Michelin Motorcycle Tyres Guide

French company Michelin was formed by two brothers in 1889. They’re the world’s largest tyre manufacturer. They still make tyres at their original factory in Clermont-Ferrand in France.

They’ve been making motorcycle tyres for over 100 years and while they are the official tyre supplier to MotoGP, it’s really their range of road tyres that motorcycle riders in the UK and around the world rate.

The now famous Pilot Road series of tyres are a great choice for a wide range of bikers, from commuters to fast road riders. Their ‘sipes’ give the tyre a unique look but also help it channel water away, meaning the Pilot Road series offer great grip no matter the conditions.

For adventure motorcycle riders, the Anakee has long been the tyre of choice for bikes like the R1200GS, KTM Adventures and Honda’s Africa Twin. However the new Pilot Road 5 Trail is proving popular with adventure bike riders who stick to the roads. The tyre gives great mileage, a fast warm-up and good outright grip. For scooter and maxi-scooter riders, the Michelin City Grip 2 is the tyre of choice.

Our Michelin Motorcycle Tyres

We have a motorcycle tyre fitting workshop in London and have over 50% of Michelin’s motorcycle and scooter tyres in stock at any one time. If the tyre you want isn’t in stock, we can get any tyre to you on a next day delivery service, just give us a call on 0207 205 2205 to discuss your requirements.

Michelin motorcycle tyres by type

We’ve listed these tyres by their common application and picked the most popular tyre for each category and also listed the other tyres in that sector.

Adventure

Michelin Anakee Adventure

Our pick for the best Michelin Adventure tyre is the Anakee Road. It is the latest tyre in Michelin’s Adventure range but essentially it’s a Road 6 but with a more Adventure-styled tread pattern. This one will make your Adventure bike look and feel the part. There’s also the Anakee Adventure if you want a tyre that’s a little more capable on light trails.

Other tyres in this category: For a more extreme Adventure tyre, check out the Michelin Anakee Wild which is an off-road biased tyre, that looks great but won’t be as good on the road as the Adventure. 

Fast Road Riding

Michelin Power GP2

If you ride a sportsbike or your bike is for sunny weekend blasts, then you’ll want a sticky tyre that warms up quickly, offers excellent edge grip and can handle the odd rain shower. The Power GP2 is about as sticky as a road-legal tyre gets and it looks the business.

Other tyres in this category: If you don’t just take your bike out on the sunniest of sunny days, then you might want a tyre that sacrifices a teeny bit of outright grip, for a faster warm up and ability to cope with everything the UK roads have to throw at you.

Michelin’s Power 6 is a good bet, it has racy looks and only 11% of the tyre surface is sea (i.e. groove) so there’s a lot of rubber in contact with the road.

Another good tyre for road riders is the Michelin Pilot Power 3 and the Pilot Power 2CT. They’re older tyres but they’re still being made as they’re very popular. They are cheaper than the latest tyres too, making them a good choice for anyone looking for a quality budget sports motorcycling tyre.

The Michelin Pilot Road 5 is pretty much the go-to tyre for all road conditions. Yes it’s more of a Sports Touring tyre than a tyre for headbangers and while it could lap a race track in the Inters of Novice group without much fuss, it’s not a tyre we’d recommend for track riding.

Road Riding and Touring

Michelin Road 6

Dropping the word Pilot from the name but the Road 6 is the evolution of Michelin’s most popular road tyre. Its distinctive Sipes technology helps make this a brilliant tyre in the wet while its fast warm up and edge grip are what makes it a firm favourite. Available in Road 6 GT spec for heavy tourers, strangely the GT spec has the same load index as the standard Road 6 but it has been designed by Michelin so that heavy bikes don’t suffer with vibration at speed. Click the link to the tyre to see the full list of bikes that Michelin recommend the Road 6 GT is used on.

For Adventure riders who ride purely on the road, the Anakee Road is the go-to tyre as it comes in the 19 and 21-inch fronts and 17 and 18-inch rear sizes compatible with all the most popular Adventure bike’s available.

Other tyres in this category:

In fact they still make the Pilot Road 4 which works out around 10% cheaper for a pair than the Road 5 and Pilot Road 3 but the 3 is now only available in limited sizes as Michelin are trying to push people towards the Road 5. Finally there’s the Pilot Road 2, which is a brilliant budget sports touring tyre. A pair of Road 2s is currently around 60% of the price of a pair of Road 5s and it’s still a great tyre, making it superb value for money.
Then at the entry-level price point you have the Pilot Street Radial which is available in 110/70 and 120/70 fronts and up to 160-section rear sizes, making it a great choice for middle weight bikes like the Honda CBR650F and Kawasaki Ninja 400.

Road Legal Trackday

Power Cup 2

If you ride to trackdays but you want serious grip on tap, then check out the Michelin Power Cup 2. It’s an incredible looking tyre with hardly any tread pattern and it benefits from Michelin’s MotoGP experience, to deliver a tyre that isn’t far off the stickiest racing stuff out there but has a handy ace up its sleeve in that it’s road legal. We don’t recommend this tyre if the majority of your riding is on the road, the Michelin Power 6 is a better bet for fast road riders. If you have a Supersport bike or a smaller capacity sports bike then check out the Michelin Power Cup Evo which comes in smaller rear wheel sizes.

Racing Slick

Power Slick 2

If you want to get as close as you can to Messrs Marquez, Rossi & Co, then the Michelin Power Slick 2 is the stickiest motorcycle slick that the general public can buy. OK, so you won’t be riding around on THE rubber that the GP gods do, but these tyres benefit from Michelin’s MotoGP experience and are up there with the best of them. The 2CT dual compound ensures a longer life and with 190 and 200 fitments these are the tyres to run on your superbike.

