Bridgestone T30 GT's - How do you like them?

No. And the last rebate wasn't for the GT's.

I understood the GTs to be included....if purchased before April, he should try bridgestonerwards.com and see if he gets the rebate....ff

I got mine from the superstore for about $240 for the set.

flyfisher said:

I understood the GTs to be included....if purchased before April, he should try bridgestonerwards.com and see if he gets the rebate....ff

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They didn't list the GT's on the last rebate. The first one they did and I got $40 back.

Throttlejockey said:

They didn't list the GT's on the last rebate. The first one they did and I got $40 back.

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The first rebate on the T30GT tires I got $80.00 back!!

I've just installed a pair of T30's on my '01 ST.

For comparison, the last two sets have been a G547 front (Bias) and a BT020 rear (Bias)

For reference, I have been riding for 45 years, blah-diddy-blah

The two most noticeable differences are these-

1) Tires are noticeably stiffer and make slightly more road noise.

2) The roll-in is a little smoother than the bias pairing.

Grip seems to be the same, straight up to out on the edge.

Slightly more nervous on gravel and loose dirt.

All that's left to be seen is the mileage.

That said, I've been very happy with the bias pairing.

T30's were $318 Cdn, the pair, installed (off the bike).

Turned off Maryland route 17 onto US 340 south and was greeted by a bunch of very dense, very fresh tar snakes that weren't there last month.

Feedback from the tires: "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope."
Feedback from the rider: "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope."

There's a lot to like about these tires, but I think I may go back to BT020Fs after these are worn out.

--Mark

Tom P said:

I Have them on for a couple thousand miles now and they really do seem to be a stellar fit for the ST1300. Stiff wall makes the handle bumps better, turn in is so pleasant and confidant inspiring, rode in some good down pours and excellent handling of the rain. I am really aggressive in the twisties and love the way they take them. No head shake at all and quieter then the others. I would say, if not the best , at least one of the best tires out there for the ST. Previous tires, Avons, Michelin P3's, Metzler Z6 and Z6 Interact.

Oh, forgot to mention...Price is GREAT!

Only thing left is to see how they wear over time.

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Ok, I have about 9300 miles on them now and the rear is at the wear bars. As you can see the front is still pretty good. I can't quite understand that because I purposely used the front brake 95% of the time to keep the wear even. I guess the linked system puts more braking to the rear than I thought???

The tires have preform very well over the miles and the wear on the rear also came on my last ride from Pine Mountain Club to Ojai which I really got aggressive (such wonderful twisties...). On the PR3's I got about 14,000 miles but they were not as nice handling, noisy and did not hold their shape like these. The Metzler Z6 Interacts had about the same mileage as the PR's but seem squirrely and did not handle as good as the next tire which was the standard Z6. The standard Z6 got about the same mileage as the T30's but did not hold their shape and thus lost handling integrity as the miles were put on.

Though I was hoping to get more miles out of the tire I think the lower cost might bring it in about the same cost per mile. I think I might replace only the rear and use up the front. I have my front Z6 interact still with tread so I can use that with the remainder of the T30 tread life and save some dollars

Tom P said:

Ok, I have about 9300 miles on them now and the rear is at the wear bars. As you can see the front is still pretty good. I can't quite understand that because I purposely used the front brake 95% of the time to keep the wear even. I guess the linked system puts more braking to the rear than I thought???

The tires have preform very well over the miles and the wear on the rear also came on my last ride from Pine Mountain Club to Ojai which I really got aggressive (such wonderful twisties...). On the PR3's I got about 14,000 miles but they were not as nice handling, noisy and did not hold their shape like these. The Metzler Z6 Interacts had about the same mileage as the PR's but seem squirrely and did not handle as good as the next tire which was the standard Z6. The standard Z6 got about the same mileage as the T30's but did not hold their shape and thus lost handling integrity as the miles were put on.

Though I was hoping to get more miles out of the tire I think the lower cost might bring it in about the same cost per mile. I think I might replace only the rear and use up the front. I have my front Z6 interact still with tread so I can use that with the remainder of the T30 tread life and save some dollars

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Wow you must be light on the throttle to get that kind of miles out of those tires. Your rear tire still has a little life in it and the front looks like it will make it through another rear tire. Come on down to my place I have a new T30 tire I could mount on there for you.

I just did a 2k mile tour through KY, WV and VA. Some rain, mostly dry, and mostly secondary roads, some very technical, riding reasonably hard. My T30s had less than 1k miles on them when I left. The rear is now about 1/16th of an inch from the wear bars, the front looks good. Handling characteristics are great, wet weather adhesion is super. My riding buddy feels the same way with the T30s on his BMW. We each have 40 years + riding experience, he is an ex road and motocross racer.
In a nutshell, these are the best tires I have used on a ST1300 so far for my purposes.

970mike said:

Wow you must be light on the throttle to get that kind of miles out of those tires. Your rear tire still has a little life in it and the front looks like it will make it through another rear tire. Come on down to my place I have a new T30 tire I could mount on there for you.

