First Look: Michelin Pilot POWER tires...

[BulletTrain]

Got the POWER tires today from . I know some of you are lookin' forward to seein' these tires so I snapped a few initial pics. Of course there will be more to come when I get them mounted.

Here they are still in the box. It's like Christmas at BT's house!!!

Dammit! I hit enter before I was done... Here are the rest of the photos.

Here's the POWER front layin' on my impromptu photo table, also known as my Magic Chef clothes washer.

And a closer view of the tread pattern...

Here's da' fat boy sittin' on the table, errrrrrrrrr, washer...

And a closer shot showin' the sticker. Yep, it's a 190 POWER alright.

Last one. Here's a closer shot of the tread pattern without the sticker in the way.

Can't wait to get 'em mounted so I can get started scrubbin' 'em in!!! Wooooohooooooo!!!

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[bbbsleeper]

Nice

 

[Haywood]

BT: you suck!! j/k dude.. congrats.. let us know how they handle.

 

[BulletTrain]

BT: you suck!! j/k dude.. congrats.. let us know how they handle.

So far they are light and very flickable...

Don't know how they'll feel when put on wheels and bolted on the busa.

 

[BulletTrain]

Now to decide whether I want to take the wheels off and take 'em in, or take the bike and let the shop do it all... I'm thinkin' I should do as much as possible myself. My only real worry is gettin' the rear wheel back into proper alignment when I put it back on.

 

[sageronin]

BT ... you are da man .... I am so jealous !! ... it's all good ... glad you got them and can't wait to hear your report.

 

[Haywood]

Now to decide whether I want to take the wheels off and take 'em in, or take the bike and let the shop do it all... I'm thinkin' I should do as much as possible myself. My only real worry is gettin' the rear wheel back into proper alignment when I put it back on.

personally, i let the shop do it all.. it's something like $10/wheel to have them do the whole thing... not really worth it to me, to do it myself.

 

[BulletTrain]

Now to decide whether I want to take the wheels off and take 'em in, or take the bike and let the shop do it all... I'm thinkin' I should do as much as possible myself. My only real worry is gettin' the rear wheel back into proper alignment when I put it back on.

personally, i let the shop do it all.. it's something like $10/wheel to have them do the whole thing... not really worth it to me, to do it myself.

Yeah, but I'd have to let 'em touch my shid, and I don't like nobody touchin' my shid!

We'll see...

 

[BulletTrain]

Now to decide whether I want to take the wheels off and take 'em in, or take the bike and let the shop do it all... I'm thinkin' I should do as much as possible myself. My only real worry is gettin' the rear wheel back into proper alignment when I put it back on.

personally, i let the shop do it all.. it's something like $10/wheel to have them do the whole thing... not really worth it to me, to do it myself.

Dang! $10?

I just called the shop I bought the busa from and they said $37.80 per tire "on the bike", $27.00 each off the bike...

May not get them mounted tomorrow after all. i'll have to shop around to see if I can beat those prices. I could prolly almost buy a manually operated motorcycle tire mounting machine for that!

 

[VaBusa]

Seems it's always Christmas at BT's house! New shop going up, Zaino being delivered by the truckload, plastics piling up...

I like 'em BT...you're not swapping out tires yet, are you? Damn, I've got, let's see...ummm...5800 miles on my stock tires and I know you've got...ummmmm...let's see...ahhh...not that much, so why are you buying new tires?!

Just asking...not giving you shid, even though it may feel like it...

 

[BLKBLU04]

Congrats on the new rubber BT, definately let us know how they handle.

 

[UUBusa]

BT, take off yourself...just one more thing you get to learn (realigning) I used the string method off the thread that is posted here. Worked great plus I found that
the tick marks are pretty reliable on my bike.
Also, remember that thread from Washington (I think) where it was the shops standard practice to burn off the old rear meats.....I love my shop, but why give them the chance...heeheehee

PJ

 

[vman1300]

Great looking tires. I have been looking forward to these tire hitting the US for some time. I cant wait for a review....

Kevin
info@mrcycles.com

 

[flrider]

Ummmmm

 

[Haywood]

Now to decide whether I want to take the wheels off and take 'em in, or take the bike and let the shop do it all... I'm thinkin' I should do as much as possible myself. My only real worry is gettin' the rear wheel back into proper alignment when I put it back on.

personally, i let the shop do it all.. it's something like $10/wheel to have them do the whole thing... not really worth it to me, to do it myself.

