another tire question

[w.steve wells]

i've been on here for over 2 yrs now and see all the tire questions but havnt seen or missed this one, most tell their dislike for bridgestone but never state why they dislike them, they came on my 2010 rsv and even tho i've only gotten 350 miles thus far they seem to hold the road well anddont follow road smakes as bas as the 404's do just wondered what it as about them we dislike thanks steve

[buddy]

Only dis like I have toward the Bridgestone is that they wear out to fast best I ever got on mine were 6,000mi other than that they handle road pretty good

Buddy

[Bubber]

The noise that they throw of the back tire was just deafening. Went to a 404 while on a trip to Denver and the noise went away.

Now I am running Michelin Commanders and I like them, no noise and they seem to be holding up but I have only had them on one year.

Bridgestones are horrible for noise. Just my 2 cents.

[Guest scarylarry]

Noise is one and the other problem I had was a death wobble around 30mph when you let go of the bars...

 

Has not wobble like that since I change tires

[BOO]

I have a friend that swears by the Bridgestones. He likes the white walls and I think he gets about 10 + thousand miles out of them. He has around 90K on his bike and has always had the bridgestones.

I don't care for them myself but I've never had any experience with them either. I like the Dunlap tires so I don't go buying different brands.

BOO

[V7Goose]

i've been on here for over 2 yrs now and see all the tire questions but havnt seen or missed this one, most tell their dislike for bridgestone but never state why they dislike them, they came on my 2010 rsv and even tho i've only gotten 350 miles thus far they seem to hold the road well anddont follow road smakes as bas as the 404's do just wondered what it as about them we dislike thanks steve

Well, I have given very specific information on exactly what is wrong with the stock Bridgestone tires in many threads, including detailed evaluations of both the front and rear tires separately. Here are two links, but if you search for postings by me and the key word "brickstone", you will find MANY others.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=20815&highlight=brickstone

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=86&highlight=brickstone

 

The bottom line for me is that you absolutely cannot imagine just how terrible those tires make that bike handle until you try an RSV or RSTD with decent tires.

 

Yes, the bike can be ridden with them, and even ridden well. And as long as you don't have anything to compare them with, it is even quite possible to believe that they aren't too bad at all - I did, until I finally tried something else. And then I truly regretted the 8,000 miles I stupidly suffered with those terrible things on an otherwise great bike!

Goose

[Drkngas]

Never really hated the Bridgestone till I had something to compare it too. Just put Avon Venoms on last month. Bike feels better on the road that I ever imagined.

[Freebird]

Well, I hated the Bridgestone also. I found them to break loose VERY easily on some road surfaces when wet. I also found that they cupped very quickly and then became very noisy.

[dmoff1698]

I'm also a member over at the Goldwing site.

 

Over there, they praise the Bridgestones and cuss the E3s.

 

I know we are talking different bikes, but you would think that tire charictaristics are charictaristics.

[Freebird]

Is it the same model? I've heard some great things about some of the Bridgestone tires, just not the model that came on the RSV.

[V7Goose]

Cant be the same - Honda Refrigerators do not use the same tire sizes as we do, and the newer ones use radial tires.

 

I do not damn all Bridgestone tires (do not have experience with all of them), just the ones that Yamahaha stupidly puts on our bikes. It is very tempting to think that the manufacturer would actually do decent testing and performance evaluation for tires they will fit on a new machine, and that they actually recommend acceptable tires. But the facts here absolutely prove that is not the case for the RSV. Here's why:

 

Yamaha specs two different tires for this bike - the Ridgestone Excedra and Dunlop D404. While I do not expect a manufacturer to test all available tires, if they are going to spec two different brands for the same machine and not list them for different riding styles, I DO expect those two tires to perform similarly. But these tires are VERY different.

 

For example, the Bridgestone front tire is MUCH wider than the Dunlop in the same size, and it also has a much less rounded profile. This means that it is impossible for it to handle anything like the Dunlop tire does, even when both are brand new. And that grossly fat and less rounded profile front tire is EXACTLY why a new RSV feels like it weighs about 3,000 pounds and tries to force the forks over to full lock the first time you make a slow turn in a parking lot! But the ones fitted with Dunlops do not suffer from this fault nearly as much.

 

As for why I hate the Bridgestone rear tire - those are very different reasons. First, it wears much faster than ANY other rear tire I have tested; 8,000 miles is max life for me on that POS. Now usually a tire that wears fast means that it has very soft rubber, so it should stick like glue while it has any of that rubber left. NOT so with this tire!! When riding an RSV with stock Bridgestone tires, I constantly had the rear tire break lose - even moderate acceleration while running up through the gears would cause some side slip on 2nd and 3rd gear shifts if done in anything but completely straight line riding. And wet roads were an experience not to be taken lightly.