Other tyres in this category: Michelin only makes one model of slick available for the general public to purchase but it is a good ‘un. For track work, they also make a Power Rain which is a wet weather motorcycle racing tyre. If you’re a Supermoto rider then Michelin have you covered with a wide range of quality track-focused rubber. There’s the Michelin Power Supermoto Cut Slick which is available in 16″ and 16.5″ wheel sizes. For wet weather there’s the Supermoto Rain which is also available in 16″ and 16.5″ wheel sizes.

Cruiser / Harley Davidson

Michelin Commander 2

A popular tubeless Cruiser and Touring tyre that can also be used with tubes. The Commander II offers excellent handling while at the same time offering unparalleled wear, with Michelin claiming over 20,000 miles from a pair. Now replaced by the Commander 3 cruiser tyre but the 2 is still a really popular tyre, available in pretty much every rim size for Harleys and other big cruisers.

Other tyres in this category: The Commander 3 is the latest version of the Commander and while we think it’s a great tyre, we have more customers asking for the Commander 2. The Commander 3 is available in Cruiser and Touring versions and the only difference is the tyre sizes available.

Michelin also make a range of Harley-Davidson approved tyres. These all come under the Michelin Scorcher name. The Scorcher Sport has been developed by Michelin specifically for Harley’s electric motorcycle, the Harley-Davidson Livewire.

Then there’s the Scorcher 31 which is designed for Harley Dyna models, the Scorcher 21 which is for the Street Rod, the Scorcher 11 which is mainly for the Fat Boys, V-Rod and Sportster models. 

125cc

Pilot Street

We sell loads of these hoops from Michelin. Yamaha YZF125R and MT125 riders can’t get enough of them. These are based on Michelin’s Pilot Street radial tyre and offer almost the same excellent grip and mileage. A fantastic choice it your ride is a smaller capacity machine.

Other tyres in this category: The Pilot Street is a great tyre but Michelin’s product range in the 125cc motorcycle sector is limited to that and the Michelin City Pro which is a very similar tyre but available in smaller wheel sizes.

Scooter

City Grip 2

New from 2020 the Michelin City Grip 2 utilises all the good points from the original Michelin City Grip and adds a few more! Having a high silica content these hoops are the benchmark in wet weather performance around town.

Other tyres in this category: The original Michelin City Grip is still in production and is available in small rim sizes, to suit scooters like the Vespa Primavera 125. Michelin also has a few other scooter tyres in their range to cater for funky mopeds, retro scooters and budget 50cc bikes.  There’s the Michelin S1 scooter tyre, the Bopper which is a sporty tyre for those racing mopeds. The S83 is a retro scooter tyre and finally the Power Pure SC is about the grippiest 125cc scooter tyre you can get but we don’t advise you fit this is you commute all year around.

Maxi Scooter

Michelin Road 4 SC

Perfect for your trip to the South of France or your daily commute to Liverpool Street on your Yamaha T-Max 530. The Michelin Road 4 SC uses Michelin’s patented 2CT technology and XST+ Sipes these beauties offer exception wet weather grip and class leading mileage in the maxi scooter tyre category.

Other tyres in this category: The Road 4 SC is a miniature version of Michelin’s popular touring motorcycle tyre and it’s a great all-weather option. However if you want a stickier tyre that would handle a trackday (OK, so you don’t see many maxi-scooters on track) then the Power 3 SC is the tyre to go for.

Common Questions

What pressures should I run my Michelin tyres at?
For road riding, we recommend you run your tyres at 36psi in the front and 42psi in the rear. For track riding, check out Michelin’s tyre pressure chart on this link.

What is the longest lasting motorcycle tyre?
If you want a Michelin motorcycle tyre for commuting and high mileage then check out the Pilot Road 5.

What does 2CT mean?
2CT is the name Michelin gives their tyres with dual compounds. 2CT stands for Two Compound Technology and it means the tyre has a harder central section to improve wear when upright, meaning you get more life from your tyres.

Can I run two different tyres on a motorcycle?
We don’t recommend you run different brands of tyres on the front and rear on your motorcycle as tyres are designed to work in pairs. If you are in a tight spot, for example your tyre’s knackered and the tyre shop only has a select few tyres, then the sensible choice is to fit your new tyre and be on your way. However we recommend you then replace the other tyre as soon as possible so that you have a matching pair.

How much does it cost to fit motorcycle tyres?
Here at Two Tyres, we have a London motorcycle workshop and we charge £50 to fit a pair of tyres when bought from us. That includes removal and fitting, balancing, new valves and environmental tyre disposal.

If you live out of London, the chances are your fitter will charge slightly less.

What’s the average life of motorcycle tyres?
This depends on the tyre’s compound. The harder the compound, generally speaking, the longer the tyre will last but mileage also depends on the rider, the type of bike and the road conditions.

Generally speaking, if you can get 4,000 miles from a pair of sports tyres on the road, you’re doing well. For road legal trackday tyres, you’ll probably get two trackdays from a set of tyres, but for super sticky tyres – like Pirelli Supercorsa SC – you’ll probably knacker a rear in a day.

For Touring tyres, you can expect to get a minimum of 6,000 miles from a pair of tyres, but we regularly see riders getting 10,000 and so it’s reasonable to expect anything in between.

Any other questions?
If you have a question about motorcycle or scooter tyres then give us a call on 0207 205 2205. We’ll be happy to help.