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Michelin Road 5’s Longevity Report

Red Rider

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12,000 miles now on my Road 5’s and I just noticed my front tire is just about ready for replacement. The rear still looks pretty good and may go another couple grand(?). And that after two puncture repairs over time.

I‘ve been very pleased with these tires. They have handled extremely well and seem to have worn very evenly compared to the tires that came on the bike; no cupping or lumpy-ness as they’ve worn. They’re a little pricier than some alternatives but given that nearly all of my riding is hard surface, I’m going to go with them again.
 
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12,000 miles now on my PR5’s and I just noticed my front tire is just about ready for replacement. The rear still looks pretty good and may go another couple grand(?). And that after two puncture repairs over time.

I‘ve been very pleased with these tires. They have handled extremely well and seem to have worn very evenly compared to the tires that came on the bike; no cupping or lumpy-ness as they’ve worn. They’re a little pricier than some alternatives but given that nearly all of my riding is hard surface, I’m going to go with them again.

People always like to harp on the higher price, but it's worth it by the time you calculate the aggravation and cost of tire changes (if you have to pay someone to do it). I am liking the PR5's on my street NC that came off of my other one. They handle good, I a somewhat negative opinion on them when I rode on them on my old bike, but the more I've gotten used to the NC in general and how it handles, I find it more difficult to blame the tires. I did notice a lot more confidence when I switched to the Dunlop Q3's on the other bike, but for the longevity and all around performance, the PR5's are hard to beat.
 
I’m not saying the Michelin Road 5 (which I assume is what is meant by “PR5”) is a bad tire, but it appears to be have very poor cost per mile value. Using AmericanMotoTire pricing, the Road 5 120/70-17 is $168.99. The Shinko Raven 009 is over $100 less at $64.87. I’ve already passed 15,000 miles now on my Raven 009 front tire with still more tread left to go. I’m very pleased with the Raven’s performance, and it appears to be 2 to 2.5 times better on a cost per mile basis than the Road 5. The longevity experience of my Raven vs the OP’s Road 5 report possibly means slightly less frequent tire changes on the Raven.

I think everyone should surely run the tires they like, and I don’t doubt the Road 5 is a nice tire, but in my opinion, you get less than what you pay for with the Road 5. If the Road 5 front was priced under $100, I might consider it.
 
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I too am looking to replace my bike's tires. The originals are lacking in the depth dept and will need to be replaced soon. I am planning on running them out for this season and grabbing a new pair very soon. I have been looking at the Raven 009's as well as the 705's again though i'm leaning more towards the 009's for this bike as i'm carrying the pillion a lot more and really have little need to be off road anymore. :{)
 
I’m not saying the Michelin Road 5 (which I assume is what is meant by “PR5”) is a bad tire, but it appears to be have very poor cost per mile value. Using AmericanMotoTire pricing, the Road 5 120/70-17 is $168.99. The Shinko Raven 009 is over $100 less at $64.87. I’ve already passed 15,000 miles now on my Raven 009 front tire with still more tread left to go. I’m very pleased with the Raven’s performance, and it appears to be 2 to 2.5 times better on a cost per mile basis than the Road 5. The longevity experience of my Raven vs the OP’s Road 5 report possibly means slightly less frequent tire changes on the Raven.

I think everyone should surely run the tires they like, and I don’t doubt the Road 5 is a nice tire, but in my opinion, you get less than what you pay for with the Road 5. If the Road 5 front was priced under $100, I might consider it.

Cost per mile should certainly be part of the decision equation. Especially if ya can’t close that gap a good bit. And, if the Raven does indeed give a reasonably comparable performance.
For me, one of those impossible-to-quantify variables is my inherent bias for Michelin instilled in me after many many vehicles and many many years of tires of various brands that never quite lived up to the Michelins that ultimately replaced them. Balancing always took fewer weights. Wear patterns seemed better over time. They seemed to generate less road noise. You get the idea. Full disclosure: I was in the tire and battery business for over 20 years and was personally able to sample a LOT of different brands (as well as benefit from customer feedback). There are a number of good brands out there. More now than “back in the day”. That being said, if these Michelins hadn’t lived up to my expectations, I’d never recommend ‘em.
Although I like to hang on to every dollar I can, I’ll admit that strictly speaking, c.p.m. is a few clicks down my priority list when I put new rubber on a vehicle. But that’s just me. :rolleyes: I should have given it more consideration in my original post.
 
