Road 6

[BillDownUnder]

Time for a new front tire.
Tossing up to stay with the excellent Road 5, or go to the newer Road 6. Anyone tried the 6's yet?

[NotDeadYet]

I am running the second set of Road 5’s on my 14r and I’m very happy with them. I spooned a set of Road 6’s onto a buddy’s 14 on the weekend for him. He only put a few local miles on it yesterday. He is impressed so far but hasn’t really put on enough miles for a true opinion. His bike is sitting in my garage, maybe I will take it out for a short rip this morning to see if I can notice any difference between the 5’s and the 6’s. My initial research on the 6’s has all been positive.

Here's a link to a YouTube review on the Road 6

[CHARLIE]

I still don't know how some riders get that kind of millage out of a motorcycle tire.
I've had several brands with sport and sport touring tires on my Zed and the most
I've ever gotten is about 6 to 6500K out of a set. We must have rough roads around here.
I'm a stickler for air pressure too. I do only get around 4-4500K from a sport tire, but that's
expected I would think.

[ZZ-r]

Some folks ride faster than others. In other words faster tire wear peace

[CHARLIE]

Some folks ride faster than others. In other words faster tire wear peace

I don't know if that's my case but I do like the turn in and stick of the Power5.
Maybe I'll go with the Road6 next time around for longer life. It has gotten to
be an ass-woopin' for me to mount tires anyway. Getting old sux.

[BillDownUnder]

Ok, decided. I am having a Road 6 fitted on the front today.
I still have a 5 on the rear, only half worn at around 10,000km. It used to be on my ZRX.

I got close to 20,000km (12,400mls) out of the front, and I'm no slouch.
You may be right in that some road surfaces are rougher where you are, Charlie.

[spedxprt]

I have run so many different brands over the years, Michelin, Pirelli, Metzler, Dunlop, Bridgestone, Avon and types Powers, Roads, ST, GT, etc, etc… and only been able to get 3-5K out of a rear on my ZZR1200, ZX14, and ZX14R. But still better than my GSXR-750 track bike at about 400 miles

[NotDeadYet]

I think road surfaces and temperatures affect tire life. I’m sure if the same rider rode the same bike on the same tires in a similar fashion in Arizona then Alberta for comparison purposes that mileage / longevity would be different. Just saying …

[BillDownUnder]

Road 6 is on. Haven't ridden on it yet.
Grooves are different.



Old Road 5:

Rd5.png

Road6:

Rd6b.jpg

[NotDeadYet]

I took my friend Ron’s 14 out for a rip with the new Road 6’s yesterday morning. He had a very old and very tired set of Metzlers on it previously. I hated the way the bike felt on the Metzlers to the point I was wondering if the steering head bearing needed replacement. The bike felt very vague and wouldn’t hold a line. It only has 18,000 kms on it and it’s lived a very sheltered life so I suspected it was the old and tired rubber that was on it. The rear tire was well worn and squared off and the front was cupped quite badly.

The new shoes completely transformed the bike. It rides like it’s on rails. It tracks straight and true, falls into the turns easily and holds a line just like it should. I should note I’m am a fan of the 190/55 for the rear of the 14 so that’s what we put on for him.

I can’t say I could tell any difference between the almost new 5’s on my bike and the new 6’s on Ron’s bike but I do know I’m seriously impressed with what Michelin has been doing with the Road series for sport touring enthusiasts. The various advancing iterations have been my go to tires for a long time now.

Given the press reviews on the Road 6 and my experience with two sets of Road 5’s on my bike I expect Ron will get 12,000 plus kms out of the Road 6’s with the type of riding we do and the road surfaces we have here in western Canada and the nw USA.

Heres a pic of his special edition 2010 ZX14 with Corbin luggage sitting in my garage. Now if I can only get him to ride the damn thing. He keeps muttering something about work, a wife and a busy life. I keep telling him he needs get his priorities straight and live a little. His wife thinks I’m a bad influence. I know he rode a lot more before he married her.



22595C2C-1B20-4D8A-B357-30283EF3AA18.jpg

[BillDownUnder]

First impressions.
The front is quieter than the 5 used to be.
I had to get used to cornering with a round tire, instead of a flattened one. Still taking it easy in corners until it get a bit of milage.
However, sofar I'm happy with it. I get good road feedback from it.
I still have a 5 on the rear, only half worn.

[Stevo555]

First impressions.
The front is quieter than the 5 used to be.
I had to get used to cornering with a round tire, instead of a flattened one. Still taking it easy in corners until it get a bit of milage.
However, sofar I'm happy with it. I get good road feedback from it.
I still have a 5 on the rear, only half worn.

The pic of your old 5 is hilarious ! Must be horrible to have ridden that thing with that front ..... you got your money's worth though !
Nothing better than fresh rubber !

Im still on an old 2002 , but if I let my front get all pointy ( I am a fan of the 5's to date) , I get massive head shake if I try to take my hands off the bars at under 40Mph ....
Enjoy !

[BillDownUnder]

The pic of your old 5 is hilarious ! Must be horrible to have ridden that thing with that front .....
Nothing better than fresh rubber !

Not at all. The Road 5 is a good tyre, and it handled well right up to that stage.

[Barney45]

[QUOTE=Stevo555;

Im still on an old 2002 , but if I let my front get all pointy ( I am a fan of the 5's to date) , I get massive head shake if I try to take my hands off the bars at under 40Mph ....
Enjoy ! [/QUOTE]

I didn’t realise till you mentioned this that the head shaking at low speed if you take your hands off was possible due to the front tyre having an issue.
I thought it was a wheel balancing issue or a rubbing braking disc ??

[NotDeadYet]

My ZZR1200 also had the decelerating head shake issue if I removed my hands from the bars. New tires would solve it for a while but it always seemed to return as the tires wore. I learned to always keep light pressure on the bars to prevent it. I’ve owned 4 different ZX14’s over the years and none of them have had this issue. It seemed to be almost a universal problem with the ZZR 1200’s.