The 8" silt/baby powder was the crusher. It made getting back to gravel road like riding the interstate! :thumbup:
Bridgestone BT023 rear and S20 front
- Thread starter Lefty
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Great pictures and report! I've really been thinking adventure bike these days!
I'm pretty convinced about switching back to the new BT-023's I think I'll still keep the BT016 pro on the front because I'm getting the 8k miles from it.
Don't talk to me about silt... It's like a fine lubricant on road surfaces and at speed in a turn nothing sticks
I'm pretty convinced about switching back to the new BT-023's I think I'll still keep the BT016 pro on the front because I'm getting the 8k miles from it.
Don't talk to me about silt...
It's like a fine lubricant on road surfaces and at speed in a turn nothing sticks
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Lefty, Cliff, anyone,
Did you feel it wanting to stand the bike up in the corners? I'm talking higher speeds 70++ with pegs down. Apply more throttle and the 023 makes me run wide while the 016 just hunkers down and around you go (in a good way).
I admit its subtle but its there and you must adjust your style abit. OR I might raise the back a bit and drop triple a few more mm to ease turn in but low speed its not prominent as an issue, just higher speeds...
Did you feel it wanting to stand the bike up in the corners? I'm talking higher speeds 70++ with pegs down. Apply more throttle and the 023 makes me run wide while the 016 just hunkers down and around you go (in a good way).
I admit its subtle but its there and you must adjust your style abit. OR I might raise the back a bit and drop triple a few more mm to ease turn in but low speed its not prominent as an issue, just higher speeds...
Poor chain and bike!
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I haven't switched to the BT-023 yet so I can't give an answer but I suspect Lefty would mention it in his report if he thought the was a difference in his lines.
Colder weather and warm up times is where I think there will be differences.
Randy, I ran the BT016's before I switched to Pilot Powers for a few sets before going back to the BT23/S20 combo so I can compare the three of them. I found the PP's to turn in extremely quickly which I thought I like for a long time but realized that they wanted to stand up with the slightest brake or throttle input. Running the BT023R/S20F on this trip made me realize how much I missed the Bridgestone Battlaxes. We did do a bunch of those 70 mph sweepers on some perfectly paved roads and I had no issues at all with holding my line or having the bike want to stand up at all. They took a bit more effort to get over but once there it was like being on a rail.
Like you said, maybe a slight adjustment in your suspension setting might
help but I didn't notice the high speed issue.
When you say winter riding what temperature are you talking about? Just curious as Irise all year round and have often wondered about tyre warm up times.I think as long as the profiles are the same, which I suspect they are, there won't be a big difference in the feel of the combo. I blow through 2 rears to 1 front on the BT-16 Pro. I think the wear factor will be much closer on the BT-023 and I watched a few great, fast riders( Cali rider and Jblk9695) on the BT-23 sets that have made me question why I'm not switching over. The biggest thing that comes to mind is warm up time and maybe winter riding with cooler road surface. In summer I've had great experience with the BT-021 which was the BT-023 predecessor. I only question whether the winter riding might change how I feel about the BT-023.
Let us know what you experience because I know you're fast and might experience cooler road temps sooner than we do down here.
Nelly
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Our winter? Well it's not really winter but cooler temperatures here in comparison to other parts of the world. But what can happen here is our elevation changes and roads temps can change pretty fast. You can be on one side of the mountains where the sun has warmed things up but on the other side it will be much cooler. Naturally tire warm up is more import the more you ask from the tire so you should ride accordingly. In certain parts of the year you can go skiing, load your pick-up and bring snow back to the beach, have a snowball fight and then go surfing on the same day!
Some sticky tires are known to get greasy when really hot. That's also a condition we might deal with when pushing it on the low desert side of the mountains when the temps are well over 100 deg.F. That sun on the tarmac can easily be 130 deg.F! We have some phenomenal year round riding areas and conditions here.
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Lefty,
Instead of "Mr. Cranky Pants" I think we'll name you "Mr. Dusty Pants" from now on!
Instead of "Mr. Cranky Pants" I think we'll name you "Mr. Dusty Pants" from now on!
No joke Cliff. Being behind Cali rider for so many miles my grey riding suit was brown and my tach and speedo were completely illegible!! The dust finally got so bad that I had to fall back to the point where our Sena's quit communicating.
- Wet Traction: OK - tested the S20F/023R wet traction. Tires stuck nicely and I have no complaints. However, 1st rain in months so plenty of nasty on the surface and I wasn't pushing it. I did slip the clutch a couple times coming out of some corners and fully expected the rear to bust loose and take off (2nd gear, 8K clutch dump) and it stuck just fine at a couple different angles. It was only about 50 miles of twists but the tires had good grip. Tried a panic stop on the wet and might have had a bit of slide on the nose but stopping distance from 75 was pretty impressive.
On another note; I repeated something that has only happened once before, right after the quick stop I popped up to a good speed and while braking for a corner I got the nose into a pretty heavy chatter the instant the front brake was applied. I didn't dribble over the yellow but damn it chattering bad!!! IMO - the road surface put this in motion. Its the top of grade on a corner and those coming up the hill cut this corner making it a washboard. It did stop on its own as I was easing off the brakes. It was a entertaining....
- Tire pressure/harshness recap. Dropping the tire pressure 1 psi each reduced the chop and rider abuse but I have to wonder if it contributed to the brake chatter on rough road???? Like dribbling a rubber ball!!
- Sweepers: I found some "dry" sweepers and ran them a couple times. Perhaps not a quick as when it stood up before but there were no obvious signs of standing the bike up. Was it me, the road, tire pressure?? IDK!
Observation and action: I'll be setting the pressure at 33.5F/36.5R and run it.
