Hi Tris, I went thru the same decision last year for another bike. One of the reviews I found useful was

Compares the PR4 with Metz R 01 (& others) & concluded the Metz best dry tyre & PR4 best for wet/mixed roads. You can guess the Road 5 would be better

Went for the Metz & really like them (Honda NC750X), that bike mainly ridden in the dry.
My F800GT came with PR4's, nearly shot now but I like them & I'll get the '4's again, as UK won't be all dry roads!

 

Ajaay - I watch a lot of FortNine's reviews ect... I believe he is one of the few 100% honest guys doing that type of thing and he seems genuinely technically knowledgeable too, doesn't just read "spec sheets" and spout BS - the exact opposite I believe.

 

I rode a friend's GT who had the Michelin Road 5 and I wasn't impressed. They were a good tyre, but there was nothing special about them, and I really preferred the feel of what I was using on my own GT. In my humble opinion, you're paying a lot of money for a name.

I've had the Metzeler Roadtec 01 and I'll let you be the guinea pig for the SE version. The Roadtec 01 was the replacement tyre for the OEM Z8s. The Z8s got me around 11,000 miles when I pulled them off to put the Roadtec 01s on prior to a trip. I was expecting great things from the Roadtec tyres. The tread pattern seemed optimal for dispersing water, and the marketing hype made it seem like it would perform really well. And they did. I rode through torrential rain and no issues whatsoever. I did some high speed runs through very twisty roads and again had no issues.

The first trip was 4500 miles. I had about 10 days layover at home before setting off on another 3-4000 mile trip. I rode over to the local Cycle Gear store and got an eye opener. The tread on the sides looked new and deep. The tyre was clean...except in the center of the tread. There was about a two and a half centimeter strip right down the middle...where there isn't any tread...and you could see where the wear was forming. Maybe I panicked, but I had visions of what I'd seen on the forum of other Metzeler tyres looking great one day, and the next day you are seeing the cords.

No one could get a tyre in stock before I left, so I made an appointment at the far end of the trip to have the tyre replaced. At 6000 miles it was worn out. Now the marketing folks say it is new and improved over the older Z8...but the older Z8 actually lasted twice as long.

It's your choice, but I wouldn't pay that kind of premium on the Roadtec 01 SE after being burnt on the Roadtec 01. Neither tyre is on my list of future tyres.

Chris

 

As Chris says, the Roadtec has that special ability to look like it can go thousands more miles, but at the next gas station the glint of the metal running down the middle of the tread is alarming.

The Michelin Road 5 is a great hoop. It doesn't need to do anything to impress. It just spins around with the wheels for thousands of grippy, trouble-free wet or dry miles never once drawing your attention. Perfect.

 

I'm a Michelin fan through and through when it comes to bike tyres. I've tried others previously but nothing compared to what i knew & liked.

I got the Road 5's on this year after about 6 years of using Pilot Power 2CT's. As the weather has not been great (no hot days, to really push on) i've not been able to fully 'test' them. But in all weathers and temperatures i've ridden in i'm happy/impressed with them. They remind me of the Pilot Power series with the feedback and grip levels, and hopefully in the long run i'll get the 'road' advantage of longevity (more than 5-6k on a rear).

Downside, yes it the price. They're not cheap. But that's the only negative i've found so far.

Between the 2 of them (although i've never used Metzler tyres) you'll not end up with bad rubber.

There's a thread about the Road 5's to read (if you've not done so already) which might help you with more information about real world experience.

 

Yeah I've read into that and several other forums/treads too, aside from MCN & similar reviews (which I don't particularly fully believe because of sponsorships ect...) i havent read much of people who have used both and there true long time opinions.

On a test day with new rubber everything feels like the "next best thing" - 4000 miles in and they'll all be revealing their true colours.

Summaries like what Chris has given above about the Metz R01 are great and appreciate his comments about the R5's been nothing special. RideaMile's comment about the R5's doing what they say for 1000's of miles is great also and is my "gut feel" around the R5's.

