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Dunlop D220 vs Bridgestone BT020

birdwh

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Ok, i'm not getting great mileage with the BT020's, though they have great stick-to-itness. The centers just evaporate and unfortunately Texas does have 'some' straight parts before you get to the good stuff.

Someone suggested dunlop d205's for more mileage and still good grip, which have recently been replaced by D220's in the dunlop lineup.

Any thoughts?

-Will
 
First question is what kind of milage are you expecting to get? What are you getting now? I get about 1200-1500 mile for the rear and 2200 miles to the front but then again I am pushing this Gixxer 1000 prettty hard. You are probably getting around 3000+ on the bridgestone 020 correct? You ought to try out the Mich. Pilot Roads. I hear great things about those tires and they are getting 4000+ on the gixxer 1000 with them.
 
I'm about to replace my BT-020s with D220s. I wasn't quite getting 4,000 miles out of the backs before they would be squared off and down to the wear bars. The front is almost gone at 8,000 miles, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to try a different ST tire.

I haven't heard much feedback about the Dunlops but what I have seen so far has been positive. No idea if they will wear better than the Bridgestones, but figured it's worth a try. Can't wait for that "new tire" feel!
 
I get about 1200-1500 mile for the rear and 2200 miles to the front but then again I am pushing this Gixxer 1000 prettty hard

:eek:

1200-1500 for a tire? Man you are driving hard on that rear tire. Tire wear depends on a lot of things, what bike you ride, how you ride it, how much weight is on the tire and how much air you keep in them, among other things, all effect tire life. I have almost 5000 miles on my BT020 rear and 010 front and I expect they have at least 2-3k more in them. The SVS is a fairly light bike and I am around 170 lbs and I would say I ride somewhere in the mid-range, hard on weekends, with a lot of commuting during the week.

I love my current set-up, much better than the stock Mez 4s that came with the SV and better than the Sportec M1 I tried out on the rear before getting the Bridgestones. I too have heard good things about the Pilot Roads but dont know anyone that has tried out the D220s yet.
 
I'm running a D220 on the front and a D205 on the rear. I have almost 6000 miles on them and the front still looks great. I probably have another 1500 on the rear. I switched from Bridgestones (whatever came stock on the Triumph) and can't be any happier.

Bill
 
I had 020's on the ST when I bought it last June. The front was still good (had about 3k on it from the previous owner), but the rear was shagged so I had the dealer replace it before I took delivery. The rear went a bit over 6 before it got thin and the front was pretty bad at that point, so I replaced front and rear with a set of M1s. 3500 miles later, the rear is down to less than 1mm tread depth in the center and the front is down to 1mm in the center so yeah, they're gone. Next up are a set of Avon AV45/46STs. We'll see how they hold up.
 
I replaced my OEM Michelin Pilot Sports with D220s at about 4700 miles. I've got 4700 on the Dunlops now, and am very happy with them. I think they'll hold up much longer than the Pilot Sports, which had nice initial grip, but got very slippery and cupped by the time I replaced 'em. The D220s are wonderful, wet/dry.

One discussion of D220s is here: http://www.sport-touring.net/cgi-bi...5c0d31712f096558bb0d8f39264;act=ST;f=4;t=4556

Caveat: I don't push my bike very hard; my chicken strips are enormous...

I was thinking about Avon STs, but then started hearing conflicting reports of stickiness vs. slipperiness.

I won't buy Bridgestone. One the many shoulder chips I have involves Bridgestone's handling of the Ford SUV rollover incidents. I'll vote elsewhere with my $'s...
 
Finally, a tire thread!

Howdy,

:tab I can't believe it took us several months before our first tire thread!? :lol: I do tons of miles every year on both of our VFR's so I go through tires like candy. Here's my take. I usually run a sport tire on the front and a sport-touring tire on the rear. This has always worked real well for me. I also mix brands ;-)

OEM D204 front and back

:tab Bleech! changed then out for something else when both bikes hit their 600 mile service! Hard and slick, worthless in my opinion.

D207 front

:tab Some people love these tires. Personally, I am not wild about the triangular profile. I don't like the bike to fall into turns. I prefer the seamless turn in with the more rounded profile. I guess you could call the tires I like, nuetral. They don't fall in or want to stand up, they just stay where you put them. The D207 gives real good grip. VFR's will cup them really fast. I got about 3500 miles out of them back when I was new to the VFR and not even riding remotely agressively. I doubt if they would last more than 2500 with my riding style now. I've never run the D207 rear.

