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Bridgestone s20 tire review

38K views 33 replies 13 participants last post by  Furad 
#1 ·
Well, after 3450 miles my S20s are toast. So i thought id shed a little light on them since I don't see many other people runing them.


Profile/characteristics:

The s20s are supposed to be a fairly aggressive street tire. With that in mind i expected turn in to be pretty quick. The contrary was true with this set, i feel like i have to muscle them into a turn, where other model tires would fall over easier. (this could have probably been adjusted out with suspension?) However once the bike was leaned over it felt very stable on these tires. the profile also allows for more angle than the 2CT's. When i switched from the 2cts i had no strip left at all, then when i got on the s20s there was almost 3/4 of an inch i wasnt using.

Heat up:

These tires heated up very quickly, quicker than any other tire ive had. However, as the last month of riding here has been pretty cold i noticed the tire does not hold its heat well. So keep that in mind if your in colder environment its annoying because your tires wont keep the heat in them.

Grip wet/dry:

The grip on these guys are supurb, rain is a non issue. The compound seems much softer than pilot power 2cts(which is what i came from, i thought this was a comperable compound to that tire) I never had any issues with grip with these tires. Never once did i think there wasnt enough grip to keep me rubber side down.


Dislikes:

I dislike the slow turn in profile, and i dislike the mileage(although it was average milage for a sportbike tire), 3450 and this tire is toast. This tire does not like interstate riding, after 20 minutes or so on the interstate the center would start shedding rubber. i think they could have made the center rubber harder and it would have been a great tire. But with the mileage i got out of the tire its not likely ill go with this tire again...


500 miles in


1000 miles in



1500, and this is what happens when you ride on the highway for more than 20 minutes at 70 mph




3450 miles





If you have any questions LMK, hope this helps someone.
 
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#2 ·
nice review. i was wondering about those tires.

I used to run pp, the 2ct , then the pures. i liked the pures but have u ever tried the supercorsa sp's? imo the best combination of quick turn in, warm up, stability and decent wear. they dont do too well in cold or wet imo though but a BIG step up from the pures as far as dry performance.
 
#7 ·
I'm a little late here. I just put a set on last weekend. Haven't really put any miles on yet. I was hoping to get at least twice your milage out of them. By summer I will be able to fork over the $ for some Z8's. The M20's cost 219.00$US for the set, so I didn't get hurt tooo bad. What is your riding style?
 
#8 ·
I ended up riding almost exclusively 2up the entire time I had the S20's on my bike, including a couple trackdays.

I managed to get the same 3400ish miles out of the rear but my front lasted to nearly 5600 miles. Both of which were pretty decent mileage for how and where I ride. Only the Q2 and M3 give me more rear tire mileage.

I thought the tires performed quite well, especially on the track.
 
#9 ·
Whee! I NEVER carry a pillon. I'm seriously considering taking off the rear pegs. Every Oz. counts. I almost went on a track once. Almost. I had a SECA 900 that I dropped on the way home from the stealership. It felt funny after that so a few months after I sat down with a bud that built frames for Choppers (Custom Harlies) and he built me a new frame. It had a little more trail in it so the 900 was more stable.
That 900 was a monster at corner entry. Braking reduced the trail, which led to rolling in too fast and losing the line. IIRC (it's been about 30 years and memory IS the 2nd thing to go!) we added about 10mm of trail. Anyhow, the bike was very polite after that. Great brakes for the day and With my new frame I could go deeper in the corner before braking and drive harder on exit. The bike was very quick and I used to bully the Suzukis and Kawasakis.
So there was a track day at the local track ( I raced only on the street, Rock Creek Park and out to Brighton Dam mostly) and I had been challenged by a GPz turbo rider. HE only raced on the track. OIL and water thing. So I though I would sneak in a practice ride, since I considered him a better rider and his bike had a little more power. I had b***** 'nads so on the street I win, but on the track it's technique and power.
So I walk into what looks like the lobby to see if they had a list of rules. No rules on the street except stay in front and the 11th commandent. There were 3 or 4 guys standing in front of the counter in tight leather oufits arguing over who got to buy the last 'Brazilian Buns' video, or it's contemporay version. VCR's were state of the art at that time and very shiek. Not my sort of fellows. Good guys, no doubt, the sort that will make sure your drink never gets empty and are willing to push in your stool when you leave but not my type. I left and never looked back.
So I might get my majic 10,000 miles. Haven't ever but hope springs eternal.:squid
 
#10 ·
seems like bridgestone is going in reverse with the tires. I miss the old bt-002rs. perfect combination of great turn in, mid corner stability, no stand up in a lean while braking and decent tire life. that is for what a high performance tire can offer in miles.

I'm leery of dunlops. every dunlop I've had was a POS. (that's a capital POS). I might as well had a wood tire. they slid in every condition you could ride in. it didn't matter if it was hot and dry they'd slide like they would in a cold rain.
 
#17 ·
I'm leery of dunlops. every dunlop I've had was a POS. (that's a capital POS). I might as well had a wood tire. they slid in every condition you could ride in. it didn't matter if it was hot and dry they'd slide like they would in a cold rain.
I have the same opinion on Dunlop. I never purchased a set but all my bikes except the Kawasakis came with them. Hated them all. I prefer Bridgestone or Pirelli, The Michelins I had were OK, Road 2s, they lasted forever, but just didn't have the feel or grip of my trusty Bridgestone BT023s or Pirelli Angels.



