Axe BT021 700 mile scrub in..

[smitty141]

Well, I put right at 700 miLes on a fresh set of Stones (BTO21) yesterday in my favorite state of Arkansas. Left Hooterville Mo. and road to Allison Ar. for breakfast, then went west towards Jasper. Roads were the normal Arkansas chip and seal with plenty of bite to them. I did check the depth of my first set of 021's before I left. In the middle around .250 in the groove, on the side around .240. After 700 miles they are fuzzed to the edge without a chickin strip in site. I did another depth check to see what my trip cost me yesterday. I manage to take .060 off in 700 miles, and if you do the math they will be gone in approx 3000-3500 miles. That is what I normally get out of any tire I have used.

At first they felt a little strange, wanting to stand-up in corners and such. But I think I was riding a little tight. After I found my groove they worked very well, and never felt loose are anything. I did get them to break loose diving into a few corners at speed while down shifting. I did feel the front chatter and move to the left in a late mid corner braking(in a little to hot), but that was my mistake. The biggist bitch I have is mounting. These MoFo's are about as stiff as a wedding wiener . They did balance very well with very little weight. They are a great tire, now if I could only get more mile out of them . He is a few pic's of the damage... Smitty

The "new shoe"

The "700" mile club

 

[STL FJR]

Sooo ... you likey the 21s a little or you likey a lot?

BTW, 700 smiles in 1 day on those roads ... you da man!

There should be a special award for that. :yahoo:

 

[wheatonFJR]

Nice report there Smitty...Alison, AR for breakfast sounds pretty good. :clapping:

Enjoyed the report...can't imagine you ridin' "tight" or getting into a corner "too hot"...guess those are comparative terms.

 

[GalaxyBlue]

So, These are hard to mount eh? I wonder if they are the harder than my original 020's that you cussed out trying to dismount them? :lol2:

I think these will be my next tire. Thanks for the report smitty!

Give me a call sometime... I got some work for ya!

 

[Thug]

I love that fresh black tacky textured look on the sides of the tyres after a go in the twisties! nice work.....

 

[RenoJohn]

Well, I put right at 700 miLes on a fresh set of Stones (BTO21) yesterday ....................... The biggist bitch I have is mounting. These MoFo's are about as stiff as a wedding wiener . They did balance very well with very little weight. They are a great tire, now if I could only get more mile out of them .

Sounds like a great ride on some funnn roads!

Glad to hear your comment on the mounting as I had a bitch of a time as well. Thougth it was me, as that is usually where the problem lies.

I put another 750miles on mine Saturday, easier miles though ..just under 3K total now and they're holidng up "OK" ...I'm guessing about 4500 out of them, but time will tell for sure. Fun pics, thanks for sharing. ...renojohn

 

[quicksilver]

Had mine mounted and spin balanced over the weekend.

40 grams on the back. Significantly more than any of the 2 rear Avons or 2 rear BT-020s.

(paint spot at the valve)

A little squimmy cuz they are'nt scrubbed in yet.

"Turn in" feels a little quicker than I remember for the 020, not quit as quick as the Avon.

My history:

BT-020 Front/Rear OE ~8K front wore out first, severly cupped.

BT-014 Front / BT-020 Rear ~8K front wore out first, no cupping, edges of front tread were gone.

Note: BT-014 was unstable north of 110mph, but awesome at 40 leaned over.

AZ45/46 - ~8K front wore out first, severly cupped. Note: Instability due to front tire became dangerous.

AZ45/46 - ~8K rear wore out first, front in surprisely good shape. Very minor cupping.

Note: This front tire always followed the wave tread pattern on hard decel.

 

[AZrider]

Smitty,

I ordered a set of the 021's today. I've got a little over 6k on the OEM 020's (sort of disappointing) and was wondering after a month how you still feel about them? The 020's are still OK but the wear bar is getting close to the surface. I think I could have gotten another 2k out of them but they were starting to act "rocky" in the corners.

AZ

 

[GalaxyBlue]

Well, I had a fresh set mounted before i left for WFO, And they have about 3700 slab miles, And 300 twisty miles on them... Keep in mind that those slab miles were super sonic speeds and the bike severely loaded down, And they are holding up quite well! I have a huge flat spot on the center, But these should last 6k. I normally wear out the tires about as fast as Smitty, But i didnt hit the curves too hard on these. Maybe the next set! Smitty? You listening??? another set of stones headed your way soon :lol:

 

[madmike2]

I mounted a set for WFO-6. 3734 miles of canyons and back roads (okay, SOME slab miles). The front is TOAST. I rode up to a friends over the weekend and the front wanted to "fall-in" to corners. Once there I looked at the front tire in the sunlight: Worn to a "Vee" and to the wear bars in the vee. Yup, I was pushing the corners a wee bit but thought I should get more miles than I did from these tires. I'll try to get some pictures this weekend but I guess I'll be putting my take-off PR on the front.

The rear still looks alright. A bit of a flat spot in the middle and 1/4" chickenstrips, but the front is a goner.

 

[spklbuk]

Here's my BTO21 front about 2800 miles in:

Worn into the wear bars, high spot developing in center, cupping beginning on either side of it and two more ridges on either side of the cups towards the outside of the tire. Like MM2 said, falls into turns and from center ridge to outside ridge. Seems Bridgestone still can't get it right on the front. TOAST.

Here's my BTO21 rear, mileage left but wearing a bit of a flat spot. Is there ever gonna be a tire for this bike????

Is there ever gonna be a tire for this bike???? :glare:

 

[RenoJohn]

These are the most difficult tire that I've ever mounted ...but IMO they are worth it. I'm on my 5th set.

Early on (when some of us first started using these tires) I recall Smitty's quote and I use it often. Mountng these rear tires keep my four-letter-word vocabular sharp.

The biggist bitch I have is mounting. These MoFo's are about as stiff as a wedding wiener

 

[tstaff]

Here's my BTO21 front about 2800 miles in:

Worn into the wear bars, high spot developing in center, cupping beginning on either side of it and two more ridges on either side of the cups towards the outside of the tire. Like MM2 said, falls into turns and from center ridge to outside ridge. Seems Bridgestone still can't get it right on the front. TOAST.

Well 2 weekends in West Virginia & my front BT-021 is Toast also.

I looked at my notes over the weekend & it seems I've only got 3,300 miles on it.

Hate to say it but of the Avons (Storms & Azaros), BT-021's, & OE Z-6's the Metzeler"s have been the best.

 

[phil]

Well, I put right at 700 miLes on a fresh set of Stones (BTO21) yesterday in my favorite state of Arkansas. Left Hooterville Mo. and road to Allison Ar. for breakfast, then went west towards Jasper. Roads were the normal Arkansas chip and seal with plenty of bite to them. I did check the depth of my first set of 021's before I left. In the middle around .250 in the groove, on the side around .240. After 700 miles they are fuzzed to the edge without a chickin strip in site. I did another depth check to see what my trip cost me yesterday. I manage to take .060 off in 700 miles, and if you do the math they will be gone in approx 3000-3500 miles. That is what I normally get out of any tire I have used.

OKAY, I'VE READ EVERYONE'S COMMENTS ON THE FRONT TIRE ISSUE. BUT I DON'T SEE ANYBODY TALKING ABOUT ITS POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP TO THE PRELOAD AND DAMPING SETTINGS ON THE FORKS. HAS ANYONE PLAYED AROUND WITH THESE TO IMPROVE TIRE PERFORMANCE?