Review: Bridgestone Battlax BT-45 140/70-17 and 120/70-17

[DaBlue1]

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.

[alex.s]

i like the bt45s.

[cuong-nutz]

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.

[Jiggles]

I only got 2000mi out of my bt45s

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

I only got 2000mi out of my bt45s

the video makes it look more like .1mi

[johnjohn]

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.

[alex.s]

so what do you think of the 120 and turn in force, blue?

[NinjaBoyEddy]

Originally Posted by cuong-nutz

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.

What size s20 do you have up front?
I'm thinking of going 120 up front that's why I ask.

[NinjaBoyEddy]

How does the bt45 120 feel? Did you have to mod anything for it to fit?

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by alex.s

so what do you think of the 120 and turn in force, blue?

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

Originally Posted by NinjaBoyEddy

How does the bt45 120 feel? Did you have to mod anything for it to fit?

No modding necessary for the 120.

[cuong-nutz]

Originally Posted by NinjaBoyEddy

What size s20 do you have up front?
I'm thinking of going 120 up front that's why I ask.

I still have the BT16 110 up front. Will a s20 replacement soon though.

[alex.s]

i'm going to try a 90w front tire soon. im kinda scared. LOL

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by alex.s

i'm going to try a 90w front tire soon. im kinda scared. LOL

Doing anything to the suspension?

[alex.s]

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

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by alex.s

.... 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

I was going to say, moped tires need some help.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by DaBlue1

I was going to say, moped tires need some help.

LOL they are the bridgestone moto3 slicks

[Boom King]

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.

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by Boom King

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.

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.

[alex.s]

always make sure your front tire has the same or more grip than your rear tire. my opinion.

[BlueJeepYJ]

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!

[Lil_Green_Demon]

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.

[cuong-nutz]

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.

[cuong-nutz]

@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.

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by cuong-nutz

@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.

The tires have been great. I only have a 1710 miles on them, so they are still in good shape, no flat spotting on the rear yet. I really like the way they feel when lean over and going over cracks and grooves. I even notice a little more stability when the wind picks up or passing those slow, turbulence making 18 wheelers.

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.

[choneofakind]

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.