Michelin Power 6 test: Introduction, positioning and philosophy of the test
It is curious how manufacturers locate the tires in their respective ranges. In the case of the Michelin Power 6, they are located at the beginning of the Power range, Michelin’s sports, on whose other end the Power Cup 2 are located, if we limit ourselves to homologated tires to circulate by road. If we just surround on the track, there are the Power Slick 2.
That means that the Michelin Power 6 we tried today is 90% to shoot on the road and 10% in circuit. Of course, you don’t have to literally take it. It means that they are sports tires destined to roll on the road and that, in case of rolling in circuit -for example, in some batches -its performance will be satisfactory; They are not destined, however, to win races.
For that reason, the Michelin Power 6 are the series of a multitude of sports motorcycles with semi -axis, or in Naked Sports of High Manilla. In fact, the first time I tried the Power 6 was last year, in the presentation of a purely sporty motorcycle: the Triumph Daytona 660. There are, however, other types of motorcycles likely to mount benefit tires, such as the asphalt trail, which now make up the bulk of the sport touring segment. An example of this are the Yamaha Tracer 9 and the BMW F 900 XR that we bring to these lines today.
The sports orientation in asphalt of both “asks” a tire of more performance than those that can be found in, for example, the Michelin Road 6, more focused on pure tour and where the relationship duration/benefits is key. The same goes for the Anakee range of Michelin, where the asphalt/field ratio is the magnitude to be measured.
So, returning to the beginning of the article, which at first can be read as “the least sports among sports” of the Power range, here it translates as “real use” in models such as tracer 9 and F 900 xr. They are not circuit motorcycles, nor Nakeds of high handlebars, but undoubtedly sports, with a performance that requires tires at the height of its circumstances, certainly demanding, but different among them.
While the BMW F 900 XR stands out in the delivery of torque to low and half regime, the Yamaha Tracer 9 also does so in the half regime and in a final stretch with a punch. Similarly, the German is more contained in dimensions and suspension route, while the Japanese is also higher, it is shorter among axes. We wanted to verify how the Power 6 adapts to the different needs posed by each motorcycle.
Michelin Power 6 test: Technical characteristics of Michelin Power 6
Being the tire provider of the MotoGP World Championship (and also the next SBK World Cup Single) is part of Michelin’s R&D commitment to introduce the knowledge obtained on the track in the production tires.
Michelin has used various advanced technologies in the production of its Power 6 tire for motorcycles, seeking to optimize both performance and wet, durability and agility with respect to the Power 5 that precedes it.
It can be summarized at 6 points:
- 2CT + (TWO COMPUND TECHNOLOGY +): A key feature. It consists of using two different rubber compounds in the rolling band of the tire. In the case of Power 6, a tougher rubber is used in the center of the tire to provide greater durability and stability, especially in a straight line and under strong accelerations or braking. On the shoulders (the sides) of the tire, a softer rubber is used, to offer an exceptional grip in the curves and greater confidence in inclination. This technology applies both in the front and rear tire.
- Silica: Silica incorporation into the rubber compounds of the rolling band is essential to improve grip, especially in wet conditions and colder temperatures. It also contributes to extend the useful life of the tire.
- Aramid Shield Technology: This technology reinforces the tire housing, increasing its rigidity and density. This translates into greater stability and wear resistance, which contributes to greater durability and better general performance.
- Radial-X Evo Technology: It contributes to an improved tire structure, which ensures greater longevity and maintains optimal performance throughout the useful life of the tire.
- Optimized rolling band design: Power 6 tire drawing is designed to minimize wear and evacuate water efficiently, reducing the risk of aquaplaing and improving wet performance. The experience of the competition to the road design has been transferred.
- Michelin Premium Touch Design: This is an aesthetic feature that gives a “velvety effect” on the tire flank, offering a distinctive visual contrast and a high quality finish.
Test Michelin Power 6: Pipe’s opinion
I like the tire tests especially when they are mounted on two motorcycles, as is the case. It allows to detect the main characteristics of the tire beyond the motorcycle that mount it, especially when they are the same measures. In that sense, my feeling is that there are two main characteristics that identify Michelin’s Power 6.
First, I would highlight the grip they show, especially in the front wheel, because it translates into information of what happens, inducing confidence. Trust is intangible, but decisive in sports driving, especially in the front wheel.
