July 16th, 2012, 08:36 AM | #1 |
Long Time Rider
Name: Blue
Location: Charlotte, NC
Join Date: Sep 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: A lot.
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Review: Bridgestone Battlax BT-45 140/70-17 and 120/70-17
After running stock size tires for the last 3 years, I decided to go up a size on my rear tire. I wanted to test out a little more girth. I ordered a BT-45 to replace my worn out Continental Conti-Go (130/70/17). Compared to the Conti's, on paper they are very close in size, however up close is a different story. I took pictures and compared the BT-45 to an old Conti that had already been mounted and slightly compressed.
I got the BT-45 at Motorcycle Superstore for $100.99 and free shipping. Last year I paid $86 and some change for the Conti-Go, this year the same tire was as low as $99 and as high as $169 with shipping. I have so far put over 4k miles and 13 months on the Conti-Go's. They now look more like Conti-gone. Hopefully I can get a little more mileage out of the BT-45's. Just like the rear tire, I also went up a size in the front. Instead of a 110/70/17, I'm now sporting a 120/70/17. Compared to the Conti-Go's, there is a difference in diameter but not too much in the width. Exploring/Carolina was more than gracious enough to help me get these tires mounted. He schooled me on how to use the Cycle Hill Stand built by No-Mar and the No-Mar static tire balancer. He's got 5 bikes so this equipment gets a workout. His garage is a regular cycle shop and air conditioned too! Here are the specs for the front tires; Continental Conti-Go 110/70/17 Width -4.76 Dia. -23.46 Circum. -73.66 Bridgestone Battlax BT-45 120/70/17 Width - 4.80 Dia. -23.8 Circum. - 74.73 Specs for the rear tires; Continental Conti-Go 130/70/17 Width -5.59 Dia. -24.63 Circum. -77.33 Bridgestone Battlax BT-45 140/70/17 Width - 5.70 Dia. -24.7 Circum. - 77.58 Fit The rear tire gave us a little fight but we managed to get it on. Poor Bill couldn't figure out why it was so tight until I told him it was a bias ply tire, which has a much stiffer sidewall than a radial. The front was a lot easier and both balanced out real well. Both tires look good with little evidence of pinching on the rim. In the stock configuration (14/45 sprocket combo), this tire would be really tight fit in the swingarm, but doable. Because the sidewall is so stiff, there's little chance of sidewall flex. My wheel is pulled back approx .12mm, which makes for plenty of clearance in the swingarm. Handling While we were mounting the tire it was raining and was raining right up till the time we finished, so my first test on these new tires was going to be 8 miles back home on rain slick roads. Because the tires were brand spanking new I didn't push them, but they were very, very stable and never felt like they would slide out. Honestly I really couldn't tell the road was wet except for the fact that I could see it. About 2 miles out from the house it was drizzling, but again the tire felt solid for turning on wet surfaces. On a dry warm surface you can definitely feel the stickiness of these tires. Much better than the Conti's. Good with acceleration out of the corners, tracks well while leaned over. No sketchiness when transitioning from side to side. As far as the Ninja's "flickability" goes, on these tires the bike feels a slight bit heavier, so that it's not as quick to go over, but a slight adjustment of the riding style fixes that quickly. The bike actually feels like it has the handling of a bigger bike. With a little more width (both front and back) the bike leans over a tiny bit more. The Conti's, even when they were newly mounted had a very slight handlebar wobble around 45 mph. The BT-45's are well balanced and exhibit no such wobble. The small change in front wheel diameter did make a small change in the speedo reading. Before the speedo read approx 5 mph faster, now it is an avg. of 4 mph faster than actual speed. I'll be able to put more time and distance on these tires @ The Ninja 250 Rally in August to see how they really perform. Last futzed with by DaBlue1; September 10th, 2012 at 03:17 PM. |
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July 16th, 2012, 01:44 PM | #3 |
RIP Alex
Name: Cuong
Location: Houston, TX
Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): '10 250r, '09 265r Posts: A lot.
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I might give them a try after I wear out my S20s. A downgrade but I want to see what kind of mileage I can get out of them. I managed to get roughly 7k out my BT16s.
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July 16th, 2012, 01:51 PM | #4 |
Jigglin' your Jiglets
Name: Sean
Location: San Jose, Ca
Join Date: Jun 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2009 K1300S, 2013 Ninja 300, 2011 Ninja 250R, Faster than Unregistered's ninjette Posts: Too much.
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I only got 2000mi out of my bt45s
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July 16th, 2012, 04:29 PM | #6 |
ninjette.org member
Name: John
Location: Caledonia, Ontario, Canada
Join Date: Jul 2010 Motorcycle(s): Honda, Buell, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha Posts: 170
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BT45's are dual compound tires you should get great milage out of them. previous poster must be spinning the wheels. I use Bridgestone BT45's on the rear and Avon AM26 Roadriders on the front. Both bias belt tires. Grip is not an issue. These are on a 2001 ZZR 250.
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July 16th, 2012, 04:59 PM | #8 |
ninjette.org guru
Name: Eduardo
Location: Hollywood, Calirfnia
Join Date: Mar 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Kawasaki Ninja 250r special edition Posts: 286
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July 16th, 2012, 04:59 PM | #9 |
ninjette.org guru
Name: Eduardo
Location: Hollywood, Calirfnia
Join Date: Mar 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Kawasaki Ninja 250r special edition Posts: 286
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How does the bt45 120 feel? Did you have to mod anything for it to fit?
