Hey Guys

It's time for a new back tire and I want to get the BT-016 but what tire size should I get? I remember reading a thread that talked about changing from the 190/50ZR-17 to the 190/55ZR-17, what do you guys think?

Any Help Would be Great

Thanks

Go with the bt016 190/55/17. It is about 10mm higher than stock and you will notice an immediate willingness in the bike's turn in. Pay attention at low speed cornering until you get used to it, it makes a difference. Because of the shape of the tire, it also will provide a larger contact patch for surer cornering. The difference is that the 190/55 is more egg shaped than circular but you will not notice this visually unless you look pretty hard at the mounted tire. The 190/50 is stock height and I would assume the handling characteristics are the same as the Stock bt0-14.

The grip is much better on the bt016's than stock tires. You can see 5 the multilateral surfaces which get progressively more sticky toward the edges. The last 1/2 inch is very sticky so if you lean it that hard, you will have what you need to keep you on two wheels.

If you do plan to do some tight cornering, you might want to go with a bt016 120/70/17 to match up the grip.

Thanks Rook

Nice Rally Stripes!!!

OK Guys

Who has the best price on the net for the BT-016's????

I found cycle sector to have the best price so far $264 for a set of (190/55/17 + 120/70/17) Does this seem like a good deal?

Thanks

hope the bt-016 gets better milage than the 014 i only have 3000 miles on my bike and both front and rear is in need of new rubber. im looking at the pilot2 but hate to spend $375 if they dont get any more milage than the cheaper tires any thoughts from anyone thanks in advance

can get em at bikebandit.com for $250 (BT-016's)

* Last updated by: scottjkyl on 8/12/2009 @ 7:16 AM *

Best Deal I could find was $268 and free shipping for a 190/55 and a 120/70 from Superbike Supply, Inc in Asheville, NC. That was FREE shipping. It was a special offer a few months back and I don't know if he's still running it. You have to check shipping charge when you order.

The stealer mounted the tires and they charged me about $8 more for each rim because I didn't order the tires from them. I saved about $30 in the end. I guess it was still worth it but I'll be trying another shop for mounting next time.

scottjkyl wrote:

hope the bt-016 gets better milage than the 014

I think I'm a lot easier on my tires than a lot of other 14 owners but after 2,000 miles, my bt0-16s seem to be waring about the same as my stockers. The only difference seems to be that I am waring them a lot closer to the edge because I corner harder on them. I believe the 16 is a softer tire across the whole surface than the 14 was so I don't expect it to last quite as long.

3,000 - 3,500 miles is about all most people seem to get out of a rear tire unless they go with one of the harder tires.

* Last updated by: Rook on 8/12/2009 @ 8:38 AM *

My buddy runs Diablo Strada and grinds the pegs off his zx14 every weekend he has never had problem with tire slip on the street. If you are not doing the same or more I would not worry too much about the slight increase in "turn in" the 190/55 might give. The 190/55 is not only going to change your overall gearing but the actual geometry of the bike as the rear will be higher. So you may end up with a bike than handles worst than stock and accelerates slower that it did previously. If I were you I would stick with the stock profile. Making the 14 handle better is infinitely more complicated and expensive than fitting a 190/55 rear tire.

* Last updated by: willidx4 on 8/12/2009 @ 8:53 AM *

I got 4,700 miles out of my last pair(front and rear wear evenly) of 016's and this set is GONE at 3,000. But, they are STICKY and much quicker turn in than the 014's. For the money they are my choice!

...and if you don't like them, you will be replacing in a few thousand miles. The higher profile actually corrects the speedo if you have stock gearing. Have not checked with radar or GPS but have noticed speedo seems to read the posted limit when following traffic. Handling is better, acceleration, no change that i can tell but a better grip lets me roll it on a bit more out of a corner.

put the last 1000 miles on mine riding to ohio and back on my 014 and noticed front and back are flat spotted never had a front get a flat spot b4 very weird