The dirty truth about Michelin Road six motorcycle tyres.
I previously had Pirelli MT60 tyres on my Honda NC700X and found that they did not last as long as I wanted so I decided to put road tyres on thinking that they would last longer.
I was pleasantly surprised with my decision to fit the Michelin Road 6.
Way back in the past I had Michelin tyres on one of my cars and was happy with that. On my Transalp I had a pair of Michelin Seracs and was not all that happy with the performance on dirt - eventually trying the Continental TKC80.
Now I was happy with the performance on dirt, especially in mud and sand BUT the knobbly parts soon wore down quickly when riding on tar.
As you no doubt know - the knobs are there to shed excess mud clinging to the tyre, as well as giving more grip in loose/muddy conditions. Many riders think that the more aggressive the knobs look, the better the tyre will perform but there is always a trade-off against longevity.
Many people believe that the grooves on a tyre are what gives grip on tarred roads but the actual grip is from the amount of rubber on the road - the grooves move the water out of the way on wet surfaces.
With this in mind I elected to go for a set of road tyres that gave a good balance of contact patch rubber while also having deep grooves for water dispersion.
The Road 6 seemed to be the tyre that gave extra large (knobs) contact patch without actually being knobby.
What I found impressed me - you can read elsewhere about the tyre characteristics - on tar they are sticky (and almost as noisy as knobbies), giving excellent control. On dirt, while the surface is not too loose, it does not give any hint of not being capable.
So, for my type of riding they are more than I bargained for. I have yet to experience riding in the rain (not one of my favourite pastimes) and I will see what mileage I will get compared to the knobblies I had on before.
Photography was captured using the DJI Pocket 2, mini 2 and action 3.
I previously had Pirelli MT60 tyres on my Honda NC700X and found that they did not last as long as I wanted so I decided to put road tyres on thinking that they would last longer.
I was pleasantly surprised with my decision to fit the Michelin Road 6.
Way back in the past I had Michelin tyres on one of my cars and was happy with that. On my Transalp I had a pair of Michelin Seracs and was not all that happy with the performance on dirt - eventually trying the Continental TKC80.
Now I was happy with the performance on dirt, especially in mud and sand BUT the knobbly parts soon wore down quickly when riding on tar.
As you no doubt know - the knobs are there to shed excess mud clinging to the tyre, as well as giving more grip in loose/muddy conditions. Many riders think that the more aggressive the knobs look, the better the tyre will perform but there is always a trade-off against longevity.
Many people believe that the grooves on a tyre are what gives grip on tarred roads but the actual grip is from the amount of rubber on the road - the grooves move the water out of the way on wet surfaces.
With this in mind I elected to go for a set of road tyres that gave a good balance of contact patch rubber while also having deep grooves for water dispersion.
The Road 6 seemed to be the tyre that gave extra large (knobs) contact patch without actually being knobby.
What I found impressed me - you can read elsewhere about the tyre characteristics - on tar they are sticky (and almost as noisy as knobbies), giving excellent control. On dirt, while the surface is not too loose, it does not give any hint of not being capable.
So, for my type of riding they are more than I bargained for. I have yet to experience riding in the rain (not one of my favourite pastimes) and I will see what mileage I will get compared to the knobblies I had on before.
Photography was captured using the DJI Pocket 2, mini 2 and action 3.