D205 Rear

:tab I ran this tire on both of the VFR's for several years. It goves a great combination of grip and wear. The best I ever did was about 9000 miles and the worst somewhere around 5000 miles. Rear tire life is extremely sensitive to your riding style. If you blow away from stop signs and lights, you'll flat spot the center pretty fast on any tire. Same for heavy braking. Even though the D220 supposedly replaces the D205, you can still get the D205's for around $100. In nearly 50K miles, I don't recall ever having the rear break loose on me. Although there was this two wheel drift in the rain in the mountains of North Carolina a few years ago...

:tab Anyway, I highly recommend this tire if you are looking for long life and decent grip.

BT 010 front

:tab I had one of these put on my VFR while out in North Carolina. I immediately went out and put a few hundred miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway on it. I loved it!! This is one of the nuetral profile tires I was speaking of earlier. I stretched that tire out for nearly 16K miles. It was so shagged and severly cupped! In retrospect, I probably should have changed it at around 10K miles and it would have been fine. For several years, I ran the BT 010 front and the D205 rear. This is an excellent combination. Then about a year ago, a whole bunch of new tires started hitting the market so I began experimenting with others.

Pirelli Dragon GTS front

:tab While in Colorado, my current front tire (BT 010) went away real fast and the shaking got pretty bad from the cupping. Fortunately we were right next to a Honda dealer and they fixed me up with the Dragon GTS. I really like this tire. So far, it is the most resistant to cupping on the VFRs. It has excellent grip wet or dry. It lasted nearly 15K before it finally started cupping enough to induce a slight headshake when leaned over in turns. This is the tire I am currently running on both VFRs.

BT 020 rear

:tab When it was new, it felt awesome! Unfortunately, they don't stay that way very long. The one on our 98 has less than 4K on it and the center has started coming apart, literally. The one on the 01 is not far behind it. I won't be getting anymore of these. Can't afford to replace them so often. Even though they are cheaper initially, having to buy them so often makes them more expensive per mile.

Metzler M1 Sportec front and rear

:tab When these tires came out, they got rave reviews from all the magazine guys for their longevity. I figure these guys are probably brutal on tires so if they think a tire last a long time, it should do great for me! Wrong! These tires are absolutely hands down the best tires I have ever run on the VFR. I never once had to even think about traction being an issue. It was like being superglued to the road. BUT... the rear was toast after 3000 miles, about 1500 miles of which were done in North Caroline on serious twisties. The front managed to last about 4000 miles. EXPENSIVE. However, if you are one of those guys that barely manages to put 3500 miles a year on your bike, I highly recommend these tires!!

Pilot Road rear

:tab This is the next rear tire I am going to experiment with. They retail for $175!! :lol: So anyway, I got them for $126 which is still not the cheapest tire I have seen. But if they last longer, then the cost per mile may be lower. Besides, having to change the tires less often counts for a lot as well. I will be installing them tomorrow (Thurs) so I'll have them on for the Heart of Texas ride this weekend. I'm hoping they will last through a trip to Arkansas for several days of riding, and then a full seven days of riding in North Carolina. I'll report back after they get some miles on them.
 
I second Scott's comments on the M1s. These are just awesome tires. If I were rich enough to afford a new set ever 3K I'd have absolutely no problem sticking with these. Unfortunately I like to eat something other than ramen noodles and mac-and-cheese, so I gotta go with something less expensive per mile. The M1s are seriously good tires, though.
 
guys thanks for all the info.

I'm going to schedule the D220's front and rear next replacement, coming up before June.

I'm getting 4-5 grand on my BT020 rear, approximately double on the front.

Will
 
Re: Finally, a tire thread!

Tourmeister said:
D207 front

:tab Some people love these tires. Personally, I am not wild about the triangular profile. I don't like the bike to fall into turns. I prefer the seamless turn in with the more rounded profile. I guess you could call the tires I like, nuetral. They don't fall in or want to stand up, they just stay where you put them. The D207 gives real good grip. VFR's will cup them really fast. I got about 3500 miles out of them back when I was new to the VFR and not even riding remotely agressively. I doubt if they would last more than 2500 with my riding style now. I've never run the D207 rear.

My VFR came with new D207s front and rear. That was 9k miles ago. The rear was toast at 6k (1 plug + cords showing). The front still looks pretty good!

I got some headshake on it coming back from the hillcountry, but then discovered that my pressure was low :oops:, and it went away after that.

I agree about the Dunlops having a tendency to fall in very quick. I think I'll put a Pirelli up front next time.
 
I was running Metzler MEZ4's but they wore out waaaay to fast.

I just bought a pair of Michelin Pilot Roads from http://www.swmototires.com for $215, shipping included.

I ordered them at 10:00am Wednesday of last week. UPS man threw them in my driveway at 6:45pm Thursday evening. WOW!