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July 16th, 2012, 05:30 PM | #10 |
Long Time Rider
Name: Blue
Location: Charlotte, NC
Join Date: Sep 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: A lot.
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I like it. It feels like it's heavy, but it's just the tire grabbing better. At slower speeds you can tell it the most, higher speeds it's really stable but still easy to get over. Not a lot more force needed to get it to turn though. To me the 110's seemed to follow grooves too much when leaned over. Not so much with these 120's
No modding necessary for the 120. |
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July 16th, 2012, 05:35 PM | #11 |
RIP Alex
Name: Cuong
Location: Houston, TX
Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): '10 250r, '09 265r Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 2
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I still have the BT16 110 up front. Will a s20 replacement soon though.
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July 16th, 2012, 06:00 PM | #13 |
Long Time Rider
Name: Blue
Location: Charlotte, NC
Join Date: Sep 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: A lot.
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July 16th, 2012, 06:35 PM | #14 |
wat
Name: wat
Location: tustin/long beach
Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much.
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its at 15w oil, stock springs with added preload set for 30mm sag. no emulators or special valving. forks are at 20mm on top of the triple with stock rear height currently. i had an r6 shock on the rear before but i didn't like the setup i had which took me from about 130mm travel down to about 100mm on the rear, so i put the stock rear shock and linkage back on. it seems like the rear shock is less important on these bikes but i think i'm going to make a new pivot knuckle to get back the 3cm lost travel and go back to the r6 shock just for the damping control. the tires will be the bridgestone slicks. not sure about compound details or anything yet. i will probably need to make some changes to stiffen things up im thinking. probably drop the forks down to 5mm just cause of the tiny front tire
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July 17th, 2012, 05:53 AM | #15 |
Long Time Rider
Name: Blue
Location: Charlotte, NC
Join Date: Sep 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: A lot.
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July 17th, 2012, 08:28 AM | #17 |
So, where's the reverse?
Name: Anson
Location: Ontario, Canada
Join Date: Nov 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: A lot.
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I'm considering switching out the rear and going with the BT45; either in 130 or 140. Probably going to leave the crappy stock IRC on the front though. Hopefully, that doesn't cause any issues.
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July 17th, 2012, 09:04 AM | #18 |
Long Time Rider
Name: Blue
Location: Charlotte, NC
Join Date: Sep 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: A lot.
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To be honest, you may want to go ahead and get a matching front tire. Either size BT-45 is going to grip much better than that IRC, that's probably loosing what stickiness it had.
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July 17th, 2012, 09:46 AM | #19 |
wat
Name: wat
Location: tustin/long beach
Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much.
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MOTM - Oct '12, Feb '14
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always make sure your front tire has the same or more grip than your rear tire. my opinion.
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September 6th, 2012, 08:12 PM | #20 |
Lets go ride!
Name: Jeff
Location: Kennesaw, GA
Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 650 Posts: 234
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HOLY CRAP! I just installed this setup on my 09 coming from the worn squared IRC's. WOW! It was like going from Flintstones rock wheels to riding on clouds! Highly recommended! Going to really test them out this weekend!
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September 7th, 2012, 03:55 PM | #21 |
Winging It In Life
Name: Umar
Location: SoCal
Join Date: Aug 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2010 250R; 2011 250R (sold) Posts: A lot.
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Nice, OP. I've got the same rear tire, except mine is a 140/80-17. Front is still the stock one, but I'll be switching it up to a 120 soon enough.
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September 10th, 2012, 09:22 AM | #22 |
RIP Alex
Name: Cuong
Location: Houston, TX
Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): '10 250r, '09 265r Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 2
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Well I killed the sides of my front 110 BT-16 and installed a used 120 BT-16 yesterday. As @DaBlue1 mentioned:
The 120 front makes the bike feel heavy when tipping over into a turn due to the increased width and contact patch. Also the tire profile was a whole lot rounder and less of a V as compared to the 110. Takes more effort to turn in but after that, the front feels really stable in turns with bumps and cracks. I'm still running a 150/60/17 rear S20.
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October 23rd, 2012, 02:05 PM | #23 |
RIP Alex
Name: Cuong
Location: Houston, TX
Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): '10 250r, '09 265r Posts: A lot.
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@DaBlue1, so how are the 45s treating you so far? Wear, grip, handling, etc., I'm thinking about taking the plunge and switching to 45s.
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October 23rd, 2012, 03:54 PM | #24 | |
Long Time Rider
Name: Blue
Location: Charlotte, NC
Join Date: Sep 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: A lot.
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Quote:
I got a good opportunity to test them in the rain and the twisties back in August during the Ninja 250 Rally. Really stable and confidence inspiring in those riding conditions. I'd buy them again for the way I ride. |
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October 23rd, 2012, 04:22 PM | #25 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: .
Location: .
Join Date: Feb 2011 Motorcycle(s): . Posts: Too much.
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I liked everything about mine except the way they wore on my pregen. They seem to be fine on newgens though, so that's not really a concern.
If you want a tire that grips well, turns in predictably, and gets very good wet grip, the BT45 is a great tire. |
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