Author Topic: Bridgestone S20 (Read 2135 times)

Punkstig · « **on:** 10 June 2013, 02:52:08 pm »

Up until now I've been loving Michelin pilot power 2's on the Tcat and had fitted the pilot power 3 to the srad before i had to sell her, I'm a pretty quick road rider and have to admit i am one of those idiots that will get my knee down at any and all given opportunities!
Due to our lovely 110/70 front we obviously have a limited choice of what I'd call decent tyres, so as I normally throw a sportier one on the front I thought I'd go for Bridgestones new S20, normal price is £95 but Bridgestone is currently offering £30 off a pair, I mentioned this to Matt up at Burwins, Essex road N1 and he honoured £15 off a single tyre, so at £80 fitted and balanced I figured why the hell not!?

Well, I've only done about 20 miles on it so far so she's obviously not scrubbed in but I have to say the first thing I noticed was how much better it soaks up lumps and bumps, and to be honest I've never ever noticed that before when changing tyres, it just absorbs them so much better, give me a couple of days to scrub them in and get confident on them and I'll give my full opinion of them!

Dead Eye · « **Reply #1 on:** 10 June 2013, 03:03:10 pm »

Would be interested to hear back on this

Might use them as my next set though half tempted by a set of PR3's since everyone raves about them as well :P Currently running a set of BT023's with plenty of tread, so not in a rush to change

red98 · « **Reply #2 on:** 10 June 2013, 03:37:52 pm »

dead eye...i ran the bridgestones and the dunlop 207/8 on my 600 ,very simular tyres went through a few in ten years of ownership...got pr`s on the thou and cant fault them

well worth trying on the 600

be interesting to see what those s20`s are like...will need new rubber come the end of the summer

Punkstig · « **Reply #3 on:** 10 June 2013, 03:49:38 pm »

I have always rated the pr3's rear very, very highly, 16000 miles out of a rear on an srad 750 (with bigger pistons, gas flowed head and race cams!) and I wasn't gentle on them,
The 2 times I've paired them I've found it takes me a long time to have confidence in the front, and strangely the more they're worn the happier I was with them, this is why I was putting pilot powers on the front which IMO are just brilliant, and the pr3 on the rear,
as the S20 is in the same field as the pilot powers I figured I could have a good comparison!

red98 · « **Reply #4 on:** 10 June 2013, 04:44:07 pm »

16000 miles....thats excellent,was thinking i woud have to replace mine before the end of the year..parhaps not

bigralphie · « **Reply #5 on:** 10 June 2013, 08:15:19 pm »

Good tyres but my ZZR1400 has done the rear in 1700 miles

Punkstig · « **Reply #6 on:** 10 June 2013, 08:38:22 pm »

At no point am I contemplating putting an S20 on the rear, except maybe on my spare wheel for a track day!

Motorbreath · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 June 2013, 09:27:17 pm »

Some days ago, on my über jacked-up FZS, I scratched not only the peg but also a crash bobbin riding a pair of old BT-021s at a mountain's road. I catched, overtaked and left behind a lot of newer or sportier bikes. I felt like Jorge Lorenzo

I only achieved it before at a grippy racetrack with sportier Diablo Rosso's.

Sport-touring tyres have become so good the last years that there is no need of sportier ones for road use.

Hedgetrimmer · « **Reply #8 on:** 10 June 2013, 09:37:19 pm »

16... sixteen thousand miles ?!

I'm completely, utterly gobsmacked!

Punkstig · « **Reply #9 on:** 10 June 2013, 11:24:54 pm »

Yep, 16 Thousand, I think I had 15 thousand out of the previous one on the Thundercat!

I used to use the bt21’s but had 2 incidents with them-
1- rode it off the tyres at Rockingham international (on a banked corner!

) if it was a stickier tyre I think it would have held.
[size=78%]2- lost the rear end at the bottom of Caledonian road which resulted in- [/size]

Punkstig · « **Reply #10 on:** 10 June 2013, 11:25:31 pm »

And since then I vowed not to use bt21's again!