Two of the best tire review posts I've ever read Randy, well done. :thumbup:
Lefty,
My rear tire has this funny squiggle line up the left side. You see anything like that? Its not symmetrical but looks like line you see down at the carcass level when the tread is GOOOOOONE. Rather "unexpected" to see it. You can feel it with your finger nail to.
If the lighting is good enough I'll try to capture a pic.
Also, I don't get into the chicken near as much as the S20 rear.
PS - Still pretty happy!
My rear tire has this funny squiggle line up the left side. You see anything like that? Its not symmetrical but looks like line you see down at the carcass level when the tread is GOOOOOONE. Rather "unexpected" to see it. You can feel it with your finger nail to.
If the lighting is good enough I'll try to capture a pic.
Also, I don't get into the chicken near as much as the S20 rear.
PS - Still pretty happy!
I haven't ridden my bike since I got home from the trip with Cali rider and washed it good. When i get home tonight I'll take a closer look to see if it shows a similar line. How many miles do you have on them now? I run my pressures a little higher than you do. 37R/36F
oaks
~~~~~
Lines like these? The dust from my garage floor shows them off well. I can also feel them with a finger nail. They've always been there on my 023s -- assumed it was a normal seam between materials or from the molding process.
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Why thank you kind Sir ^^! You saved me the trouble and YES! Just like those!
OK - never Mind! Its manufactured that way!
OK - never Mind! Its manufactured that way!
As if it not obvious that the 023 is a sport touring tire -
I've locked the back more times than ever with the 023 vs 016 or S20. I wish I had a slipper clutch.... Then again, Bambi attack had us a bit squirelly today too!! I hate those Hoved Rats!
Adding to this; full throttle in 1st gear while leaned over at 13K it steps out. The S20 hooks and pulls the nose up. I was just playing and it has its limits. In this case its held most of the time but today the road had some minor imperfections and that was enough to unload the back and bring it out. Its a pick your battle statement - tire life or your life!
I've locked the back more times than ever with the 023 vs 016 or S20. I wish I had a slipper clutch.... Then again, Bambi attack had us a bit squirelly today too!! I hate those Hoved Rats!
Adding to this; full throttle in 1st gear while leaned over at 13K it steps out. The S20 hooks and pulls the nose up. I was just playing and it has its limits. In this case its held most of the time but today the road had some minor imperfections and that was enough to unload the back and bring it out. Its a pick your battle statement - tire life or your life!
As if it not obvious that the 023 is a sport touring tire -
I've locked the back more times than ever with the 023 vs 016 or S20. I wish I had a slipper clutch.... Then again, Bambi attack had us a bit squirelly today too!! I hate those Hoved Rats!
Adding to this; full throttle in 1st gear while leaned over at 13K it steps out. The S20 hooks and pulls the nose up. I was just playing and it has its limits. In this case its held most of the time but today the road had some minor imperfections and that was enough to unload the back and bring it out. Its a pick your battle statement - tire life or your life!
Great update Randy. I suppose this is exactly the experiment I'm looking to gather information on. I think the fit of having a sport touring tire matched with a sport tire may depend entirely on that fine line of one's riding style and limits. I don't know if it's my senior citizen age
or being present at Wavex's crash a couple of months ago but I'm making an attempt to scale back by limits by 10 or 20% on the street. Wish me luxe on that though! :spank: I think if I find I have similar issues with the 023 in the rear, I'll probably switch to the 020 on the back. Oh, and watch out for those forest rats, they'll ruin you day in a hurry.
chroline
Banned
Bottom line is if you don't race or lean your bike like crazy the BT 023 is the tire you want. Just read all the reviews. Long life great grip even in the rain. Can't beat it.
D
Dave.TX
Dang you guys go through tires quickly. I've never run anything other than sport touring tires which get double or triple the mileage of sport tires. My 023 currently has 7,000 miles on it and it's starting to square. I do more slab riding for sure and am on a heavier bike than the FZ6 (almost 200lbs more).
Maybe it's just taken for granted that you already know the 023 is a sport touring, higher mileage tire than the sport 016, just never saw it mentioned. For the average rider the 023 is a terrific tire that will leave you happy. It compares almost perfectly to the more expensive Michelin PR3, you get almost the exact same qualities but spend less money with the Bridgestone. The 023 is not a sport tire by any means but someone can ride it on a track day and, as long as you're not trying to get track record times, be happy with it. For what it is, a higher mileage sport touring tire, it does a great job on the sport side of it.
As for mine I'm looking at it thinking I'll get another 3,000 miles or so out of the rear making it 10,000 miles. There's a lot of straight roads in Texas. I have to ride 30-40 miles just to get to twisty ones but I'm fortunate in that respect. Some folks have to ride half a day or more to get to the twisty stuff. I miss SoCal. It's so damned flat here even in the "hill country".
Maybe it's just taken for granted that you already know the 023 is a sport touring, higher mileage tire than the sport 016, just never saw it mentioned. For the average rider the 023 is a terrific tire that will leave you happy. It compares almost perfectly to the more expensive Michelin PR3, you get almost the exact same qualities but spend less money with the Bridgestone. The 023 is not a sport tire by any means but someone can ride it on a track day and, as long as you're not trying to get track record times, be happy with it. For what it is, a higher mileage sport touring tire, it does a great job on the sport side of it.
As for mine I'm looking at it thinking I'll get another 3,000 miles or so out of the rear making it 10,000 miles. There's a lot of straight roads in Texas. I have to ride 30-40 miles just to get to twisty ones but I'm fortunate in that respect. Some folks have to ride half a day or more to get to the twisty stuff. I miss SoCal. It's so damned flat here even in the "hill country".
