Just outside the historic Spanish city of Seville, Michelin recently held it’s official launch of the Pilot Road 4 at the MonteBlanco circuit with an array of great motorcycles for attendees to choose from.
The Pilot Road 4 is a sport touring tyre which also offers GT and Trail versions boasting a 20% improvement in lifespan over it’s predecessor, and the first test gave riders an ideal chance to put the tyre through its paces on some of the best roads available in Andalusia.
After the initial testing on the roads of sunny southern Spain riders got the chance to take the tyre and their bike of choice out on track in a series of workshops which were designed to demonstrate the technical advances made with the new tyre:
- Wet Braking – On a specially prepared wet surface, riders were asked to grab the front brake and clutch, with their relative braking distances measured. The results were then compared with a competitor tyre, and the difference on average was a staggering 9 metres in favour of the Michelin!
- Wet Handling – Moving to a different area on the track, riders were asked to attack braking and turning at the same time in the wet. After a demonstration from the expert rider, the attendees all took to the course and built up speed before approaching a man made chicane, and using only the front brake came to a complete stop. The riders reported that the bike didn’t squirm beneath them as they had expected and they were all able to stop without losing balance at the front end.
- Tyre Confidence – The final workshop set out to demonstrate the reliability of the Pilot Road 4, regardless of the weight of the bike or the speed at which you are riding. The riders took to the track on a BMW R1200RT, the heavier of the two bikes on offer for this test. They reported that they were able to ride the big bike at great speed around the MonteBlanco circuit with complete confidence. Riders then changed onto the relatively new Yamaha MT-07, and spent their time flicking the bike round the corners and building up speed on the straights.
We we’re also invited to the recent UK launch of the tyre, and we will be posting our own review straight from our man Owen Phillips himself.
