Tread pattern of the dual-compound Michelin Pilot Power 2CT rear tire.
The
Michelin Pilot Power 2CT is the French tire company’s more affordable sport-oriented motorcycle tire. At an as tested price of $241.98 at
Motorcycle-Superstore.com for the pair it is the third-least expensive tire in this comparison and the most affordable dual-compound tire option.
The front tire is the fourth-lightest tire weighing just 9 lb 4.8 oz. Conversely the rear tire weighed in at 14 lb 11.2 oz which gave it the distinction of being the heaviest tire in field. On the road the Pilot Powers handle business but don’t really stand out for anything besides their high level of feel at lean.
Warm-up time was respectable but not quite up to the level of the Pirelli Rossos or Bridgestone BT-016s. The Michelins delivered decent ride quality too and the carcass had a good rigidity balance feeling like a cross between the stiffness of the Shinko Advances and Stealths. Still, they were the softest feeling carcass in its group. Overall steering effort was low and our CBR test bike changed direction predictably with minimal effort.
At the racetrack it was easily apparent that you were riding a dual-compound tire. The lateral edges felt soft and would squirm under hard acceleration. Edge grip was significantly better than the Shinkos but still behind the B Group-leading BT-016 and Rosso. As you transitioned from lean to straight-up and down you could literally feel the step between compounds. Once accelerating on the fat part of the tire it delivered excellent traction on par with the rest of the tires.
When cranked over in a corner the Michelin’s deliver a fair amount of feedback initially. But as you push the tires harder they never convey the right amount of feel to comfortably explore the limits of adhesion—especially the front. This had an effect on cornering stability at high speeds and lean angle as the tires felt like they moved around a lot which reduced confidence especially in the front hoop, when bombing into faster triple-digit corners at the racetrack.
Dave Moss from Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning and Chris McGuire from CT Racing assist us with our street tire comparison.
At the Streets, the French rubber netted a fastest lap time of 1’27.43. This was just over a second faster than the Rossos but still just over a half-of-a-second behind the Bridgestones. However, at the big track where high speed stability is paramount, the Michelins were just a scant 0.01 seconds behind the much more rigid-feeling Pirellis but still nearly a full second behind the Japanese hoops. When braking, the front tire was plenty stable and on par with the tires in the B Group but not quite to the level of some of the A Group tires.
Although the Power 2CTs is one of the older designs in this test they still deliver an ample level of performance. The rear tire offers excellent feel and the edges of the tire have good grip. Add in its sensible price and dual-compound technology and they become hard to pass up when you’re shopping for your next set of tires.
RIDER NOTES:
“This tire is difficult to figure out. It did everything well but nothing really stood out. Side grip was good, not as good as the Avon VP2s, but way better than the Shinkos. The front tire steered predictability and the tires felt nicely balanced between being soft and firm. You could feel that the tires employed multiple compounds. The sides were soft and squirmy feeling while the center we’re much more solid. Feel was excellent from this tire—made it very entertaining to spin-up the rear tire exiting corners. High-speed stability wasn’t that impressive, and down as compared to the BT-016s and Rossos.”
The
Michelin Pilot Power 2CT is available at
Motorcycle Superstore.
Front Tire MSRP: $132.95 - $138.95
Rear Tire MSRP: $161.95 - $249.95
