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Mixing tire brands for front and rear tires


kanchanj88

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kanchanj88

I am looking to replace my bike's rear tire - OEM Battlax 023R M and was wondering if it would okay to have a Michelin installed on it for the rear and leave the front as is?

 

Also, what is the difference between the different Battlax 023s? There are 3 types that I've found and couldn't figure the difference between each.

 

BT 023 (Bridgestone Part# 144152)

BT 023 Type M (Bridgestone Part# 3660)

BT 023 Type F (Bridgestone Part# 1280)

 

Thanks for your help.

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M and F are OEM-specific tires. aka they were the spec tire for a particular bike - frequently it's some kind of honda or BMW that's heavy.

Buy the generic one. and yes you can mix-match though I personally prefer to keep it from the same vendor. I put SS rubber on the front and ST rubber on the rear more often than not.

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I have mixed and matched for decades with no issues, and quite often actually achieved an improvement in handling, strange as it may sound.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Front and rear have completely different jobs. IF you are knowledgeable you can use that to optimise the combination. HOWEVER the quality brands actually do try and match the grip of both tyres together for as many conditions as possible ( not always as anyone who used BT45's will attest). Motorcycle live on the edge of grip quite a bit and even the tinyest difference will mean one end will let go before the other ( it will anyway but at least it will be because of a mistake rather than a function of the tyres). Wet conditions ( and frost though I have never ridden on an icey road) magnify that difference... Just saying.

On that note so will putting "matched " tyres together with one much older than the other. High quality motorcycle tyres degenerate with the number of heat cycles they have been through. The higher the quality the lower the number of heat cycles they will endure. An old michie power, with a new one, is a receipe for disaster, if you are a "spirited" rider..

Go forth and modify my son...go forth and modify...

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The clue is in the final bit of the final sentence - in my experience, few are, even those who think they are. YMMV.

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I put the front on the back and back on the front.  Then add only 12 lbs of air pressure.

 

No Not Really I am joking 😜

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.” --Thomas Jefferson quoting Cesare Beccaria

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I have two examples (well, several, but I won't tire you excessively) I'd like to share.

 

Example 1: My 1983 CB1100F had a steering wobble like no other bike I've ridden. It had a half-worn Metzeler ME33 Lazer on the front and a Metzeler ME99A on the rear. I replaced the front with my - at the time - favourite front tyre; Michelin A49. And not only was the wobble between 20 and 60 mph completely gone, the bike was on rails at all times. Even scraping pegs at 125 mph around bumpy sweepers failed to cause even minute reactions from the thing.

 

Example 2: My 1999 VN800A came new with Bridgerock tyres, both Exedra something. However, their profiles clashed heavily, with a ribbed and narrow 80/90-21 front and a 140/90-15 rear. The front got scrubbed to the edges, the rear had an inch of virgin rubber on the shoulders. Grip was abysmal at best, and handling could best described as unsettling. And the ride was harsh. I fitted a Pirelli MT75 90/90-21 front and a Pirelli MT66 140/90-15 rear. Braking distance was reduced by 30 ft from 60mph, handling was neutral (for a chopper) and the tyres got scrubbed to the same place from the edge, about 1/2 inch. Also, the ride was supple, grip excellent traction and feedback.

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"neutral (for a chopper)", A neutral handling chopper ...pardon my skeptisism...

 

"put the front on the back and back on the front". On my tiny race bikes we had to run road legal tyres. The only way to get decent sticky rubber for the back that was small enough, was to use front tyres and reverse direction of rotation ( though not strictly necessary on most road radials).

Go forth and modify my son...go forth and modify...

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11 minutes ago, gregjet said:

"neutral (for a chopper)", A neutral handling chopper ...pardon my skeptisism...

 

 

Perhaps predictable is a better word. But it went from a handful around corners to a bike that would hold its line just fine. At least until it ran out of cornering clearance or hit a bump.

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  • 3 weeks later...
allbeefpatty

About a week after buying the bike I picked up a nail in the rear tire. Fortunately I was close to the dealer and had a PR4 put on. I've since put about 8000 mi with the stock BT23 on the front and a PR4 on the rear. I never had any real issues, but I could tell, especially in the wet, that I was occasionally pushing the front ever so slightly. I do mostly commuting so it didn't really bother me, but for serious hard riding I would have swapped both.

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