I really want somebody to come on and say something along the lines of;

"had both, got xxx miles from one and xxx from the other - both gripped well but xxx had a better feel for longer (or not) but one flatted quicker than the other, I'd get xxx again because its overall better value / not much in it and I prefer the feel of xxx"

There seem to be many people who have had one or the other (even multiple times) but not see anyone anywhere say they have had both and summarise which they believe is the better rubber and why.....

Incidentally I had the same experience as Chris with the Z8 once worn - 100% fine 20 miles later rubber patches and canvas showing.... shit myself being 80 miles from home in the evening with nowhere open, teased it home "ok" but it was an eyeopener...

 

I really want somebody to come on and say something along the lines of;

"had both, got xxx miles from one and xxx from the other - both gripped well but xxx had a better feel for longer (or not) but one flatted quicker than the other, I'd get xxx again because its overall better value / not much in it and I prefer the feel of xxx"...

To get what you want, you need someone who has gone through a set of the Z8's, then both of the other two tires. That's a rider with around 30,000 miles...and not many of those exist.

 

I have experience with both the Michelin Pilot Road 4 (predecessor of the Road 5) and the Roadtec 01 (not the SE version).
Durability:
On the rear tire, the PR4 lasted 11000 km and the Roadtec between 9000 and 10000 (I'm on my third set of Roadtec 01's); I cannot confirm the experience of others that the 'endpoint' of the Road 01 can come very quick....pretty predictable
Handling:
The Roadtec feels more sporty and I felt handling on twisty roads extremely good and better than the PR4. I seldom ride in extreme wet weather, but sofar I do not felt the Roadtec 'bad' in the wet. Both tires are pretty comparable, maybe the PR4 a little bit better in the wet, but no major differences

The fact that I am on my 3rd set of Roadtec 01's makes it clear, I think....For me, that's the tire of choice, despite the mileage difference vs the PR4.

For the next set I'm inclined to test the Road5, but the Roadtec 01 feels soooo good....

 

Tris, this is something I find helpful to put together. Prices are current from Revzilla as of 4/1. You have the price of the front and rear, minus any rebate and then ranked by the total price. I also started including the "Owner Rating", a figure I find helpful.

It's just my opinion, but all the tyres that we have available are pretty much at the same level of performance. It's not like it was 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago where there were some clear-cut leaders and then the also-rans. I've also quit being as concerned on tyre life as I used to be. When I was commuting daily, that was high up on the list just under wet weather performance. Since I retired and take trips, I'm far less concerned. Chances are that I'll swap out tyres before their end of life, because I need tread left to get through the trip and back home.

FWIW, I've had two sets of the Metzeler Roadtec 01 tyres. The second set lasted till about 10-11,000 miles. The difference I think was that I ordered the HWM tyre for the rear. That was what Metzeler initially recommended when the tyre first came out. I've had two sets of the Dunlop RS 3's. and two or three sets of the Continental RA3. I'm now using a Dunlop RS4.

The chart I think can be helpful. Is the Metzeler Roadtec 01 SE $224 better than the Dunlop RS3? That price difference is more than the entire cost of the Dunlops. Likewise, is the new and improved better than sliced bread version of the Metzeler Roadtec 01 $118 better?

Chris

 

My riding buddy up north has the Road 5 and the front has the weirdest wear pattern ever. The center looks like new, but the sides are getting close to the wear bars.

 

If thats the case it sounds like he's been on some good roads!

 

I wish someone would make a tire with extra tread on the left! I don’t know where I find all the left turns to wear my tires out. Usually left side bald just before center. But right is less than half worn. Was questioned for shouting with glee pushing in a long fast right turn, “Right side rubber is free!”

 

I wish someone would make a tire with extra tread on the left! I don't know where I find all the left turns to wear my tires out. Usually left side bald just before center. But right is less than half worn. Was questioned for shouting with glee pushing in a long fast right turn, "Right side rubber is free!"

Ride every road in the both directions. Problem solved.

 

I think the OP has it right...tires are like politics/religion, and mileage comparisons among different riders/different locations are close to meaningless. So as requested, I'll only comment on tires I've personally used.

