Tire Recommendation Please!

[mkrasavin]

Hey everyone,

I just purchased my first bike last week - 2004 GS500F w/ ~7,000 mi. Luckily I did some searching and found this great site.
Now I have used the search button quite a bit but I just wanted to make a post to be sure.

I currently have these two tires on my bike.
Front: Bridgestone Battlax BT45F 110/70-17 M/C 54H
Rear: Bridgestone Battlax Rear BT45R 130/70-17 62H

The front tire is fine but the rear tire definitely needs to be replaced.

I'm kinda a novice rider but I'll be spending lots of time on the bike as its my only form of transportation now so I'm hoping ill pick up pretty quickly.

Most my of riding is going to be small city traffic 30-60mph, not much twisting, (illinois is too flat!) but there are a couple nice turns.
I really don't like the view of the smaller tire on the rear now.
I'd like to put on a decently sized tire but NOT bend the brake rod. I would like the tire to be a clean fit with adequate clearance.


From looking over at other posts I saw the Continental Tire CONTI ROAD ATTACK 150/70 is recommended.
When searching for that tire online I found a 150/70R17 model and a 150/70ZR17 model, I'm not too sure what the difference is.
Would having one of those tires be a good match with my front tire?

If not what other tires would you recommend? I have a stock front & rear wheel (3.5" I think?)
What websites do you guys recommend to buy from?
Also is there a way to find out if my tires are Sport Touring Radials or Bias Tires?

Any help would be appreciated. And a direct link to a tire would be amazing!

Thanks!

[The Buddha]

Look for posts from GSJack on this topic.
Cool.
Buddha.

[simoniz]

Keep the speed ratings the same - don't put a Z rated tire on with an H on the front. Replace them as a pair if you chose the Contis. I would stick with another Bridgestone Battlax BT45 if it were me, but opinions on the board are mixed about them. I like them, which probably makes me a heretic.

[surf.seppo]

I know this subject has been re-hashed to death on the board, but after putting in 3k on my bike (2.5k on my new tires), I wanted to add my $.02. 

First of all, Buddha's right. GSJack = tire god.  .  I went with the BT45s that are stock on the newer GS's. They seem to work brilliantly in every single situation, from the wet to the dry. I've even run them with decent success on dodgy gravel roads. Heretic opinion, but ... hey ... it works for me.

[blwnbwtie]

the bt45 is bias ply tired, do not mix this front with the road attack radials.

[gsJack]

Tire mfgs now say never mix bias and radial tires unless approved by the tire maker or the bike maker.  A few years ago most just said to put the bias on the front and the radial on the rear when mixing.  They're getting more conservative.

Metzelers suggested fitment for the new Bonneville is a Lasertec bias front and a Z2 radial rear.  Some of the newer Harley Softail models come with a bias front and a radial rear now.  I ran a 110/80H Lasertec bias front with my 150/70ZR RoadAttack rear and they worked great together.

I'm running the Avon Roadriders now with a 110/80 front and 140/70 rear and they are giving great milage with adequate stick for me at a bargain price.  Since you want a wider rear for appearance reasons and it's your first bike why not just try a 150/70H BT45 rear with your BT45 front for now. 

The BT45 front with a RoadAttack rear doesn't sound like a really good mix to me, don't think I'd try it.  You might have to bend the brake rod a bit for any of the 150/70 tires.  A 140/70 will fit without bending the brake rod.

[theUBS]

I too have been running the Avon RoadRiders for a couple thousand miles.  So far I like them a great deal.  I was a bit of a chicken when choosing my sizes since it's essentially my first bike and also my first tire purchase--went with completely stock recommendations 110-70 and 130-70.  I'm curious myself how much of a difference I would notice had I chosen the 140-70 instead.  ANYWAY, in my opinion, I really don't see any excuse to use a more expensive radial tire if you're primarily travelling in a straight line.  As far as websites go, you'll have to look pretty hard to find anyplace beating the prices at:

http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/

That's where I picked mine up.  The price beat dealership quotes by nearly $50/tire.  Dealerships quoted me around $120/tire for stock (or similar) replacements.  For about $147, I had both front and rear sitting at my back door.   Price was good, the site was easy to use, and the shipment tracking was pretty handy.  I do advise calling around and getting quotes for installation.  Find the place that won't hose you too bad for not buying your tire through them! 

...this has to be about the third or fourth time I've plugged AMT.     Things just went well enough that I can't believe it could have gotten much better.

[mm75658]

you can buy a gsxr brake torque arm if u dont want to bend urs or so i have been told

[mkrasavin]

Thanks for all the help guys.

I think i'm going with the BRIDGESTONE BT45 140/70H-17 REAR.
And next time i'll throw in my $.02c