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View Full Version : Tires: BT014 Vs Sportec M1 & Roadtec Z6 on GSXR750



Zapf
10th November 2005, 22:21
A quick initial impression report, after recently swapping the BT014 factory tires on my GSXR750 for some M1 front and Z6 rear.

My experience: They are the only set of hi performance sports tires I have had on my bikes. As I have only had D218's and M1 front and Z6 rear and Sports Demons to compair them with.

Km on tire: 75km

BT014 - (factory delivered tire)
sticky / hard construction / haven't had a moment in wet

to sum it up they are hard sticky donuts. you can hit bumps & defects on the road, and they'll be transmitted directly to you. Great on smooth surfaces (E.g tar seal / hot mix on road to waihe) like track and tar seal but can send you jumping and bouncing on the back roads that I frequently travel on. Hence it can be un-nerving for the rider on bump roads.
Lean angle... for me a "lesser experience" rider than some, the lean angle on the last 1/3 edge of the tire is scary... it feels like a sudden dip, and have to scramble every time to "pull" the bike out of the lean. However you should take into account as my riding style is more medium and flowing than agressive sports riding most of the time.

M1 Fr and Z6 Rr
I have had experience with the same setup on an SV650 so I decide to try out the same combo on the GSXR. Keeping in mind the GSXR has a much sharper factory suspension than the SV.
If I say BT014's are plastic donuts, then the M1/Z6 are rubber donuts. You still feel the bumps on the road however they are slightly muted, and you feel the delay after hitting it and feeling it.
As a new tire they are more stable / slower steering than the 014 which are to be expected with a more sports touring type tire. They ride nicely and will get to use them more as they get scrubbed in and get used on weekend rides.
Can't say anything about traction yet, as I have only done 75km around town on them and are hardly scrubed in.

Comments:
Marmoot - Yes... have been checking how warm the tires get and on a typical ride from City to East Akl over motorway and residential roads at early hours in the morning (good run), the Z6 seems to get warmer than the 014, and about the same for the M1 front.

WT - I think I know what you mean by the M1's / Z6's are more gooie than the 014s now.

I will try to to update this report over the life of the tire and update my comments from time to time.

Ermm I LOVE RUBBER

justsomeguy
10th November 2005, 22:28
Hmmm.... done less than 100 kms on my GPR-70's before the bloody engine went:thud:

When the bikes on the road we should go test our tyres...:yes:

You can ride infront:blip:

Zapf
10th November 2005, 22:30
Hmmm.... done less than 100 kms on my GPR-70's before the bloody engine went:thud:
When the bikes on the road we should go test our tyres...:yes:
You can ride infront:blip:

sorry... going by my experience it might be bad idea to ride ahead (my bin) of you or behind (leaking oil) .... :bash: :calm:

justsomeguy
10th November 2005, 22:36
sorry... going by my experience it might be bad idea to ride ahead (my bin) of you or behind (leaking oil) .... :bash: :calm:
OK - we can ride our bikes beside each other then...... but you better lose some weight the lanes only so big......:spudbn:

... About the bin - That Piha road has no manners..... :angry: See how the little sweetie Cheenic Dwive :love: treated us so well... passing cages and playing around in the rain.

avgas
10th November 2005, 22:49
Ive always felt good on the ol' Battleaxes, dont mind dragon evos' either.
Absolutely hate Pilots though - felt too much like a Shinko thats been hit with a blowtorch.
But thats just me.....and im weird

Marmoot
10th November 2005, 22:53
I've always used those BTs.....from 56, 010, 012, 014.
There has always been steady improvement over the dry grip as well as wet grip.

Only 010 gave me a bit of dissapointment as it is not as consistent as the others, especially in the wet. But soon enough after using it I got used to it and the problem became less obvious.

012 was great, and I used 1 pair before 014 came out. The 012 was a great improvement from 010.

The 014 was the best tyre I have ever used in the Battlax family by far. Dry and wet the performance was awesome.

One thing I notice with BTs, the development trend seem to follow towards sports more and more, and cold performance became less as they progress. (By cold performance I mean the performance of the tyres when they are still cold, e.g: just starting) :hitcher:

----

Others:

Dunlops, especially D207s, basically suck. They actually get better just before being totally worn out. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside?

Pirellis. Not giving me any confidence in anything but perfect conditions.

SimJen
11th November 2005, 07:35
M1's are pretty good tyres. I got a pair on my Gixxer, quick warmup and reasonable wear.....not sure what difference a Z6 on the back would make though? Im not willing to mix tyres, reckon if the factory design them as a pair then I will do what they do.
Still if it gives you better mileage and they work fine then big ups to ya :)
Tried Pilot Race a few times and they were wicked but took ages to warm up and until they did felt greasier than a greased thing also lethal as in the H2O.

aff-man
11th November 2005, 08:00
Been running M1's on the gixxer. Bloody great road tyre good feedback and stick.

Lasted me 5000km

chickenfunkstar
11th November 2005, 10:14
Why not a Z6 front? I've tried a Z6 rear with both a M1 front and a Z6 front. I'm more of a medium paced rider as well and will probably go with a Z6 front again in the future. I can't really tell the difference from new, but when the M1 starts to wear on the sides turn in gets progressivly quicker untill it becomes ridiculous. The Z6 front has never given me a reason to lack confidence. I'm thinking that because of the extra grooves that they'd heat up quicker which would make them better in the transition from crusing to pushing it abit. Also better in the wet???

Sensei
11th November 2005, 16:13
If you ride Medium then a Z6 will be more than enough even if you up the pace alot they will still work well . If you ride Balls out then there is no question in putting a M1 onto the front they are Great . Have given both my 2 front M1's a good try out wet & dry & have put alot of my Good freind's onto them as I feel they are one of the top tyre's avalible . Mate that put some 014's onto his bike & thought they where the Fantasic , tryed some M1's & liked them even better . But to each their own . At the moment I run a M1 front & a Supercorsa rear . which work Mint . so there ya Go !