires I have ever run , average 10,000 miles of wear .

I'm used to 100 miles being sufficient, like I said I've gone through three rear PR3s. Certainly you could feel the tar snakes and the tire would move, but it wasn't the banana peel sensation I was getting on this well after I would have expected it to be run in.

But ~500 miles seems to have done the trick now, I just came in from a longish ride and it's got a lot more feel now and it's getting to feel like the 3s did after 100 or so: you feel the painted lines and tar snakes but it doesn't skate off them like a water droplet on a hot skillet. I think that long-lasting compound they talk about just takes more wear-in.

The PR4's on my bike were fine right out the gate, and are wearing like iron. 36 psi seems to me to be too low a pressure, I notice a drop off in handling at less than 40 psi.

Number one you're not running the proper tire pressure ( should be : rear 42psi : front 38psi )

No, per both the underseat info plate and BMW's published recommendations what I wrote is spec for riding one-up with little/no luggage.

 

this will affect handling , and the only so called break-in is most dealers will suggest 100 miles before aggressive riding especially in the rain. Between my 04RT and my 14RT I've gone through twelve or thirteen sets of PR4s and never had a problem , as a matter of fact they are the best tires I have ever run , average 10,000 miles of wear .

I'm used to 100 miles being sufficient, like I said I've gone through three rear PR3s. Certainly you could feel the tar snakes and the tire would move, but it wasn't the banana peel sensation I was getting on this well after I would have expected it to be run in.

 

But ~500 miles seems to have done the trick now, I just came in from a longish ride and it's got a lot more feel now and it's getting to feel like the 3s did after 100 or so: you feel the painted lines and tar snakes but it doesn't skate off them like a water droplet on a hot skillet. I think that long-lasting compound they talk about just takes more wear-in.

DO try higher tire pressures! You must be riding a pre-wethead RT if you quote the manual at the lower numbers! The manual for the wethead RT calls for 38 psi front and 42 psi rear. I had always use 40/42 (F/R) for both my prior '07 RT and the present '15 RT and found the handling and wear to be excellent on PR2, PR3, and now PR4GT. The PR4GT took less than 100 miles to be fully scrubbed in so that I had enough confidence to scrape my pegs.

 

DO try higher tire pressures! You must be riding a pre-wethead RT if you quote the manual at the lower numbers! The manual for the wethead RT calls for 38 psi front and 42 psi rear. I had always use 40/42 (F/R) for both my prior '07 RT and the present '15 RT and found the handling and wear to be excellent on PR2, PR3, and now PR4GT. The PR4GT took less than 100 miles to be fully scrubbed in so that I had enough confidence to scrape my pegs.

My 2014 Wethead RT calls for 36 psi front, 42 psi rear. My RT seems happy with 39-42 in the rear, but bumping pressure in the front to 40 made the front tire go numb. Front tire on it now feels real good at 37. If you don't push the bike too hard in the turns, the higher pressures don't seem to hurt normal handling. Only when pushing it a bit do I like the lower setting.

DO try higher tire pressures! You must be riding a pre-wethead RT if you quote the manual at the lower numbers! The manual for the wethead RT calls for 38 psi front and 42 psi rear. I had always use 40/42 (F/R) for both my prior '07 RT and the present '15 RT and found the handling and wear to be excellent on PR2, PR3, and now PR4GT. The PR4GT took less than 100 miles to be fully scrubbed in so that I had enough confidence to scrape my pegs.

Hexhead ST, not that there's any other kind. I'll try a few PSI higher pressure, though it wasn't just the factory recommendation, my mechanic (Steve Prokop of Dundee OR) set it that way when I first took the bike to him for its 600 mi service way back when. We'll see how it goes. I like a decent sized contact patch, but I have to admit it's a little squirmy on irregular surfaces. Still, I'd have expected quicker wear-in at lower pressures, since it'll deform and heat up more. Anyway, it's fine now, it's just the first time I've seen one take that long to wear in and wondered if it was a known phenomenon.

On the K16GT and R12RS the 4's are the best wet weather (frog strangler) tires out there. But all of that siping makes them feel squirmy in normal conditions and very squirmy in fast or hot conditions.

I'll go back to Angel GTs.

Number one you're not running the proper tire pressure ( should be : rear 42psi : front 38psi )

No, per both the underseat info plate and BMW's published recommendations what I wrote is spec for riding one-up with little/no luggage.

 

this will affect handling , and the only so called break-in is most dealers will suggest 100 miles before aggressive riding especially in the rain. Between my 04RT and my 14RT I've gone through twelve or thirteen sets of PR4s and never had a problem , as a matter of fact they are the best tires I have ever run , average 10,000 miles of wear .

