New Tire Time

[Smoky14]

Well the bandit needs new shoes. Has anyone tried the T30 bridgestones yet? I'm currently running BT023's and they have been good. I deal mostly with dry roads and was thinking about Mich pilot road 2.

Any opinions would be appreciated. I'm no longer in the business so I've lost touch with what is a good tire for my style of riding, spirited but not crazy like in my youth.

Smoky the venerable

 

[EdwardC]

I have a pair of T30s on my Suzuki GS500 that I put on earlier this year. I grabbed a wider 4.5" Katana wheel to get a 150 on the rear. I was running Pirelli Sport Demons before.

I can't say anything about longevity, but I'm really liking the tires so far, grip very well for my needs, and they were easy to install by hand. I did a static balance and only needed to add 1/4 ounce.

My old tires were a little squared off from commuting, so the turn-in of the new tires seemed like a huge improvement/lighter steering. I'm not much of a spirited rider, most of my riding is a 10 mile round trip commute. When I occasionally lean it over a little more on turns on switching lanes, they tires have felt solid. I would definitely recommend them over all.

From my research before, the few comments I found were that they weren't too far off from the previous 023s, very similar design. Possibly just a minor update combined with a new part naming scheme to fit with Bridgestone's new nomenclature.

 

[29662]

I just bought a Pilot Road 2 for the rear on my vfr800 to replace my Pirelli Diablo. Not a lot of feedback for you yet. But my brother has a bandit 1200 and he also uses Michelin's and he swears by them. Best prices I've found so far are at Jakewilson.com.

Keep the rubber side down.

 

[JetStar]

I have PR2's on my FZ1 and the FJR. I like them. Next time I'll use them or PR3's.

 

[Franklim]

Had used 2 sets of PR2 and 1 set of PR3 on my FA. PR2 are good in dry and wet and long lasting too. PR3 are good but dont last long .Both are good. Take your pick. I only use Michelin tyre too.

 

[02SE]

I have several friends who are MSF instructors, and Roadracing instructors, that liked the BT023, and now like the T30 more.

According to them they offer about the same mileage as the BT023, but have better grip and handling under all circumstances.

Ron Haslam uses the T30's on his Roadracing school bikes. Now I'm sure he gets them for free, but you wouldn't use even a free tire if it was worthless for grip.

As for the Michelin's, my Sister used the Pilot Road 3's on her R1200RT, after the stock Metzeler's wore out. She liked the PR3's better then the OEM Metzeler's.

Now she has a recently installed set of Pilot Road 4's. Though she only has about 1000 miles on them, she reports that they are an improvement over the PR3's in dry and wet grip, and feel.

She has the Standard PR4's, as opposed to the other PR4 options which are GT, and Trail.

 

[sirgerman]

is you want to go cheap and long miles go for shinko 009

 

[xr650boy]

I'm a big fan of the PR2. Favorite tire for my FJR1300. Not bad on my Aprilia Tuono either. The PR2s are good enough I feel confident dragging the pegs on the FJR at 80-90mph. Good mileage too.

Pirelli Angel STs aren't bad. Better than Dunlop Roadsmarts in terms of mileage and grip.

As for a true sport tire, I like Dunlop Q2 and Q3. Both have done well for me on track days, and they feel great on the street. Great enough that it's almost worth the reduced mileage compared to a sport touring tire on my Tuono.

 

[ammolab]

Put PR 3s on the R1200R when the OEM tires were gone @ 9000. The PR 3s are good to go @ 17000 miles with many more to go!