Bridgestone BT-23R

Not wanting to start another tire thread, just wondering on first hand experience of the Bridgestone BT-23s.

These came on the new bike. I have a run to Ontario next weekend and have no idea of typical mileage of these tires. Would they be considered a medium or long distance tire. Currently have 6000km on them and will likely put close to another 4000 before I return.

I just need to determine if I should change the rear before I go or leave the BT on until I return.

Canadian FJR

The best I have got out of BT-23 is about 7000 miles so that pretty close to your 10,000 KM. Jest to say that's about what I get out of any rear tire

I changed both OEM Bridgestones at 13,000 km. They still had some life left, but I hated the way they felt. Very squirmy and they were absolutely awful in the wet. The bike handles so much better with the Michelins I have on now.

Tires are so subjective. I loved the '023GTs and regularly got 8-9K miles out of the front and rear. The OE 'stones on the ES seem to be similar wear wise to the old GT's.

--G

I ran the stock 023's on two FJR's. In each case, I couldn't get 5000 miles out of the rear, and by that time, the front was so scalloped on each side, I pitched it too.

The FJR eats all kinds of tires, but for me, it munched the 023's like a good bag of potato chips on a day I skipped lunch....

I feel like the OE Bridgestone wore a bit faster than the BT-023GTs or Michelin PR2s I normally run. I can normally get about 9k miles out if either of those, but only got just over 7k miles on the OE tire. I didnt like the tire that much, so I may have ditched it a bit early. If youve run one of those others in the past it might be a good relative comparison.

Id recommend throwing a new rear on to be safe. You can always stick it back on later when not on holiday to finish it off. The front will make it to 10k miles easy.

Regarding the stock set of BT-23's. At 7200 miles, the front was scalloped and handling going away fast. However both tires had quite a both of tread left and neither was to the wear bars.

Put on 30 Evo's (that I got with the rebate) and am very glad that I took off the 23's before being totally wore out, the handling was much more deteriorated than I initially realized.

This was yesterday....

The BT023s supplied with the bike have an 'F' suffix (not to be confused with a "front" designation). These are inferior to standard BT023s. The standard ones, in my experience, last longer, the front wears into a 'V' with minimal scalloping, however the handling remains good right to when the UK law requires replacement (1mm of tread, that's down to the wear indicators).

I know many people dismiss the BT023s, but they are my standard tyre, with reasonable wear, consistently good handling throughout their life, good wet performance, and not too expensive.

Thanks for the feedback.