An e-mail from Bridgestone UK Ltd
Hi Guys,
I thought I'd update you with the latest CBR1100XX approved fitment
advice from Bridgestone.
120/70ZR17 BT-020W & 180/55ZR17
BT-020L
or
120/70ZR17 BT57G & 180/55ZR17 BT57G
or
120/70ZR17 BT-011E & 180/55ZR17 BT-010
or
120/70ZR17 BT-011E & 180/55ZR17 BT-012
With all of these fitments please use
42psi front and rear.
If you're unsure whether you've got the correct specification of
tyre and you're not sure where to look for the suffix letter, this
is where you look: On the sidewall find the word BATTLAX, this will
be followed
by the tread pattern, e.g. BT-020F - this letter F is NOT the suffix
letter, it simply represents F for Front; a rear tyre will have
BT-020R on the sidewall. After the tread pattern is the word RADIAL
and the
all-important suffix letter (e.g. W, L, E or G) follows this word.
You'll notice from the list of our approved tyres that the BT-010
and BT-012 rear tyres don't have suffix letters and in these cases
there is no suffix letter following the word RADIAL.
If you're struggling to choose which tyres to fit I'll give you some
advice: BT57G Many of you will be familiar with this tyre because
Honda still fits it as original equipment (OE). The BT57s attributes
are great
stability, pretty good tread life and good overall grip in the wet
and dry. If you want to fit this tyre and your dealer tells you that
the BT57 has been discontinued, that is only partly true. To a large
extent
the BT57 range has been superseded by newer tyres, but we are duty
bound to still carry the special OE versions that are still being
fitted by the motorcycle manufacturers. But to be perfectly honest,
these days,
most CBR1100XX riders choose to fit the special BT-020 pairing.
BT-020W front & BT-020L rear
These sports touring BT-020s are by far the most popular tyres with
Blackbird owners, but I'm certain that some riders are not using the
correct specification of tyres.
Up until mid 2002 Bridgestone approved the 'standard' version of the
BT-020 front and rear for fitment for the Honda CBR1100XX, in other
words, tyres with no suffix letters. During early 2002 our
development
riders undertook testing on various bikes using various OE
specification tyres. OE tyres are modified versions of the general
replacement tyre and are designed to optimise the handling of the
bike they were
developed for. The W-spec front tyre was originally developed for
the Kawasaki ZRX1200S and the L-spec rear was originally developed
for the ZRX1200R. Our test riders realised that the handling
attributes of these specific tyres would also have benefits when
used on other bikes. With
the CBR1100XX the W front and L rear have increased the bike's
high-speed stability over the 'standard-specification' tyres.
Because of this we superseded the 'standard' recommendation with the
'W and L' recommendation. This doesn't mean the 'standard'
recommendation immediately became bad, far from it, it's just that
'W and L' are better.
At the start of 2003 the original 180/55ZR17 'standard' BT-020 was
superseded by the BT-020NT, which has a totally different casing
construction. Generally speaking the BT-020NT has superseded any
recommendations we had for the old 'standard' BT-020. But, and this
is the important part, because we no longer recommended the
'standard' BT-020 for the CBR1100XX we subsequently never tested the
BT-020NT on the bike. This is because Bridgestone is satisfied with
our current recommendation of 'W and L' for the CBR1100XX. This is
not to say the a 'standard' BT-020 front and a BT-020NT rear would
be no good on the bike - I'm sure many unaware owners are perfectly
happy riding around on such pairs - it's simply that Bridgestone
have never tested them and we're unlikely to do so in the
foreseeable future and so therefore cannot vouch for their
high-speed stability.
The 'W and L' cost the same as the 'Standard and NT' tyres so you
may as well fit the correct, approved BT-020s.
BT-011E with either BT-010 or BT-012 rear These are more sports
orientated tyres and while either set will perform superbly on the
'Bird, my feeling is that probably a bit too 'over-the
top'. After all, if you can get more grip than you can possibly use
from a set of BT-020s why bother choosing sports tyres that will
inevitably wear out faster? The BT-011E/BT-010/BT-012 pairings will
steer a little quicker than the BT-020 but that is the only real
advantage - if this can even be considered an advantage because I
feel that the handling and steering characteristics of the BT-020
suit the CBR1100XX to a tee.
Regards
Bryn Phillips
Technical & Sales Executive, Motorcycle
Bridgestone UK Ltd
Athena Drive
Tachbrook Park
Warwick
CV34 6UX