I'm used to 100 miles being sufficient, like I said I've gone through three rear PR3s. Certainly you could feel the tar snakes and the tire would move, but it wasn't the banana peel sensation I was getting on this well after I would have expected it to be run in.

 

But ~500 miles seems to have done the trick now, I just came in from a longish ride and it's got a lot more feel now and it's getting to feel like the 3s did after 100 or so: you feel the painted lines and tar snakes but it doesn't skate off them like a water droplet on a hot skillet. I think that long-lasting compound they talk about just takes more wear-in.

BMW recommended tire pressure are recommendations. Since BMW doesn't make Michelin tires, it's best to go with Michelin's recommendations. As others have stated, higher pressure will yield better results. At the Hamburg rally, the Michelin rep was emphatic that I run 40F, 42R on my '04RT. So far, at 10k, on the current set, they still look beautiful with no signs of cupping.

RPG

DO try higher tire pressures! You must be riding a pre-wethead RT if you quote the manual at the lower numbers!

Not to turn this into a tire pressure thread of which there are plenty, but I have to say you're right.

Late yesterday afternoon I bumped both tires up by about 3psi and took it on a 180mi ride with a broad mix of road types, elevation and pavement conditions. Yes, the bike moves more lightly and fluidly under me with higher pressure. Didn't realize how hard I was working to throw it through the curves! This makes a very appreciable difference in how light it feels and its enthusiasm about changing direction. Thanks.

As I said, I had always ridden at 40/42 and so had taken the good handling for granted. Not too long ago, in the other forum, a member who had been riding with the recommended tire pressures decided to try the higher pressure, and had found exactly what you have noted!

Curious if having the GT's reduces the need to over inflate due to stiffer sidewalls?

DO try higher tire pressures! You must be riding a pre-wethead RT if you quote the manual at the lower numbers!

Not to turn this into a tire pressure thread of which there are plenty, but I have to say you're right.

 

Late yesterday afternoon I bumped both tires up by about 3psi and took it on a 180mi ride with a broad mix of road types, elevation and pavement conditions. Yes, the bike moves more lightly and fluidly under me with higher pressure. Didn't realize how hard I was working to throw it through the curves! This makes a very appreciable difference in how light it feels and its enthusiasm about changing direction. Thanks.

I think you have a good point there. Higher pressure may well produce the results you noted. Also, longer tire life. HOWEVER, I believe the lower pressure would likely produce better road adhesion specifically during hard cornering and braking.

I'd be interested in Dirtrider's opinion on the subject.

Dave

DO try higher tire pressures! You must be riding a pre-wethead RT if you quote the manual at the lower numbers!

Not to turn this into a tire pressure thread of which there are plenty, but I have to say you're right.

 

Late yesterday afternoon I bumped both tires up by about 3psi and took it on a 180mi ride with a broad mix of road types, elevation and pavement conditions. Yes, the bike moves more lightly and fluidly under me with higher pressure. Didn't realize how hard I was working to throw it through the curves! This makes a very appreciable difference in how light it feels and its enthusiasm about changing direction. Thanks.

Hi WS7,

On the many sets of tires I've run on my ST since I bought it new, 36F - 41R has worked pretty good on all the tires I've used with the PR3's being my favorite for handling and mileage. My experience with the PR4's wasn't as positive with front tire cupping (a 1st on this bike) and vague handling after only 3k miles. It's possible that for the PR4's, they might perform better at higher pressure than the established normal I had been using. Also note when comparing to RT pressures, that the ST wet weight can be noticeably lighter than an RT.

Hi WS7,

 

On the many sets of tires I've run on my ST since I bought it new, 36F - 41R has worked pretty good on all the tires I've used with the PR3's being my favorite for handling and mileage. My experience with the PR4's wasn't as positive with front tire cupping (a 1st on this bike) and vague handling after only 3k miles. It's possible that for the PR4's, they might perform better at higher pressure than the established normal I had been using. Also note when comparing to RT pressures, that the ST wet weight can be noticeably lighter than an RT.

Yeah, the ST is about ~510lbs with a full tank, the RT is more like 575, but most of that is the larger capacity fuel tank tank and the standard luggage. I have the full set but like to keep it lean and only use the top case most of the time.

Had to check your profile; you not only have the right bike, it's the right color! I have never bumped into another one in person. Did BMW ever release any other bike in six different color combinations in a given year? The famously controversial styling seems to be coming into its own: I get constant compliments on its looks now, far more than I did when it was new.

Just wanted to mention that with the raised pressure (about 36/39 @70°) not only is lt lighter and more throwable at speed, it slow-rides way better too. I guess in the mid-aughts BMW was still basing their recommendations on older tire technology. Wish I'd done this 33K miles ago, it's like having a new machine.