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I am light on the throttle. Don't get my kicks there. I get them on the tight twisties. And dang gonit! I ordered the rear before I saw your offer. Thank you so much...very kind.

Just had these put on. New to bridgestone but the reviews look good. Real nice feel to the bike but a lot of that could be due to running seriously worn out tires. So far they feel grippy in the corners: looking forward to days off to wear some rubber off these tires!

BS T30 GT's Awesome tire...change from stock T20...right away like two sets of tires transition from upright to twisties, grips and feels very stable and safe even down low....Put on in Reno - did the back roads over the mountain home to SAC area.....oh my...fathers day 2 up to the coast and back - high winds in the morning 40 plus cross wind...really a big difference in stability and holding my line...even the mrs could tell felt much safer. thanks all for the comentary - made the decision easy and not a bit sorry for it.

Had mine out in a good gully washer this weekend. Thumbs up for handling in the wet.

--Mark

Johnny Rocco said:

I've just installed a pair of T30's on my '01 ST.

For comparison, the last two sets have been a G547 front (Bias) and a BT020 rear (Bias)

For reference, I have been riding for 45 years, blah-diddy-blah

The two most noticeable differences are these-

1) Tires are noticeably stiffer and make slightly more road noise.

2) The roll-in is a little smoother than the bias pairing.

Grip seems to be the same, straight up to out on the edge.

Slightly more nervous on gravel and loose dirt.

All that's left to be seen is the mileage.

That said, I've been very happy with the bias pairing.

T30's were $318 Cdn, the pair, installed (off the bike).

Click to expand...

Update on the T30's, about 5K (3000 miles) in.

Grip is consistently good in the dry and fine in the wet, no surprises.

Wear is even, with no evident scalloping.

As another inmate mentioned, they REALLY dislike tar strips, to the point where I was nervous going through sweepers laced with them.

Very nice ride at higher speeds (70-95+ mph)

Wear seems to be in line with what I was seeing with the bias setup.

Well, my rear is down to the wear bars. 6729 miles and 3700 of that was traveling from CT to CA. When I got to CA they were flat spotted pretty good. Now they are even. The front still looks great. Doesn't even look worn at all. No scalloping of the edges.

Overall I like the tires. Still don't have the confidence in them that I had with the PR3's, but Im starting to like them. I have another T30GT that I'll be putting on. Tart snakes out here don't seem too bad. Grooved concrete at times gets interesting though.

I was getting around 8K with PR3's.

Just put on my second set. Handles well. Mileage is a bit low, but that's mostly normal for me. After a slight pressure adjustment I hope this set lasts longer than the previous. Ran the BT023's before they were discontinued. These remind me of them.

Related note. I emailed B-stone about recommended pressures on my ST1100. Email sent on Sunday morning, replied just 10 minutes later. Did not expect such a quick response(Below).


Hi Michael,



The recommended pressures would be 42psi rear and 38~39psi front.



Best Regards,

Kevin Hunley

Senior Manager - Motorcycle / Kart Products

US & Canada Consumer Tire Sales Division

Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations

535 Marriott Drive

Nashville, TN 37214

The Cheese said:

The recommended pressures would be 42psi rear and 38~39psi front.

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Good to know, 42-38 is what I run.

I too have just burned through A T30 GT rear on my ST1300. About 6100 mile maybe I could get a 1000 more miles but I am leaving on a trip in a week and changing it out. A couple of things on these tires I am the opposite of Throttlejockey, although the PR3's got 11k miles I was completely insecure on those tires. I was running 42/42 and it felt like I was riding on worms. The 30GT man I really like them and the give a completely different feel to the bike. Better straight line riding comfort and IMO much better in the high speed sweeper corners and twisties.

Also I just got back from MotoGP in Indy and I was talking with the Bridgestone rep about the 30GT tires. He stated to me if you are running a loaded bike you should run the maximum PSI that is stated on the tires sidewall. This will provide the best overall performance and tire wear. He also stated that shaft drive bikes have a tendency to be harder on tires than chain drive and that bike that are heavy ST's, BMW's, etc with a lot of power will have faster tire wear. He thought my 6100 miles maybe a little low but there are many variables that play in to tire longevity.

Bridgestone is coming out with a new generation of T30 GT for the sport tour bikes very quickly, within the month. They have these for sport bike like the VFR800 (T30 EVO) and will now be out for the heavier bikes like the ST. It will be the T30GT EVO. It is supposed to be better in the rain and have better longevity. It won't be in catalogs until spring, but major distributors will be carrying them.

I have 2000 miles on a set of T30 GT first long trip with them was 1300 miles in 3 days from Iowa to Alabama and back quit a bit of slab but lots of beautiful smooth twisty 2 lane in Tennessee put 500 miles on in the rain love the tires wear seems better than the BT023 I have used before. Hope they continue to wear this way the whole life of the tire.