Bridgestone S20 tyre review

[ajturbo]

i run these on my Duc 400 race bike.
In Greymouth i started with 25.5f/28r
I was loosing the front on turn one from lap 3 each time (was taking it easy till then)
so i lowered it to 23.5f/28r worked a treat..

unfortunately i needed more when i was at ruapuna last weekend.. wonder why..lol

so far they are 12 months+ old.. still working great for me..

[Drew]

Well a fraction over 5000km and my front S20 is rather poked. While I liked the feel of the tyres, I can't say I'm impressed with longevity, or the unusual wear on the front. In fact it's the worst worn tyre I've had since my suspension was upgraded nearly 4 years ago.

Here's hoping I have a better run with the T30's.

Bit unrelated, but after four years if it hasn't been changed your fork oil is poked again.

[Coldrider]

9000K on my OEM S20 front, maybe 2 to 3 thou k's left. so will have lasted the life of a the OEM S20 rear, and a BT023 rear. (2012 blade)

[Owl]

Bit unrelated, but after four years if it hasn't been changed your fork oil is poked again.

It has been changed, but due again really.

[Drew]

9000K on my OEM S20 front, maybe 2 to 3 thou k's left. so will have lasted the life of a the OEM S20 rear, and a BT023 rear. (2012 blade)

I think that Jay said that although the specifics are not public knowledge, OE S20s are different.

[Coldrider]

I think that Jay said that although the specifics are not public knowledge, OE S20s are different.

yes, but should have cut out quicker, like the rear.

[G4L4XY]

.

Thanks for the big write up. I'm certainly keen on trying a few things out with my setup/pressures.

By the sounds of it (and correct me if I'm wrong) I'd get better grip with a slightly lower pressure? I'll try this in a couple days when I head back from whanga. Idealy I'd need to have someone who knows that they're doing to help me with the suspension setup.

[Drew]

Thanks for the big write up. I'm certainly keen on trying a few things out with my setup/pressures.

By the sounds of it (and correct me if I'm wrong) I'd get better grip with a slightly lower pressure? I'll try this in a couple days when I head back from whanga. Idealy I'd need to have someone who knows that they're doing to help me with the suspension setup.

34PSI rear is as low as I have run them. I wouldn't go as high as 44 in any situation.

[ajturbo]

Thanks for the big write up. I'm certainly keen on trying a few things out with my setup/pressures.

By the sounds of it (and correct me if I'm wrong) I'd get better grip with a slightly lower pressure? I'll try this in a couple days when I head back from whanga. Idealy I'd need to have someone who knows that they're doing to help me with the suspension setup.

I don't know what i'm doing, i just took a guess.. and it worked... !!!

[JayRacer37]

i run these on my Duc 400 race bike.
In Greymouth i started with 25.5f/28r
I was loosing the front on turn one from lap 3 each time (was taking it easy till then)
so i lowered it to 23.5f/28r worked a treat..

unfortunately i needed more when i was at ruapuna last weekend.. wonder why..lol

so far they are 12 months+ old.. still working great for me..

You mad bastard, at that pressure in the front you would have a chance of hitting something big and debeading the thing! But seriously, that low and the front sidewall will be deflecting like crazy, should feel awful (unless you are going quite slowly ). I wouldn't recommend lower than 30 at the extreme end of the spectrum for an S20...maybe on your light bike a little lower, but that's pretty flat!

I think that Jay said that although the specifics are not public knowledge, OE S20s are different.

Correct, all OE tyres (that have a separate designation) are a different construction in one way or another. In saying that, it seems the OEM S20's are a much higher quality than past Bridgestone OEM models (and other brands too).

Thanks for the big write up. I'm certainly keen on trying a few things out with my setup/pressures.

By the sounds of it (and correct me if I'm wrong) I'd get better grip with a slightly lower pressure? I'll try this in a couple days when I head back from whanga. Idealy I'd need to have someone who knows that they're doing to help me with the suspension setup.

You are correct, I think you would see better wear and more grip with 36-38 in the rear tyre, to start with. Drew runs his at 34, I do likewise (and lower at times). 42 is a very high pressure for the S20 (unless you are looking for ultimate mileage, and even then the overly narrow contact patch may negate that), I would recommend trying lower.

Setup, I know what you mean, it's a different category. Try the lower pressure, see what you think, and go from there.

