Bridgestone BT023 for ST1100

Trekker Dave said:

Dave,,, I too have these tires on for the first time (put them on last fall and have almost 3000 miles on them). It's a grand experiment! My choice to try them was based on the inability to get Metzlars Z6's, cause I won't go back to Avon Storms (that's my choice, others love the Storms).

We'll know soon enough how they last for our applications.

I personally never get more than 9k out of a rear tire anyway. Depending on the rides and who I ride with, it can be much less. I figure it's the price of admission to this really fun amusement park ride. If I was more concerned with getting longer tire life I would put bias tires on. If I was really more concerned with getting longer tire life I would fit a car tire (and suffer the slings and arrows of the naysayers and negative nay bobs).

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+1....I like the amusement park ride too much!! I too are averaging about 8000 on a rear tire. The price to play for the rides.

I'd be delighted to get 7,000-8,000 miles out of a rear like I used to with the Avon Azaros or even the Z4s. I don't mind paying for the admission to the amusement park, but I sure don't want to have to buy the park every time I go ...

Uncle Phil said:

'd be delighted to get 7,000-8,000 miles out of a rear

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I would be ecstatic if I could get 8K out of a rear tire. Most recently I am getting around 6K out of the last couple of rear tires I have used. You guys that are consistently getting 8K, 9K or more out of a rear tire are killing me. I guess we just have too many straight roads where I do most of my day tripping and don't get to use more of the edges of the tires enough instead of the middle.

My set of BT023's aren't showing anywhere close to that kind of wear - 3K+ miles very little wear as yet - front looks brand new - rear has the very slightest hint of wear. Mostly pretty twisty roads on these.

Uncle Phil said:

Well fellers, I don't believe I'll be using any more BT023s on my ST1100s. Here's what the rear looks like at 2,645 miles (Yes, two thousand, six hundred and forty five miles). When the 'dual compound line' showed up at 1,400 miles I figured I was in trouble. At that kind of mileage, I might as well be using track tires -

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Do you use your rear brake quite a bit? Heavy throttle mostly on take offs? Also, the composition of road surface can have a dramatic effect on tire wear no? Don't see much wear on the sides...or is that just how it looks due to the dust on the squared off part?

I think another aea that contibutes to rapid tire wear is the rear shock damping. Too light of compession damping can cause slight tire bounce and a scrubbing effect which can increase tire wear - not saying this is what is going on but trying to think why there is such a big range of wear people are experiencing. I am sure the tire surface is a big issue as well.

2thdr - Plenty of wear on the sides (no chicken strips left on the rear). Ever seen one where the side tread starts looking like it's got specks of black lint on it? I just spit dusted the middle off to get a good shot of the wearbars. I didn't ride any different with these tires than I have with other tires. Very little rear brake use (although the ABSII does have linked brakes). I do engine brake and I do throttle it coming out of the bends (slower in, quicker out from the apex). When the 'dual compound' line showed up at 1,400 miles, I knew then these weren't long for this world. I saw this same thing on my first set of BT020s. Once they got to a certain wear point, they just wicked away. I had reasonably good tread depth when I left the house (I check this as part of my pre-ride) and 500+ miles later I'm down to wear bars.

Uncle Phil said:

2thdr - Plenty of wear on the sides (no chicken strips left on the rear). Ever seen one where the side tread starts looking like it's got specks of black lint on it? I just spit dusted the middle off to get a good shot of the wearbars. I didn't ride any different with these tires than I have with other tires. Very little rear brake use (although the ABSII does have linked brakes). I do engine brake and I do throttle it coming out of the bends (slower in, quicker out from the apex). When the 'dual compound' line showed up at 1,400 miles, I knew then these weren't long for this world. I saw this same thing on my first set of BT020s. Once they got to a certain wear point, they just wicked away. I had reasonably good tread depth when I left the house (I check this as part of my pre-ride) and 500+ miles later I'm down to wear bars.

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I had the same thing happen on my ST 1300 with the BT023 rear tire. Left home with over 50% and 1100 miles later it was flat bald.

Here is my link to these tires https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?94033-Bridgestone-023-rear-tire-after-1-month&highlight=

MIKE - And you can 'feel' my pain when mine was wasted at less than 3,000 miles. ;-) My idle guess is there is a quality control issue in the process somewhere. Some folks get a good one and some folks get a not so good one!

In the thread that Mike linked to George put up the following post:

George said:

Re: Bridgestone 023 rear tire after 1 month
I'm gonna STick my neck out and suggeST (again) youse 1300 folk try the 160/70/17 BT-020 R. It's within spec size for the 1300 and I get 15,000 out of'em on my 11. STicks juST fine, too.

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I have never run the bias Bridgestone 020's but with all of this uncertainty setting in about the 023's as well as the Storm II's for the 1100 George's comment has got me wondering, does anyone have enough experience with the bias 020's as well as radials on an ST11 to be able to offer up a performance comparison? All I have ever run is radials but I wouldn't be opposed to the bias 020's if they offered satisfactory performance for aggressive riding. And Im not talking peg scraping aggressive but more of the 'spirited riding' type of aggressive. Wet weather handling would be a consideration also.