SW Moto is the way to go in my opinion. Outstanding service and prices.
 
Only question is, where in Austin can you get owner furnished tires installed and how much? Maybe its time to by an installer of my own.
 
changing tires

SVinAustin said:
Only question is, where in Austin can you get owner furnished tires installed and how much? Maybe its time to by an installer of my own.

Pretty much any dealer will change a tire for you. Usually, they charge more if you just bring in the bike and say "change'em". If you bring them the tire and wheel already off the bike and you remount the wheel to the bike yourself, they will charge a little less. Sometimes they will give you a "break" if you buy the tires from them, yeah right. They typically charge so much for the tires that any "break" they give you is a load of #$%@!

I change mine myself. It is a little bit of a hassle, but the changing kit has long since paid for itself, I can do it any time of day or night I want, and it gives me an excuse to play in the garage ;-) I got a kit from tireqwik.com. His tire irons aren't so great, but the rest of the kit is nice. Do a search on the web for "motorcycle tire change instructions" and you will pull up tons of good stuff on doing your own tires.
 
SVinAustin said:
Only question is, where in Austin can you get owner furnished tires installed and how much? Maybe its time to by an installer of my own.

Andy, I'm a big fan of AF1 Racing on N. Lamar, very close to Ducati Austin.

When they found they couldn't beat SWMotoTire's price, they just said, "Hey, have SWMotoTire deliver the tires directly to our shop, and just bring your back down." They charged me $66 to mount both tires. 8)

I, too, would like to get the equipment to change my own tires, but looking at the mess I'm making of just installing a Givi topcase, maybe something as important as tires is best left to experience people.... :oops:

HTH...
 
Tire Changing

SVinAustin,
I would join up with the TSBA in Austin. For $2.00 a month you can change all the tires you want for free. They have a machine in that chapter. We have one in the Houston chapter too. Three of them to be exact in the Houston chapter. I never pay to have the tires mounted anyway. I got the dealer hookup on all tires and I get them at cost. Opps, did I say that out loud?

I do agree with the M1 but they just wear sooooo fast...around 1000 miles in the hill country and they are gone. Also, I have run close to 10 sets of M1s and I noticed that the rear would generate cracks going perpendicular to the rotation. Kinda got me scared but never had a failure. I spoke to the Metzler Rep and he said that I needed to run 38-40 PSI in them and 32-36 was not enough! So be cautious on the pressures fellas. Get the recomended tire pressure for the weight of the bike you are running and the tires will last longer and grip much better.

I got two hill country rides out of the bridgestone 010s and still got to go commute. I need to change the rear very soon...and by the way, no bock bock Chicken strips here...front or rear...Thanks to that wonderfull road called 337...

As for the Avons, stay away from them!!!!!good for Harleys, junk if you wanna go fast on them....I trashed some in less than 1000 miles....they laughed at me when I came in to buy a new set two weeks later! They asked me if I did some burnouts on them until they saw the sides..lol.
 
I have tried bt010's and 3 sets of metz m1 sportec's...Love the metzlers but wear both the front and rear edges as well as centers out in little under 2k miles. I am going to try the pirelli Diablo Corsas ( Pirelli owns metzler and this tire is supposed to be the shiznit.

here are a few websites to check out:

www.pirellidiablo.com
www.2wf.com/articles/gear...2C67F9.asp

who knows maybe my f4i will like em more than the m1's :P

Austinrider
 
Been a long time getting back to report my impressions of the D220s but here goes:

Haven't put too many miles on them yet, but they feel great. How much of that is due to replacing the squared-off rear and cupped front with fresh rubber is debatable, but so far so good. They're much like the Bridgestones I replaced actually. Both front tires appear to have the same profile, so that might help explain some of the similarity in steering feel. I did notice that the rear D220 was about 1/2" narrower across the tread than the BT020. Double checked the size indicated on the sidewall to make sure that SW Moto Tires (good price & service, BTW) had sent me the proper size, and sure enough, they're both 180/55-17. One nice thing is that both front and back tires required NO weights at all to balance properly - maybe I just got lucky, but it also would seem to indicate that Dunlop manufactured these tires to pretty tight tolerances.
 
I got about 5700 miles out of my read D220, vs. 4600 for the OEM Michelin Pilot Sports. I was hoping to get a few more thousand out of the tire, but it's way past the wear bars, so I'm getting another.

The front is pristine.

Of course, I've got enough chicken strips all around to feed Camp Mabry.. :)

I'll stick with D220s at least until the front is worn down, then I dunno what I'll do. No reason not to continue with the Dunlops, they've held up well. I'm not sure any rear will hold up long with my non-leaning, v-twin engine-braking self... ;)
 
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