BT020's in the wet? :o

I was out for a leisurely ride last night with some friends, nothing too serious, just a few hours of twisties. One friend on a Honda CBR125, the other an Aprilia 250... me on the FZ6. No problems I thought, and I'd certainly not have to worry about keeping up. Until it rained... when I felt distinctly uncomfortable.

So, I have about 800 miles on a new set of BT020 tyres. I have done my best to scrub them in... lot of low speed twisties, lots of 'figure of 8's' in a parking lot etc. On examination, a good few of the 'new tyre flecks' (the little rubber hairs' remain on the outside 2.5 inches of the tyre edge, but there seems to be at least some wear over 75+% of the tyre.

In the dry they have been fine, always grippy, and have done nothing to doubt my confidence in them. Well, last night, the road was damp. We took the ride 2 hours or so after a rain storm.

To describe the conditions: No standing water, no rain falling. Damp road, with dry lines appearing in some places, under covered sections there was enough water to kick up a small amount of spray.

So, 20mph, in a village of all places, on a corner, the back end slips out! No problem, I gather it all up, and I am fine. 5 mins later, 15 mph, the same thing but going the other way! Bah! 10 mins later, mid corner, the back end of the bike feels very loose and uncomfortable, and well, by this time I have lost all confidence in keeping the thing on the island at any speed over 30mph!

We got back to the dry, and all was fine again, I was able to push harder, no issues, but by this time, I had no interest in keeping up with the pack, all I wanted to do was go home and get a coffee and work out wth was going on! :squid:

Looking at the tyres today, yes, I think they need a lot more wearing in to give them full grip when leaning even a small amount, but when I have changed tyres previously on other bikes, I have never had this problem... By this time, riding the same way, things have been great (Main experience is with Pirelli Evo Dragon Corsa tyres on Suzukis).

So to my point... I am wondering, how do you all find BT020's in the wet? Is it just me that has seen this issue (restricting it to issues/conditions specific to me or the ride)? or have any of you experienced the same kind of thing in the damp?

To give you tech specs of my setup etc. Stock 2008 FZ6N, I am 5' 10", 168llbs so not stressing things at all. Bike has about 1200kms on the clock. Only different thing I was running last night were some new Bagster Saddlebags I was testing before a big trip I am doing today.

Any help/observations/advice on the tyres appreciated!

I think you might want to invest in some better tired. after 800 miles of a break in they should grip great. I only had, maybe 75 miles on my Pilot powers before it rained and it worked out fine. I read a little brochure on the bridgestone BT016 tires. I like the compound layout on those alot. Very smiliar to the Corsa III

what pressures are you running? how cold out was it? I have been fairly confident in my stock BT020's in the rain...

I didn't like my stockers in the rain very much, but it may have been because it was the first decent rain in several months and all the oil was still coming up.

I ride in the rain on my BT's regularly and they seem fine , most of the time , althought i have had slippage on some different types of bitumen , possibly this is something for you to think about.....

No offense intended but could it be how you are riding versus the tires? What were you doing when they lost traction? Where you on the throttle? off the throttle? Dragging the brake by mistake?

I would think it was you or something in/on the road that proabbaly caused the issue.

Let me ask you this. I am not knocking you in anyway, just want to be helpful.

Were you nervous riding in the rain?
Tight on the bars?
Do you find yourself rolling off the throttle in the corner instead of on?
Are you making more than one steering input in the turn?

Those things will cause almost any tire to break loose in the rain.

Have you read and practiced Twist of the Wrist II by Kieth Code?
I rode with my BT020s in the rain quite a bit, never lost traction.

Normally when we lose traction it is something the rider has done, and not the fault of the tire.
We do things that do not agree with machine/tire design, and it slides. When we do things that agree with machine/tire design they stick really well.

Just my two cents.
Hope it helps.

Hello Mate,

I have had several brown trouser moments with stock BT020's.

One was due to diesel in the wet and the others have been me getting used to the throttles quirkiness whilst riding in the wet.
I do find that I am more tense in the wet and this certainly has an impact on my riding.
I think that they are a good tyre and have used them previously without problems.

Nelly

The BT020s need their time to get to temp, and cold+low speeds never helped them...I hated those tires. The good thing about them was the milage, only that.

GConn said:

The BT020s need their time to get to temp, and cold+low speeds never helped them...I hated those tires. The good thing about them was the mileage, only that.