Uncle Phil said:

2thdr - Plenty of wear on the sides (no chicken strips left on the rear). Ever seen one where the side tread starts looking like it's got specks of black lint on it? I just spit dusted the middle off to get a good shot of the wearbars. I didn't ride any different with these tires than I have with other tires. Very little rear brake use (although the ABSII does have linked brakes). I do engine brake and I do throttle it coming out of the bends (slower in, quicker out from the apex). When the 'dual compound' line showed up at 1,400 miles, I knew then these weren't long for this world. I saw this same thing on my first set of BT020s. Once they got to a certain wear point, they just wicked away. I had reasonably good tread depth when I left the house (I check this as part of my pre-ride) and 500+ miles later I'm down to wear bars.

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Good info Phil...I'll have to watch how my 023's do...just a few hundred miles so far. Can't wait for warmer weather, street cleaners to sweep the gravel and sand away so I can push them.

Ken - I thought the BT020s were radials (at least they used to be! ;-)). The Bridgestone Gxxx (Excedras) were the original stock bias plys on the ST1100 standards. My 02 ABSII came with a BT010? or something like that.

2thdr - I was really pleased with the way the BT023s handled. I just can't live with that kind of mileage since I'd be replacing tires about every 2 weeks when I get going. Just watch for the 'compound' line when and if it shows. And if it does, figure you've got maybe 500-1,000 miles left to the wear bars if my experience is any indicator.

I just got my 023's mounted, balance and on the bike...Will keep you posted. I guess I will know by the time I get home from Moonshine. Will almost 1100 miles one way and since I am going down to WV, NC, TN first to play down there....Man, I hope I can get home on those tires???? Yikes,

Uncle Phil said:

MIKE - And you can 'feel' my pain when mine was wasted at less than 3,000 miles. ;-) My idle guess is there is a quality control issue in the process somewhere. Some folks get a good one and some folks get a not so good one!

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I do feel the pain. I have another 023 on the rear with just over 1000 miles and I reinstalled the old front that had 5000 miles on it. The rear tire looks good so far and I will be making the trip to Moonshine with them next month. We will see how this one does.

Uncle Phil said:

2thdr - Plenty of wear on the sides (no chicken strips left on the rear). Ever seen one where the side tread starts looking like it's got specks of black lint on it? I just spit dusted the middle off to get a good shot of the wearbars. I didn't ride any different with these tires than I have with other tires. Very little rear brake use (although the ABSII does have linked brakes). I do engine brake and I do throttle it coming out of the bends (slower in, quicker out from the apex). When the 'dual compound' line showed up at 1,400 miles, I knew then these weren't long for this world. I saw this same thing on my first set of BT020s. Once they got to a certain wear point, they just wicked away. I had reasonably good tread depth when I left the house (I check this as part of my pre-ride) and 500+ miles later I'm down to wear bars.

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I understand they put more of a carbon compound to help out in wet conditions - almost sounds like this is what you were seeing when you describe 'black lint'. Maybe the tire compound formulation is not consistent.

Uncle Phil said:

Ken - I thought the BT020s were radials (at least they used to be! ;-)).

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Phil -
On the Bridgestone Americas website when you tunnel down to the application chart it lists the 160/70 17 rear tire in the BT020 as a bias tire. There is no listing for an 020 160/70 17 radial but all the other 020's listed in the application chart are designated as radials. At least thats how I interpret it. That and some other dialogue I came across somewhere recently while gathering tire information in anticipation of the purchase I am about to make stating that the 020 radial wasn't available any more for the ST11 is why I was drawing the conclusion from George's statement that the 020 in the size we need was only available as a bias tire.

Now, having said that I did a little more searching and surfing and discovered this Bridgestone site and found the following application chart that lists the 020 as a radial in the size we need as well as the bias 020. But its not clear to me that this site is or isnt applicable to the Americas.

Now Im really confused. I think I will pm George and confirm or deny with him that the tire he is using is a radial and maybe even call Two Brothers for some clarification. Or better yet, if Tim or Ernie is following this thread maybe they can chime in and enlighten us.

Bridgestone used to make a BT020 160/70/17 Radial and this used to be my favorite tire for my ST1100 and I believe was a tire made for the ST1100 for 96 up ABS II - I have not been able to find the radial BT020 and understand it has been discontinued. The last one I found was about a year ago and it had a Honda OEM part number sticker on it. I had tremendous luck with the BT020 radials - 9-11K miles on every one. The currently available BT020 160/70/17 Bias belted tire was originally made for BMW as a replacement and it is still widely available.

ckhkjh said:

I think I will pm George and confirm or deny with him that the tire he is using is a radial

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From George:

George said:

Ken, the tire I use is a bias, but I mix with a radial front. Never had a problem. I get'em from Keel Brothers Tires (formerly Two Brothers) in Lawrenceville, GA. Best tire service around.

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Uncle Phil said:

Well, you both have followed me a time or two D), but still that kind of mileage is pretty useless from my perspective.

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Yeah, I've TRIED to follow you, too!

I just burned through a Metzeler Z6 rear in Under 4,000 miles riding some of the same roads as you do. Let's see, you out weigh me by approximatly 20 percent. And you are faster than me be a factor of, oh, let's say 75 percent. That equates to 2,645 miles!

We need to buy a tire changer!