Road W GT TIRE REVIEW
There are 14 reviews for the Road W GT
Rating Snapshot
When asked, 60% of reviewers recommend this tire
1-10 on 14 reviews
Great choice for the GW
Handling is superb and it appears I will be over 12k before replacing
Superior Tire for Honda Goldwing
I put these on at 87,268, and I have 105,206, so I am just at the 18,000-mile mark with them. I have ridden them in the rain on the Arkansas Pig Trail Scenic Byway, through the 112-degree heat of Nevada, the twisties of the Great Northern Cascades to Portland, and down the Pacific Coast Highway (in the fog at 55 degrees most of that trip). I've had them on gravel roads and every type of road surface you can imagine, including a short stint on grass. Here are my thoughts: 1) I've never bought tires and looked for comfort, so I wasn't looking for a comfortable tire, but that's what is most noticeable about these tires from the start, like pulling out of the driveway, I noticed it immediately. They absorb roadway imperfections like they are wrapped in memory foam. Despite that, they have excellent feedback on twisties and corners, even higher speed cornering. 2) I immediately noticed a slight wobble on the front tire around 38-40 MPH. It was most noticeable when decelerating and when I took my hands off the handlebars. What's interesting is that over the last 18,000 miles, it never got worse. I've had front tires in the past that developed cupping on the front tire, and there was a violent shaking at 38 MPH if you took your hands off the handlebars. I tested this tire numerous times at 38 MPH, and while the slight wobble was there, it did not get worse and didn't go into a violent shake. 3) The front tire's tread is noisy with any lean, even the slightest lean, depending on the road surface. The front tire is pretty quiet on the rough asphalt where I live, but I noticed on smooth concrete roads in New York, and I think it was Maine, that any lean angle produced substantial road noise. Having said that, most roads, regardless of the surface, produce a slight humming noise, but nothing egregious. There were a few times on smooth, concrete toll roads that the sound was downright ridiculous, like riding on an all-terrain tread pattern. 4) Handling on curves was exceptional, even when pulling a 250 lb trailer. Over 5,000 of the 18,000 miles were pulling a trailer. The tires don't follow tar snakes and did very well on grooved pavement, providing plenty of stability and a smooth ride. Did I mention how incredibly smooth these tires are? 5) Traction gets five stars. I've done many miles in heavy rain, like when I hit that squaw line on the Arkansas Pig Trail Scenic Byway, and had to do emergency braking a few times. I never once felt like I was losing traction. The Michelins have performed equally in my view to the OEM as far as traction, and obviously well outperformed the OEM when it came to mileage and comfort. 6) Front tire cupping. The only tire so far that I have been able to run on my bike with no cupping on the front tire has been the OEM. All others suffered cupping on the front despite running the front at 42 PSI and having Centramatics. There are lots of opinions on what causes it, but OEM front tires do not cup on my bike. I have noticeable cupping on the front Michelin tire. It doesn't cause problems when decelerating or at lower speeds like other cupped tires have had. The fact is, the cupping on the front tire has led me to choose to replace it earlier than I would if there were no cupping. But, I,m replacing it at 18,000 miles; more than acceptable tire life for me. I'm sure I could go plenty more miles on it despite the cupping, but I am putting on a new set. 7) Overall, in every category, the Michelins have outperformed all other tires I've ridden on this bike. The Michelin tread pattern on the front tire creates noise, and on certain road surfaces, it can be really loud, but those extra-loud road surfaces were pretty rare. I'm sold on them. I'll be getting a second set this week on the front and rear.
Smooth, good handling, very quiet even in cornering!
I have a 2022 Gold Wing and recently got a puncture in the original rear tire, so I replaced both tires with this new Michelin Road W GT. You could visually see a huge difference in the tread design, width, shape of the Michelin compared to the original Dunlops. But the best part was taking the bike out for a ride today on the new Michelins, and I am very pleased with them! I could actually feel a difference; these are smooth at all speeds (I didn't go above 81mph though), handle very well in cornering, and are very quiet even in cornering! Super glad Michelin came out with these, and I hope they'll get good tread life too.
After two tires and multiple balancing it would vibrate
At the time of this post 7/1/25, I purchased both the front and rear tires for 2023 goldwing your. I went with the W GT because Michelin has made amazing touring tires for quite some time "commanders", everyone I know that has them loves them. I figured they would of made an amazing tire for this as well. I ordered had the tires installed by the dealer using balance beads. Immediately once I got on the highway the front tire had a major balance issue "I have used balanced beads for a few years and never had issues". I went back to the dealer and had them rebalance it with weights, there wasn't much of a gain. They wanted the bike so I left it, a few days later I get a call, they tell me the following: they switched the front tire with another W GT and it vibrated as well. They then used a whole other wheel and a W GT on it to rule out the wheel being bad and it still vibrated. They put another tire on and the vibration went away. 2 brand new tires and they did the same thing, I wouldn't purchase. Michelin didn't do their testing on these tires for sure. I would not purchase. Let them figure out the issue first.
