Do BS 023's such or do ST's eat tires???

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

BaileyRock said:

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 a rapid wearing tire?
Thanks

Click to expand...

........both, when ham-fisted with the throttle.

Those tires do go away quick.

BaileyRock said:

I just installed a new BS T-30 front before today's 280 mile two up ride which made the rear feel somewhat worse.

Click to expand...

If it's a plain T30, the ST is going to chew it up and spit it out in no time.

Any old tire that fits isn't going to give you good life because the ST puts extraordinary demands on its rubber. Some of the major manufacturers have versions of their sport-touring tires that can handle to load, but you have to check the fitment guides to find them. For the ST, the OEM tire was the BT020F, which is specially built for the load and is still the only Bridgestone model approved by Honda for the bike. I ran several sets of those to 10,000 miles. (Honda was supplying Dunlop D220s for awhile, but nobody seemed to like them.) The current ST-capable Bridgestone is the T30GT; I'm a few thousand miles into my first set of those and like them a lot.

There are other serviceable choices, and you'll find lots of other threads about them here and elsewhere.

--Mark

They grip nice, though right?

+1 to Jim's list. Will add:
D. Underinflation increases wear rate of the tires.

The GT version of the 023 gives better wear than the standard version. The first 023 I ran lasted about 5800 solo miles. The GT version lasted about 7500-9000 miles.

The ST is a heavy bike with enough horsepower to eat tires if you are so inclined.

Kind of like the IndyCar/NASCAR guys, it's all about tire management. If you take off like a jack rabbit every time from a stop, yep it's gonna eat 'em up. Road surface plays a big part. Since you are from around Nashville and maybe like riding around the Blue Ridge Parkway/Cherohala/Dragon area, those roads eat up tires! I have had experience twice where I had to buy tires while down in that area. Now I know to go with new tires on the ST. I just put on a new front BS T-30 and the old T-30 had about 13,000 miles on it. The rear, I'm a Darksider and love it! Hankook for me forever.

Thanks guys, all tires are the extra load GT versions. But I'm into the wear bars on the sides at 700 miles, I don't think I've ever done that on a sport bike unless it was a track tire!
42 psi front & rear every ride.
I only ride twisties and straight roads just piss me off. I do ride hard, but am smooth and generous on the throttle.
I avg. 1600-2200 miles out of a rear sport tire on the back of my VFR until I switched to a Michelin PR2 that I avg 3300 miles out of.

I guess you will be buying lots of tires.

I ran a set of the old (non-GT) 023s a long time ago; got about 10K out of them. They were good handling tires, but I've liked the Michelins better. I'm currently running a set of Pilot Road 4 GTs. The rear is coming up on 12K. It could go farther, but I'm planning a trip in a couple of weeks and don't want to risk running bald. The last bit of tread seems to go more quickly than the first, and handling deteriorates when the tires are close to the end of their tread life. Try the PR4GT. Good grip, good wet performance, good mileage.

The PR4 GT would be on my short list.
I was hoping I could get away with buying fewer tires on the ST as I've run close to 40 sets of tires on my 02 VFR so far!
Got to Pay to Play I guess!

BR

If you ride the ST like you've ridden the VFR, you will surely be visiting the tire dealers frequently. The rubber has to work awfully hard to keep that dancing Hippo from sliding off of the road!

Want long tire life? Buy a cruiser! Or go Darkside...

I hear ya!
What is the Darkside btw?

BaileyRock said:

What is the Darkside btw?

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Running a car tire on the rear of a motorcycle.

Popular on GoldWings and some ST13's. There's a whole motorcycle sub-culture around it.

023's go away fast, and start to handle like arse about halfway to hopping the twig.

BaileyRock said:

I hear ya!
What is the Darkside btw?

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Don't do it...

Put a car tire on the back - problem solved.

Research the Darkside threads. Lots of good info over there.

paulcb said:

Running a car tire on the rear of a motorcycle.

Popular on GoldWings and some ST13's. There's a whole motorcycle sub-culture around it.

Click to expand...

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!

BaileyRock said:

The PR4 GT would be on my short list.
I was hoping I could get away with buying fewer tires on the ST as I've run close to 40 sets of tires on my 02 VFR so far!
Got to Pay to Play I guess!

BR

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The Angel GT's hold out well too, I've tortured the current set and need a front after 7500 miles, the rear would go another 1500 if I weren't particular about changing them together. The suspension on my current ride eats fronts much faster than the ST13 did - i'll bet they would both last me about 9K, ridden hard, on the ST13. YMMV

I'm running the Angel GT (and darkside rear) on my 1100 and like it. I would have to check mileage, but it's held up at least as well as the Avon Storms I've ran in the past. Works well in the rain, too.