I agree with a lot of what you both said but not all. However, I don't put a lot of credibility on a "put any adjective here" that said his brand X is awful without quantitative reasoning. Another example I often read, is the rider who compares his 7000 km brand X tire with a brand new brand Y. All I'm saying is that some comments are better than others. The journalists are not perfect. Yes, they evaluate short term but do long term on occasion. Don't kill the messenger guys. You have to read all and everyone possible to separate the wheat from the chaff. Who's right here: Such polarity. Seeking consensus has merit. The devil is always in the details.
The thing is all modern tyres are very very good. In recent years I have had Bridgestone, Pirelli, Metzeler Michelin and Avon on various bikes, and they have all been good. Some have been better than others, be it for grip, wear, price an so on. Everyone has opinions based on their own experiences. All I know for sure is that I'm glad I'm still not having to ride around on the early Bridgestones that came with our Jap bikes years ago. They felt like they were made out of plastic rather than rubber, and wet grip was an unheard of phrase!!
I am with you every mile on this one Tyres are so subjective but i have run them on every bike BMW XR Hypermotard and 1290 GT Allways replaced the original tyres with them the BMW had rosso 2s which were just awful and only lasted 2000 miles, the hyper had supercorsas which on roads in the UK are no good as they are difficult to get warm enough, The 1290 GT had Angel GTs and i found they were too hard ( stiff) for my taste Roadtec 01 have transformed the ride and handling of each bike and i will be replacing the Scorpions with them when they need changing The grip levels on the RT 01 is just brilliant in the dry and as good as you will find in the wet and they last quite well too
I know that pilot road 4s on a track day were poor, overheated and loads of movement when on the edge of the tyre. They showed signs of this even with fast road riding so shouldn't have been surprised. Now on s21's now theres a great tyre! The point is people use their bikes for different things and have different riding styles. Just because someone on a forum has x experience with a particular tyre does not mean you will get a compatible experience.
I’ve been using Michelin Road’s on my MTS’s for years, and for the last two years the Road 5. Excellent tires with plenty of grip on dry roads, and outstanding on wet. Having done long trips is pouring rain, without even considering the road condition - I’m totally impressed. I’ve also done some long trips on gravel roads on the Road 5’s, and they performed well, taking into consideration that they are road tires, and as long as you tell your mates to keep their distance. The rear wheel catches and throw pebbles quite a distance.
You'd be hard pressed to find bad tyres. It's all down to personal preference and budget IMO. I use the Road 5's and they suit me and have not had cause to try anything else on my last 2 bikes.
Went the Montreal bike show last weekend, and one of the dealers had a show deal for 50% off tire orders. Set of Angel GTs are on their way (320$ CAN, w/taxes). I'll have plenty of time to enjoy them, since they will be installed after my early summer's first tour in the Maritimes (New Brunswick, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia). By then, the OEM Scorpions will have over 10k kms on them.
Update for the Mitch Road 5's I'm now at 20500 miles & the rear is still not quite down to the wear marks. That's 8000 miles, so they are only slightly better on miles than the Roardtec 01's that got me 8000 miles. I may stretch another 500 miles if I'm careful. Both tyres have been fantastic so it really is down to personal preference.
