A product review
Whereas, there was about six miles
of life left in my old, dependable rear Metzeler Tourance dual sport tire; and
Whereas, while I enjoy riding solo
but have grown weary of having to figure out how to right the heavy BMW GS
after having misjudged some gravelly curve in the wilderness; and
Whereas, I’d determined that there
are plenty of paved secondary roads to keep me adventurously entertained;
I therefore resolved to purchase a
pavement-focused set of new tires for my adventure-touring bike.
What the heck, I figured. A pavement-centric tire will probably afford longer tread
life and – while I don’t have the nerve to race around at the big Beemer’s
limits – better handling. I do
have a penchant for purchasing tires and gear that will out-perform my personal
riding limits given the ever present chance that something unexpected may
require me to respond as if I actually had the nerve. Take the time an eighteen-wheeler’s recap blew up a few
seconds ahead of me on one of CA 128’s rather tricky curves. Please.
Having done a bit of research and owing to the great
confidence I developed in the Pilot 2s I’d placed on my Guzzi, I opted to have
the big bike shod with newly released Michelin Pilot Road 4 Trails. “Not for use on forest roads,” a
promotional video warns. I’d grown
(or chickened) to where I was okay with that, although the wiggly - as opposed to traditional adventure-style blocky - tread took some getting used to visually.
My new-to-me local BMW store – Santa
Rosa BMW/Triumph in Windsor ordered up a pair while I took a final tour up into
Oregon on the Metzelers. This
proved to be one final tour too many as the steel belt began peeking through
the rear Tourance just as I rode into our garage in Cloverdale. Gingerly I limped the bike down to
Windsor where I hid out so the mechanic couldn’t hunt me down and scold me for
riding on rubber in such condition.
We are told to be careful for the first fifty to one hundred
miles on a new tire. On the day of
purchase, I took the freeway from Windsor to Ukiah and a series of windy
frontage roads through vineyards and over hills home. Nice, I thought.
The next trip was in a heavy mist turning into rain ride
over Mendocino back roads where I employed a gentle hand on the throttle.
Then came spring. On a fifty-degree morning, I piloted
south on 101 from Cloverdale to Geyserville. There I picked up CA 128 for a glorious ride through the
Sonoma County Wine Country, crossing ridges and creeks, into and out of the
regions various appellations. (Sonoma County takes a back seat to no one when
it comes to both wine and roads.)
After breakfasting at the historic Café Sarafornia in
Calistoga, I headed out of town east catching the Silverado Trail which traces
the eastern edge of the Napa Valley.
This ribbon of pavement offers sweeping views of the scenic valley
through row upon row of just-ready-to-bud vines, backed by lusciously forested
hills. Tiny drives spur west
across the valley and east up into them hills. (Napa County takes a back seat
to no one when it comes to both wine and roads.)
I chose to cross the Coast Range on 128 from about
Rutherford, past Napa’s Hennessy Reservoir – full enough this day to make one
forget that there’s a drought going on – thence past Berryessa and into
Winters.
Recently completely repaved, this route invites a rather
open throttle but one must be ever cautious about slides of scree that migrate
onto the highway after a heavy rain, a heavy wind or a perfect-weather
day. There may be gravel on the
road any time you ride it.
The trip proved to be a lovely test
of the Michelin Pilot 4s. Their
grip inspires confidence, and although I really liked the Metzelers I’d sworn
to before – which, granted, are engineered for a slightly different purpose –
for pavement riding, these Pilots are a cut above. “Handles as if you were on rails” is the phrase that comes
to mind.
Two minor brain farts yielded no casualty. One was letting a low sun get in my
eyes resulting in entering a bend a bit quicker than I’d have liked. An extra lean kept me on my side of the
double and after I quit beating myself up, I chuckled a bit. Incident two involved a turkey vulture
dining on road kill until a fraction of a second before I was to pass. Intent on his lunch, this birdbrain
(literally, folks: birdbrain) chose to carry off his carrion too late at my
approach: a huge wing missing the top of my windshield and then my helmet by
mere millimeters. There would have
been contact had the Michelins not effectively scrubbed off the tiny bit of
speed I asked them to.
I like these tires. Months ago, I decided to forego the
forest service dirt roads I had enjoyed when I didn’t worry about the effort
necessary to pick the damn motorcycle up off its side. My next trip to some remote fire
lookout can be in the pickup or, better yet, on foot.
The road-worthy confidence inspired by these Michelin Pilot
Road 4 Trails makes the choice to go with a more pavement oriented tire seem
like no compromise at all. They
have converted my adventure-touring machine into a better long distance touring
machine.
o0o
Notes:
What Michelin has to say about their tire: http://motorcycle.michelinman.com/tires/michelin-pilot-road-4-trail
What Metzeler says about the Tourance (a really great tire
as well): http://www.metzeler.com/site/com/products/tyres-catalogue/Tourance.html
Regarding Calistoga’s grand, historic and a bit funky Café
Sarafornia: http://cafesarafornia.com/
© 2015
Church of the Open Road Press
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