I’m not saying the Michelin Road 5 (which I assume is what is meant by “PR5”) is a bad tire, but it appears to be have very poor cost per mile value. Using AmericanMotoTire pricing, the Road 5 120/70-17 is $168.99. The Shinko Raven 009 is over $100 less at $64.87. I’ve already passed 15,000 miles now on my Raven 009 front tire with still more tread left to go. I’m very pleased with the Raven’s performance, and it appears to be 2 to 2.5 times better on a cost per mile basis than the Road 5. The longevity experience of my Raven vs the OP’s Road 5 report possibly means slightly less frequent tire changes on the Raven.

I think everyone should surely run the tires they like, and I don’t doubt the Road 5 is a nice tire, but in my opinion, you get less than what you pay for with the Road 5. If the Road 5 front was priced under $100, I might consider it.
Price per mile is an argument used by those running ill-handling car tires on motorcycles but I don't buy the cheapest shirt for my back nor the cheapest tires for my motorcycles. Everyone has different circumstances and expectations of course and YMMV. I enjoy riding motorcycles for the experiences they provide not to see how cheaply I can do it.

After riding on legacy Michelin Pilot Roads and PR2s I absolutely turned against Michelin sport touring tires during the reign of the Pilot Road 3. I posted plenty of opinion here and elsewhere about inferior handling of that tire when hard pressed in corners and the lumpy unsymmetrical wear patterns they tend to develop but with the Road 5s those problems are things of the past. I'm halfway through a second set of Road 5s on my RT with no plans to change to another brand or model tire. These seem to combine the excellent wet grip Michelins are noted for with stable, communicative, dry grip in a tire that wears very evenly over the life of the tire. A rider's tire ;)
 
A few of us use the Shinko Ravens and like them. I get around 8500-9000 miles on my rear Raven; 15,000 on the front. They are inexpensive, great on dry asphalt, good on wet asphalt, and they do still get traction on gravel. I dont do off-road so no experience with them off-road...and they have wear bars in the middle of the tire, so no surprises of seeing cords if you ride mainly wear there are not many curves (many tires dont have wear thread/wear bars in the middle) and pay attention to the wear bars.
 
Price per mile is secondary criteria for me. I like to ride briskly on backroads in all sorts of conditions, so the principal consideration for me is purchasing a tyre that stands the best chance of keeping my backside off the tarmac. As such the Michelin Road 5 is probably the best tyre I have ever used.
 
I get it that price per mile should be a secondary consideration, but what if the tire, such as the Raven, performs to my complete satisfaction, has an ample life span, and also comes at a lower overall cost? Then, there is no reason for me to consider a more expensive tire that offers no additional benefits.

Additionally, the Road 5, like many others, appears to have tread wear indicators offset from the center, but no wear indicator in the actual center line of the tire. davidc83 also mentioned this concern in post #8. I have had tires with this type tread pattern show tread left at the wear bar sites, but cords suddenly appearing in the center. I consider this a design flaw in many tread designs, and I avoid using tires designed this way. Surprise cords appearing near home is a minor event - go home, grab a new tire out of the basement storeroom, and mount it up. But, when on a ride 1000 miles from home, it is a major problem to suddenly need a new tire without prior warning.

I’m not disputing that the Road 5 does appear to be a very good tire based on many riders’ feedback.
 
If anyone is looking to buy a “PR5”, they do not exist. The Pilot part of the Pilot Road name was dropped after Pilot Road 4, so the newer version is simply called Road 5.

This information would have saved me about 20 minutes of Google searching and head scratching yesterday afternoon :). Thank you!
 
Cost per mile is not primary concern for all, as everybody has different expectations out of their tires. The PR5, R5, MR5, whatever you want to call it is actually a very high performance tire in terms of aggressive cornering due to the dual compound. One could easily do trackdays on the Road 5's at a relaxed pace. Something like the Road 5 fits my bill much better as I would value aggressive performance over mileage, but I also value mileage too, which is a reason I would choose the Road 5's over something like the Dunlop Q3's or Michelin Power RS, which would be much better for aggressive riding but would wear out much more quickly.
 
Cost per mile is not primary concern for all, as everybody has different expectations out of their tires.
I agree.

I bought mine for road grip and control. The Road 5 has awesome wet road grip and excellent dry road grip.

Honestly if I get 1000 more, or 2000 miles less out of a tire I don't really care as long as I get a reasonable amount of use out of the tire then a little more or a little less is of minimal concern if I get the control from the tire I am looking for.

The way I look at tires is they are critical importance parts, their job is to stay in firm contact with the ground. While the Road 5 is not my top choice for gravel, it is the best tire I've ever tried for wet roads and certainly one of the better tires for dry roads. I have lots of gravel roads around me, the Road 5 can manage those but its not ideal, yet if needed I can choose to avoid them. Rain, on the other hand, is not always something from which I can steer.
 
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