Bridgestone BT-023 experience???

anyone try these yet?

i'm looking for something that provides VERY neutral handling upon turn-in and sticks well in the dry or wet. not concerned w/ wear at all since i don't ride long distances like the majority of RT owners. i'm a disgrace to the genre.

thanks

duckboy

how it handles will be dictated by your suspension setup and bike weight bias, etc.

I have 8k on a rear BT-023 tire. it's a great tire for touring/daily driver. you won't get a shoulder as you would with a supersport tire riding highways.

edge compound is very good. quite sticky. only limited riding in light rain. seems ok. no weirdness detected.

I do use a BT-016 front tire for better feel and turn in. the BT-023 rear compliments it well.

I expect a 10k mile life.

a friend of mine got them on front and rear of his boxercup. I'll ask him about them on sunday.

I have 5000mi. on 023, front and rear. bike is a 1998 k1200rs no cupping, fine grip cold and in rain. paid $116.00 front, 133.00 rear. will buy same next time.

I beta tested a set of 023s on my ST1300 for BS and liked them very much. Very grippy wet/dry tire with good handling & feedback. Set up steered very light and neutral on that bike. Perhaps a little slower turn-in than Avon Storms or Metz Z6s but not at all numb or hard-mouthed like Pilot Road 2s. About third the miles was in the mountains, third flatland back roads and third urban riding. I did not get quite 6000 miles on the rear but that is about average for me. I would have liked them to go a bit longer as BS touts the longer wear of the dual compound rear. I recommend them and would run another set myself. They wore very well with little cupping or odd wear some dual compounds can exhibit.

he has about 1000 miles on his boxercup touring and canyon carving.

So far so good. Took me a bit to get used to them. They don't fall into the corners as quickly as my M3's did. They do feel really stable though and on the freeway they are great. I haven't felt any hint of them breaking loose but then again I'm just starting to feel a bit more confident again going into corners quickly. So far so good.

Just put a set on my GSXR- next week 3000 km twisty ride to, and freeway drone back from Indy for the races. Will post back my findings.

wow awesome feedback guys! keep it coming. the more the better.

thanks again!

duckboy

I hope to be giving a buddy $200 for a set..... as he installed a set on his Gixxer 600 and took them off after 200 miles.

He said the sidewall was too stiff for such a feather-weight as the 600, but that I should be able to appreciate them on my 600 pound Bandit bagger.

I've got a pair on my 1200 bandit. Very neutral and more grip than I need on the road. Another pair going on the firestorm on Tuesday.

g/f has them on her CBR600 and really likes them; bags of confidence, wet or dry, and warm-up quickly. It didn't take her long to wear off the chicken strips.

They make a GT designation too, for tourers and big trailies. I'm seriously considering a pair for my 1150GS; at the moment the only advantage the Tourances have is tyre-life (I have 7k on a rear and no signs of needing to be changed).

I put a set on my ST1100 back in April. I only have about 3k on them but I'm liking them. They still look almost new, and they are very stable on the highway yet confidence inspiring in corners. I feel like I am more limited by the worn out suspension than I am the tires. The cup seemed like it was wanting to cup a little at one point but I check the tire pressure every week or two and keep it at 42psi and it seems to have evened out again.

So far I'm pretty happy. Good performance and price, not to mention one of the few tires still made in OEM sizes for the ST. If I can get 8000 miles or more out of this set I will be very happy.

I mount my own tires and that's one thing I noticed. this tire has a SUPER stiff carcass.

I've mounted numerous super sport tires such as diablo, corsa III, diablo corsa, pilot, BT-016, etc. this tire gave me a workout mounting on my wheel.

imagine the GT version of this tire (bt-023) is even stiffer for heavy bikes.

Just about a year ago I had a set of BT 023s mounted on my ZRX1200. I've got about 6300 miles on them and the rear is down to the wear bars. I'm replacing it this week with another BT 023. The front looks like it will last through one more rear tire.

I've liked the tires, they seems to handle well. The only slippage I ever experienced was on tar snakes, but I'm not that aggressive of a rider in the corners. I did ride on them in the rain for a bit and they seemed fine. I kind of expected more miles out of the rear, but considering the last rear only lasted 3000 miles I can't complain too much. I ran the owner's manual recommended 36/36 psi but i've come to find out this may not be correct. I've got them at 36/40 now it it feels better to me, hopefully that will let the next rear last longer.

9300 miles on my last BT023 rear on an FZ6. Rode through a freaking torrential rainstorm toward the end of its life and had no issues. Couple thou on the new rear, that first front has plenty of life left but is starting to cup.

They warm up quickly, grip tenaciously and maintain a very neutral profile (no awkward shoulder on the rear) even though I don't hit twisties as much as I'd like.

Considering they are almost always cheaper than PR2/PR3, I'll keep buying them.

Here's a pic from the end-of-life on the last rear.

that's about the number of miles mine lasted (9k).

I bought some PR2 because they were only $20 more than the 23s.

I've got 12k miles so far and IMO the michelins grip better. I expect about 15k life expectancy.

Rear 023 on my ST1100. About 9,000 miles. Great tire. Replaced it with another 023.


Front 023 went about 11,000 miles. Looking for a pic.

Just replaced the rear BT-023 on my ST1100 as well. Gave me ~8000 miles, it probably would have gone a few more but I hate running tires right down to their limit. Replaced it with another BT-023 since I like the handling so much.

I have a replacement for the front tire as well, but I'm not going to replace it quite yet. It's been cupping but doesn't seem to affect the handling so I figure I'll run that one down a bit before I swap tires.

I've got a pair on my sv1000, about 8k in and they are looking fine and wearing great. I expect several thousand more miles without a problem.

I ride a fair bit of highway and the rear has flattened slightly, but not squared off and there is still a transition to the edge. It only ever gets squirmy and slips when I am ham fisted in gears 1 or 2. Front is completely round still and turn in is fine, easy to whip it around in town.

Next set of tires I expect I will go one softer on the front (016 perhaps?) and 023 on the rear. It is a good sport touring tire with the emphasis on touring. At this rate the front will last 2 rears. I would also like a softer front because I was able to lock the front wheel braking on dry clean tarmac and I was a little surprised by that.

I would suggest keeping the pressure on the high side of the range, it has worked well for me.

Here's the front 023. 11,000 miles. Replaced with a 023 GT.