Click to expand...

Great point about tyre temp. My incidents have all happened in about the first twenty minutes of riding in the wet.

Nelly

I never had any problems out of my stock BT's, they did take a little time to get up to temp but once they did they were stuck. The only time i have ever had the rear step out in the rain was riding around town, bc the roads have much more oil and fluids on them.

I have Dunlop Qualifiers on my 06 now and liking them so far

No problem here out of my BT's, ridden on wet roads or in the rain quite a few times with no issues. Matter of fact I have been very pleased with their wet weather performance.

No problems at all. A few weekends ago on a group ride we were caught in a couple for heavier rains and no problems at all.

Over all I've been very happy with the 020's. I've got 4,000 miles on them and there is very little wear so far.

I have ridden all through winter this year and it's been a wet one. I lose traction all the time, but usually in the same places. Really heavy traffic intersections, bus routes, slow lane of a main road down a hill and certain roads with a slippery finish. Aside from that I haven't had any troubles. Just avoid those places or corner slowly and carefully. If it's only rained just enough to dampen the road the oil makes it slippery but there is not enough water to wash it away. Just about to move on from these tires now anyhow myself. Hope this helps.:thumbup:
Cheers
Mike

Never had problems myself, but I usually take it easy in slippery conditions (especially the first 1/2 hour after it rains).

I ride all year round in the Uk on BT020's. No problems.

Thanks for the replies everyone, much appreciated, and no offense taken from any of the comments and questions!

I have taken some time out to analyze things, and also look at things logically...

First off, I checked pressures etc, all were fine. Temp was between 10-14C, so kind of cold.

Interestingly, the issues seemed to happen within the first 15 mins or so of riding after a stop, which could as some people suggested, indicate a temp/warm up issue.

As for the tarmac, well, it was a mixed bag. It was on some village/country roads in France. Some of the roads are new and of high quality, some take tractors every day of the week, and the host of hydraulic fluid/diesel etc they put down.

As for it possibly being my riding style or maybe coming off the throttle suddenly... well, I am usually very smooth in this area, and rarely have any issues. Same goes for trailing brakes etc. I have coming up on 10 years experience behind me, so beyond the 'nervous in the rain' stage. I have never had the same issue on other tyres and other bikes. I'm not discounting it, but it would seem odd for an issue to suddenly appear this late in the day.

To make things even weirder, I just spent an amazing 4 days touring around the North of France on the bike, and put in 1000km or so in all weathers... *no* issues at all! I was mainly on very good roads, and around larger towns, but it is interesting nonetheless! I did however have fully laden (and I mean *heavy* saddlebags), but the bike felt better than ever... I am wondering if I may need to change my rear suspension setting a little to fine tune things for when I am riding without luggage as I sit pretty forward, and am not that heavy at 165llbs.

Thanks again all, and fingers crossed it all may have just been 'one of those things' and I won't face the issue again now I have the added mileage!

I notice that your issue is with the rear tyre losing traction. Yes, the tyres need warming up to work properly but a rear tyre breakout is always down to the right wrist i.e how much power you put down coming out of a corner. If you have never lost the front end then that is a sign that the tyres are doing their job well and the rider is putting a bit too much power through it. Riding in the wet is always marginal on a bike. The contact patch is so small. It takes sooo much skill and the fact that you held it and didn't fall off shows you have skill. To ride in the wet takes an enourmous amount of brain power - speed, lean angle, body position, road conditions, throttle etc etc. Don't change the bike just fine tune your style and inputs and you'll be fine. ps the BT 021's are quite a bit better so upgrade when you can

I agree that I think our tires are very good in the rain. I did have my front one slip when I was tryng to take a turn a little too fast in the rain, so I backed off. Our bikes our powerful and I just ride one gear higher in the rain to tame the power.

Well, just got back from a weekend away with the g/f on the bike... in the worst weather I have ever ridden in!!

200 miles each way in torrential rain, rivers of water on the road, and 40-50mph crosswinds!

I took the advice from people in this thread, looked at the way I was riding, and am happy to say, I had *NO* issues at all this time around! In fact, it was a huge contrast to the ride out that prompted this thread... I am not sure if it was the change in style, or an extra 400 or so miles on the tires, but they were faultless for the whole time, even in extreme wet conditions.

Looks like my fears were unfounded!