Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128308
have to be able to cut through the film of water on the roa d in order to maintain mechan ical grip - the shape and location of t he grooves are critical. The n there is the com promise betw een wet and dry grip - t he e ngineers are always trying to get away w ith the abso lute minimum void ratio (grooves) . The Pilot Pow er 's fro nt tire s have a void ratio of 13.28 percent, wh ile the rears have an I 1.58 percent ratio , meaning that there is a lot more rubber on the tarmac. The final facto r is based com pletely on marketing and visual appeal. Michelin's product designers styled the grooves in the ce nter to loo k like a cut from a Katana sword, w hile the curved grooves closer to the edge are styled to loo k like a cut from a 5ai sword. 1m Au/omotlve Finishes . .~~ .~. 'J]' J) : .'.C ·· ",..-. ••-~'.]. .:. : . J "J. :•: • : :, . ROLLIN' It was about 25 degrees out when we left for o ur 120mile street ride . To say that it was a miserab le ride is a huge understatem ent, and it was virtually impossible to judge what the tires were do ing. All I can say is that the tire's profile was we ll suited to the two bikes I rode, an Aprilia RSV I000 and a Yamaha RI. Both bikes fe lt stable at the moderate speeds we rode on the st reet. O ur route to ok us through a state park, which meant that spirite d riding was a no- no - the fines were too high to risk getting a ticke t. The following day at LVMS I was able to get a better impress ion of the tire's performance. I tried the tires out on a Ducat i 999S and on a Honda CBR600RR. It took a while to get my confidence up on the cold and tr icky Vegas track, because the paint stri pes ••! •v ~ .: ~. " : • T ..••.•• .. '.. ' - ~~ "'0 CIt",1i(o t (i) "'1i01>""1>/0", ""/1:8 81t/1> • TRACK 100 % VIEWABLE • M INUTES FROM OOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS • OVERN IGHT PARKING AT THE MX TRACK '" ALL NEW TRACK LAmUT FOR THE EV ENT ~ 50 P. Wee Stk Thru 6 50 P. Wee Mod. Thru 6 50 P. Wee Stk. 7-8 50 P. Wee Mod. 1-8 50 Super PW Mod. 6-9 65 Jr . Cycle Stk. 6-8 65 Jr. Cycle Mod. 6-8 65 Jr. Cycle Stk . 9·11 65 Jr. Cycle Mod. 9-11 65 Jr . Cycle OPEN 85 Stk. Thru 11 on the surf a c e always make things interesting. O nce up to speed, I was impressed wit h the tire 's ability to warm up quickly and was happy w ith the tire's level of grip on the track , especially considering tha t it's a street tire . The tire exhibited excellent turn in and stability o n the CBR600RRbut caused the 999S to weave a bit o n the high-spee d banking. I'm sure it could be tune d out with a suspension adjustmen t, but the limited t rack time made that impossible . 1 walked away impressed with the tire after my limited seat time , and I look fo rwa rd to trying a set out on my local stomping grounds. The Pilot Pow er was de signed to com pete with Pirelli 's Diab lo, Dunlop's D208 , and Metzel er 's Sport ec. Co nside ring th at t he Pilot Powe r warms up a lot qu icker than y previous offerings from Michelin, it Id be an excellent cho ice for your bike . Retail pricing hasn't been set ho uld be similar to the Pilot Sport's ill be available this July. eN 85 Mod . Thru 11 85 Stk. 12-13 85 Mod. 12·13 85 Stk. 14·16 85 Mod. 1.(·16