Dang! $10?

I just called the shop I bought the busa from and they said $37.80 per tire "on the bike", $27.00 each off the bike...

May not get them mounted tomorrow after all. i'll have to shop around to see if I can beat those prices. I could prolly almost buy a manually operated motorcycle tire mounting machine for that!

BT.. sorry man, my bad.. What I meant to say, and should have said, was it's $10 DIFFERENCE between leaving it on the bike and walking in with just the wheels. Sorry for the misunderstanding.. completely my fault. I pay $40 on the bike.

 

[BulletTrain]

Seems it's always Christmas at BT's house!  New shop going up, Zaino being delivered by the truckload, plastics piling up...

I like 'em BT...you're not swapping out tires yet, are you?  Damn, I've got, let's see...ummm...5800 miles on my stock tires and I know you've got...ummmmm...let's see...ahhh...not that much, so why are you buying new tires?!  

Just asking...not giving you shid, even though it may feel like it...

Yep, the rear tire is almost gone. It's into the wear bars in the center portion. I bought a new front just to have a matchin' set. And no, I don't do a lot of burnouts. Just the one I posted pics of WAAAAAAY back when... I do, however, do a LOT of wide fuggin' open 1st, 2nd, 3rd gear BLASTS in the straights. Well, I used to. I've slowed my arse down lately. I've only blasted like twice since seein' the R6 that hit the deer at 136.

The busa's torque and horsepower will EAT a rear tire if you blast the straights a lot. I've blasted to (indicated) 173+ mph once, 160+ a hand full of times, 150+ mph several times, and 140+ way too many times to count. A huge portion of these runs were from first or second, full throttle (or as close as I could get without loopin' it). While it ain't a burnout, the tire does occasionally break loose in first during those runs if the tires are cold or the pavement isn't so good. Add in the torture that just grippin' the pavement under that kind of accelleration forces would do to it and you can see why I got less than 1500 miles before I hit the wear bars.

These tires WILL last me longer (or at the very least wear out more evenly between the middle and outer portions) because I am makin' myself leave off the banzai runs in the straights for the most part. I don't plan on doin' another hard run in the straights until I've put considerable wear on the outside of these tires. It's killin' me to have to throw out a tire with so much rubber left on the edges just because I run like a strpied ass ape in the straights.

Oh, and I'm used to you givin' me shid. I still love ya.

Here's a pic showin' my tire wear. The inset is a full size crop from the original full res photo (the background is the original picture resized for web use) so you can see that it's into the bars.

 

[PACIFICBUSA]

Looks pretty schweet, bro....and I'd be just as excited with new tires too. I dunno...something about that "new" rubber look. Stay safe scrubbin in those tires, bro!

 

[WWJD]

Awesome, BT. I can't wait for mine

 

[BulletTrain]

Congrats on the new rubber BT, definately let us know how they handle.

Thanks. I'll definitely post my comments after I get to ride on 'em. Hopefully that'll be this weekend. So far everybody I've talked to wants to RAPE me on mountin' 'em because I didn't buy tires from 'em. Got prices from $27 to $45 each if I take 'em off (I don't have a front axle tool and haven't been able to find the bolt and nuts to make one yet), and $37.80 to $75 each (yes seventy five dollars a tire!) if I drop the bike off and have them do it all. Hell, I could buy another rear tire for what they want to put these two tires on for!

I've posted to a local bike board hopin' that someone can get me a hook-up on gettin' 'em installed. For the prices I'm bein' quoted though, it'd be tempting to order a manual motorcycle tire mounting machine and just do it ALL myself from now on. Hell, if I dropped the bike off, it prolly wouldn't take but one more change after this one to pay for the machine!

Oh yeah, the $75 per tire was a local cruiser (mostly Harley) shop. They didn't even know what a Hayabusa was.

However, they did say that they could get me most anything I wanted for it, except for the "Yamaha only" factory stuff that I'd have to get from Yamaha if I needed any of the stock stuff... Baaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhahahahahahaha... Needless to say, they WON'T be puttin' my tires on.

So far, $27 per tire and me takin' 'em off is the best deal I've found.

Hey wait, is there not a front axle tool of some kind in the tool kit? Prolly not, but hell, it has most everything else...

 

[BulletTrain]

Ummmmm

Hmmmmm... Guess they fugged up printin' the decals. I don't think that tire will fit under the stock front fender without some trimmin'.