Yep another Bridgestone T30 Thread

Okay so here is the deal. My 2008 ST1300 I bought a couple of months ago came with PR3's they now have about 9000 miles on them and the rear needs to be replaced. Front has a lot of life. But I really don't like these tires. Riding straight up they are fine but when cornering hard they just feel squirmy. I any running 42/42 psi.

On my 1991 ST1100 I had the T30's and got about the same mileage but the overall tire performance was great. I had a high confidence level when cornering and none of the feeling I get with the PR3's on the 1300.

So here is question one what is the difference between the T30 and the T30 GT? Second question if there is a difference which is recommended for the ST1300?

Just as a side bar if I get 8K to 10k miles out of a set of tires I am good with that. I have gotten as little as 2500 miles on a set of Metzler Z6 tires on the ST1100.

The GT version is recommended for bikes weighing over 550 lbs although it has the same weight rating as the non-GT version.

Yes, the T30GT is a great handling tire on the ST. I felt the same way about PR3s. They had the same vague feeling on both my ST and NC.

Grabcon said:

Just as a side bar if I get 8K to 10k miles out of a set of tires I am good with that. I have gotten as little as 2500 miles on a set of Metzler Z6 tires on the ST1100.

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I just changed out a rear T30GT. Got just under 6,000 miles. A couple thousand of that was some hard charging on some of Mexico's finest curvy roads so, as always, YMMV

Replaced with a set of PR4GT's - new round tires always feel better than old, worn, squared off tires so I can't make a direct comparison. I keep hoping for an 8000 mile rear tire.

On my second set of 30GTS on one of my ST1100s. Only got 3,500 out of the rear which is a bit disappointing but typical so far out of rears for me. Handles nice enough and did not 'triangulate' wear like the PR3s. These 'new, improved' rears are really dropping when it comes to mileage for me - Z6, PR3s, BStone 30GTs. Before the various 'improvements', I used to get 6,000-9,000 out of a rear. When I run the BT020 BMW bias rear, I do get above 10,000 miles on it but I give up a little bit in the handling department.

I got 10K out of two rears and 12K out of two fronts. But i'm pretty easy on tires.

My front T30 is done at 7000 miles.

970mike said:

My front T30 is done at 7000 miles.

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Wow!......to bad the 23 was dis-continued. I'm at 2500mi. on both, and the center mold mark still exist, front and back. And yes, has been reported I DO 'play' hard on occassion........mountain twisties are SO fun.

I have about 15,000 miles on a front T30. It's at 3/32" now and started at 5/32 when new. I wouldn't believe it if someone else posted it without thinking it was all upright highway miles but they are not.

Uncle Phil said:

On my second set of 30GTS on one of my ST1100s.

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When I last checked the 160/70-17 size is not the GT version, and the 170/60-17 is the GT version. So were you running the 170 on your 1100, or are you calling the regular T30 the GT ??

dwalby said:

When I last checked the 160/70-17 size is not the GT version, and the 170/60-17 is the GT version. So were you running the 170 on your 1100, or are you calling the regular T30 the GT ??

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Running the 170/60 30GT (the ST1300 rear). Sorry if I did not make that clear. The ABSII ST1100 front is the same tire as the ST1300 front.

You may want to try a set of pirelli angel ft this time....great tire, no squirm, last about 9-10k, and cost less.
.02

I've read plenty of tire threads trying to come across that one tire that will get some decent millage and still handle good, I know that's asking a lot or it seems like it is anyway.

I know everyone rides different but how can the same tire have such a large range of millage?

Doesn't seem like slab millage and twisties would really matter all that much, I assume, in most cases the middle of the tire wears out before the sides. Yes, I understand how the heat cycles would also play into the equation.

I have been running the Continental Road Attacks on both the 919 and the ST. The ST has the Road Attack 2's on right now. The all around performance is great in any weather and they are normally cheaper than the other tires people are running so bonus. I'm not sure the millage of the of the tires on the ST right now but doesn't seem like I'm getting the same millage I did with the orig Road Attacks. I'll have to look at when I put them on when I get home. I thought the "2" was supposed to increase middle wear. The Conti's have been a great tire for me.

Rekoob said:

I know everyone rides different but how can the same tire have such a large range of millage?

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many different factors, but I'd guess the most important one is the type of riding you do. If you get out on open roads and do thousand mile days, you're going to get more miles out of a tire than someone who commutes 10 miles to work each day. The tire mileage is going to be very dependent on how many start/stop cycles it goes through during those miles.

Well
I ended up getting the T30 GT for my ST1300. We will see if they perform as well as the T30s have on my ST1100s. So I bought them and had them mounted yesterday and as of now I have about 375 miles on them and they are performing as expected for handling. I have a much higher confidence level when taking a lot of hard curves than with the PR3s.

I did put about 4k miles on the PR3s before they needed replacing and based on the info the PO gave me it looks like they made about 11k miles. But I had no confidence in them when doing hard curves. Like I said before my wife even felt them moving in the curves.

So here is an interesting observation about the PR3s. Saturday morning the wife and I went out doing a two up ride, a couple hundred miles. During our lunch I mentioned that I would be needing tires in another few thousand miles. We continued home and Sunday we went for about a 200 mile ride with two bikes, all straight roads. I was absolutely amazed how in a few hundred miles the tire went from looking like they would go a few thousand to an immediate replacement on Monday.