I hate the stock Battleaxes too, and always remove them before break in is done. Took them off the Busa at 400 mile and discarded. I used to be die hard Dunlop, but grew out of that when the qualifiers came out...didn't seem to last as long. I went to Mich and now run the 2CT's and have really liked them so far.
I now keep an extra set of the ol Battleaxes around on extra wheels to burn off on the straight tracks (wouldn't use them for the track days though, use stickies). That being the case, mostly using my Pilots for road use I've gotten really good mileage out of them. Needing tires now, but looking close to 4000 miles.
That being said, my buddy who has all the good sets of stickies loves the stock battleaxes. Guess it's all in preference and how they have reacted in the past.