I've got the Road 5s on 2 F800GTs, one here, one in Germany. And another set of Road 5s now in inventory for use later this year on the GT here (rebate!). And yet another set of Road 5s on my Ducati Monster 1200S Anniversario. Guess you could say I like them. Here's why: linear feel and tip in, absolutely fantastic in the rain, fairly supple, last a long time compared to most others.

I've had Conti Road Attack 3s on my GT and liked them quite a bit. Slightly more supple than the Road 5s, grip seemed about the same. Less mileage, the Road 5s last me 1-2000 more. I've had the Angel GTs on other bikes (the old version not the GT2) and they are even more supple with great feel, but wear even faster. I don't like the tread pattern of the new GT2s b/c of the linear grooves in the front tire; in my experience that kind of tread pattern tracks grooved pavement.

My Duc came with Pirelli Rosso IIIs, which are like velcro, but last only about 3k on the rear. Replaced them with the Road 5s and while they are somewhat stiffer, the feel is pretty close as is the traction, at least at street speeds.

It is important to note that all the Road 5s I've had are the "standard" carcass NOT the "GT" version, which is designed for heavier machines and will be noticeably stiffer.

 

It is important to note that all the Road 5s I've had are the "standard" carcass NOT the "GT" version, which is designed for heavier machines and will be noticeably stiffer.

Marketed toward heavier machines. If you like a stiffer tire then the GT is available. However the T30/T31 not-GT is stiffer than a PR4GT.

Load rating of GT and non-GT is identical.

 

Ten bucks says most rides you do start at home and end at home.[]

 

Definitely stiffer, and heavier. Dealer mistakenly fitted a set of Road 5 GTs to my loose wheels last year, before I took them back and got the standard Road 5s fitted. I weighed both sets, and the GT is heavier by 0.9kg (2lbs) on the back, and 0.5kg (1.1lbs) on the front.
And FWIW I *really* like the grip of the Road 5s, though prior to that I loved the 2 sets of PR4s I had on there before, which gave amazingly good mileage and superb grip when doing a couple of 2-3000 mile tours through European Alpine passes. Some taken at silly speeds...

 

My bike came with Road 5 GTs mounted and it's only 490lbs. I swapped to regular Road 5s after wearing out the original tires and the change was immediately apparent, they are much more comfortable that the GT variant.

 

Yes, I really do not understand why BMW fitted the GT version to the F900XR.

 

Omfg.

 

10 years ago I was riding on the Metzeler of the day. At Deming NM right on sundown I was shocked to see the metal shining brightly through the now gone rubber all around the center of the tire. The tire seemed fine back at the last fuel stop.
Needing to be back in LA the next morning I opted to ride on. All through the night I alternated sides every 10 miles: hanging as far off the left as possible cranking the bars the wrong way with hanging as far off the right as possible cranking on the bars the wrong way.

I made it to LA with no appreciable extra wear having ridden over 700 miles without sitting on the seat. I swore never to use a Metzeler with that sipeless center ever again.

 

Depending on where you are riding. In riding on city streets, left turns are always at a wider radius than right turns. Very likely, one rides the left turns faster and at a greater lean angle than right turns. Similarly, out on narrow country roads, riding on the right side of the road will mean that when taking tight curves, generally those to the left will be at a wider radius than those on the right, just because of your position on the road, so again, more speed and greater lean angle. Obviously, on multi-lane highways, the curves are so gentle that the direction makes little difference.

 

Good point! Left turns will be longer than right. We don’t have to lean farther to the left to ride longer distances on the left wearing the left faster.

 

Came across this the other day, and it seems appropriate for the whole tire wear discussion.

 

I have been rolling along with a set of Road 5s for a while now. My front has 8850 miles on it and the rear 1700. My riding is 50% mountain back roads with lots of twisties (up and down), the rest highway. The attached photos show the wear. Notice where it is. There is no evidence of cupping. IMHO the front tire is the MAX. It tracks very well in tight turns and goes exactly where you point it. I have, however, noticed the rear lacking in pavement contact at times (exiting turns with throttle-up). Not much experience on wet pavement yet.

