Bridgestone BT021 review & eventual results

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HaulinAshe

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This report is not yet finished. I will update this post as the miles continue.

The BT021s have caused me to coin a new technophrase, Foreign Object Recovery Period or FORP. I'm defining this as the time period required for the tire (especially the rear) to "re-grip" the road surface after encountering a foreign object such as a golf ball size gravel, small tree branch, narrow & muddy patch of runoff, or one of those infamous acorn patches. See below for more info.

* 0.0 miles

Nice looking tire, but aren't they all nowadays? Price was average, $224 for the pair from SWMotoTires.com.

Can't speak to how tough they mount because I paid the local guy to mount them for me. He said "nothing unusual".

Balance required the average weight that I would expect, but the "local guy" missed the dot alignment a bit too. Required 0.875 oz front, 1.25 oz rear. For comparo, that's much better than the "dotless" Avons I tested.

I did notice that the BTs spun very true, with very limited wobble or runout.

* 200 miles

No slipping or unusual characteristics from the start. I actually worried that I might not be scuffing them in enough before pushing the tire. But the BTs behaved consistently from five minutes of warmup to the 200 mile mark. Turn-in is very smooth and rivals the ME880/Strada combo for handling, and believe me that's good. I think loyal Avon fans would like the BTs over many of the other brands I've run, because the turn in is fairly quick and requires noticeably less bar pressure than something like a Strada.

High speed run, two-up (on a closed course) was extremely smooth up to 135 mph. Gyroscopic response from lean angle and bar deflection inputs was predictable and very linear. It may be my imagination, but I would swear that I can feel the difference in rigidity of the tire between straight up and leaned over. I can feel more of the road surface inputs while straight up, which would make sense given the multi-compound design of the tire. I felt it more from the rear than the front.

Moderate braking into a corner stop yields very little wash-in or wash-out. Overall this is a nice handling tire so far.

* 500 miles

It's been almost all flat lands and slabs thus far. There is a bit of flat spot on the rear, but not nearly as much as I expected and have seen from other brands. Although, the cooler temps could be contributing to the lessened wear. The tires definitely have a warm-up period. Typically takes about 10-15 minutes in the 60-70F ambient temps for the tires to smooth out and handle well. That's a tad bit more than Stradas and less than my experience with Pilot Roads.

* 1,300 miles

Last 700 miles has been exclusively two-up and loaded. Around 300 slab, 200 twisties, 300 slab. I expected the handling to go away after accumulating 800 miles of slab time, but the handling, even two-up, remains good. I ran some HARD twisties on NC-80 and NC-197, some of which was mildly wet. The BTs definitely don't like wet stripes, but then again, neither do I! :)

Balance is still good. Low triple digits (on closed course) remains smooth and minimal vibration. Seems the BTs are holding their shape and tread depth more consistently than anything else I have run. The contour/shape of the tires, especially the rear, is more in-line with the original shape than anything I've experienced thus far. IMO, Bridgestone really has hit on something with the multi-compound approach, at least as far as consistent tire wear is concerned.

Measured tread depth at 1,300 miles averages:

Front

2.9 mm side walls

3.0 mm center

Rear

4.3 mm side walls

5.8 mm center

Bear in mind, that I was pushing HARD in a two-up config in the NC twisties. So I guess it makes sense that I may have scrubbed a bit "extra" off the rear sidewalls while snatching acceleration post-apex. Time will tell just how well balanced the multi-compound is for my geography/road surfaces/riding style.

Now for the FORP - Foreign Object Recovery Period should be measured as an index, where 0.0 sucks and 1.0 is well... a Diablo Strada. :) Stradas IMHO, reach out and grab the road after encountering a foreign object. They seem to possess a will of their own that drives them to suck asphalt aggresively. For that reason they get a FORP rating of 1.0 from me.

If the BT021 has one uniquely distinguishable characteristic, it's its FORP. The BTs will solidly recover from a foreign object, but they will make your "cheeks" pucker before doing so. The BTs seem to grip clean asphalt as well as any tire I've run, but encounter a good sized chunk of gravel, or a speed bump width of mountain mud, and you best be vertical or wear your Depends. I don't consider them dangerous or unsavory, just surprising in how far they travel sideways before touching down and staying locked. Perhaps it's the rigidity of the harder center compound that makes the tire hold its contour and "rise up" more than other designs. I can only speculate.

Other than a FORP rating of 0.4, I like everything about the BT021s thus far. They are definitely one of the better handling and better performing tires I've tested.

FORP ratings to date:

1.0 - Pirelli Diablo Strada

0.8 - Metzeler Z6

0.7 - Avon Storm

0.5 - Metzeler ME880

0.4 - Bridgestone BT021

0.2 - Michelin Pilot Road

0.0 - Metzeler Z4

I sprayed the tires with a bit of cleaner, wiped them down and snapped a couple pics for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

ConcordLoop003.jpg


ConcordLoop005.jpg


 
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Am I to take it that the FORP rating would further deteriorate on a lighter bike?

I can't believe I used "FORP" in a sentence.

 
Yo, Ashe... Save me the time of searching, wouldja? How about posting up the mileage to death of the tires you tested to date. Thanks! :)

 
Thanks for the write up. I was just out in the garage tonight lighting up a Rocky Patel and noticed my rear Storm was almost flat. Shit, second Storm to collect a piece of metal. Only got about 1500 miles out of the first one, and about 5000 out of this one. Oh well, it was almost to the wear bars anyway. Logged on to SWmoto and ordered up a BT021 rear and a BT014 front. Then I read your assessment, I was holding my breath until you said you liked the tires. Now I'm looking forward to getting them on.

