some observations: power pures

These tires are so sweet they make me want to give the michelin man a great big hug. I really can't put into words very well how much I like, no, love these tires. These are without question the best tires I ever had on any motorcycle. I've never been this excited about tires, so this is a new experience for me. Sorry for all the accolades but that's the way I perceive these unbelievable tires.

When I look at the Q2s sitting in the garage, the front and rears don't display similar chicken strips. The front tire is nowhere near the edge whereas the rear is about 1/4". This front/rear sidewear disparity has been the norm to varying degrees with all my tires to this point. However, the Pures are displaying the much closer to the same amt of front and rear wear on the sides. Unbelievable! Maybe this why they feel so exceptional and add a whole new dimension to riding the hawk. These things are as smooth as butter from straight up to full lean with no dive in or drama. Suffice it to say that by comparison the previous Q2s felt like clod-hoppers while the pures feel like light comfortable running shoes. Amen.

 

Power Pures have chicken strip indicators. The pics below show how front and rear tires work more in unison than any tires i've had in the past. The Previous Q2s and others have never been with a couple mm difference between front and rear.




I can't say enough about how neutral, smooth, and fun to ride these tires are, so far!

 

After about 1500 miles and experimenting with pressures a bit, I still believe that these tires rock. (Have been riding the xr more lately because they tar and chipped some of my favorite roads recently.) For those who ride the street and stay primarily on curvy roads, these are the best tires I've ever ridden on. At 30-32psi rear and 28-30psi, dependent on ambient temps, for one up @175lb rider, I can't see that you could get better tires in terms of neutral feel and compliance that enhances suspension both front and rear and thereby inspires confidence in the tires.

By compliance i mean that tires are an important component of suspension and can effect it in many ways. Many riders probably don't realize this and i didn't either until I rode these tires and tried to understand why they felt so different. Now I'm starting to understand why lower than max recommended pressures are better for sticking. Tires are in direct contact with the road surface and transmit everything to the suspension, to the steering, and to the rider, and these tires handle that function extremely well in that they not only do not upset the suspension, but rather facilitate it in that they lessen harsh inputs, acting like shock absorbers that allow your suspension to operate more efficiently.

By neutral feel i mean that when you enter a corner, this tire does not require you to force it down nor does it resist changing lines mid-turn, but holds where you want it to without resistance of any kind. Pics I put up earlier show that front and rear work together in terms of lean angle and the relationship to the part of the tire you're riding on(a first for me). They are working in unison and that's probably why their so easy to ride fast.

I raised the pressures to as high as 36 rear and 33 front and didn't care for the additional harshness of the ride and the increased stressors it puts on the suspension.


I'm not a michelin sales rep, but if I were I would feel comfortable recommending this tire for at least the purposes I use them for.

When I get more miles I'll be posting here for those interested in longer term perceptions.

 

just a brief note on the Pures. Lines or irregularities on the road surface parallel to the direction of travel cause squirm or rather abrupt side-to-side movement, some more than others. Hasn't compromised stability yet.

Also, if you get a little too aggressive with the throttle at lean (and it's easy to do with my set up....15/44 sprocks), the rear will step out on ya. Nothing major to this point though.

I still love how great these tires feel for riding primarily curvy roads. They are silky smooth and enhance the ability of the suspension to deal with less than smooth roads. It's the cheapest suspension upgrade you can make if you are most frequently ride less than smooth curvy roads.

Been running 30 front 34 rear in these colder temps(50 degrees)

 

another note on the power pures. Like I noted above i've been running 34-36 psi cold at temps of 50 deg and less. I've noticed the rear is seems more prone to slide/slip/skip out at mid-turn lean.

Maybe my reasoning is flawed: I figured that when it's hot(80-90deg), you run cold pressures of 28-30psi because the hot roads will quickly have the pressures up 4-6psi, i.e., 32 to 36 psi hot; on the other hand, when it's cold, the tires will never go up more that a degree or two, so it seems that you need to pretty much have the target pressures in there. In terms of my experience so far, this approach doesn't seem to work, at least with the Power Pures.

Next ride, hopefully tomorrow, I'm starting with 30 cold rear, 28 front to see if I can find the traction I had this summer.

I know i'm the only one who's been posting on this thread, but I want to note my experiences with these tires so that others who have or are buying Power Pures might benefit from this info.

 

got a hundred and fifty mile ride in today> in 55 degrees and some spitting rain. No slipping or sliding today. Started with 30psi rear, 28psi frnt cold. 30 rear cold turned into 35 hot, and 28 frnt cold became 32 hot.

I guess michelin power pures just don't like high pressure for the the twisties because with lower cold pressures they stick well.

 

Mostly both!

 

I just replaced a set of new Power Pures with Pilot Road 2's. The Pures are certainly lighter, smoother, and the handling is faster, more flickable,and more nimble. However, whenever I road on a highway with even slight rain grooves in the direction of travel, the bike felt very unstable and squirrley. The first time it happened, I pulled over to see if I had a flat or loose axle. After hearing this happened to a couple other folks, after only 500 miles, my local Cycle Gear store exchanged the Pures for a set of Road 2's and I am so pleased. The handling is not quite as quick but much more stable regardless of the road surface and still handle great with confidence inspiring progressive turn in. The Road 2's seem to be a great match for the Superhawk.
The Pures make sense for the twisties, but, unfortunately, we have none here in flat south Florida but we do get to ride year round. Mort

 

What are you talking about? I just read a letter in the December issue of Motorcyclist that said you had a lot of "Reverse Dragon" roads in Florida...11 turns in 319 miles.

