WORDS & PHOTOS:
RAYMOND HERON
RAY HERON REPORTS IN WITH A 2000KM
UPDATE ON HIS MICHELIN ROAD 5 TYRES.
I
t’s hard to sound objective when reviewing
a set of tyres, especially when you don’t
have the chance to ride a bunch of tyres
back-to-back. According to Michelin, with the
Road 5 it set out to create a tyre that was
better than its predecessor in the wet, while
retaining the same level of cornering grip.
The Michelin Road 5 was designed to take
what Michelin learnt from the Pilot Road 4,
and improve in some key areas. Well, I think
rubber boffins at Michelin achieved their
goals.
I’ve now had the Road 5s on my MT-07 in
Wellington traffic for some 2000km at the
time of writing and, forgetting the hiccup
in the first 24 hours (read my last entry for
a refresher), I’m well impressed with them.
And, to be fair, a ruddy great nail in the tyre is
hardly Michelin’s fault.
GOTTA HAVE FAITH
With the weather closing in, getting wet, cold
and dark, commuting on a motorcycle can
be a risky affair, more than enough reason
to be on tyres you have faith in. Recently I
was travelling north on SH2 in the right hand
lane of a dual carriageway. There was a fair
amount of traffic around as it was peak hour,
dark and raining solidly – as it had been
much of the day. Without warning, a car in
the left lane, next to me, darted out to the
right. There was no indicator, no warning,
and clearly the driver didn’t see me.
I grabbed a handful of the front brake... and
it’s times like this I wished my pre-ABS 2014
model had ABS. As I slammed on the brake,
I swerved hard right towards the white line,
and, thankfully, the bike reacted the way I
wanted it to. The tyres stuck to the road, and
I managed to avoid a collision.
Given the conditions, I was very impressed
with performance of the R5s.
Now, let’s not get into a conversation about
“being seen” as we all know there are plenty
of things I could have done better. But let’s
take this story for what it’s worth, and I’m
thankful the Michelin Road 5s are so good in
wet conditions. I’ve come to think of them like
an old friend, dependable, predictable, they
don’t let you down and they’re always “round
when you need them” (little dad joke there).
It would be fair to say that I am now the
confirmed weakest link when it comes to
putting the MT around a corner – and I’m
more than happy with that! I will always
chicken out before the tyres even hint at
coming close to their limit.
HANDLING DUTIES
With a tyre profile which feels good, the
bike falls into a corner easily and changes
direction quickly but doesn’t have that
‘dropping’ feeling some tyres exhibit. Entering
corner the bike feels nimble, agile, reliable.
KIWI RIDER 31