Bill

 
Am I to take it that the FORP rating would further deteriorate on a lighter bike?
Most definitely!

I also think the extended "FORPness" of the rear is what contributed to the somewhat excessive (or at least unusual) sidewall wear in two-up riding.

Yo, Ashe... Save me the time of searching, wouldja? How about posting up the mileage to death of the tires you tested to date. Thanks! :)
I definitely need to do that. It will take some digging in the database, but I'll do it just for you!

:)

 
Can't speak to how tough they mount because I paid the local guy to mount them for me. He said "nothing unusual".
I have mounted both of the FJR Avon tires, a Strada E, and a BT021. The rear BT021 is not quite as difficult to mount as the Strada E but its close. I would not recommend the BT021 as a "learner" for someone changing their first tire.

 
Thanks for the write up. I was just out in the garage tonight lighting up a Rocky Patel and noticed my rear Storm was almost flat. Shit, second Storm to collect a piece of metal. Only got about 1500 miles out of the first one, and about 5000 out of this one. Oh well, it was almost to the wear bars anyway. Logged on to SWmoto and ordered up a BT021 rear and a BT014 front. Then I read your assessment, I was holding my breath until you said you liked the tires. Now I'm looking forward to getting them on. Bill
I think you'll like 'em, too, Bill. I put 021 on prior to Park City. Performed well all the way down, while there and back.

 
These are what I'm currently running on the FJR and I love them!! :wub: :heart:

I MUCH prefer these over any other tire I have run. My tire list is MUCH shorter than Mr. Ashe, but to me they rank right on top. Maybe I'm in a lowre percentile, but I didn't like the Stradas. Don't know what it was, but they didn't feel right to me.

 
These are what I'm currently running on the FJR and I love them!! :wub: :heart:
I MUCH prefer these over any other tire I have run. My tire list is MUCH shorter than Mr. Ashe, but to me they rank right on top. Maybe I'm in a lowre percentile, but I didn't like the Stradas. Don't know what it was, but they didn't feel right to me.
The Stradas definitely work you harder than the BTs. And that's not for everybody. Most of the time I don't mind the extra workout and prefer the more definite execution required with the Strada handling. But the lighter and quicker handling tires like the BTs, definitely are a plus when two-up. For once at the end of the day, the GF was aching more than me!

:)

 
I concur. Great tires, but once in motion, tend to remain in motion. Tar snakes and stripes are it's mortal enemy.

 
I got 3k out of the last OEM 020 front and 2.3k out of the last OEM 020 rear, but that was with 600 two up loaded hard Hill Country miles on board. Still, I had hoped for better mileage than that!

I put an 021 on the back before a ride to AR last month and proceeded to rack up about 2k fairly hard miles on the tire so far and it looks to be maybe 50% worn. I'm very happy with the grip and wear so far.

I ended up with an 014 on the front when I had to replace it on this AR ride and that was all the dealership had. I love the feedback THAT tire gives the front end but I'm curious as to how long it's going to last. Might be I use the 014 on the front if I can't get any more than 3k wear out of the stock front tires.

BTW, if your ever in the Neosho, MO area and need help I highly recommend Neosho Power Sports. Talk about a large dealer in a small town that certainly is customer service oriented! They have an excellent showroom with lots of custom stuff like trikes, they had the new Connie, they gots an in store coffee bar, lounge for customers to wait while in service and a very friendly staff. They were going to let us test ride the Connie while we waited for our tire installation if we wanted.

Showed up on Sat morning (usually the busy day for walk ins), got into service, had the tire installed and was leaving in about an hour and a half (that was two of us with front tire changes). Charge for tire, mounting and balancing (wheel was on the bike) was $168. I can't find that kind of service in Texas, let alone the San Antonio area!

Sorry about the thread jack, but kudos to Neosho Powersports!

 
I have just over 6800 miles on my 021s and they will still go a ways. They are definitely showing wear, typical center with scuffed off

sides on the front and starting to flatten in the center on the rear. I got 9400 miles out of the previous 020s, they still had tread left but

the badly cupped front tire was getting unpredictable on tar snakes, so they came off. I'm not sure why I seem to get greater mileage

than most? I ride lots of twisties (often in the company of sport bikes & love powering out of corners) but do few city miles.

As far as the FORP factor, I have only ridden 020s & 021s on this bike, but didn't notice any significant difference (both in good condition)

between the two types.

The 021s seem to like air pressure, I have been running 40/42 riding one up. Somewhere in a forum, I read that the new Connie's factory

spec is 42/42 for the 021s. I'm trying it now and tire seems to like it...seems a bit quieter and still sticks on corners.

Seems to be a topic where every one's mileage varies?

Other than the front tire being noisy, I like the 021s.

 
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I had just put the 021s on before my trip to GA/TN/NC last week. I have to admit that I loved these tires so far. They only got about 700 miles of twisties and show some good wear on the rear shoulders, but they felt smooth and turned in well throughout. I agree on the warmup time - they are a little slow and my Tire Watch confirmed that. But they stuck well and inspired good confidence. Enough for me to break my cherry and wear down both feelers a little (solo, no side bags an empty topcase, and the lever on HARD). Needless to say there are no chix strips on these shoes.

Me very likey and recommendo mucho.

-BD

 
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I tend to run a bit higher pressure than I'm used to but I attribute that to it being a bigger bike and stiffer tires. I'm running 38/40 solo and bump it to 40/42 2-up.

 
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