 

Next, that reat tire starts wearing flat across within even a few hundred miles, and by the time the center is dangerously low around 7,000 miles, the sides of the tread look like the lugs on tractor mud tires. No other tire I have ever ridden has lost the rounded profile of the rear tire as quickly or totally as this tire does. And that wear characteristic is the biggest reason that rear tire HOWLS!!! And boy does it howl - by 2,000 miles or so it starts, and the problem gets progressively worse as the tire wears flat. Just very slight weaving in your own lane will generate wicked howls, and if you actually lean it over in turns, you can be forgiven for believing the rear end gears are about to strip completely out!

 

But the howling is not the worst thing that comes from that square profile the rear tire develops - those sharp edges on the tread begin to handle just like a car tire does on a motorcycle - the bike cannot roll over smoothly on a turn - it has to tip up on the edge with a very small contact patch and then pitch in quickly. And those sharp edges grab any imperfections and cracks in the road and try to jump over them - even very slight ridges, like the raised paint stripes, cause the bike to jump around like a crazy barefoot idiot on hot pavement.

 

The Dunlop D404 is just an average tire - it handles OK, but there are many better options. The Brickstone Excedra is the most gawdawful total POS ever made.

Goose

[Bobcatpat]

Cant be the same - Honda Refrigerators do not use the same tire sizes as we do, and the newer ones use radial tires.

 

I do not damn all Bridgestone tires (do not have experience with all of them), just the ones that Yamahaha stupidly puts on our bikes. It is very tempting to think that the manufacturer would actually do decent testing and performance evaluation for tires they will fit on a new machine, and that they actually recommend acceptable tires. But the facts here absolutely prove that is not the case for the RSV. Here's why:

 

Yamaha specs two different tires for this bike - the Ridgestone Excedra and Dunlop D404. While I do not expect a manufacturer to test all available tires, if they are going to spec two different brands for the same machine and not list them for different riding styles, I DO expect those two tires to perform similarly. But these tires are VERY different.

 

For example, the Bridgestone front tire is MUCH wider than the Dunlop in the same size, and it also has a much less rounded profile. This means that it is impossible for it to handle anything like the Dunlop tire does, even when both are brand new. And that grossly fat and less rounded profile front tire is EXACTLY why a new RSV feels like it weighs about 3,000 pounds and tries to force the forks over to full lock the first time you make a slow turn in a parking lot! But the ones fitted with Dunlops do not suffer from this fault nearly as much.

 

As for why I hate the Bridgestone rear tire - those are very different reasons. First, it wears much faster than ANY other rear tire I have tested; 8,000 miles is max life for me on that POS. Now usually a tire that wears fast means that it has very soft rubber, so it should stick like glue while it has any of that rubber left. NOT so with this tire!! When riding an RSV with stock Bridgestone tires, I constantly had the rear tire break lose - even moderate acceleration while running up through the gears would cause some side slip on 2nd and 3rd gear shifts if done in anything but completely straight line riding. And wet roads were an experience not to be taken lightly.

 

Next, that reat tire starts wearing flat across within even a few hundred miles, and by the time the center is dangerously low around 7,000 miles, the sides of the tread look like the lugs on tractor mud tires. No other tire I have ever ridden has lost the rounded profile of the rear tire as quickly or totally as this tire does. And that wear characteristic is the biggest reason that rear tire HOWLS!!! And boy does it howl - by 2,000 miles or so it starts, and the problem gets progressively worse as the tire wears flat. Just very slight weaving in your own lane will generate wicked howls, and if you actually lean it over in turns, you can be forgiven for believing the rear end gears are about to strip completely out!

 

But the howling is not the worst thing that comes from that square profile the rear tire develops - those sharp edges on the tread begin to handle just like a car tire does on a motorcycle - the bike cannot roll over smoothly on a turn - it has to tip up on the edge with a very small contact patch and then pitch in quickly. And those sharp edges grab any imperfections and cracks in the road and try to jump over them - even very slight ridges, like the raised paint stripes, cause the bike to jump around like a crazy barefoot idiot on hot pavement.

 

The Dunlop D404 is just an average tire - it handles OK, but there are many better options. The Brickstone Excedra is the most gawdawful total POS ever made.

Goose

 

Awesome post! Great information.

[Squeeze]

Thanks Goose, got a good Laugh out of your Posting :crackup::crackup:

 

 

 

I can say almost the same Thing for the brand new, for the '09 VMAX exclusivly developed Tire BT 028 from Bridgestone. The Tire is OK for the Longevity, but the wet handling causes a Lot to desire when you're familiar with recent Tires and then some Guys just might need fresh Underwear when caught in Rain and/or freshly paved Roads.

 

What i'm trying to say is, don't believe too much in the Manufacturers recommend Tire, there will be something better to have, often for less Money or at least for Less Money per happy Miles ...

[Guest scarylarry]

Cant be the same - Honda Refrigerators do not use the same tire sizes as we do, and the newer ones use radial tires.