 

I have been rolling along with a set of Road 5s for a while now. My front has 8850 miles on it and the rear 1700. My riding is 50% mountain back roads with lots of twisties (up and down), the rest highway. The attached photos show the wear. Notice where it is. There is no evidence of cupping. IMHO the front tire is the MAX. It tracks very well in tight turns and goes exactly where you point it. I have, however, noticed the rear lacking in pavement contact at times (exiting turns with throttle-up). Not much experience on wet pavement yet.

View attachment 372603 View attachment 372605 View attachment 372607

Tyres look good at that mileage - i'm hoping mine will look the same/last as long.

You might need to ever so slightly tweak your rear shock settings for the loss of pavement contact. I would back off a touch of rebound (and potentially some preload too) and go from there.

 

Bump for this thread. I've gone out to find the original fit Metzeler rear tyre flat. At 7,500 miles on it, I think I'll just get front and rear replaced.... and I'm thinking of the Road 5 vs Roadtec 01 as per this thread.

Reading the thread, they both sound ok. My question is which version of the Road 5 or Roadtec 01 I should be looking for and which is in stock. The Roadtec 01 is the 01 HWM which says it is for heavier/touring bikes. I think there may be a touring/heavy version of the Road 5? Should I be looking for a GT/heavy/touring version of either tyre?

Priorities in a tyre for me are wet grip, cold weather grip, not squaring off with highway miles, reasonable mileage.

 

Bump for this thread. I've gone out to find the original fit Metzeler rear tyre flat. At 7,500 miles on it, I think I'll just get front and rear replaced.... and I'm thinking of the Road 5 vs Roadtec 01 as per this thread.

Reading the thread, they both sound ok. My question is which version of the Road 5 or Roadtec 01 I should be looking for and which is in stock. The Roadtec 01 is the 01 HWM which says it is for heavier/touring bikes. I think there may be a touring/heavy version of the Road 5? Should I be looking for a GT/heavy/touring version of either tyre?

Priorities in a tyre for me are wet grip, cold weather grip, not squaring off with highway miles, reasonable mileage.

I contacted Michelin, They recommended the standard variant for the F800GT even with my stated 120kg + partner + luggage ect...
Very happy with them, I believe I made the right choice. Certainly for UK roads and mixed riding style.

 

I made the above spreadsheet on 3 June when I bought my Continental Road Attack tyres through Dennis Kirk. Data may have changed since then. I don't know if the rebates are valid over in England...you probably have your own.

Some things to note. If you look at the column "Owner Rating", it is interesting. For instance, the Pirelli Angel GT has an owner rating of 4.8 out of 5. The successor, the new improved better than sliced bread version, the Angel GT II...has an owner rating significantly less at 4.1. Newer is not necessarily better.

I had the OEM Metzeler Z8s on my GT when I bought it. I changed them at about 11,300 miles, if I remember correctly. The Metzeler Roadtec 01s that replaced them, only lasted about 6000 miles. But they were supposed to give you longer life, as well as all the other benefits. I tried the Metzeler Roadtec 01s one more time, with the HWM version in the rear. It lasted about 11K. The HWM version is what was originally recommended by Metzeler for the GT when they first came out. Not so much for weight, as much as for the tyre scrubbing from riding them in a sport fashion.

I've had the Dunlop Roadsmart 3 tyres on several times and liked them. I tried the Roadsmart 4 tyres and like them too. But are they almost $100 better? From what I can tell, the tyre life will be about the same as the RS3.

My impression is that all the modern tyres are about equivalent. It would be hard to tell the difference in handling between a Michelin Road 5 and a Pirelli Angel GT. But you can pay the almost $100 difference in cost for the privilege of saying you have a Michelin Road 5 tyre on your bike.

I've tried many of the tyres on that list. I went back to the Continental Road Attack 3 from Dennis Kirk. Surprisingly, his price was far below Revzilla or anyone else. And I like the tyre a lot.

Chris

 

So just to let y'all know what I went for;

I've punted for the Michelin Road 5's - and I'm over the moon with them!