But seriously, did Cycle Gear do the swap no charge? If so, that's a big thumbs up for them.

 

hey Mort, glad to hear you got the Pilot road 2s. While I like the Pures for the twisties, I think you got the best tire for wear/durability and stability for the types of roads you're riding. I have experienced the squirming and it is a weird sensation. Like I noted above, the Pures are great with lower pressure, but they seem to slide easily with even only 35psi cold.

Keep us updated on the Pilot Roads.

 

Yes, Cycle Gear did the swap no charge including re-mounting and balancing. Great customer service. I think it makes sense to give some support to our local motorcycle shops. I would have never been able to exchange slightly used tires with an internet shop. Michelin also said they would back up the exchange as well.

Mort

 

2000 hard miles on mine 70-80 degree F with temps as spec'd 36psi front and 42 psi rear. sticks like glue.

Then, 50 degrees same temps, 2nd turn, rear broke lose under moderate throttle 2nd gear. Dumped it. SOB $1k damage. All cosmetic thankfully but expensive none the less. Only about 2 hours worth of repairs but I will surely drop the pressures when it is colder.

 

I guess you didn't read my posts on pressure and colder temps for the Pures(posts#65,#66)? Did you have T-rex sliders or other. Glad you're okay? welcome aboard.

 

I would agree with you on, WELL probably all of this......
Have the forks/rear shock set-up properly sure makes a difference, as to the way the bike feels under you...
GMDcomputrack sure made the difference on my bikes...and tires -Pilots, M3s, 016, etc. I seem to get better milage out of the tires too....

 

I dunno, at the end of the season my Pure's had covered a bit over 3k miles, with a nutjob riding, so it wasn't cruising... And I'd say that there is definetly more to go on them... My guess is that they will last me probably another 1.5k before I swap them... That's decent mileage for something that sticks almost as good as a pure race tire do on the track...

 

I can't agree more, these tires are amazing. Makes me happiest when mine look like this

 

definitely looks like you were having some fun, but all that exuberance may have subtracted untold longevity from the pures, at least with respect to that kind of abuse.

Maybe they can be retired to a life of grazing in greener pastures in lieu of the harsh conditions you have so mercilessly subjected them to. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, lower your head and repent you sinner you.haha

 

Yea, I think that shot was after my second track day with these tires. They inspire a lot of confidence, but riding a Hawk with stock suspension all that confidence can cause problems...ask me how I know....

Now that I have a dedicated track bike (FZR600) I'm going to retire the Superhawk from track duty for a while...at least until my 1000rr front end gets on and I address the rear end. You can rest easy knowing this set of power pures have a long life of winding back roads ahead of them ...now if only this foot of snow would melt

 

"Hard miles" is relative.

In all fairness, its hard to take folks seriously who review tires using the suggested tire pressures printed on the tires or the manual.

Those tire pressures listed are MAX pressures when you are riding with excess loads.

Start with 30r and 32f as a base line. Ride a few miles and check the pressure. Your typical Pure and or SS tires, when inflated properly are far more capable than you think they are.

 

You know Karbon, it's hard to take people serious who doesn't know what they are talking about... Or at least when they sound like they don't know... Yes, the printed pressure is MAX recommended (no your defenition isn't completely correct it's a bit more complex than that, but nevermind)...

But an arbitrary pressure that everybody and their aunt is quoting is 32/30... And usually without knowing why, other than that "racers use it on track"... Do you know or are you just quoting bullshit? And if so do you know why it's most defintly wrong for the Power Pure's?

But it seems as you know the procedure behind getting the right pressure, so I guess you are not just quoting... But do you have these tires yourself?

The thing you need to know is that they have less ply than the average tire, to reduce weight... And a low tire pressure will because of that build a lot of heat fast and make the tire greasy, especially on a warm day...

Tire pressure in the low thirties on the road is just stupid, as you will increase wear, reduce grip and end up swapping those tires out after a ridiculously short time... And yes, I said reduce grip...

Possibly if it's very cold out, you could get down there, on a 50F day possibly, but you certainly do not start there... On a normal day with 70F + you should definetly not be near the lower end of 30 to start with...

You ride a while, and then you check pressure... If you have built enough heat to increase the pressure a bit, then you are good, if the pressure is the same, lower it a little and try again... Then again, you would probably not so this every ride, and but you should defintely do it when you ride in the spring or fall on low temps vs how you had the pressure set in the summer...

It's danged hard to blow the tire up with your mouth if you are to low, so going the other way is a better option... But yeah, on principle I agree that lower temps equals lower pressure to build heat... And on some older tires like the 2CT's you could end up as low as 32/30 on the road... But not on these, then you are just wasting rubber...

 

I agree with Karbon's assessmnet relative to the Pures and low pressures. Accord to my experiments/preferences(Posts #61-#66), I don't care for these tires with anything other than low thirties. I don't give a **** if they wear tread prematurely or not when compared to sticking vs slippery. I will always go for sticky unless i was doing a trip on straight roads and that doesn't happen too often because I hate straight.

I have tried to ride these with higher pressures and don't like the harsher feel and the decreased grip at lean. Consequently, I like even lower front tire pressure(28f)than Karbon because I'm not decelerating for turns at track rates(albeit I do load the front tire) and have found that the front doesn't heat up as much as I like starting at 32, so i go with 28-30psi front and like the handling characteristics/grip thereof.