I am a new rider, no racer, but rocking the bt35's just can't be save. I am lookin at the roadriders in 110/70
140/70. An extra $70 could get me the 45/46 radials. Is it worth it? I know anything is an improvment but could use some advice or opinion. Bought my bike with every modification(rejet,v&h,k&n,progressives,15t,kat shock,braided line,newer tank and plastic, new caliber, bars,grips,f-16,sproket,chain,LED) and beat-up bt"s, crazy.
If all you do is commuting and the occaisional twisty ride, you wont NEED radials, the advantage of them is a better host of tires available to you, such as pilot powers and such, which offer softer and better gripping rubber compounds. they're handy when you're riding lots of twisty roads, are in the mountains, or like to do a lot of trackdays.
This is my understanding anyways. if you're a new rider, BT45's are good tires to use, I had a set on my EX500, and pushed the hell out of that bike, never once slipped or felt unstable.
I also have stock BT45 on my 04 GS. I gotta say I don't like them. I'm also relatively new rider and they don't seem to be a good tires. Maybe when they're fresh... My tires are only 3 years old and they are almost as hard as plastic... :dunno_white:
I think I'll go with Sport Demons next season just to see how big is the difference.
cheers
KaMeL
The BT35s were replaced by the BT45s about 10 years ago so you must not ride too many miles per year, those tires are good for only 8-10k miles for most of us. Maybe you meant BT45s. Sport touring radials last longer for high milage riders, perform a bit better, and can be more economical in the long run.
Todays best bias ply sport touring tires are almost as good as st radials in everyday use, a big improvement over just a decade ago. The Activs, Demons, and the Lasertecs are the latest ones with up to date compounds and tire profiles. The older BT45s were updated in the last year or two with new compounds and profiles and may be close to the others now.
I just replaced a 150/70 RoadAttack st radial rear with a 140/70 Roadrider and after a couple thousand miles I'm quite impressed with it so far. I've run Z2, AV36, and AV45 rear st radials on my GSs and don't know if I'll go back to radials, time will tell. Also ran Lasetecs bias and now the Roadrider bias and they suit my needs for now. I got about 10k miles from the rear Lasertec and expect about the same from the Roadrider while I got 13-14k miles from the radial rears. You do the math, don't forget the extra shipping and mounting costs on the shorter lived bias tires.
Tires I've used and miles used on my GSs:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500tirelog.jpg
Thank you for the responses. :thumb:
It seems the roadriders will suit my needs. And ya they"re the ancient bt35's. My bike is a 90' with 30,000 so those tires seen too many days. Original seems unimaginable though, the front tire acually looks half decent.