Bridgestone BT-002 -- anyone tried?

[digitalRoost]

I am considering a switch to these mainly because they are a LOT cheaper. Anyone tried the new tires (or last year's 001 model) and willing to comment on them? Comparisons to Dunlop GPA or Pirelli Supercorsas would be helpful.

Thanks.

[Super Dave]

I'll bias this with some insight.

No team in the AMA or FUSA is using them.  Might be some riders doing development, but I have yet to see the tires be competitive.

Might be cheap, but what do you get?

Personally, I use Michelin's becuase of the longevity and the service that I get from the Michelin tire vendors.

Not to say that the Bridgestone tire guys are bad, but the product is in an early development stage.  How good are you at development?  

[spyderchick]

The bridgestones are a good cheap tire. If you aren't that fast yet, it won't really matter, if you're competitive, stick with the traditional competition brands (Michelin, Pirelli, Dunlop). There's one "plus" about the Bridgestone's though, they make an awesome intermediate tire. Sticky enough in the wet, and decent in the dry. So if you have one of those weekends when the track conditions are changing every 5 minutes, these would be good to have around. In full rain go with full wets.  

[digitalRoost]

 How good are you at development?  

My development as a rider, my bike development, or tire development???? Answer to all 3 is "I suck". Thanks for the feedback.

[speedster_1]

I've ridden the 001s and they don't complement my chassis like other brands (I run dunlops).  The 001s seemed to wear quickly.  Profile is like a triangle.

A friend with a gsxr1k rode on a set of 002s at the VIR race.  I liked the profile change, more like main brand tires.  They seemed to wear sorta quick to me and he didn't care for them....'alot of spinning' but it was a 1k and suspension was completely stock.

They are cheaper, I suggest you try a set. If they work for you then you can save some cash!

[gpracer171]

Our team has tried the 001 and 002 tires from Bridgestone. Chuck our newer amateur rider likes them a lot and they work well for him. I have had some issue with spinning the rear wheel. However, I have heard from several reviews and sources that they are much more sensitive to suspension setup than the other brands.

I think that if you are a newer rider and still learning, save the money and run the Bridgestone tire. If however you are more competitive, it will take a commitment to get the bike setup correctly for the tire. I do know that expert races have been won in the CCS this year on 001 tire. Further, any tire change should involve some suspension change to get the most out of the tire and its unique characteristics. If you take the time, I think you can have a great result and save the cash. Finally, we are testing and changing for the service that the local Bridgestone rep offers. Lithium Motorsports has been second to none in their service to our team and helping us get the bikes setup and working with the Bridgestone tires. Their suspension guy Ryan is Traction Dynamics trained and does a great job. Give them a call and talk to them about it; they will shot you a straight answer.

Mike
#171

[gpracer171]

Additionally,

There are no World Superbike teams using Bridgestone, Dunlap, Michelin tires, Pirelli basically bought the rights to the series. It is all about money and sponsors in the upper ranks. So I would not use that to make your decision. If you need assurance in the company, Bridgestone is the largest tire company in the world. They also have the F1 tire. However, they are just making the effort to develop the motorcycle tire. It will be coming along very quickly. If memory serves me correctly, they had 4 new versions of their racing tire last season and one (002) this season already. They are moving through the R&D quickly.

Mike

[LMsports]

As with switching from any tire brand to another setup becomes a key issue. At any given CCS weekend, (barring FUSA), I can count on one hand the riders in the paddock that can "outride" any tire brand offered in the paddock. Each tire brand has unique characteristics that riders may either prefer or dislike, but each will offer enough grip, life, and stability with proper setup for 90% of club racers. Currently on our team we are doing very well with Bridgestone tires. Our chief suspension tuner Ryan hasn't finished worse than 5th this year in his first expert year, racing a Honda 600rr. I also have a 600rr and race expert classes and have a worst finish of 14th. We usually run all the expert middleweight and heavyweight races on any given weekend. In a nutshell I think Michelin has the best tire in the paddock. If you are the best rider and nothing but the best will do then Michelin has it right now. If you are not the very best rider but are very good I think we have an answer for you. If you win most of your races and are winning good contingency winning on other tires, then why switch. If you are finishing just outside of the payouts, then why not save a hundred bucks a set up front and concentrate on working on your riding skills. And as mentioned earlier the tire development is moving along very quickly and each generation is moving in the right direction. If anyone has any questions I can answer directly please feel free to either post here or give me a call anytime.