Wednesday, June 06, 2012

PR3 Review

Well this is a little bit overdue - I've already got about 400km on my new PR2's...

First up, this is just my thoughts on this particular set of tyres on my Connie, ridden by me over a certain 10,300km.  There are a huge amount of variables in play here which may differ widely from another 10,300km on the same tyre or a different tyre.  Added to that is that you (well I sure don't) never get to compare two brand new sets of tyres at the same time - for me it's 6-10 months between new tyres.  I'm also not a tyre or suspension expert...

But anyway, here goes.  My first initial impressions of the PR3's was very good - they felt fabulous (new tyres after all) and very similar to PR2's.  I also had absolutely no issues with them in the wet - but I expected as much as the 2's are great in the and the 3's were supposed to be another giant leap forward for Michelin.

So no issues so far but what I did find was that as the tyres wore (probably from the mid-life point onwards)  they seemed to feel a bit "vague".  This was particularly noticeable on rough roads with slightly dodgy surfaces in then again in the cold and damp on the West Coast during the TT2000.  The Pirelli Angels I tried (not going there again) were very similar in this regard although they were a lot worse a lot sooner...

It's easy for me to say that they haven't lasted as long as PR2's but they did see a bit of action on the Grand Challenge and the TT2000.  Also, while the rear was pretty thin when it came off I reckon that the front still had a bit of life in it - the profile was obviously fairly gone though.  Overall I'm pretty happy with their performance and would use them again, although this time around PR2's were on special and there's nothing wrong with them...
Rear
Rear
Front
Front
Updated tyre stats:

More IOM coverage

Monday, June 04, 2012

Tag Hunting

Last night as I was listening to the rain and checking out Kiwi Biker I noticed that someone had finally nailed the last tag and posted up a familiar looking location as the new tag.  I decided that the tag would be mine come rain or shine.  Luckily this morning there was a fair bit more shine than rain and so I set off out the valley towards Pohangina.

Taking the DL meant that I could take a different route (although now quite familiar) than I think the original tagger took - his bike being a sports bike and so I ended up on Pohangina Valley West Road with the GoPro running in a new position.


The road was in good nick following the rain last night and the poor old Anakee (new rubber coming this week) managed to keep the bike heading in the right direction so I was soon at the tag site - Totara Reserve camp ground.

Gotcha!
Then it was time to turn around and head back and I turned the camera around as well to try a different view for a change.  I actually quite like this view - it's neat seeing the suspension working and the Anakee making tracks in the gravel.


Without giving too much away (but probably giving a little away) I stopped somewhere along the way and took a snap for my new tag.
Somewhere in the Manawatu...
And because I hadn't finished mucking around with the camera, I moved it again and took some pics of the return into town (damn could be giving a bit more away now).  A beautiful winter's day don't you think?


After a quick stop in town for some bits and pieces I got home and game my baby some TLC.

This is gonna last about 5 minutes...
A great way to use up a public holiday and the start of a week off for me - woohoo!

Friday, June 01, 2012