Got ya! I would imagine it could actually work well in many areas of the country where your mostly hwy cruising. Don't think I would want to live in the twisties with squared edge tires.
I do like the Angle GT, BUT I was at the wear bars at 1700 miles on the rear of the VFR so they are not a mileage tire for me.
The 023 replacement is the T30 and that's Kimball's favorite ST tire. When you mentioned your locale and VFR background I thought you probably knew him.
Yeah, that guys a squid!
I have ridden behind you in the past. We were both on VFRs at the Burkesville Rally several years ago, riding rather briskly on those excellent roads.OK so I ride this bike like the Sport bike it truly is and Love it, but *** is the story on tires?
I bought this bike last month and it had a new Bridgestone 023 GT on the rear while the 023 front was about 50% worn. I've only put 700 miles on it with about 2/3rd's two up and the other a solo ripper.
This tire is disappearing rapidly and it has strong signs of damping issues, guessing under dampened because it's building edges at the rear edge.
I just installed a new BS T-30 front before today's 280 mile two up ride which made the rear feel somewhat worse.
So do ST's just eat Tires or is the 023 GT a rapid wearing tire?
Thanks
Hey John, that was a fun trip and many moons ago. I've had many years of chasing Rob H to learn how to ride much better now. I just may not be able to afford to!
If you push the shoulders of your tires hard, you might want to reexamine that conclusion. The shoulder compound of the 3 offers far more purchase when pushed hard under throttle.
LOL. good one, car tyres on a bike just isn't right,unless you are riding on endless straight roads maybe, I got 6500 miles out of the standard T30, got 7000 out of the last 023, new 023 fitted now because I got it cheap, have a T30GT on the front,showing very little wear after 6500 miles roughly, going to try PR4GT next time, the rear isn't the exact correct size,but UP runs them no problem on his ABSII ST1100 so I'll try them, has to better than darkside.Yeah, it's a lot like religion, it requires faith in something that makes no sense, with no scientific evidence to support it. Dark side, there is no light, go forward blindly and have faith, mate!
There must be something about the profile of the PR3 rear tire that doesn't agree with me. My favorite Michelin combo on the ST1300 was also a PR3 front and PR 2 rear. On matched pair of 3s I was never 100% confident in a corner. It's not that the tires ever lacked for grip it was the vague feedback and that I almost always had to correct my line after setting up the corner. I never felt this on my old fav Avon AV55/56 Storms and then Bridgestone 023s. They talk back and rail the corners. By chance I mounted a PR2 rear behind a 3 and the vague feedback and two-step choice of line went away. I ran three PR3 rears and two PR3 fronts and it was always like that until I tried a PR2 rear/3 front. I thought this behavior was just a ST thing but when I mounted PR3s on the NC700X it was the same behavior and it was a letdown from the OEM Z8s. I was kicking myself but I didn't think the NC would do the same thing. When the rear 3 wore enough to justify getting rid of it the PR2s in a 160/60 NC700X size were impossible to find so I tried a Pilot Power on the rear and it sharpened up the feedback and took away the vagueness and oversteer/understeer at corner entry I disliked so much. It has to be that rear tire.
Fixed that for ya, mate!
A big heavy powerful bike like the ST is just going to go through tires, especially with an aggressive rider, so get ready for it. I get about 3.5k out of a rear 023GT, and I am talking worn out. I have no clue what the T30s will yield. BTW, I bought my '03 ABS ST from John M. in January 2004 with about 1,500 miles on it. Still a great machine all these years and 89k miles later. All I have really done to it is replace the front wheel bearings and the shock. I am taking it on a tour two weeks from now with Charlie up into the mountains, we are leaving from Burkesville.Hey John, that was a fun trip and many moons ago. I've had many years of chasing Rob H to learn how to ride much better now. I just may not be able to afford to!
With over 105k miles on my 02 VFR I've spooned on over 40 sets of tires and it looks like I will need a second job to keep tires on the ST!
Thanks Dave. I have two buds I've ridden over 40-50K miles with that both have similar abilities and we all run the same Pace. If one of them tells me "whatever...." about any tire it directly applies to me and I can take it to the bank as fact w/o ever trying that tire as my results would be within 95% of theirs. I was on a 4 day twisty ride with one of them who was on his first set of PR3's coming off a set of PR2's and stated the similar to me. He liked the PR2 rear better as the PR3 rear was squirmy/odd feeling compared to the PR2. That and the relatively short life cycle of the PR3 before the PR4 came out was enough for me to never waste the money on a "3".
Well the way you ride I bet you will not get over 750 miles on the T30 tire as they are just a re-branded 023 tire. Good luck and keep us posted.
.........just sayin, ff
