un-sticky tires

[Mick77]

Since I'm still cruising the forums, anyone else use Bridgestone Battlax tires?  I have BT45's, the previous owner had them put on right before he sold it to me, so when I got it, it still had remnants of the stickers on them.  Really awesome to get a bike with brand new tires, but they are NOT very confidence inspiring, and it seems to me that I'm not really getting any benefits in the way of lasting longer either.  When turning 90 degrees, such as stop lights and intersections, I can break the rear tire loose on its side for a second.  It's really cool when you're in the mood for it, but today, leaving church, I turned under an overpass a little on the hot side, and it felt as though BOTH tires were sliding the same direction out from under me.  Is this something that can be *sort of* remedied by stiffening up the front?  I replaced the rear with a B12 shock, and that has made such a huge difference.  If it's just the tires, anyone have a good, sticky, still somewhat highwayable for a daily rider, wont square off too quickly if you ride hard on the weekend tire suggestion?  You guys know everything, so I'm waiting for the solid gold answers  

[tomacGTi]

If you want sticky then you're going to have to pay, supersport tires will last maybe 5k on these things. They hold and are awesome but they'll square fast at the same time if all you do is slab. Sport touring tires are good as well, not as grippy but get the job done.

Check your pressures and make sure they're not overinflated. I've seen people trackday those tires and scrape hard parts so something is amiss. Chances are the pressures are up from seating the beads and they never let any more out.

[Mick77]

The pressures are 35psi front and rear.  Is that where they should be?  Maybe it's just the streets here in the city... yeah, thats it.  I guess I just need to push it a little more and see what happens, but every time I do they feel like they just aren't sticking.  I can deal with rear slide no problem, that front tire just HAS to stick though.

[tomacGTi]

Pressures are on the frame:

29 front
34-36 rear depending on one or two up, 35 is close enough.

All tires are different though, some need more heat versus others. I know the Viper rear I have on the back now needs more PSI versus the Pilot Power I just took off because it was toast.

When I demounted the Viper to mount fresh tires for my trackday last year, I ran lower pressures (same as PP's) and found that it actually wore the casing inside the tire like if you drive a car tire flat. I'm at 36 now and wear seems to be better. The tire was already 1/2 dead anyway this time around but in better shape than the PP it replaced.

BT016s for July 6th though. Glad I bought those when I had money!

Yeah, road surface has alot to do with it. There's an off camber corner by me that my car will understeer like a bitch into dry and just slide in the wet doing absolutely nothing crazy. I feel the bike drifting in the same corner in the dry.

[Mick77]

Deflated to 29 in the front.  I'll give it a try in the morning.  I think maybe I will also get some new fork oil, maybe a heavier weight, to help out up front too.  I think I remember seeing a tire thread now that I think about it.  Going fishing.  Thanks once more tomac, you're my Bandit Hero 

[smooth operator]

 29 psi.sounds a little under inflated for riding on the street! The tire will say on the side what the recomended tire psi should be.You can go a couple or few lbs lighter,but 29psi is more like track day psi when the tires heat up and preasure builds up. If you have the right psi in both tires, chances are the buyer may have got a good deal on old inventory.

[tomacGTi]

Trust me, B4 pressure up front is not as high as you think. If I could provide a screenshot of the manual, I would.

The tire has a maximum recommended inflation on it, most tire manufacturers say to use the bike manufacturer's pressures. This is a huge misnomer for cars as well as motos.

[PitterB4]

Those tires should be more than sticky enough for street duty on the B4!  Either pressure, suspension, road surface or as Dan suggests OLD tires have you sliding around.

[Chris H]

Carnt beleave we aint got a service manual so posted a link in the service section.
I run 30 front and 32 rear with piolts so your not to bad, you can up the pressure slightly if your doing alot of slow town stuff and when i ran battleaxe 090's they liked to be on the harder side than the pilots so maybe it would be worth tryin a couple of presssures, say 29 and maybe 31.

[97af]

I put a pair of Maxxis Supermax on the B4 and it litterally turned it into a new motorcycle.For the money spent,which wasnt a whole heck of a lot, I got more ear to ear grin factor than I ever thought I would.I've previosly been a Metzeler only guy but they arent paying me to run their tires.
I'm gonna try the Presa Sports on the new bike......

[erik]

try 30 to 32 psi front and back. I've got sport demons on my bandit, which are a comparable tire to the BT45's and that's what I run.
Both the BT45 and Sport Demons are cross-ply tyres, I guess that's why they're run at lower pressure than newer radial tyres? (I could be wrong, anyone know?)

[stormi]

Carnt beleave we aint got a service manual so posted a link in the service section.

We have both Service Manual and Owner's Manual in the Downloads section....  

[gsxr400 racer]

SLIPSTONES

[tomacGTi]

Don't you jinx me now Jay!

I'm spooning a set on for a trackday coming up!

[gsxr400 racer]

Im a dunlop man (and no nothing has dunlop ed off me) took a long time to change to pirrelli and metz for me and i will ride mich. just have not had the oportuninty to try some yet back when i had money to race BS where the cheapest and i go by the saying nothing cheap is good.