Two brand new tires could not balance.
At the time of this post 7/1/25, I purchased both the front and rear tires for 2023 goldwing tour. I went with the W GT because Michelin has made amazing touring tires for quite some time "commanders", everyone I know that has them loves them. I figured they would of made an amazing tire for this as well. I ordered had the tires installed by the dealer using balance beads. Immediately once I got on the highway the front tire had a major balance issue "I have used balanced beads for a few years and never had issues". I went back to the dealer and had them rebalance it with weights, there wasn't much of a gain. They wanted the bike so I left it, a few days later I get a call, they tell me the following: they switched the front tire with another W GT and it vibrated as well. They then used a whole other wheel and a W GT on it to rule out the wheel being bad and it still vibrated. They put another tire on and the vibration went away. 2 brand new tires and they did the same thing, I wouldn't purchase. Michelin didn't do their testing on these tires for sure. I would not purchase. Let them figure out the issue first.
2023’ Condor Update - FR Tire Warranty- Favorable Results
Daniel at Michelin gets an A for great PR and problem solving. After getting the new front Road W GT tire the problem was resolved. Hope these tires work out so far only have 300mi., but have Michelins on all my vehicles . Appreciate your professionalism! Condor 23’
Poor performance
Front tire won’t balance out did it twice cost me $280 in mounting and balancing First, $150 to mount and balance in CA where they were purchased and when I got home to AZ spend another $130 to rebalance. The motorcycle handlebars still vibrate the worst I’ve seen. This front tire is not designed properly for a 2023’ Honda Gold Wing Tour.
MT, Thank you for your review of Road W GT. We are sorry you are experiencing issues with your tires. Once your bike has been inspected by your dealer, you can always contact Michelin Consumer Care at 800-346-4098.
Michelin US
May 9, 2025
Slips and slides
Bought approx 2 weeks ago. Issue with front tire not able to balance. Replaced with another tire almost as bad. In hard braking and cornering the front tire will slide. In acceleration from a stop to a hard right rear tire will break traction and slide. This tire is not made for the new model Goldwing.
Excellent additon to your Gold Wing
Have over 2500 miles on the Road W GT Feels solid and connected with the road Provides good road feedback but not so much it becomes handlebar buzz. Comfortable ride on long superslap runs and when carving twisties or just cruising the backroads. Handles wet surfaces and rain very well, always felt connected to the road. Wearing as expected. They are a bit noisy. When these are done, I'll put another set on.
Road W GT Shines Through
Let's start by saying these are some really good tires! I was able to put about 150 miles on them before the weather got cold in my location. I did do some cold weather, highway, damp road, fall foliage and parking lot riding within that time frame. These tires stood tall in all situations. These tires are softer than maybe what you are used to. With that though, once they warm up, the tend to have a bit more grip to the road providing a stickier ride and more generally traction. These tires "lean heavy" into their sport/road tire history(pun intended). With their round profile, they tend to be lean a little quicker than other tires, giving the Goldwing a definite more sportier feel to the ride. Riding these tires over fallen leaves occasionally wet at times, there was little lost in the way of handling a turn at proper speeds. Taking the Michelin Road W GT tires to the parking lot to do some slow speed maneuvers was a lot of fun. They made me feel like I was able to make tighter turns than maybe I had felt comfortable with before. It is rare that I feel like I am able to make a U-turn on a two lane highway without having to put my foot down or walking it through the turn. With their round profile, one thing to take note of is that these tires a tad sensitive to movement. The wind blows a bit to hard and it feel like the bike wants to start leaning, if your bike isn't properly loaded evenly, you'll be able to tell because it may feel like you're fighting the bike to start upright. As temps reached a high of 45 and riding temp was around 39~42 degress, these tires did seem to have a bit of noise riding. This could be a good sign as it means rubber is meeting the road, but to be able to hear it with my helmet on could make the riding a bit annoying when trying to communicate with passengers or other bike in the riding formation. At speeds at times, it feels like there is a small wobble or bounce in the tire, but that could be user error. Overall, i really like these tires and the good definitely outweigh the bad. I'd recommend these to fellow Goldwing Riders to try especially if you are looking for a more sportier ride.