Michelin Power 6 tyres are bang on for sporty spring to autumn riding, with the odd spirited trackday thrown in

The Michelin Power 6 is the French firm’s latest sports motorbike tyre that takes over from the Power 5 and sits above the sports touring Road 6 and below the semi-trackday Power GP2 in their line-up. We got our hands on a pair at the tyre’s world launch, which took place at the Jerez race circuit in Spain.

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There’s a lot to be said for track testing tyres, even if they’re meant for the road. You’re on the same bike, on the same strip of tarmac, in the same conditions lap after lap and it doesn’t take long to separate out what the tyre is doing, compared to the bike and conditions.

Michelin have one of the most confusing naming conventions for their tyres, so think of this new Power 6 road as an all-rounder that will let you exploit the sporty qualities of your bike and give decent wear, warm-up and wet weather performance.

What’s new?

Using tech, knowhow and materials from their MotoGP exploits, the Power 6 has a new carcass construction and silica ‘rubber’ for optimum durability, grip and wet weather performance. Front and rear tyres are dual compound: soft on the shoulders for grip and hard in the middle for durability and stability.

It’s relatively heavily grooved (14%) to disperse water and comes in a plethora of 17in sizes to fit everything from A2 licence machines all the way through to fire-breathing superbikes. There are four new sizes, including a 240-section for the Ducati Diavel.

The sidewall wording is also embossed to give the tyres a premium feel. Compared to the outgoing Power 5 Michelin claim improvements in wet and dry grip, warm-up time and agility with no loss in durability.

What’s the Michelin Power 6 like on track?

We start our test with two sessions around the idyllic Jerez circuit on a BMW S1000RR Sport. Michelin says the Power 6 is only designed for 10% track use, 90% road and were at pains to tell us it isn’t a track tyre and to ride accordingly.

Armed with that information you’d think the Power 6 would struggle, but it doesn’t. Our first session is interesting. The BMW’s traction control isn’t working so there’s no safety net when unleashing 200bhp-plus to the rear tyre, but its outright grip is impressive and when it starts to slide it does so progressively.

The steering is light, neutral and accurate through corners and riding the BMW at a swift pace is enjoyable. Yes, you could go faster on a stickier tyre, but trackdays are about the smile on your face than numbers on a stopwatch, right?

Our session ends with a rear puncture on the last lap. The S1000RR starts to squirm to begin with, followed by the heavy-steering feel of a flat. Back in the pits we see it’s picked up and flung out a nail or screw.

For the next session all is well as we get a new rear tyre and a BMW with fully functioning electronics. Now we can push hard into the traction control zone exiting each corner, which is great fun.

How does the Michelin Power 6 perform on the road?

Out on the road we’re on the RR’s naked cousin: the BMW S1000R and now the conditions aren’t controlled. Everything from the road surface, grip level, speed, traffic and temperature as we climb up and down the Spanish hills, changes minute by minute.

We only mention this because the Power 6s aren’t outstanding. They grip and the steering is the comfortable side of sporty, but we’re not pushing them hard to generate proper heat into them. Ride quality isn’t remarkable, either, but that could simply be down to the bike or road surface.

On these often dusty, bumpy roads at the steady pace we’re riding at we’d feel a lot more comfortable on Micheln’s Road 6 sports touring tyre, where you know for certain they always work from the get-go.

The verdict

It’s a shame Michelin chose a route that didn’t let their tyres shine. If we were to ride on more normal roads we’d no doubt have a better experience.

That is why testing them on track, or a proving ground is so important and we’re glad to have spun some laps at Jerez to see just how grippy and light steering they are for an all-round sports tyre. Without it we’d have come away non-plussed.

We’ll need to fit them to one of our long-term test bikes to get a real feel for how they perform on the road and test their durability.

So why would you fit Michelin Power 6 to your bike? For sporty Spring to Autumn riding, with the odd spirited trackday thrown in for good measure, they’re going to be bang on, but if you’re going to ride in less-than-ideal conditions a latest generation sports touring tyre will be the better choice.

Cut through the jargon with MCN’s tyre explainer video:

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