nc30 - BT90 & BT92

[franco]

Can get a Bridgestone BT90 rear and BT92 front at a good price. Is this fine for road use? What mileage can I expect?

[CMSMJ1]

The other way around would be better as the 090 squares off pretty quick on the rear

[Danzio]

i'd generally go for the same tyre specs to be honest mate but tyres normally are good even if mixed and a good brand, hell, i had a pirelli dragon MT front and a bridgestone bt090 back not so long agao and i got about 6000 miles out of the back before it was nackered. front still had a few hundred left in but i scrapped em both and bourght 2 bt090's from place up near mine for £140 and £7.99 per wheel for fitting and disposing of my old tyres, plus wheels balenced.

i'd say no sweat on those choices but remember the bt092 has a smaller lean angle than the bt090 so take care. The bt092 is also a harder compound meaning you'll get much more miles from the frant that the bt090 on the back, simply because back tyres normally go before front ones anyways and the harder compound of the front should mean it lasts longer anyway.

yeah, cms knows the crack, i hate that they square off so quickly!

[The Hamster]

I disagree with Danzio on the BT92's lean angle. I fitted a new set of BT92's about 4'000 miles ago, for road use only. And I havent had a single problem on them. Great in the dry, have got it well onto the edge of the tyre and removed even a hint of chicken strip with no problems and utter confidence. And as for mileage I think I can get another 3'000 maybe even 4'000 miles out of them yet. They only look half worn.
The perfect tyre if you ask me, those BT92's. Utter confidence and grip in the dry, plenty good enough in the wet. (Im yet to reach there full potential in the wet thats for sure!) and great for mileage aswell.

What more could you ask for?

Available in VFR 18inch and RVF 17inch size which is a bonus...

[Danzio]

i was just going off what a tyre guy told me in my shop...maybe he's wrong, i was basing it off that, saying that ive never owned bt092's so there ya go.

thanks for clearing that up hamster :)

[venom51]

You guys would do yourselves good to go to the 17" rear. Bridgestone has just introduces the BT003RS. Good as both a street and trackday tire.

[Growler]

Any thoughts on the BT014's as a road/ track tyre for the NC30. I assume the 090's are softer than the 092's but where do the 014's fit in? Bridgestone's site is clear as mud!

[venom51]

The 014's are a good street tire but the compound operates in to low of a heat range to make a good trackday tire. If you are reasonably quick they will over heat and get greasy fairly quickly.

[CMSMJ1]

What do you use Kenny?

ref the 090/092 - the 090 is a miles better tyre for track but the 092 will outlive it a long way.

I have 090 front and 092 rear, with an 090 spare on another rim for TD duty..

My race bike has 090 on it.

[venom51]

I only run slicks on the bike. But I have ridden on most everything in the Bridgestone lineup. It doesn't hurt that my Tire Supplier at the track is also a really good friend.

Here's the breakdown...

Slicks
120/600R17 YDC 3.50 (3.75) Hard compound front
120/600R17 YCX 3.50 (3.75) Medium compound front
125/600R17 YCY 3.50 (3.75) Soft compound front

165/630R17 YDC 5.0 (5.5) Hard compound rear
165/630R17 YCX 5.0 (5.5) Medium compound rear
165/630R17 YCY 5.0 (5.5) Soft compound rear
155/635R18YCX 4.00 (4.50) Medium compound rear for 18"wheel

BT002
120/600R17 Type 2 Hard compound front
120/600R17 Type 3 Medium compound front
120/600R17 Type 4 Soft compound front

165/630R17 Type 2 Hard compound rear
165/630R17 Type 3 Medium compound rear
165/630R17 Type 4 Soft compound rear

BT003RS
120/600R17 Type 2 Hard compound front
120/600R17 Type 3 Medium compound front
120/600R17 Type 4 Soft compound front

165/630R17 Type 2 Hard compound rear
165/630R17 Type 3 Medium compound rear
165/630R17 Type 4 Soft compound rear

Everything above is essentially a race only product but the S in the BT003RS stands for street so they seem to think they will be ok for street use.

090 is a good mix of the 2 worlds. Does well in both street and race track applications.

110/70R17 front
120/60R17 front
120/70R17 front

160/60R17 rear
150/60R18 rear

The 092 is a basic OEM street tire and will die a horrible death on the track.

Now as far as my track setup I run the YCY compound front and rear as my preferred set up. I can run the mediums and turn the same lap times but the YCX front has a bit different profile and construction than the YCY and does not like to smoothly transition into the turn. You basically ride it standing up or cranked over as anything in between those 2 points makes the bike fell unsettled and nervous. Once it's heeled over however the confidence comes back to you and the things stick like velcro. I will sometimes opt for a medium rear if the track is really abrassive and beats up the rear.

I have seen endurance guys run an entire 4 hour race on the same medium compound front and a hard compound rear and turn within 4 to 5 tenths of the same lap times from start to finish.

Now the performance gap between the Slicks and the 003RS DOT's is very narrow and pretty much comes down to a difference in the brain. I watch guys every weekend run faster on the DOT's thansome fo their counterparts running slicks. They are that good.

If you guys need more info and want to ask questions head over to http://www.stickboyracing.com/stickforum/ and sign up. The guy that runs the place is Derek "Stickboy" Bennett and he knows the product line inside and out.