Low prices on Michelin Pilot Race H2 Tires

TraumaOne · 11-29-2003, 8:04 PM

I am looking around to find where to buy my Michelin race tires. I found imotorcyclestore.com . These are the best prices I've seen around... anyone know of a better deal?

(updated the link)

freq · 11-29-2003, 9:09 PM

don't you know? haven't you heard?

those tires suck.

that's not my opinion.

but that is what some people say.

i loved em'. will consider again in the future.

gerry · 11-29-2003, 9:52 PM

just make sure the tires are hot and they should stick as well as anything else. michelins are notorious for taking longer to get up to temp compared to other brands.

lfg929 · 11-30-2003, 2:10 AM

Keep an eye on www.sportbiketracktime.com. Last year they had a deal on Mich Pilot Race 2's... buy 5 sets get the 6th one free. That equated to something like $275 per set which is better than everywhere else.

And btw, stay away from the H2 front. It sucks big time. I had it step out a few times on me at the track and it lost traction at Deals Gap the last time I was there and landed me and my RC51 in the ditch. For the front go with either the S2 or M2. For the rear any of them work depending on the conditions. So far I have always used an S2 front and M2 rear and haven't found too many cases where it didn't work well.

nhfirefighter13 · 11-30-2003, 10:46 AM

I can do a pair for $280 + shipping. I've never actually shipped tires before so I don't have a good grasp on how much that would be...shouldn't be too bad though.

TraumaOne · 11-30-2003, 11:06 AM

I shipped a tire via UPS to someone and it was over 30 bucks... I couldn't find anyone to ship it cheaper. It is considered oversized.

I have a set of Michelin Race tires on the F3 now that are spectacular. I always gave them a lap or two to heat up and I was never able to find the limit of their traction. I would hope the Race II's would be at least as good...

nhfirefighter13 · 11-30-2003, 11:18 AM

Yeah, but did you have an account with UPS? I think I get better rates. I can check it out for you. Send me your address in a PM so I can try to calculate it.

TraumaOne · 11-30-2003, 11:30 AM

No, no account just the service desk, paying with cc...

ccwilli3 · 11-30-2003, 1:45 PM

Yeah,

Skip the H2 front. The H2 rear though really is good. (use the S2 most of the time, rarely the m2 unless its HOT HOT)

That deal appears to be average to pretty good.

TraumaOne · 11-30-2003, 4:30 PM

Not too many places I can find carry the S2 or M2 in anything but a 180 or 190 rear... the 160's are hard to find.

ccwilli3 · 01-16-2004, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TraumaOne

Not too many places I can find carry the S2 or M2 in anything but a 180 or 190 rear... the 160's are hard to find.

You'd have to get the S and the M version from a race tire vendor...

TraumaOne · 01-17-2004, 8:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccwilli3

You'd have to get the S and the M version from a race tire vendor...

Yep, so I have found out... Thanks!

DCEMotorsports · 01-17-2004, 11:46 AM

I've got a M2 rear (180), brand spanking new that I won't be needing for next season. $150.00 plus shipping from MI.

Do you have tire warmers? The Michelins need a good heat soak (135deg.F) to work. Once up to temp, hammer time. No worries mate. Wear and grip were top notch.

02FBlade · 01-17-2004, 1:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DCEMotorsports

I've got a M2 rear (180), brand spanking new that I won't be needing for next season. $150.00 plus shipping from MI.

Do you have tire warmers? The Michelins need a good heat soak (135deg.F) to work. Once up to temp, hammer time. No worries mate. Wear and grip were top notch.

135 or 170 degrees? I thought 135 was for rains or for between sessions?

How does hammer time on the michs S2/M2 compare to a 208GPAs? I've been runng the dunlops and love the grip....but may be able to get the michelins much cheaper and I'm thinking of switching for this season. Some people say the dunlops are great but when they give they go completely! I've had a few slides but luckily they came back before completely lossing grip.

abtech · 01-17-2004, 6:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 02FBlade

135 or 170 degrees? I thought 135 was for rains or for between sessions?

How does hammer time on the michs S2/M2 compare to a 208GPAs? I've been runng the dunlops and love the grip....but may be able to get the michelins much cheaper and I'm thinking of switching for this season. Some people say the dunlops are great but when they give they go completely! I've had a few slides but luckily they came back before completely lossing grip.

135 degrees isn't really even close to warm for a track tire. Are you certain you don't mean 175 or 185? Most of the available warmers don't therm until ~180, so how would you keep them at 135 unless you had a (very expensive) adjustable thermostat for the warmers?

I have a tire temp guage and after even a couple of laps @ 70 degrees ambient, the tires are usually between 180 and 190 (right in the ballpark according to Michelin and Dunlop). On a hot day the static temp while the bike is sitting in the garage is around 110 or so.

lfg929 · 01-17-2004, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 02FBlade

135 or 170 degrees? I thought 135 was for rains or for between sessions?

How does hammer time on the michs S2/M2 compare to a 208GPAs? I've been runng the dunlops and love the grip....but may be able to get the michelins much cheaper and I'm thinking of switching for this season. Some people say the dunlops are great but when they give they go completely! I've had a few slides but luckily they came back before completely lossing grip.

You should get a lot more grip out of the S2/M2 than the 208GPAs. As long as the Michilens are warmed up then they grip like there is no tomorrow, and when they do let go they are controllable (except the H2 front, which still just sucks). Plus for the track I like the tire profile much better than the Dunlops. They are more triangular so you have a lot more rubber on the road at full lean than the other brands.

You do have to watch the Michilens when cold though. My high-side was due a cool day (55 degrees), a damp track, the first lap out, and a heavy throttle hand. Having said that though, I did some sprints with them and didn't have any tire warmers. I would go out next to last, keep it under control for half a lap, and then start wicking it up the 2nd half of the warmup lap. Come turn 1 after the green flag dropped I hammered it just like everyone else and they were still stuck to the pavement. This was after a few heat cycles though. I wouldn't recommend only having 1 warmup lap on a brand new set (a new set usually takes 2-3 laps to come up to temp).

DCEMotorsports · 01-18-2004, 10:26 AM

I can always count on the sharp eyes of the .org to point out typos.... yup, 185deg.F One of these days I'll re-read my posts before I hit "send".

I did some not too scientific, seat of the pants testing on length of time with the tire warmers (Chicken Hawk) on versus initial grip. Cold S2/M2's don't grip for 3 laps (for me). 20 min. on the warmers gets me a 2 lap warmup. 30 min., 1 lap and 45 min., I can throw the bike into the first turn off the green flag without any worries. I was totally confident that the Michelins would hookup with everything I could throw at them. I've pushed the front and slid the rear very predictably on occasion.

I have not used any Dunpop products in 3 years so I can't offer any opinion there.

Be aware of your tire pressures. Make sure you have an accurate guage (or at least know how far off it is). Know your track surface too. A grippy surface will chew up the rubber if your pressure is too low (not to mention if your suspension is "off" also). If you have questions, talk to the fast experts about how they set up their tires. If your track is smooth (Mid-Ohio, Rd. America, Grattan, etc.) S2/S2 works well there.