 

I do not damn all Bridgestone tires (do not have experience with all of them), just the ones that Yamahaha stupidly puts on our bikes. It is very tempting to think that the manufacturer would actually do decent testing and performance evaluation for tires they will fit on a new machine, and that they actually recommend acceptable tires. But the facts here absolutely prove that is not the case for the RSV. Here's why:

 

Yamaha specs two different tires for this bike - the Ridgestone Excedra and Dunlop D404. While I do not expect a manufacturer to test all available tires, if they are going to spec two different brands for the same machine and not list them for different riding styles, I DO expect those two tires to perform similarly. But these tires are VERY different.

 

For example, the Bridgestone front tire is MUCH wider than the Dunlop in the same size, and it also has a much less rounded profile. This means that it is impossible for it to handle anything like the Dunlop tire does, even when both are brand new. And that grossly fat and less rounded profile front tire is EXACTLY why a new RSV feels like it weighs about 3,000 pounds and tries to force the forks over to full lock the first time you make a slow turn in a parking lot! But the ones fitted with Dunlops do not suffer from this fault nearly as much.

 

As for why I hate the Bridgestone rear tire - those are very different reasons. First, it wears much faster than ANY other rear tire I have tested; 8,000 miles is max life for me on that POS. Now usually a tire that wears fast means that it has very soft rubber, so it should stick like glue while it has any of that rubber left. NOT so with this tire!! When riding an RSV with stock Bridgestone tires, I constantly had the rear tire break lose - even moderate acceleration while running up through the gears would cause some side slip on 2nd and 3rd gear shifts if done in anything but completely straight line riding. And wet roads were an experience not to be taken lightly.

 

Next, that reat tire starts wearing flat across within even a few hundred miles, and by the time the center is dangerously low around 7,000 miles, the sides of the tread look like the lugs on tractor mud tires. No other tire I have ever ridden has lost the rounded profile of the rear tire as quickly or totally as this tire does. And that wear characteristic is the biggest reason that rear tire HOWLS!!! And boy does it howl - by 2,000 miles or so it starts, and the problem gets progressively worse as the tire wears flat. Just very slight weaving in your own lane will generate wicked howls, and if you actually lean it over in turns, you can be forgiven for believing the rear end gears are about to strip completely out!

 

But the howling is not the worst thing that comes from that square profile the rear tire develops - those sharp edges on the tread begin to handle just like a car tire does on a motorcycle - the bike cannot roll over smoothly on a turn - it has to tip up on the edge with a very small contact patch and then pitch in quickly. And those sharp edges grab any imperfections and cracks in the road and try to jump over them - even very slight ridges, like the raised paint stripes, cause the bike to jump around like a crazy barefoot idiot on hot pavement.

 

The Dunlop D404 is just an average tire - it handles OK, but there are many better options. The Brickstone Excedra is the most gawdawful total POS ever made.

Goose

 

Great write up...

[Solodadof2]

I did not like the bridgestone for the same reasons already stated:

 

1). early wear out just over 6,000 miles

 

2). Tire Noise

 

3). I have problems on the tour deluxe with is slipping out on even the slightest gravel on a take off.

 

As for the E-3 the negative comments are very few and I am on several forums as many are.

 

I wanted to try the michelin commander but they are no longer available as they are tooling up for the next generation or so I have heard.

[archeryguy]

IMO Goose know what he is talking about !! He adequately demonstrated the difference to me while working/visiting with him last year in Texas. Changed the rear to a E3, much smoother and quieter.

[w.steve wells]

thanks to all that replied i guess i'm going to order a set of e3's, was just curious as to why now i know:confused24:

[mraf]

Good write up Goose. But as far as the 1st gens go the stock Bridgestone looked so cool with the raised white letters. Shades of 70's nostalgia. Had to say something good about them even though they did do everything Goose said.

[pickinfred]

thanks to all that replied i guess i'm going to order a set of e3's, was just curious as to why now i know:confused24:

 

Thinking of doing a order of the E3s also....but curious.....is the E3 MV-85-15 the replacement for the 150-90-15?

[felix]

I just went back to bridgestones Got 16000 out of the 1st set didn't like the noise on the rear. Went to Dunlop garbage. Went to Metzler 880, 3 sets tire ware on front and max 12000 miles. I feel bridgees hold best on a wet road. Course I ride a wing so there is a difference. I always run 41 lbs front and rear. Just my 2 cents. I can deal with the tire noise just turn up the radi http://cdn.content.sweetim.com/sim/cpie/emoticons/000203FC.gif o:twing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://content.sweetim.com/tbsig/sig.asp?img=ad1

[Yamahaulin]

I have to agree about the tire noise & premature wear of the stock Bridgestones. Front tire sounds like a tractor tire when layed over in turns and have less than 5ooo miles and will need new rear before trip to Tn at end of May. Checked tire pressures at least once week also. Anyone hear running Bridgestone Spitfire 11 on RSTD?