Tire life of OEM Battle Wing 501/502 E spec and a few other questions.

Kyle_E

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I know this is predicated on riding style, weight, and a thousand other variables. But what type of life do you get out of a set?

I just hit 11,000 miles on the set I put on a few months ago, checked tread depth just now rather than just a visual inspection. At 4.5mm rear and 3.2mm front. This seems great. Maybe too good to be true to have that much left at this stage?

Dummy me did not bother to check the tread depth when new, so I have no idea how much they have worn. Did the front come shallower than the rear? Or is my riding style wearing the front more for some reason?
 

Nikolajsen

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I got about 11000 km, so far from where you are now.. So I also think it is great:)
Yes, the front have less depth from new.
 

MonkeyBut

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I had those tires on my 2004 Vstrom 1000 and they came with my new, zero mileTenere. I am not a 'hard on the throttle' rider as I am a Fuel Whore. I have been known to wind the engines out a bit from time to time but generally just go easy. I put 3 rears and 2 fronts on the Vstrom. I got a hair under 22K on the fronts and still had the tiniest of tire left before the wear bars. The rears went between 16K and 18K, with the wear bars even with tire tread at the 18K mark. On the Tenere I changed front and rear at 14K at the same time because 1) I was going on a 2500 mike trip and didn't want any issues, although i probably could have squeaked the mileage out of them but why before a big trip and 2) I never bought tires as a set because I was always trying to get the last mile out of my money for tires. The Battlewings never failed me or left me feeling i was lacking grip. I'll see how many miles I rack up on the (now 6K old Michelin Road 5 Trail tires) They definitely have more grip and work fantastic in the rain. I know because I rode in rain where we should have pulled off 60 miles sooner. They are just starting to square off but have plenty of tread left. Hope this helps? Have fun and ride safe, Tom
 

Sierra1

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I started squaring off my rear BW relatively early because of the engine braking, light rear end, and me using too much back brake. Once I changed my riding style the back lasted to about 8.5K miles. I don't think I would ever get as many miles as Kyle has. Between my weight, and loving the throttle ooooh so much....:oops:
 

RCinNC

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Can you even get Battlewings any more? I thought Bridgestone discontinued them.

As for longevity, back when I used them, I got anywhere between 5000-6000 miles out of a rear. Never more than 6000. That was with a lot of two up riding.
 

Kyle_E

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Can you even get Battlewings any more? I thought Bridgestone discontinued them.

As for longevity, back when I used them, I got anywhere between 5000-6000 miles out of a rear. Never more than 6000. That was with a lot of two up riding.
Must have been real recent. Almost everyone has them in stock still, must be clearing out the last of them.
 

RCinNC

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I'll be darned. I went looking for a set of them about a year ago, and they weren't even on Bridgestone's website any more. I thought they'd been replaced by the Battlax Adventures.
 

Sierra1

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I'm with RC. Heard they were being discontinued, back when I wore mine out. My dealer couldn't find a listing for them, so I went with the A41s. Now I see the BW on all of the new bikes coming out. Sooooo….. Are they discontinued, and Yamaha bought SO many that they still have some left? Are bike tires date coded like car tires?
 

Kyle_E

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I'm with RC. Heard they were being discontinued, back when I wore mine out. My dealer couldn't find a listing for them, so I went with the A41s. Now I see the BW on all of the new bikes coming out. Sooooo….. Are they discontinued, and Yamaha bought SO many that they still have some left? Are bike tires date coded like car tires?
I'll be darned. I went looking for a set of them about a year ago, and they weren't even on Bridgestone's website any more. I thought they'd been replaced by the Battlax Adventures.
For what its worth the set I got in May was date coded for the second week of March. So as of then they were still being made. Four or five places I was looking last night showed them as "in stock". They all probably use the same drop shipper whorehouse but still.
 

Sierra1

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I just checked, bike and car tires use the same code: 1st two numbers= the week; 2nd two numbers=year. So....just to confirm....your tire showed 1119?
 

MonkeyBut

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And since no one asked again;) these are the stock Battlewings that came off my S10 at 14K miles. There is a circle around the wear indicator on the rear. Close, but not worth taking a long trip on. The front would have definitely made it. I ride 100% solo and with minimal weight in my previous top box. I'm old and fat at 5' 11", 210 pounds. Tires were mostly at 42 rear, 40 front. Found that to be good compromise for wear and grip when I had the Vstrom. Thought it to be a good baseline for the mileage I was getting with those tires on that motorcycle. I hope that bit of information doesn't derail the thread to a tire pressure fiasco. Hahaha.
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Have fun and enjoy the ride
 

Boris

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I’m both impressed and shocked out of the mileage some of you folk get out of a set of tyres.

Without looking back and calculating exact mileage, I’m guessing between 5-7k miles for a rear and 6-8 for a front. All road riding.

Note - not talking BWs here.
 

EricV

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I know this is predicated on riding style, weight, and a thousand other variables. But what type of life do you get out of a set?

Dummy me did not bother to check the tread depth when new, so I have no idea how much they have worn. Did the front come shallower than the rear? Or is my riding style wearing the front more for some reason?
I don't recall what mileage I got from the one set I ran. ~8-10k? (current owner of my bike has that in the tire log in the owner's manual.) They are still listed on the Bridgestone site, but you have to search by tire name as they are considered an OE fitment tire now, rather than part of the current 'public' offerings.

Front is a BATTLEWING BW-501 and is listed with a 6mm tread depth. Rear is a BATTLEWING BW-502 and is listed with a 10mm tread depth. With that in mind, yours wore pretty evenly, using up about half the tread depth. A bit more in the rear, a bit less in the front. Sounds like you are a smooth rider.

The only important aspect of tire life is how it meets your needs. If you like them and can still get them, keep enjoying them. Pricing is often wallet friendly.
 

Kyle_E

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Front is a BATTLEWING BW-501 and is listed with a 6mm tread depth. Rear is a BATTLEWING BW-502 and is listed with a 10mm tread depth. With that in mind, yours wore pretty evenly, using up about half the tread depth. A bit more in the rear, a bit less in the front. Sounds like you are a smooth rider.

The only important aspect of tire life is how it meets your needs. If you like them and can still get them, keep enjoying them. Pricing is often wallet friendly.
Thank you for that tread depth, I looked all over and couldn't find it. Good to know its even tread wear not me doing something weird on the front.
 

spicata

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My 2018 has them on as the original setup since new.
As of today I've got 13000km on them and they plenty left.( Probably 2-3000km before tread warning)
Mostly tarmac and alot of 2 up.

Will try some 50-50 tires next time.
 
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