What did you do to your CB1100 Today?

[Hittheroad_imp]

80 mile ride with sustained speeds of 65-70 MPH. I see now why most of you have windshields! Completed the 600 mile oil change and adjusted the chain.

[Cormanus]

Had new Bridgestone Battlax BT-45s installed on the bike. The original Dunlops lasted 15,600 kms.

[shdwghst457_imp]

Cormanus, do you feel a difference between the BT's and the Dunlops (before they were at the end of their life)?

[Cormanus]

shdwghst, I haven't ridden very far on them yet and the bloke who put them on told me to treat them like I was riding in the rain for the first 100 kms or so as they're treated with some slippery stuff which takes a wee while to burn off. I'll take the question on notice and try to remember to let you know, although I'm not sure I'm a good enough rider to know whether there is any real difference.

I found the Dunlops fine; I changed in part because others on the forum spoke well of the BTs and because Pterodactyl mentioned to me that he thought he'd got more wear out of the BTs.

Curiously, the Honda manual recommends BT-54s, but I'm damned if I could find reference to them in the right size and the tyre place didn't seem to think I'd be able to get them.

[shdwghst457_imp]

Right on. I think I'm still on track for trying out the Michelins next, currently on the BTs. Haven't had any issues with them, but the back does like to jump out a bit sometimes! On Sunday a Human Sign (here we pay people to stand in the 100 degree heat to hold up signs instead of nailing them to a post) was begging me to open up the throttle, and I obliged, only to kick the back out a few inches twice in the same turn!

[flynrider]

shdwghst, I haven't ridden very far on them yet and the bloke who put them on told me to treat them like I was riding in the rain for the first 100 kms or so as they're treated with some slippery stuff which takes a wee while to burn off. I'll take the question on notice and try to remember to let you know, although I'm not sure I'm a good enough rider to know whether there is any real difference.

I found the Dunlops fine; I changed in part because others on the forum spoke well of the BTs and because Pterodactyl mentioned to me that he thought he'd got more wear out of the BTs.

Curiously, the Honda manual recommends BT-54s, but I'm damned if I could find reference to them in the right size and the tyre place didn't seem to think I'd be able to get them.

That's right. The stock Bridgestones are BT-54 radials and can be difficult to find in CB11 sizes. The BT-45s are bias ply tires. I've gone through three sets of BT-45s on my CB750 and I love 'em. I get between 12-14K on a front and around 10K on the rear.

The stock BT-54s on the CB11 didn't work as well for me. The front is nearly bald at 5,800 mi. (9300 km.). The rear appears to have a few thousand miles left on it. Ultimately, I'm going to switch them both to the BT-45 bias tires. They last longer without sacrificing stickiness.

[Cormanus]

Thank you Flynrider. That's a great comfort. Not knowing much about tyres, I'd have preferred to stick with Honda's recommendation. The bloke in the tyre shop, a rider himself, made a few calls and everyone agreed the BT-45s would be just the thing. Now I need some time to get out and ride the thing.