They don't flop into the corners as quickly as the Pirelli's or Metzellers with their steeper profile but that doesn't mean they don't corner, they're just not as skitish - scape pegs with them all day long with total confidence,
To put in into perspective I didn't even get close with the Pirellis as they just felt like they would let go.
The advantage of them being more neutrally handling though is they don't track lines in the road like those with a steeper profile and also I imagine they'll not square off as bad in the long run.
Wet weather performance is also fantastic, best tyre I've ever had in that regard, in normal riding (not knee dragging) but maybe a little north of the signed speed limits I honestly tell pretty much no difference between a wet and dry road albeit you naturally ease off a bit for those conditions anyways.

As mentioned originally my friend has the Roadtec 01 SE's on his Hornet 900 - While they are also a great tyre we both now currently have 1500 miles on our tyres respectively on similar/same roads.
His has notably squared off, he also says he can feel the "step" when going into corners, especially on switchbacks, and we reckon they will probably be good for about 6500-7000 total miles until at the wear indicators based on tread depth when new and current tread depth calculated over the remaining depth available.
Mine however (Road 5's) pretty much still look like new regarding their profile and handle as good as they did when knew, because they have a more shallow profile too they haven't used as much rubber over the same millage. with the same method we're projecting around 9000-9500 miles out of mine.

I got them discounted for £230 for the pair,
My friend paid £200 discounted for his,
Both on similar weighted and powered bikes and we ride together so have the same kind of style and ride the same roads,
while the Michelins aren't cheap they are currently showing to be the better value tyre with a better wear pattern so I think I made the right choice.
also the same friend has a CB500F with the Road 5's on and that's telling the same story with 3000 miles on the clock, on that bike we're projecting about 12000-13000 miles.

will let you know what i end up getting out of them in a year or so but for now I think they'll be great.

ps.
My friend usually rides the Dunlop Roadsmart series of tyres and he raves about them for value and grip ect...
he contacted Dunlop asking when the Roadsmart 4's will be released in the UK they answered as follow's (paraphrased);
"No plans to release Roadsmart 4 in UK, compound was developed primarily for American roads, UK equivalent is the Roadsmart 3 SP"

He's already had the SP variant and he raves about them however he only got 6000 miles from them (same bike) and they squared off bad too, tyres cost him £180 so even when you compare those against the Michelins then cost per mile the Michelins win.

Hope that helps a few people anyways....
No doubt the debate shall long continue - if your happy with your tyres, great, that's the main thing - we can only share our opinions I guess

 

My rear tyre is due for replacement in about 500ish miles, giving it a life span of 9K miles. Even though the centre has worn down more, there is no real step i feel when riding and leaning the bike over. The tyre feels as good as it did on day 1 still.
I predict the front will need changing about 1K miles time, so overall a 9-10k mileage life is, i think, great. Yes they're more expensive, but with the way the ride & the life they give - you get the payment back.

Where/how did you get the tyres at that price?

 

Pleased to hear the millage you're reporting on the F800GT with the road 5's, that's encouraging knowing we'll not be far off with our calculations/estimates.

I got them off eBay, price was listed at £265 but when you clicked on the listing an offer came up like a 10% off code so used that - offers on these are like rocking horse shit to be fair though, was just a right place right time situation.

Just checked and offer no longer available, I did buy them about a month ago to be fair though, just keep looking I guess 🏻

 

I've never seen the attraction of mail order tyres, by the time I've paid someone to fit them (not up to self fitting), the savings aren't all that IMO. To be fair tho' Tris's "rocking horse shit" deal at £230 is fantastic

My tyre dealer currently charges £253 for a pair of F800GT sized Road 5's fitted to loose wheels. i.e £23 more that Tris's deal, but NIL fitting cost

 

The guy I go biking with as above has his own tyre fitting equipment & dynamic balancer, same as what you would see at any tyre place so he just does my hoops for me I always throw him £10 just as a thank you or pay for his fish and chips a few times. If your tyre shop is charging £253 fitted that's an awesome price to be fair - wouldn't even waste your time looking elsewhere, you definitely have a good tyre shop 🙂

 

It depends on your buy cost + fitting costs. I used to do it a lot when i could buy a lot cheaper online than through a tyre place, and still had a good 10-20% cost saving even when including fitting costs.