Any experience with Bridgestone Battlax BT 023 tyres

[Des]

Hi Des, I'm just wondering whether to run them at 36-42 or to put more in the front,fitted them yesterday,even though they aren't scrubbed in yet I road 40 miles home in the wet and they felt great,bike feels more flickable but the old tyres were squared off badly,good news though when the mechanic/tyre fitter had her stripped down the collector box and and swingarm are perfect,this bike had one owner in Ireland from new so I think as we dont salt the roads here nearly as much as in the UK that has been a factor in it.The guy only rode her in the Summer,so thats made my day as they say

Sounds like they are good tyres then! Personally I use stock pressures (36F, 42R) - I maybe drop a couple of PSI at the back but that's about it. Can't tell any difference to be honest, handling-wise. Why not just try some different pressures out? It won't hurt for a few miles.

Good news about the exhaust and swingarm. I believe it's more of an issue in the UK with the salted roads. From what I have seen on the forums, it is rare over here in Oz even where a lot of us live by the coast with the sea air. I won't miss salt on the roads that's for sure!

 

[Al Gully]

This is an Aussie thread, so the only thing I can say about these BT023 tires. "It's the only way to fly.

I have over 10,000 miles on them and it looks like I can go a few more thousand until I reach the wear bars on the left side.

You can get them from motorcycle .com for $207 free shipping. I picked mine up from Two brothers for $219 free shipping. Great guys.
If you ride Heavy "loaded for bears" like I do and pull a trailer . I recommend these BT023's.
I have 2 sets of BT023 GT in the garage just waiting to be used up.

 

[broc11]

they seem fine at 36-42, might try 38 in the front to see if it makes much difference,I think the 42-42 might suit the st1300 better, lota miles done this weekend,well scrubbed in now

 

[Aussieboy]

Just an update. Replaced the rear BT023 at 14,000 Kms a couple of weeks ago as I had a long interstate trip to do and didn't think the old one would go the distance. Have been very happy with the performance. The centre of the tyre was still quite good, but the sides were quite badly worn which was why I replaced it as my intended route included some lengthy twisties. Quickly ran the new tyre in and away we went. Was very glad I had replaced it on the way home when we had extremely heavy rain and strong cross winds for about 500 Kilometres.,
I replaced it with a BT023. If it was not for this trip I think I would have gotten about 16,000 Km from the rear which is a bit better than the OEM Bridgestone. 90% of riding is 2 up and fairly well loaded. Front is still good, probably about half worn.

 

[Des]

Just an update. Replaced the rear BT023 at 14,000 Kms a couple of weeks ago as I had a long interstate trip to do and didn't think the old one would go the distance. Have been very happy with the performance. The centre of the tyre was still quite good, but the sides were quite badly worn which was why I replaced it as my intended route included some lengthy twisties. Quickly ran the new tyre in and away we went. Was very glad I had replaced it on the way home when we had extremely heavy rain and strong cross winds for about 500 Kilometres.,
I replaced it with a BT023. If it was not for this trip I think I would have gotten about 16,000 Km from the rear which is a bit better than the OEM Bridgestone. 90% of riding is 2 up and fairly well loaded. Front is still good, probably about half worn.

Out of interest, where did you get the tyres from? Was it a local place or a national supplier?

Cheers.

 

[Rodd]

Fitted the BT-023 soon after buying the bike (45000 km), Now have traveled 56000 km.
I don't consider myself an aggressive rider. Bike used to travel to/from work every day (12k round trip).
Just completed 2 trips in the past month at 3300k and 1200k one up with light to medium load.

A lot of the distance traveled in the past few days included light rain and I was surprised that I didn't have any grip problems with the tyre in the condition shown in the photo!!

Rodd

 

[Al Gully]

Is that tire still holding air.
Are any of the cords showing through yet.
That tire should go on the trophy shelf.

 

[Aussieboy]

Out of interest, where did you get the tyres from? Was it a local place or a national supplier?

Cheers.

Got them through my Local Honda Dealer - guess he would have got them from the national supplier. Being plain lazy I get them to supply and fit and it does not work out much different to buying them direct over the internet and paying postage. They generally look after me as I buy my bikes and get all my servicing done there. Only 1 km from my place so it all works out well. When I have more free time I will work on the bike myself, but at the moment I prefer to spend all my free time riding it rather than working on it.

 

[billxp]

Tires handled well wet or dry but only got 6900 miles out of the rear.
I only tried them because at the time the Pilot Road 2's were on back order.
Switched to Pilot Road 3's this time.

 

[Maximo]

I've always run Metzlers on my ST11, but last year I couldn't find any, so I spooned on the BT-023. Overall it's not a tire for me, even though my riding fits exactly the profile for this tire. I commute on straight freeways 50 miles daily, and enjoy the twisty mountain roads on the weekend. The good about this tire is that around 8,000 miles I can barely see any wear down the middle (where the flat spot from the fwy usually develops). None of my Metzlers ever made it this far, but the 023 beast just keeps on going. The other good thing is.... none. The handling is horrible. I get very little feedback from the road until I get it leaned all the way over onto the soft compound. So on very twisty roads it's like riding a bike with multiple personality disorder; very hard to find a rhythm in it. Combine that with the rear soft compound being only the edges of the tire shoulder, it's very easy to go in and out of this transition zone. The other handling characteristic is that it doesn't hold a line very well, whether straight or turning. It's like riding on ice, almost. It takes constant attention to keep it where you want it to go. For example, I'll be in the left wheel track in my lane, look down at the clock, and look back up to the road, and I'm almost in the right wheel track. It's that noticeable.

So when (if!) this tire ever wears out, I'll be looking for another one to try.

 

[DeanR]

I've had none of the above problems with them. They will go on again.