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#11 ·
Your review is to a Tee. I didn't even get that many miles though. But, I literally felt "GLUED" to the road! They are awesome except for the wear issue. They should be harder in the middle. I had one all last season and just put a brand new one on last week. Got it for a very good price. That's the only reason I bought it. Next time I will try something different though. Do you do a lot of wheelies/aggressive driving?

Well, after 3450 miles my S20s are toast. So i thought id shed a little light on them since I don't see many other people runing them.
 
#13 ·
im trying to tell you for agressive riding and a good track day tire (fast pace) try the supercorsa sp's. they have the same profile as the supercorsa race tires. turn in is quick, traction, feel and braking are excellent. id say as close as you can get before going dot race.

went from the pilot pures which are also a solid tire. if i rate them a 7 out of 10 id rate these 9 out of 10. personally i think its the best non race tire out there right now. 1st time out on my favorite corners i was smiling and laughing inside my helmet because the diff in performance was that noticable.

on my 2nd set, picked up version 2's.
 
#14 ·
I just got home from Virginia (VIR north course) with CSS. Rode my own personal bike with S20's and the school bike with Q2's.
At the pace I ran, I liked them both equally. HAd I turned it up a bit faster I think the S20 would have had the advantage (based on previous experience at advanced level trackday speeds)
Either tire would be a decent tire, but the Q2's have lasted longer for me.
 
#20 · (Edited)
I don't visit this site as often as I should but this thread caught my eye as it was timely.

Have been riding for many years, about 120,000 miles as of this writing.

My experience after 30,000 miles on my 07 CBR600RR (bought new in 2008) finds the S20 to be the best tire overall for me. I do almost exclusively weekend canyon carving with the CBR and ride a VFR during the week, for commuting and after-work canyon runs. I have some of the best canyon riding in the West right by my home.

Since 2008 on the CBR, I have run 3 sets of Dunlop Qualifiers (OEM and two sets of the aftermarket version), three sets of Michelin Power 2CT, two sets of Q2's and am now on my third set of S20's.

For perspective, my suspension is stock, professionally set up, and I am considered an aggressive rider.

In retrospect the Qualifiers were never good for me, after a couple of thousand miles they would acquire a "pyramid" shape, almost concave at the sides and when they got really warm, they got a "greasy" feel. Never had one step out on me, just a poor feel overall. Kind of soured me on Dunlops for a while.

Had better results with the 2CT's, but wear was rapid and they would acquire the same "pyramid" shape over time. Very uncertain feel after a couple thousand miles.

Then the Q2. Compared to what I had run previously the Q2's were a revolution. Sharp turn-in, good line holding, good feel from the front- but they wear on the rear was fairly rapid and the front had a similar wear issue as the others. With my second set, I had the bike step out of line in slightly damp conditions numerous times, a real confidence killer.

On the positive side the Q2's had plenty of lean left in them- I never touched the last 1/4" of the rear tire edges on either set.

When I got my first set of S20's the first thing I noticed was how smoothly and easily the bike turned in (opposite of the opinion that opened this thread). Wear was totally even and the front tire felt the same through it's entire useful lifespan. Same with the second set, extremely even wear and 90% of the original profile remained on the front after 3500 miles. Never any issue in wet weather.

I do use the ENTIRE side of the rear on these- but that's because my average cornering speeds are up to 10 mph faster than with the Q2's. For instance there is a particular 25 mph (suggested, not limited) S-curve on one of the more popular canyons in my area that normally yields a 60-65 mph traverse with the Q2's. 70-75 on this same S-curve is no problem with the S20.

My second set came off today and was replaced with a fresh set. I was amazed (as was my tire tech) when we saw that the tire balanced up with precisely the same weights on the same place on the wheel. Says something about Bridgestone consistency.

I really like the S20, and I think the Q3 will have to be very good indeed for me to go back to Dunlop.
 
#23 ·
Did a trackday in Fernley this past saturday. My S20 front was rock solid.



I was really impressed. It didn't squirm around at all, no pushing, held it's line etc. I was also able to trail brake pretty deep into a hairpin after a short straight.

My BT023 did great as well AFTER I set the correct PSI which worked out to be like 27/25 cold.

 
#25 ·
This is the issue im having as well. I mean they are solid all day in rain,cold, hot, but im using all the tire to the edge. I know my Body postion is on point, as confirmed by video, pictures, and NESBA CRs. Im thinking the tires profile maybe the culprit. Anyone running this tire in high I group or low A group? Thinking of going with the Q3 just for the more pointy profile, more so for more tire edge. Its a shame, because i have ran quite a few sets of the S20s, and i love them. They may only be good up to a certain level.
 
#24 ·
really don't care for Q2's. The feel sucks, trail braking wants to stand straight up, I maybe got 1,500 miles from the rear and never do I feel a whole lot of confidence in them. I have an Ohlins on the rear and full racetech front end all setup precisely for me. I'm kinda shocked everyone seems to think they're great. then again I'm really partial to race take-offs. lol
 
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