Review: Michelin Road W GT
Generic parts can give you a perfectly good riding experience—but things are always better with dedicated, tailor-made components. Recently, Michelin announced a pair of goodies for Honda Gold Wing riders.
The new Michelin Road W GT tires are specifically designed for heavier sport touring motorcycles. Their design and construction aims to enhance comfort and handling on long-distance tours.
With their silica-based compound, Michelin promises improved cornering when compared to stock tires. The water sipe technology used on the front tire also aims to enhance drainage and provide better traction on wet pavement.
That’s what the marketing brochure promises, anyway. But how do the tires perform on a real road?
To find out, we clad a 2024 Honda Gold Wing with the Road W GT tires and headed to the road. Here are our first impressions from the ride.
Solid and Strong Performance
After riding 1,200 miles with the Road W GT tires, they’re still holding up well. They remain quieter than the stock Dunlop tires, and certainly feel more stable on the highway.
During our test rides, we noticed the new Michelins give a more pronounced level of feedback, which is nice—most of the time. On grooved concrete highways, the tires felt like they had a bit more bite, which occasionally exaggerated the “bottom wobble.”
In general, the Michelins had significantly better road hold than the stock tires, which could be due (at least partially) to the more compliant compound on the edges. In particular, they improved front-end traction in bumpy corners.
As a welcome bonus, we noticed a minor improvement in fuel economy. With the Michelins, the Gold Wing averaged around 46-49 mpg, compared to the stock tires’ 42-45 mpg.
During a leg from Helen, GA, to Winston-Salem, NC, we ran into some moderate rain. We didn’t know how the new tires would perform on the dirty and freshly wet road, but any reservations disappeared quickly as we had to brake hard to catch an almost-missed exit ramp.
Even with the dirt and grit on the road and the more than 800 pounds on the bike, the Road W GTs performed flawlessly. There were no signs of impending lockup and no ABS intervention—just solid, strong braking.
Overall, the Michelin Road W GT is a stunning tire that makes the Gold Wing much more supple, refined, and confidence-inspiring. We’ll be reporting back later how they perform in the long run, but based on our initial tour, we’re very happy with them.