02-07-2014, 09:12 AM
BT54's are readily available stateside; check out http://motorcycle.chaparral-racing.com/search?w=bt54, among others. Prices are quite good, too. You're just limited to the stock sizes.
I have the Bridgestones from the factory with almost exactly the same miles. I don't see any weirdness with the tires; I'm not sure what you mean by cupping? Were your tires under-inflated by any chance? The recommended pressure is quite high (42 psi if memory serves).
Quote:, and the rear was not quite wide enough to match the lean angle available from the front.
That's the way every motorcycle I've ever seen is. As long as the rear tire is wider, the front will not come close to it's maximum lean angle. It's just not physically possible. The difference on my CBR is almost comical. Quite frankly, I don't want the front tire anywhere near its limit. The rear can loose a bit of traction and its recoverable. The front, not so much. I think the Dunlops may be more prone to cupping; I was hoping to use the Bridgestone radials to compare but the lack of the 150/70 over here got me to try the BT45. No tire pressure issues; I check pressure before every ride and have an air compressor and receiver in my garage, so no excuses not to have them exactly right before every ride. Always ran 36 psi front.
It is physically possible to use more of the front than with aggressive trail braking at lean, especially at track or supersport tire pressure settings; under heavy braking the front tire's contact patch can double in size whilst straight up and can still get grow enough during deep cornering/braking to compress the sides of the front tire to very close to the edge. Supersport tires vary quite a bit with some front tires falling off almost to vertical, but under heavy braking/cornering loads this will flatten out a great deal.
Riding style, tire pressure, brand of tire, all of it figures in.
(02-07-2014, 09:10 AM)AzBob_imp Wrote:(02-07-2014, 03:29 AM)Red Mist_imp Wrote: This thread was initially posted to talk about how much I like the BT45's with the 150/70 rear. I still do, but there was a concern I had regarding tire clearance.
This seems to be resolved and I can't determine that there is any lack of clearance. Marks on the tire were apparently from some other cause.
The combination works very well, I like the handling better with the beefier rear tire with more available sidewall. Overall gearing also goes up a little, so your fuel mileage will improve a little over the stock tire. Acceleration doesn't seem to be affected noticeably.
As with anything, departure from stock can cause anomalies. The rest of this thread explains the situation.
YMMV
I have the Bridgestones from the factory with almost exactly the same miles. I don't see any weirdness with the tires; I'm not sure what you mean by cupping? Were your tires under-inflated by any chance? The recommended pressure is quite high (42 psi if memory serves).
Quote:, and the rear was not quite wide enough to match the lean angle available from the front.
That's the way every motorcycle I've ever seen is. As long as the rear tire is wider, the front will not come close to it's maximum lean angle. It's just not physically possible. The difference on my CBR is almost comical. Quite frankly, I don't want the front tire anywhere near its limit. The rear can loose a bit of traction and its recoverable. The front, not so much.
I have the Bridgestones from the factory with almost exactly the same miles. I don't see any weirdness with the tires; I'm not sure what you mean by cupping? Were your tires under-inflated by any chance? The recommended pressure is quite high (42 psi if memory serves).
Quote:, and the rear was not quite wide enough to match the lean angle available from the front.
That's the way every motorcycle I've ever seen is. As long as the rear tire is wider, the front will not come close to it's maximum lean angle. It's just not physically possible. The difference on my CBR is almost comical. Quite frankly, I don't want the front tire anywhere near its limit. The rear can loose a bit of traction and its recoverable. The front, not so much. I think the Dunlops may be more prone to cupping; I was hoping to use the Bridgestone radials to compare but the lack of the 150/70 over here got me to try the BT45. No tire pressure issues; I check pressure before every ride and have an air compressor and receiver in my garage, so no excuses not to have them exactly right before every ride. Always ran 36 psi front.
It is physically possible to use more of the front than with aggressive trail braking at lean, especially at track or supersport tire pressure settings; under heavy braking the front tire's contact patch can double in size whilst straight up and can still get grow enough during deep cornering/braking to compress the sides of the front tire to very close to the edge. Supersport tires vary quite a bit with some front tires falling off almost to vertical, but under heavy braking/cornering loads this will flatten out a great deal.
Riding style, tire pressure, brand of tire, all of it figures in.