Punkstig · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 June 2013, 11:27:01 pm »

That's not to say bt21's are bad, the fire crash was my fault for pushing it too hard when it wasn't scrubbed in properly and up to temperature!

Motorbreath · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 June 2013, 11:36:42 pm »

unfazed · « **Reply #13 on:** 10 June 2013, 11:40:43 pm »

Had a similiar issue with going off the end of the tread without much effort with the BT21 and after a trip to Donington and a few hairy moments took them off and Focced them in the bin. Never used bridgestones again.
I find the PR3 good plus they last well, but for handling and confidence I find the Metezler M5 front and rear brillant.
My son had BT21s on a K5 Gisxer600 and was constantly using all the tread. He put M5 on and never had a problem either. Never got to the edge on the M5s
BT 21s were fine grip wise, but were slower to warm up than the PR3 and the M5 and I was not to happy about going to the edge of the tyre to easily.

darrsi · « **Reply #14 on:** 10 June 2013, 11:43:15 pm »

Always found the BT21 rear to be very safe, but heard the fronts are shite!

Motorbreath · « **Reply #15 on:** 12 June 2013, 10:39:50 am »

Quote from: darrsi on 10 June 2013, 11:43:15 pm

Always found the BT21 rear to be very safe, but heard the fronts are shite!

There were early front versions which were shit, you have to look to some little letters that I do not remember on the side of the tyre to be sure

I like the front tyre a lot. Lots of grip but little wear. Rear is not so special, more wear, not so grippy but better wear/grip ratio than anything I have tested before. It is a very safe set I think, the rear always warns you at corner, more than Diablos.

BT21s also eliminated the handlebar wobble at about 80km/h the bike had for years. Great tyres, I am amazed as I bought them because they were the cheapest I found! (except for some ancient Michelin Road 1)

Buzz · « **Reply #16 on:** 13 June 2013, 09:02:32 am »

Hey Punkstig..
I recognise that, it's just down past the Canal Bar, I cycle down Cally Rd every morning!

I'll have a look out for the scorch marks on the way home tonight..

Punkstig · « **Reply #17 on:** 13 June 2013, 09:30:02 am »

Hey buzz, yeah, the scorche marks are still there, just round the corner south of the canal, the council have since widened the path and its just past where the path pulls back to its original width by the parking spaces under the trees!

Punkstig · « **Reply #18 on:** 17 June 2013, 07:16:58 pm »

Well, I've covered 1000 miles on the S20 front but with the moist days we've had the past week today was the first that I got to have some fun, luckily I was given a job to Milton Keynes so I got to enjoy some of the good roundabouts on their grid system roads.
I like them, good feel going into the corners, helps ansorb the bumps, solidly dragged the knee a few times and scraped the hero blobs too.
Are they better than pilot power 2/3's? I'd say very similar, just have to wait and see how many miles it'll do but for the current price of £80 fitted I'm not going to complain in the slightest!

Hedgetrimmer · « **Reply #19 on:** 17 June 2013, 07:57:34 pm »

Punkstig, a request...
If you're gonna keep this thread alive, please remove the shot of the burning Fazer - it's breaking my heart every time I scroll past it!

Punkstig · « **Reply #20 on:** 17 June 2013, 08:05:37 pm »

Quote from: nick crisp on 17 June 2013, 07:57:34 pm

Punkstig, a request...
If you're gonna keep this thread alive, please remove the shot of the burning Fazer - it's breaking my heart every time I scroll past it!

It's a (was a) Thundercat, does that mend your poor little heart!?

Hedgetrimmer · « **Reply #21 on:** 17 June 2013, 08:21:12 pm »

Who can tell in that inferno? Yeah, but that helps, thanks!

unfazed · « **Reply #22 on:** 20 June 2013, 06:29:59 pm »

Anybody read the article in the July issue of Performance Bike
The article is 2013 tyre test, best sporty road tyres.
Metezler Sportec M5 took top honours on the road. Next month they will be testing the same tyres on the track.