jeephawk

Just thought to post here since this tire is new and some might run it on their SH.....
I bought my bike with Bridgestone Battlax bt016 on it. This is my first liter bike. I haven't done any track time but I am pretty close to getting my chicken strip touched. That basically shows my experience level. (novice)
Anyways the 016s seemed like a good tire. I rode last spring until just recently on them before they went out. I got about 6000 on both and rear tires. Grip seemed fine. Never had it slide out. The rear center wore pretty quickly for a commuter tire in the middle. It seemed to wear out faster after a very hot long straight trip on time. After that the rear went quickly.

Anyways I researched tires. I wanted to ride through the winter and on into this year. I wanted a good all around tire that would handle wet roads, still have grip for corners and had a harder center patch for commutes.....
I ended up getting the Bridgestone BT023GT. The GT is for heavier bikes like ours. Basically has harder center material for heavier bikes.
I ended up running the rear first and ran the 016 in the front for a bit.
The rear seems to be the same as the rear 016 so far. Ive put over a 1000 on it so far and wear is fine. Grip is fine. Wet weather is fine.

I just got the front and immediately i noticed that it changed how the Superhawk steers.... I mean by that it felt heavy in the front vs the used 016. Now I wore the sides pretty bad on the front to where it had a very pronounced arc to it. I think that has a lot to do with it. The front does feel really reliable though, if that makes any sense. It just is taking some time to get used to. I cant flick it into the corner as quickly as before. Now its more of a controlled preloaded feel if that make sense. But it seems to grip fine. It has alot of channels in the front tire so wet weather should be no problem. These tires have a softer sides to them too for dry cornering. Dual compound tire.

My opinion of these tire is that I would recommend this tire to commuters or riders of superhawks that want a good all around tire that doesn't wear out quickly. Ive read of people getting 10k on these. I picked up the rear for 120.00 and the front for 111.00

Anyways not trying to sound like a Bridgestone commercial or anything. Just want to put it out for Superhawk owners. You might want to check them out if you like Battlaxes.

superhawk22

The change in the feel you notice is because of the shape of th tire, the 016 is a more agressive tire on the boarder of a track day tire. The 023 is a true commuting tire, the difference is the 016 is made to corner so it has a more triangular shape, while the 023 is a true commuting tire so it focuses more on straight line stability. Both are good tires but have different attributes.

superhawk22

Oh and you can adjust suspension to get that flickability back by shiming the rear shock or raising the forks in the tripled.

Wolverine

I get 10k from my front and about 8k rear on my Metzeler Z6's. I don't have any grip issues with them either. I guess once you get comfortable w/ a certain brand you tend to stick w/ it. I had Z4's on my old Hawk GT and like the grip/mileage. When I bought the VTR it had Conti's and about 4k the rear was toast. I just can't afford to put rubber on it that frequently. I actually thought about getting a stickier front this time but found a NOS (now they're Z8) front on fleabay for $75. Maybe someone who reads this could chime in and tell me if that's a bad idea... an M5 front w/ the Z8 rear.

superhawk22

I sold tires for years ALL tire reps told us the same thing, "never mix tires, don't even mix an old front with a new rear." That being said racers mix tires all the time some tires react differently than others, I had a matching set once that gave me a shake when together put a mixed rear on and it went away. Unfortunately the only way to know it has an adverse effect is to mount and see. Sorry

speedkelly@aol.com