The second characteristic is its indefinition between the profile in U and the profile in V. It is agile in the changes of direction, as can be a profile of profile V, but without being violent in these changes, but linear and organic, not to offer the resistance or “pasture” of the tires with a profile in U. It could be the standard in either.
In the background, the best thing that can be said about them is that they give you what you expect from them to each moment, without surprises; A point arrives, in which the linearity of the grip causes you to touch with the strokes (rather, the warnings), without having a feeling of tilting a lot. The passage of the central component is not noticed at all to the sides, softer, nor the transition between the center of the tire, without drawing, to its adjacent sides with drawing, nor the latter to the outer end of the tire, also without drawing to dispose of maximum contact surface to maximum inclination.
We have commented that there are two different personalities. Both stand out in their media delivery, but the Yamaha, with its three cylinders, gives 15 hp more in the upper part of the account. The BMW is lower, also longer and the bass of its bicilindrical stand out in the most closed clubs.
The Yamaha requires adaptation in the first moments if you come from the German, because at first you feel very high. Once inclined, you feel it in its sauce and it is very easy to lift to give gas. The two can be carried in Stop & Go mode or prioritizing the speed of curve, each in their own way.
The Power 6 is able to adapt to both of them in any circumstance, because its characteristics allow it to be solvent in high handlebar motorcycles. Like both they can enter curve with both activated brakes feeling what happens on the front train, they also enjoy stability in the medium-amplium radio curves, feeling their ability to trace. These qualities are of course good in sports motorcycles, but of course also in any sport tall tourism.
Test Michelin Power 6: Teo’s opinion
On this occasion, we have tried the Michelin Power 6, some tires that, despite being at the beginning of the Michelin Power range (his most sporty family), have proven to be much more than “the least sports among sports.” For me, the key resides in its versatility and confidence that is capable of generating in real -use situations.
Power 6 is designed with a clear orientation: 90% for road and 10% for sporadic circuit incursions, such as a course for example; And it is precisely in the sport tourism on open road, where we have been able to verify its balanced qualities. The conditions of our test were ideal: 30 degrees of ambient temperature, a clean, recent asphalt and with an excellent grip. In this scenario, the behavior of Power 6 has been excellent in terms of trust and the sense of security it transmits.
What has surprised me most about this tire is its ability to adapt to very different dynamics. We have tried the Power 6 mounted on two machines of different character: a BMW F 900 XR Bicilindric, which fantastically develops in low and medium, compact, attached to the ground and very balanced; and a Yamaha tracer 9 trichylindric, which seeks more stretched and accelerations with its 15 extra horses.
The tracer, although it is a fantastic motorcycle, is also higher, generates more inertia, the fork sinks more in strong braking and experiences more praise, especially in curve output accelerations when lacking direction shock absorber, which translates into more vibrations and movements.
Well, this is where Michelin Power 6 shines with its own light. From the moment we equip both motorcycles with these tires, I have noticed how the Power 6 is able to absorb and mask those dynamic particularities of the tracer, which is a motorcycle in which it works from a very high, it is touched from above, and together with those inertia, it needs full confidence in the tire to be carried with joy.
This tire not only generates that trust, but I would say that it improves my confidence in the tracer, a motorcycle that has dynamically seemed more nervous and that makes you work a little more. I think that Power 6 feels especially good to this tracer 9 although it is a great tire on both motorcycles.
The Power 6 offers a unctuous grip that does not become floton and allows strong and lying entrusted braking, which translates into a ability to go very quickly with good control. But if there is a characteristic that has conquered me, they are its transitions, which I have found remarkably soft on both motorcycles. There is no trace of the difference between the double compound, or steps, or abruptness when changing direction. Nor is it an excessively pointed tire that accelerates the changes of direction too much, but soft and with a good grip, allowing a fluid, controlled and very cheerful conduction.
Obviously, in a test like this, what we would lack to verify is the duration, but I am one of those who believe that the sensations and security offered by a tire is much more important than saving a few euros stretching it a little more. However, for the use Sport Tourism to which we have submitted it, it is a tire that I liked a lot, and I think it is an excellent candidate for those looking for a road sports tire that offers security, confidence and predictable and soft behavior, even on motorcycles with a demanding dynamic character.
