Battlax Hypersport S20 review
Bridgestone badges its new Battlax S20 as a 'premium sports tyre' aimed at sports riders who ride on all types of roads, through all conditions. There are plenty of tyres capable of that but the S20's remit's made wider by the fact Bridgestone rate the S20 as a great choice for those who partake in the occasional trackday.
Bridgestone badges its new Battlax S20 as a 'premium sports tyre' aimed at sports riders who ride on all types of roads, through all conditions. There are plenty of tyres capable of that but the S20's remit's made wider by the fact Bridgestone rate the S20 as a great choice for those who partake in the occasional trackday.
As occasional trackday locations go, Portimao is out of the top drawer. The undulating circuit is technical yet flowing. It's a firm favourite on the World Superbike calendar and features every type of corner except a chicane. Hurrah. It's truly a great place to put a sports tyre through its paces.
Bridgestone's road tyre line-up is straight forward compared to some. The stickiest, sportiest tyre is the R10, an only-just-road-legal tyre designed with the track in mind. Then comes the BT-003 RS, the RS standards for Racing Street. Still sticky and aimed at track and fast-road riding.
Then comes the new S20, it replaces the BT-016 Pro, which itself replaced the BT-016. The S20 sits below the BT-003 RS in terms of outright performance but it's the first time the phrase 'wet conditons' is used in the firm's sports tyre line-up. One rung below the S20 sits the BT-023, Bridgestone's popular Sports Touring tyre.
Bridgestone got a bit of a pasting for the BT-016, it was the tyre the 2011 ZX-10R came on, a bike I've run for a year and I replaced them at the first opportunity. After riding the bike at Losail, Qatar on its world launch on Bridgestone's BT-003 RS tyres, the BT-016 didn't feel like a good match to the ZX-10R when I took the bike to Bedford Autodrome. A good road tyre, they felt out of their depth on track. Bridgestone revised the BT-016 with the BT-016 Pro, a better tyre but perhaps still hamstrung by the original 016's mild reception.
Read more: http://www.visordown.com/features/bridgestone-battlax-s20-review/20314.html#ixzz1sUNXOmPf
Bridgestone badges its new Battlax S20 as a 'premium sports tyre' aimed at sports riders who ride on all types of roads, through all conditions. There are plenty of tyres capable of that but the S20's remit's made wider by the fact Bridgestone rate the S20 as a great choice for those who partake in the occasional trackday.
As occasional trackday locations go, Portimao is out of the top drawer. The undulating circuit is technical yet flowing. It's a firm favourite on the World Superbike calendar and features every type of corner except a chicane. Hurrah. It's truly a great place to put a sports tyre through its paces.
Bridgestone's road tyre line-up is straight forward compared to some. The stickiest, sportiest tyre is the R10, an only-just-road-legal tyre designed with the track in mind. Then comes the BT-003 RS, the RS standards for Racing Street. Still sticky and aimed at track and fast-road riding.
Then comes the new S20, it replaces the BT-016 Pro, which itself replaced the BT-016. The S20 sits below the BT-003 RS in terms of outright performance but it's the first time the phrase 'wet conditons' is used in the firm's sports tyre line-up. One rung below the S20 sits the BT-023, Bridgestone's popular Sports Touring tyre.
Bridgestone got a bit of a pasting for the BT-016, it was the tyre the 2011 ZX-10R came on, a bike I've run for a year and I replaced them at the first opportunity. After riding the bike at Losail, Qatar on its world launch on Bridgestone's BT-003 RS tyres, the BT-016 didn't feel like a good match to the ZX-10R when I took the bike to Bedford Autodrome. A good road tyre, they felt out of their depth on track. Bridgestone revised the BT-016 with the BT-016 Pro, a better tyre but perhaps still hamstrung by the original 016's mild reception.
Read more: http://www.visordown.com/features/bridgestone-battlax-s20-review/20314.html#ixzz1sUNXOmPf
