I ordered a set of BT45's and when they came in, they sent an Exedra front by mistake. When I spoke to them on the phone they said that Bridgestone no longer made the dual compound BT45. I don't know if he was referring to that size or the model in general. He did mention the OEM but said it wasn't the same tire. Anyway, I noticed these Michelins were available and wondered ifthey were any good. I sure like the Pilot Powers on my SV but they don't make a rear small enough to fit the GS.

Quote from: gearman on October 12, 2008, 05:07:56 AM
I ordered a set of BT45's and when they came in, they sent an Exedra front by mistake. When I spoke to them on the phone they said that Bridgestone no longer made the dual compound BT45. I don't know if he was referring to that size or the model in general. He did mention the OEM but said it wasn't the same tire. Anyway, I noticed these Michelins were available and wondered ifthey were any good. I sure like the Pilot Powers on my SV but they don't make a rear small enough to fit the GS.

maybe that's why every time i try to order bt45's they go back order ?

guess i'm going to have to buy a busa to find tires ?

The BT45 in our sizes are currently oem on the GS500F and the new for 08 Ninja 250R and the Ninja sold like hotcakes.  There must just be a temporary production shortage as they are back ordered several places.  Only the rear is dual compound, the front has always been single compound.

http://www.motorcycle-karttires.com/glamourindex.aspx?productID=3&LookupID=8

Several here have reported using the Activs and liked them.  I haven't tried them myself.

The BT45 made for the GS-F were marked G spec and were made with 1/32 less tread depth front and rear than the original BT45 and after a while they dropped the orig std spec BT45 in our oem sizes and had only the cheaper GS-F oem tires available.  The new baby Ninja got the original full depth BT45 tires while the Ninja 500 remained on Excedras for oem.  The 08-09 Ninja 250R came with better oem tires than either the GS500 or Ninja 500.   

My local place was out of the original G spec for a while but show them in stock again now.  I use the Roadriders and get much better milage from them than either the BT45 or Lasertecs I've used.  The Roadriders are a bit less sticky though, more to the touring side of sport touring tires but still considerably better than Excedras and cheaper too.  Looks like I'll get about 15k miles from the Roadrider rear and JP just got about 13k from one.

Just noticed your reference to the Pilot Powers for your SV, many have run the Pilot Sport and Pilot Powers on the GS500 and Ninja 500 stock wheels in 110/70 and 150/60 sizes.  They seem to be more popular with the Ninja 500 guys since the larger dia 150/70 sport touring radials that will fit the GS won't fit the Ninja.

I see your from NE Ohio too, I get my tires from Shade Tree in Middlefield when they have what I want.  I live in Willoughby.

QuoteI see your from NE Ohio too, I get my tires from Shade Tree in Middlefield when they have what I want.  I live in Willoughby.

I'm in Canton. If they (Iron Pony) can't come up with the BT45, I'll just order it from Shade Tree. Lately I've been trying to buy stuff as local as possible. Can't see sending money out of state with the economy heading down. Thanks for the info.

I run Pilot Activ's.
Installed (front & rear) in late Jan 2008, 6-7000 kms so far on them.
No complaints at all, good behaviour in all weather conditions.
I was quite impressed when early last July I rode for 100 miles or so under continuous (sometimes heavy) rain: no traction loss at all, of course I could not push it to the limits but I felt quite safe and confident all the way home.

A tyre I'd suggest to buy.

I didn't know a 150mm tire would fit the stock GS rear wheel and swingarm...that'll be good to know since I'm running GS500 wheels on my GS750.

Just fired in the GS500F to the Michellin tyre selector thing on their website..

They recommended:

Pilot Activ's
Front
Sizes :110/70 - 17 54 H TL/TT


Rear
Sizes :130/70 - 17 62 H TL/TT


Would prefer a 150 at the rear tho!!!  So, before ordering, the 150 will defniitely fit a stock 08 GS500F wheel?

Nice one.

I will say, though, seeing only 3Xrwhp, there's no real need for a tire that wide unless you want the looks...but I also don't know if they offer good stickies in 130mm for a 17" wheel.  I know my old seca had a 130mm rear on an 18" wheel (110mm on a 17" up front) and damn that thing would turn on it's ass.

I run a Pilot on the front of my bike... I don't know the exact model but it says "race" on it... Honestly, I dont think I like it too much.. I bought the bike with the tire new and after 3000 miles of normal street riding it's more than 1/2 way to the wear marks in the center. Mainly because it's Race so it's made to spend the same amount of time on the sides of the tread as the center... and I commute highway  .

I'm thinking of going Continental for my next tires.

I do like the BT45 I have on the rear though. I've kinda done some stupid things and the tires held up nice. 1 or two burn outs... wheelie every now and then... in conjunction with 3000 street miles... Still looks like new...

Dan

I went with an Activ on the back 140/17. Front OEM still looks good so I haven't replaced it yet. The Acitv does need a bit of warm up before pushing it hard. Its only slipped on hard corners a few times but it was my fault due to road conditions and being pushed hard. On those slips its always grabbed traction right away and I think I do feel much safer with the Activs than the original OEM BT45s. The OEM BT45 rears were worn when I got them but still had traction and were less than a year old, the new Activs are much sticker and are wearing much better. I commute a lot on the bike (100mile round trip to work) and have been caught in rain 2 times and had no problems in it.

According to the old general fitment guides the bias ply tires in the 150/70/17 and 150/60/17 sizes are approved for fitment on 3.5,4.0,and 4.5" wide wheels.  We have 3.5" wide rear wheels.  They also have adequate clearance all around except for the brake torque rod, some just clear it and some touch it requiring putting a little bend in the brake rod for clearance.  A quick and easy thing to do.

http://www.dropbears.com/u/utilities/tyrerim.htm

For 150/70 sport touring radials some of the tire mfgs approve the fitment on 3.5" wheels and some don't on the US sites.  None approve the fitment of the 150/60 supersport tires on the 3.5" rim in the US but many are running them.  I've run 150/70 Lasertec and RoadAttack st rears on my std rim.

For years the 140/70  tires were shaped for a 4.0" preferred rim but we have some exceptions now.  The 140/70 Roadriders and Demons have a preferred rim width of 3.75" now making them an equally good fit on both 3.5 and 4.0" rims.  The Pilot Activ 140/70 is shaped for a 3.5" rim according to data sheets.  Michelin doesn't include this info on their site but one of their distributers posted it.

http://www.motorace.com/pdf_downloads/06catalogs/Mich%20Active_Macadam50_06.pdf

That 150/70 Pilot activ is rather narrow at 143 mm wide on a 4.0" rim, would be only about 138 mm wide on a 3.5" rim.  I'd go with the 140/70 which is sized for the 3.5" rim.

The oem size 130/70 are more than adequate for the GS's performance but the Lasertec and RoadAttack 150/70 tires sure did look nice on my GS.  They are about 6 mm wider than the Activ 150/70.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500tirelog.jpg

I've got about 65k miles on the 02 GS now and those Roadriders are wearing like touring tires but not as sticky as some of the others.

Some more threads on the activ

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=34051.0

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=29132.0