Bridgestone BT-016 Tyre Test By Chris Moss
Tyres tested: BRIDGESTONE BT-016
Time is the enemy of everything but antiques and wine. When it comes to motorcycle tyres, ageing is definitely an enemy. As the years roll by, the standard of a tyre’s performance effectively begins to drop off.
Development is so fast in the bike tyre world that you’re only usually king for a few years before rivals catch up and unseat you.
That’s been the case with Bridgestone’s BT-014 best-selling and award-winning sports tyre which in recent times has been relegated from its position of dominance in the class.
But its replacement, the BT-016 could well see Bridgestone leading the way once again. Called a ‘Hypersport’ tyre, the BT-016 has been built for fast road-riding and trackdays. It is not a race tyre. I tried it at the GP track, Jerez in Spain and was impressed with the way it performed.
On a variety of bikes including an 848, 1098S, GSX-R750, GSX-R1000, CBR600RR and ZX-6R the grip, turn in speed, and stability were all excellent. Better still, when the rear tyre eventually let go, it did so in a safe and predictable manner allowing you to correct it quickly.
Faster men than me were also impressed. Former GP rider Jeremy McWilliams said he thought the BT-016s were extremely good and very hard to fault. He thought the front was especially grippy and stable under braking.
Another rapid rider, Ron Haslam, liked the manners of the tyres. He thought they were significantly better than the BT-014s they replace, a tyre which he has much experience of on his race school bikes. He liked the feel and feedback of the BT-016s, and said they were easier to manage once they reached the limit of their grip.
MotoGP champion Bridgestone is claiming the multi-compounds the tyres feature will help both grip and wear. The rear has 5LC (five layer compound) which is actually just three different compounds, and the front a 3LC (actually just two).
Mono Spiral Belt construction, featuring HTSPCC (High Tensile Super Penetrated Cord) gives the BT-016s trustworthy stability at all speeds (especially round Jerez’s super fast corners), and the new pattern is said to reduce noise and add further grip.
After I’d tried the BT-016s on several bikes, I then tried the rubber they replace, the BT-014s on a GSX-R1000. To be honest I was quite surprised by how good they were. But the real difference between the two started to show after just four laps. Where the newer tyre’s performance would stay consistent for the whole ten laps, the BT-014s would start to go off and slide a little. In a race between the two I’m sure the difference in lap times wouldn’t be huge to begin with, but the BT-016s would start to be faster and increase that advantage each time.
I’ll be fitting a pair of the new Bridgestones to test on the road soon and will let you know about wet weather grip and wear rates in a few weeks.
For technical information, help and support, call us any time freephone0800 281413