[kiwi cowboy]

[QUOTE=JayRacer37;1130638116]You mad bastard, at that pressure in the front you would have a chance of hitting something big and debeading the thing! But seriously, that low and the front sidewall will be deflecting like crazy, should feel awful (unless you are going quite slowly ). I wouldn't recommend lower than 30 at the extreme end of the spectrum for an S20...maybe on your light bike a little lower, but that's pretty flat!



are the bt003rs different as I run them at 26f 27-28r hot to get any grip out of them on my gsxr400.
Any more the front starts sledging.

[JayRacer37]

are the bt003rs different as I run them at 26f 27-28r hot to get any grip out of them on my gsxr400.
Any more the front starts sledging.

The BT003-RS has a stiffer structure so it can sustain going lower. The rear is not so much of an issue, but the harder you push the front the more the sidewall can collapse and that can feel like the front pushing really badly. The lighter the bike or the gentler you are going, the lower you can get away with, but mid 20's is a low front pressure, track or road. A hot pressure I would have suggested 28 as about as low as practical in most applications.

[caspernz]

Been following this topic with interest, and the disparity of wear rates (and appearance of tyre) has me mildly puzzled.

I get where Drew is coming from, running with compliant suspension, which I've got my Busa set to as well. Now I'm by no means a hoon, but I'm finding the S20 has a bit of a tendency to coax the hoon within me to come out and play...which could become a problem since the Busa has that Jekyll & Hyde nature already anyway

Be interesting to see how many clicks Drew can get out of his set.

Anyway, after about 500 clicks, this is what my set is looking like after a trip over the Rimutaka at a moderate pace.

I like the feel and feedback of the S20, not to mention the grip, but I doubt this set will last 5000 clicks for me...

[Drew]

Been following this topic with interest, and the disparity of wear rates (and appearance of tyre) has me mildly puzzled.

I get where Drew is coming from, running with compliant suspension, which I've got my Busa set to as well. Now I'm by no means a hoon, but I'm finding the S20 has a bit of a tendency to coax the hoon within me to come out and play...which could become a problem since the Busa has that Jekyll & Hyde nature already anyway

Be interesting to see how many clicks Drew can get out of his set.

Anyway, after about 500 clicks, this is what my set is looking like after a trip over the Rimutaka at a moderate pace.

I like the feel and feedback of the S20, not to mention the grip, but I doubt this set will last 5000 clicks for me...

What rpessures were they at when you went over the hill?

The rear seems to be sweet. But given how close to the edge you've gotten on it, and not on the front but still getting surface scuff, is not what I'd expect.

Busa is a pretty big horse. I'd be running 36-38R 38-40F to ride it at my sorta speeds on something like that.

[JayRacer37]

Been following this topic with interest, and the disparity of wear rates (and appearance of tyre) has me mildly puzzled.

I get where Drew is coming from, running with compliant suspension, which I've got my Busa set to as well. Now I'm by no means a hoon, but I'm finding the S20 has a bit of a tendency to coax the hoon within me to come out and play...which could become a problem since the Busa has that Jekyll & Hyde nature already anyway

Be interesting to see how many clicks Drew can get out of his set.

Anyway, after about 500 clicks, this is what my set is looking like after a trip over the Rimutaka at a moderate pace.

I like the feel and feedback of the S20, not to mention the grip, but I doubt this set will last 5000 clicks for me...

They are looking very nice - good wear patterns where it has been nice and warm, not stressed enough the tread edges are collapsing, all in all looking exactly like you would hope for. Do you know how much gauge in the tread has been lost over those 500kms? Hard to judge from the photo's but looking pretty nice to me thus far. Out of interest, what tyre did you run before the S20 and how much did you get from it?

It's funny, I keep getting varied reports on mileage too. Some are looking very good, like Drew's and OAB's did, and of course there is the opposite where people get significantly less. The common factor in lesser mileage from the tyre seems to be doing big distance over not a lot of time. I think this comes down to carcass heating up - for example a guy on a MultiStrada did Hamilton-Christchurch-Hamilton with a few other rides after and the rear was looking pretty tired. In this kind of application the T30 would be much better as its designed to deal with that style of loading on longer trips, as it's stiffer it doesn't build heat so easily. The S20 being a soft sports tyre isn't as good at touring...