Battleax BT-016 review

[HillCountryRider]

So I found a nail in my stock BT-023...hitting the canyons in the Texas Hill Country every weekend I was using up the whole tire/tyre and actually wanting to get a new one anyway so this might have been perfect timing. The stock tires had 5200 miles and were still great on tread. I debated between the Power Pilot 2CT's and the Battleax BT-016's. In the end I decided on the Battleax simply because they were in stock at my local Cycle Gear for less then $200 for the set.

For the first day (about 100 miles) I was very worried, they were extremely slippery, I knew they would need to be scrubbed in but I didn't think they would be as slippery as they were.

The second day I made a short run to my favorite road, Park Road 37 and was really able to get aggressive. With the stock BT-023's I was rarely able to get all the way to the edge, the new BT-016's had great grip and I really noticed them biting the pavement. After one run down 37 I was taking it all the way to the edge with ease.

I have not rode in the rain yet so I cannot speak to their traction, but I am VERY cautious is the rain here.

Overall, I would recommend these as an upgrade to the stock sport touring and am very please with their performance.

 

[Fizzer6R]

overall I favor Bridgestone Battlax's the most. maybe it's a mental thing, but to me they feel best, especially the feedback. Michelin would be a 2nd along with Pirelli. it relates to other bikes i've had and what tires they either came stock with or had been changed to. if a bike has had dunlops on it, it always felt like they were hard as a rock. just like oil it's personal preference and what your comfortable with. years ago guy comes up inspecting my tires and says couldn't pay him to ride on "Bridgeslimes". didn't bother to ask if he crashed on em, just ignored...

 

[Nastybutler]

The 016's came OEM on my ST3, and I'm pretty impressed with them. Virtually no chicken strips on the rear and I'm not even trying. Super grip but with just under 3000 miles the rear is getting a flat center. May go with the CT2's next to get more miles before that happens.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[RoadTrip]

yeah, bridgestones can be a bit slippery at first, ease into em, they come nearly polished looking, and need some heat cycling. I been through lots of BT-016's on the gixxer, finally on the last new rear, got some S20's in the que, I hear they grip even better and have instant warm up.